🕊️ Compassionate Humanist Audit: Expanded Ethical Alignment Review
This audit was triggered by the rescoping of the original source document, to exclude follow-up conversation that led to skew into the questioner’s beliefs.
This is not a rebrand. It is a practice — a pause to ask whether the public-facing articulation of Compassionate Humanism still reflects the soul of the movement.
Guiding questions:
- Does this content still reflect our core values?
- Have we slipped into tribal language or subtle gatekeeping?
- Are we welcoming difference — or centering ourselves too narrowly?
- Have we confused certainty with clarity?
- Are we modeling the compassion we ask of others?
✅ 1. Fidelity to Core Values
Verdict: Deeply aligned.
- Compassion over certainty is upheld across all pages.
- Shared values above shared metaphysics is consistently affirmed.
- Spiritual openness is embraced without coercion or hierarchy.
- Ethical action and humility are elevated above abstraction.
- Mystery is honored alongside reason.
✅ 2. Language & Tone: Inclusivity vs. Gatekeeping
Verdict: Warm and inclusive overall. One minor caution.
- Most content avoids tribalism and welcomes difference.
- However, the metaphor of a “sworn enemy” (in the Anatomy section) could be misread as combative. While internally clarifying, it may benefit from softening or footnoting for broader audiences.
✅ 3. Openness to Difference
Verdict: Well-executed.
- Multiple sections affirm the coexistence of theism, atheism, and uncertainty.
- The Manifesto and FAQ are especially strong here.
- However, one concern emerged:
🚩 Narrow Lens in Belonging Page: The current “triggering story” frames the audience as ex-religious but still prayerful — subtly excluding those who remain inside faith traditions, or those who never had one to leave.
💡 Recommendation: Introduce multiple archetypal stories reflecting the broader movement — e.g., mystics, cultural healers, bridge-builders, and ethical atheists.
✅ 4. Clarity Without Certainty
Verdict: Modeled well.
- Final answers are not claimed.
- Clarity comes from direction and values, not metaphysical absolutes.
- Ethical conviction is paired with epistemic humility.
✅ 5. Modeling Compassion
Verdict: Strong alignment.
- Tone is empathetic and generous.
- Critique is directed at systems and ideas, not people.
- Architecture reflects openness: no membership tests, sliding-scale resources, etc.
🔍 Additional Refinements
1. “People Like You” Framing (Belonging): Currently centers a very specific spiritual wound. ➡️ Recommendation: Reframe invitation as open to those in, out of, or beyond religion.
2. Inspirational Thinkers: The list mostly reflects liberal religious and humanist voices. ➡️ Recommendation: Expand to include decolonial, indigenous, or post-theist thinkers like Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Valerie Kaur, John O’Donohue, Resmaa Menakem, and others.
✅ Final Summary
The site is ethically aligned, spiritually open, and directionally clear.
Most importantly, it invites correction — a hallmark of honest practice. This audit finds Compassionate Humanism to be living its values, not just naming them.
May this serve as a mirror and a compass — keeping the work honest, evolving, and alive.