They thus endorsed a statement that showed concern with civil liberties and social justice, and a preference for reason as the best means of governing public affairs. Although the manifesto called humanism a religion, it also said that humanists see the universe as “self-existing and not created,” and that they expect no “supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values.” A humanist may have “religious emotions,” but these mainly take the form of “a heightened sense of personal life and [a belief] in a cooperative effort to promote social well-being.”
