What does it mean to be a radical humanist Quaker?
Humanism is an orientation to spirituality which generally rejects most traditional conceptions of “God” in favour of a more “rationalistic” or “scientific” approach to understanding the universe and our role in it.
Radical humanists recognise that the universe is not as unidimensional as we might think. Radical humanists recognise the reality and validity of individual religious and spiritual experiences, even when these cannot be explained by our current scientific worldview.
Radical humanist Quakers hold onto a concept of God that does not defy the laws of physics or direct history. Like everything else in our universe, this God evolves. And just as life itself evolved out of non-living ingredients, so a supra-human consciousness beyond our comprehension can evolve – and we believe is evolving – out of mere human ingredients.