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University Daily Kansan Monday, October 30, 1961
Religion Discussed at Forum
By Richard Bonett
Man will be religious whether he wants to be or not, a Lawrence minister told more than 50 KU students Friday at a session of the Current Events Forum.
Speaking on the topic "Religion in a Modern Society," the Rev. Paul R. Davis, of the Plymouth Congregational Church, traded religious and philosophic views with Charles Landesman Jr., assistant professor of philosophy at KU.
PROF. LANDESMAN, speaking from what he called the "humanist or naturalist point of view," said the chief difference separating that view from traditional Christian views was the question of the existence of God.
There is a tendency on the part of religious individuals to overemphasize the difference whereas it is not critical." he said.
HOWEVER, it was the contention of Rev. Davis, whose 10-minute presentation followed that of Prof. Landesman, that there are no atheists and that it is in man's nature to be religious.
He said that the humanist concept concerning the moral conduct of man has much in common with the religious view in terms of what they both opposed.
At the close of what became a lively if short question period, Rev. Davis said, in effect, that humanism is a religion.
"Once man leaves the animal
state, he can not escape the religious quest," he said.
QUOTING HARRY EMERSON Fosdick, Rev. Davis said as long as man is going to be religious, he might as well direct his quest upward to the highest transcendental form, which he termed "the high and holy."
Prof. Landesman said certain viewpoints in the world seem antithetical to both religion and to humanism.
Both, he said, find themselves opposing moral relativism, which he described as a "sort of fuzzy idea that the condition of one's civilization, culture and geographic situation establishes the moral code."
THE RELATIVIST CONCEPT, he continued, might lead to the idea that any existing moral code is acceptable and that morals are not really important.
Another common antithesis, Prof. Landesman said, is "scientism," or the view that science can solve all man's problems.
"This is not to say that science can not solve some of the problems," he said. "It can point to methods for judging goals and means of achieving these goals."
BUT, HE ADDED,"our goals will not be obtained by scientific analysis, but in response to the experiences of life not wholly reducible to scientific terms."
Materialism, the concept that man
has no subjective existence, and provincialism, the acceptance of values that are not universal, are other ideas objectionable to both religion and humanism, the KU professor said.
He concluded, however, with the comment that religion has always admonished men to strive for saintliness. This should be tempered with some pessimism concerning man's capacity for achieving that goal, he said.
DURING THE USUAL question period, Prof. Landesman was asked what method the Humanist would use in arriving at the best society if the scientific method would not work.
"I'm not sure there is any difference between the Humanist method and the religious method. Both rely on sensitivity and reason, experience and thinking." he answered.
Referring back to a point made by Rev. Davis that religion exercised a social force by "providing a motive to improve the condition of man," a student asked:
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