A life stance or lifestance is a person's relation with what he or she accepts as of ultimate importance, the commitments and presuppositions of this, and the theory and practice of working it out in living.

The term encompasses both religions and alternatives to religion, without discrimination between them. The term was introduced out of a concern that the lack of non-discriminatory terminology could contribute to a failure to protect the rights of those with a life stance not corresponding to a traditional religion. In particular, the term "non-believer" has sometimes been used to refer to those not associated with traditional religions, misleadingly conveying a lack of convictions equal in depth to those of religious adherents.

A religion is (typically) a theistic life stance, involving acceptance of a Divine Being. Humanism is an example of a non-theistic, secular life stance, and the term lifestance is widely used by Humanists. Traditional religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism are also life stances that are largely non-theistic. Theism is the belief in one or more gods or goddesses. ... This article discusses Humanism as a non-theistic life stance. ... Nontheism or non-theism is the absence of belief in any gods. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found from Sarnath, near Varanasi. ... Taoism (sometimes written as Daoism) is the English name for: (a) a philosophical school based on the texts the Tao Te Ching (ascribed to Laozi and alternately spelled Dào Dé Jīng) and the Zhuangzi. ... Confucianist temple Thian Hock Keng in Singapore Confucianism (Traditional Chinese: 儒學, Simplified Chinese: 儒学; pinyin: Rúxué [ ], literally The School of the Scholars; or, less accurately, 孔教 Kŏng jiào, The Religion of Confucius) is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the early Chinese sage Confucius. ...

A life stance differs from a worldview or a belief system in that the term life stance or lifestance emphasizes a focus on what is of ultimate importance. Life stance differs from eupraxophy in that the latter typically implies a strictly non-theistic outlook, whereas it is essential that a life stance can be theistic or non-theistic. A world view, also spelled as worldview is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung (look onto the world). The German word is also in wide use in English, as well as the translated form world outlook. ... Eupraxophy or eupraxsophy is a nonreligious lifestance or worldview emphasizing the importance of living an ethical and exuberant life, and relying on rational methods such as logic, observation and science (rather than faith, mysticism or revelation) toward that end. ...

See also

• Humanism (life stance)
• Fellowship of Reason

This article discusses Humanism as a non-theistic life stance. ... The Fellowship of Reason is a moral community based in Atlanta. ...

References

• Need for a term "Life Stance", International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), 1996.