Let’s begin with a hat tip, Humanism Revoked? | See, there’s this thing called biology… (wordpress.com). Insanitybytes22 has a lighthearted post that pokes fun at the revocation of an award to Richard Dawkins by the American Humanist Association (American Humanist Association Board Statement Withdrawing Honor from Richard Dawkins – American Humanist Association). Here is another take, Richard Dawkins — American Humanist Association Cancels Author | National Review.
What makes the American Humanist Association so funny? Well, take a look at their The Ten Commitments – AHA Center for Education (americanhumanistcenterforeducation.org). Their Ten Commitments are a counterfeit of Exodus 20:1-17 NASB – The Ten Commandments – Bible Gateway. These humanists are guilty of making a pretense of being something they are not. As demonstrated by their treatment of Dawkins, they counterfeit virtues they don’t actually possess.
Is the American Humanist Association an obvious counterfeit? Well, they apparently have some people fooled. So, maybe not. That suggests we ought to explore the subject a bit.
What is a counterfeit?
Definition of counterfeit
1: something counterfeit : FORGERY
//The $20 bill turned out to be a counterfeit.
2: something likely to be mistaken for something of higher value
//Pity was a counterfeit of love …— Harry Hervey
Counterfeit | Definition of Counterfeit by Merriam-Webster
When American Humanist Association creates their own Ten Commandments, they aspire to be a sort of church, that is, the counterfeit of a Christian church. That’s not good. Why? Well, instead of encouraging us to worship our Creator, the American Humanist Association would have us worshipping ourselves. Note that each of their Ten Commitments begins with the word “I”. Whereas The Ten Commandments require us to obey God, the Ten Commitments require us to obey ourselves?
When considered objectively, the Ten Commitments are sort of hilarious, especially this “commitment.”
Humility
“I will be aware of my strengths and weaknesses, and appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of others.”
Humility means displaying modesty about accomplishments, talents, gifts, or importance of self. It acknowledges we humans are fallible and have limitations in what we know and can do. Being humble isn’t about having low self-esteem or denigrating oneself. Humility at its core is robust self-awareness—awareness of our strengths and weaknesses, our faults and our merits. Humility involves setting aside personal pride and overcoming our egos to embrace gratitude for what we have and appreciate others for who they are. In being humble, we recognize our own value in relation to others; inherently, we are neither better nor worse than anyone else.
The Ten Commitments – AHA Center for Education (americanhumanistcenterforeducation.org)
Some time back I wrote this post, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ON PRIDE AND HUMILITY – Citizen Tom, and it remains one of my favorite posts. Much of it quotes Franklin whose wisdom and wit I can only aspire to. Here is how the last quote ends.
In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.
Full text of “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” (archive.org)
“Proud of my humility?” Imagine how Franklin would react to the arrogance of anyone who speaks of themselves as BEING humble. Franklin was well aware of the fact that he could counterfeit humility, but he understood that the exercise of true humility required that he admit his inability to completely defeat his pride in himself.
Pride, not humility, apparently explains the rest of the commitments on the American Humanist Association’s Ten Commitments. “I” am going to make myself perfect and solve all the world’s problems? We just have to do it “my” way, of course.
When we counterfeit something, we make a copy of the real thing, and we pretend that the copy is the real thing. Satan is the greatest of counterfeiters, and he encourages us to counterfeit the things of God. Why? Consider.
Revelation 13:4 Good News Translation
4 Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?”
In his pride, Satan wants us worship him, not God. With lies, deceit, fakery, and counterfeits, Satan appeals to our pride. Thus, he separates us from God and lures us to worship him.
References
- What the Bible says about Satan as Counterfeit of Creator God (bibletools.org)
- How Does Satan Counterfeit Jesus? (blueletterbible.org)
- The False Prophet and Satan’s Counterfeit Trinity – Living in the Age of Signs – DavidJeremiah.org
- Satan’s Ten Strategies Against You | Desiring God
- How can we discern counterfeit miracles? | GotQuestions.org
Citizen Tom 
Reblogged this on boudica.us.
Thanks!
Insanitybytes22
Great post and message. I especially appreciated your statement:
“Note that each of their Ten Commitments begins with the word “I”. Whereas The Ten Commandments require us to obey God, the Ten Commitments require us to obey ourselves?
This same statement can for the most part be discerned about most counterfeits we engage with everyday.
Regards and goodwill blogging..
What exactly is it that you fear from others, Tom? Someone says something you do not like and you either vilify it as some interpretation of “bad” politics (politics not aligned with your views).. or proclaim some sort of religious heresy.
“When American Humanist Association creates their own Ten Commandments, they aspire to be a sort of church, that is, the counterfeit of a Christian church. That’s not good. Why? Well, instead of encouraging us to worship our Creator, the American Humanist Association would have us worshipping ourselves.”
No, Tom.. they composed “commitments”, not “commandments”, and yes it’s a bit obvious they are assigning a play on “The Ten” for their title (which arguably could be a measure of respect) but I do not see at all their chastisement of religion. You pick up the dictionary to create some semantics enough to make your point, but you somehow can’t do the same to differentiate between “commandment” and “commitment”. I read one of their commitments as being under “Empathy”… “I will consider other people’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences.” Seems to relate to a Christ teaching in Mark 12:31… “Love thy neighbor as thyself”, which given your propensity to criticize many things human.. I might recommend some extra-curricular study on your part. But far be it from me to cast judgmental doubt on others as to the degree of their spiritual “commitment”.
@Doug
Where is your empathy for Donald Trump?
Trump needs/deserves empathy for what??
@Doug
Same reason you want me to have empathy for someone else. Thing is I do have empathy for folks like those in the American Humanist Association. I did not accept Jesus as my savior until I was in my 50’s. So I have a good idea what makes them tick.
I have brothers and sisters who vote Democrat. My disagreement is philosophical. not personal. You want to take it personally, perhaps, but you know it is not.
I’ll give you that much, that there’s always this lingering online debate.. about religion… and those that have to prove themselves that what they believe, or don’t, is constantly proving one way or the other… and constantly searching for some affirmation. Sorry.. I tend to find spirituality a personal thing and it IS my opinion that organized religion across the board screws that part up immensely. I tend to be an informal humanist, and as IB pointed out.. humanism takes on a myriad of meanings and it doesn’t in the least require a disassociation with spirituality.
My original reply to you was simply a knee jerk on my part that you seem to languish in finding fault with humanity. Blame it on Covid. Oh, wait.. the devil made me do it!
@Doug
Flip Wilson you are not.
God is a spiritual being who created everyone and everything. You can tend to find whatever you want, but we don’t define God’s existence; He defines our existence.
Because God knows and loves each of us personally, we can have a personal relationship with Him, or we can choose to separate our self from Him. When we choose separation, we consign our self to Hell. Because Hell is a horrible choice, God has commanded Christians to preach the Gospel. Because Love is a choice, Hell is a choice, however. So, God has not commanded Christians to persecute unbelievers.
God does not seem to make a practice of stopping us from doing whatever it is we want to do. Therefore, some people do awful things, and they say they are doing it in God’s name. That is why it is important to carefully study the Bible. We each need to know for ourselves what God has commanded. Otherwise, some of our scheming brothers and sisters will misrepresent the Word of God.
Here is what I think of Humanism =>https://citizentom.com/2021/04/23/what-does-a-counterfeit-look-like/comment-page-1/#comment-100531
Speaking of humanism having anti-Christ elements to your point… I’m recalling the scene in the Pacino/Keanu movie, THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE… Pacino’s “Milton” is a human personification of Satan-on-Earth… Keanu’s “Kevin”, a successful lawyer, is soon to learn he is “Milton’s” offspring on Earth… in this scene he is being in denial of “Satan”..
MILTON:
Who are you carrying all those bricks for anyway? God? Is that it? God? Why I’ll tell you…
…let me give you a little inside information about God.
God likes to watch. He’s a prankster. Think about it. He gives man… instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do? I swear, for his own amusement… …his own private, cosmic…gag reel… He sets the rules in opposition. It’s the goof of all time!
Look, but don’t touch. Touch, but don’t taste. Taste, but don’t swallow. And while you’re jumping from one foot to the next, what is He doing?
He’s laughing his sick, f****** ass off!
He’s a tightass!
He’s a sadist!
He’s an absentee landlord! Worship that? Never!
KEVIN:
“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven,” is that it?
MILTON:
Why not?
I’m here on the ground with my nose in it since the whole thing began! I’ve nurtured every sensation man has been inspired to have! I cared about what he wanted and I never judged him! Why? Because I never rejected him, in spite of all his imperfections!
I’m a fan of man! …I’m a humanist. Maybe the last humanist. Who, in their right mind…
…Kevin, could possibly deny… …that the twentieth century was entirely mine?
All of it, Kevin! All of it. Mine.
I’m peaking, Kevin.
It’s my time now.
It’s our time.
—————–
Now quite obviously this is a screenwriter’s dialog to present a movie fiction… performed powerfully well by Pacino… but the point here is that this can be a very valid alt-opinion between the yin/yang of God vs. Satan, or rather an argument against organized religion. I personally do not think of God in the context that that there’s some human struggle between “Him” and the “powers” of Satan as some metaphor for the nastier side of human behavior. But my opinion matters not.
@Doug
I gather you thought movie entertaining, but not worth taking seriously.
Satan’s pride condemned him. The quote, “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven,” is from “Paradis Lost,” by John Milton. I wonder if that is how they decided to name their devil.
You have a habit of saying your opinion does not matter. It matters to God, and that should be enough.
To your last sentence… I absolutely agree, and is much to my point.
@Doug
I was not going to bother, but it is too easy. It is also kind of funny. I did not accuse the American Humanist Association of anything except the obvious, phoniness. They have so much empathy and humility they took an award they gave to Dawkins over two decades ago away from him merely because he thinks biological sex has more significance than what we might desire to be true. But I am being hateful? Unscientific?
Do a little research on their website. The American Humanist Association stands in opposition to Christianity. That is why the organization exists. The American Humanist association has no trouble suing the government so as to force Christians out of the public square because we have the temerity to believe in Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, the American Humanist Association worships man. Even though that is as silly as worshiping a sacred cow, they are not bashful about defending their sacred cow. Since a sacred cow is a silly thing to worship, what is wrong with pointing the silliness of worshipping a sacred cow? Nothing! Of course.
https://www.google.com/search?q=school+choice+site%3Aamericanhumanist.org&source=hp&ei=wQmDYPquB4Ln-gTOnqSIAg&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYIMX0Va9KV7KOyjqudXDvvcEB96WI5m6&oq=school+choice+site%3Aamericanhumanist.org&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6CAgAEOoCEI8BOgIIADoICAAQBxAKEB46BAgAEA1Q-AJYjWZgv2hoAXAAeACAAeMCiAGFJJIBCDAuMTUuNy4xmAEAoAECoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdperABCg&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwi6k9zc95TwAhWCs54KHU4PCSEQ4dUDCAo&uact=5
https://www.google.com/search?q=Christian+site%3Aamericanhumanist.org&source=hp&ei=gAmDYP_vDsT1-gSumJWIAg&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYIMXkMvt9guadPmm_J9RfK1swmqhJJrf&oq=Christian+site%3Aamericanhumanist.org&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6CAgAEOoCEI8BOggIABCxAxCDAToLCC4QsQMQxwEQowI6DgguELEDEIMBEMcBEKMCOgIIADoRCC4QsQMQgwEQxwEQowIQkwI6BQgAELEDOgUILhCxAzoICC4QsQMQgwE6AgguOgsILhCxAxCDARCTAjoICC4QsQMQkwI6CAguEMcBEK8BOgUIABDJAzoFCAAQkgM6BAguEAo6BggAEBYQHlDUQVjndGCphAFoA3AAeACAAc8HiAGWLJIBDTAuOC4xLjIuMC4xLjOYAQCgAQGgAQKqAQdnd3Mtd2l6sAEK&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwj_r-S995TwAhXEup4KHS5MBSEQ4dUDCAo&uact=5
Good post, Tom! Thanks for the mention. I had a chuckle over some of those commitments, too.
Humanism is hard to define because the definition is always changing but it often follows the idea that, “people are basically good and that problems can be solved using reason.” That’s a sneaky counterfeit because I like solving problems with reason and celebrating the goodness of people. It takes a bit of humility, but the Bible tells us a more accurate truth, “you people are totally depraved and kind of crazy.” That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just means that a bit like children, we need a Father, a Savior.
@insanitybytes22
Glad you liked the post.
I think the key to understanding humanism is the belief that man can perfect himself. I think that is where all these Utopian notions of government come from.
Of course, man cannot perfect himself. We have enough trouble making each other leave each other in peace. That is why the Utopias quickly become dystopian. It seems that those who would have us believe they wish to perfect us actually wish to enslave us so that they might have the perfect life.
Amen Tom, I agree! Loving others is so not for the faint of heart and I think we really need Jesus to make it work.
A bit funny that there really are grown people walking around who think they are perfect in their own selves and therefore easy for others to get along with….except when one of their own doesn’t comply with their expectations in which case you just have to kick him out and revoke his humanist credentials. 🙂
@insanitybytes22
When we insist upon making everything about me, myself, and I, we begin to lose the ability to see ourselves as others see us. At that point, we don’t want to see ourselves as God sees us.