Charles Francis Potter
From Philosopedia.org
Potter, Charles Francis (28 Oct 1885 – 4 Oct 1962)
Potter, author of The Story of Religion (1929), founded in 1929 the First Humanist Society of New York City, which met Sundays in Manhattan’s Steinway Hall on 57th Street. Included on its advisory board were Harry Elmer Barnes, Don Bate, L. M. Birkhead, Albert Boni, Edward M. Borchard, E. A. Burtt, Ira D. Cardiff, John Dewey, John H. Dietrich, Will Durant, Albert Einstein, William Floyd, Edwin Franko Goldman, Lawrence Gould, Irwin D. Hoffmann, Julian Huxley, Helen Keller, James H. Leuba, Robert Morss Lovett, Clarence H. Low, Thomas Mann, George E. O’Dell, Hugh Robert Orr, John Herman Randall Jr., George W. Ra/Users/wasm/Desktop/UUsppleyea, Oliver L. Reiser, Roy Wood Sellars, Herbert Bayard Swope, Oswald Garrison Villard, Eva Ingersoll Wakefield, Sherman Wakefield, and Albert Edward Wiggam.
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On Humanism
Dr. Potter wrote extensively concerning his philosophy, about which he wrote the following:
- Humanism is not only belief in the possibility of the slow and steady self-improvement of the would-be-human race, individually and socially, without any assistance from alleged celestial super-persons, but it is also the intelligent implementation of that belief by co-operation with groups and agencies working toward that end.
A tireless popularizer of the Humanist movement and publicist for the liberal cause generally, he started as a Baptist but, when church leaders questioned his theological views, found it necessary to convert to Unitarianism.
In 1923–1924, he came into national prominence by engaging in a series of debates with the Baptist fundamentalist leader John R. Straton over the issues of biblical fundamentalism. Soon thereafter he served as a defense team expert in the famous Scopes trial on evolution, for the theological war between liberalism and fundamentalism expanded in the 1920s. Potter rejected the doctrine that “the chief end of man is to glorify God” and declared instead that man should strive “to improve himself, both as an individual and as a race.”
His ethically centered religion of growth rejected supernaturalism in religion. The weddings he performed were unique at that time in that the bride and groom, rather than repeating others’ vows, had to devise their own. When Potter mentioned the cross, he referred to Benjamin Franklin’s kite:
- One symbol typifies salvation by sacrifice; the other, service by science.
Individuals attending his lectures for the first time were warned,
- What I will say will be devoid of fairy-tales about angels, demons, devils, or gods, for mine is a faith in man and a belief in man’s capabilities for improving individuals and society as a whole by the slow, steady improvement of human personality.
Interests and Writings
In 1938, he was a founder of the Euthanasia Society of America. Potter’s works included Was Christ Both God and Man? (1924), Humanist Sermons (1927), Humanism, A New Religion (1930), Humanist Religion (1931), Humanizing Religion (1933), The Meaning of Humanism (1945, 1972),The Lost Years of Jesus Revealed (1948), Creative Personality: The Next Step in Evolution (1950), and The Preacher and I: An Autobiography (1951).
As a contributing editor to The Humanist Newsletter (September-October 1953), Potter wrote:
- Humanism is an adult American religion for mature minds. The humanist has outgrown belief in fairy-tales about angels, demons, devils, or gods. In place of faith in miracles and the supernatural, his interest is in the slow steady improvement of human personality, both his own and that of other people. He recognizes that theology has been superseded by psychology, sociology, creative art, and scientific education.
He has long since abandoned the idea of the creation of the world and man by a primitive tribal deity 4000 years ago, and believes instead in evolution, not as a mere scientific theory, but as a life process of which he is a part and which he and his fellow men are learning to direct intelligently in order to produce a better world. Humanism is a new positive constructive emphasis in religion. Whether a man believes or disbelieves n God is not so important today as to believe in man.
Impact
Edwin H. Wilson credited Potter with realizing the worldwide potential of humanism and of the value of obtaining prestigious names. “I had a talk about humanism with Sec’y [Cordell] Hull in February,” Potter might say casually in a letter, “an appointment arranged by F.D.R. himself after he read my sermon in the N.Y. Times. Dr. Borchard of Yale, expert on International Law often consulted by Hull and Roosevelt, who went to Lima and back with Hull, is a member of our society here, and has been talking humanism to them. Several other administration men are humanists,” Potter added. In the same letter to Wilson he said, “Dr. Har Dayal of India and London, a splendid scholar who could lecture fluently in eight languages, spoke for me here on ‘Why I Am A Humanist,’ and joined our society, but, alas, he just died of a heart attack. Auer was down last week and we had a long session, discussing the manifesto. Burtt is speaking for me next Sunday, and I will talk with him about it. Aronson speaks for me the 30th. . . .”
Potter was well acquainted with many, and his zeal for humanism was apparent to all. However, Wilson includes caustic references to Potter by some of the “meticulous academic men” involved with the writing of Humanist Manifesto I. Raymond Bragg, for example, was concerned that because of Potter’s “flare for publicity” humanism might become too exclusively identified with him rather than with the American Humanist Association.
For the Merriam-Webster company, Potter wrote several definitions, including one for “humanism” which the dictionary used. Unfortunately, he reported later, he had used the words “perfectibility of mankind” rather than “improvability of mankind” as a humanistic goal.
ESP
To Warren Allen Smith’s surprise, the charismatic and jovial Dr. Potter and his wife enjoyed putting on ESP demonstrations at their Hotel Ansonia apartment in Manhattan, she in an adjacent room and unable to see certain cards drawn from a deck. Whether or not she bettered the mathematical odds for such, their interest in the subject was unexpected. It was a time when even the dedicated skeptics were intrigued by parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine’s experiments.
Correspondence
See the correspondence Potter had with Warren Allen Smith.
(See the entry for Ida M. Mellen).
