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La Interna Ideo

© David Poulson

"If the first Esperantists patiently put up with constant derision and made great sacrifices...did they all do this for some kind of practical utility? If, as has often happened, people have written to me from their death-beds that Esperanto was their remaining consolation - were they thinking about practical utility? No, no, no! All were thinking of the inner idea of Esperanto, all valued it not because it brings together the minds of men, but their hearts."

Well, a passing reference to the inner idea might do for a speech but Zamenhof knew that more was required. Much more! Even before the Conference, in January 1906, he had published in the Ruslanda Esperantisto a tract entitled "Dogmo de Hilelismo" which was re-published as a pamphlet, in both Russian and Esperanto, later in the year with a new title: Homaranismo .(For information about the Jewish theologian, Hillel, see
http://www.orthodoxunion.org/about/judai... ).

Both the article and the pamphlet were published anonymously and when Zamenhof wrote more about this subject (as he frequently did) he signed himself "Homarano." (In fact, it was not until 1913 that a work on Homaranismo was published, (in Spain), and actually attributed to Dr Zamenhof.

Readers who are fluent Esperantists can download a compressed copy of various texts on Homarismo from this link.
http://www.cs.chalmers.se/~martinw/esper...

Although everything that Zamenhof wrote on this subject is worth reading, the most useful single source is the pamphlet published in 1913. The text is divided into ten sections, each of which describes one fundamental principle of Homaranismo. From this text I have identified twelve main points and although this is a very brief summary, it may suffice to give you an idea of the complete doctrine.

The twelve main points of the Homaranismo manifesto

1. Treat the human race as one family.
2. Let this ideal guide all of your actions.
3. Do not judge any individual according to his racial origin but according to his behaviour and actions.
4. Any country does not belong exclusively to any one racial group but to all of its inhabitants equally.
5. Do not try to force your own language or religious faith on to other people.
6. The concept of humanity should be superior to that of nationality.
7. Define patriotism as service to a regional fraternal community. Never use it to justify hatred towards other people.
8. Language should be considered as a means and not an end in itself.