Lifestance
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A lifestance or life stance 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 lifestance, involving acceptance of a Divine Being. Humanism is an example of a non-theistic life stance, and the term lifestance is widely used by Humanists. Traditional religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism are also lifestances that are largely non-theistic.
A lifestance differs from a worldview or a belief system in that the term lifestance emphasizes a focus on what is of ultimate importance. Lifestance differs from eupraxophy in that the latter typically implies a strictly non-theistic outlook, whereas it is essential that a lifestance can be theistic or non-theistic.
References
- [Need for a term "Life Stance"], International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), 1996.
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