Secular Humanism

[Rincewind]

Some good points here. I'm not entirely converted yet but it's better than the alternative and closer to my way of thinking.

Decide for yourselves - it's your right.

[Houdini Logic]

Would love to be part of it, but sadly I hate people too much

[Rincewind]

Just reading all the pages and stuff on it. It's religion without the stories and miracles. Joined the BHA Twitter and facebook pages and following RD. Theres a good part in that article which could apply to conspiracy therorists as well as religious people.

Using samex marriage as an example it says as soon as the other person brings religion into it saying its wrong Because God says its immoral you may as well shut up because they are not going to change their minds even if presented with a 1000 page document showing the benifits. I may not agree with SSM's but I would not want to stop them because of my view.

That may be an extreme examples but there are many things where an rgument is killed off when religion enters the argument.

[21st Century Fox]

I liked it on Newsnight last night when Jeremy Paxman asked Richard Dawkins whether the comfort that religion brings people should be taken into consideration over the cold facts of science and he just replied "Well one's true and one's false". Brilliant.

[ozleicester]

I wouldnt be a part of any group that would have me as a member.

[21st Century Fox]

I wouldnt be a part of any group that would have me as a member.

[Rincewind]

What gets me is that some people believe in things that happened over 5000 years ago because they are in some religious text yet if a bloke was to run down the street wearing just a blanket shouting I am Jesus and I have returned' they would say that he was a nutter and should be locked up.

Just imagine the Mary and Joseph story in modern times.

Mary to Joseph. Joe I am pregnant.

Joseph WHAT How we haven't slept together for six months. Whose is it.

Mary: Well funny you should ask me that darling. The other week when you were at the football match, this angel came down and said I would be visited by God who would impregnate me and the child would grow up to be the savior of the world.

Joseph: Jesus Christ. Well Did he?

Mary: Yes and it was the best sexual experience I have ever had.

Joseph: Oh well if its the son of God and the savior of all mankind I suppose its OK. But whos name are you going to put down as father on the birth cetificate?

[Simmsy]

That article expresses my views really well. I'd probably class myself as agnostic so have no problems with religion as such, but I think that if you can't express an opinion in a secular way then it's not really your own opinion.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

I wouldnt be a part of any group that would have me as a member.

That is your best ever post.

[ozleicester]

That is your best ever post.

Thanks, but... i stole it from the wonderful Groucho Marx

[Rincewind]

It costs £35 to join £20 for concessions. Going to have to look more into it.. Went for some get back to work help centre.

The advisor was the same woman that gave an interview skills course at another place. She is a muslim. very nice person and helpful. She had a scarf but no veil. I had to fill an application form in and there was a section for stating religion Secular Humanism wasnt listed so I put none. Maybe it should also be a choice.

Anyway test yourself. I

Do you agree with the following statements?

1. Scientific and other evidence is the best way of understanding the universe, not religious belief.

2. Right and wrong can be explained by human nature alone and do not require religious teaching.

3. What is right and wrong depends on the effects on people and the consequences for society and the world.

A recent MORI poll for the British Humanist Association showed that over a third of the UK population (17 million people) agree with the sentiments above. Yet in many important areas of social and public life these views are under-represented, or worse they are being misrepresented.

The above statements reflect a few key principles of Humanism and if they also reflect your personal beliefs, please support us.

I

[acooling08]

Why do you want to belong to any major group, religious or otherwise?

[Rincewind]

Not sure really. Good question. I suppose its with all the religious threads it got me thinking as to where my thoughts lay. I said in another thread that if I was going to follow anything ite would not have to involve miracles etc and this is close to that. So you could say I'm an unbaptised SH.

[BlueSi13]

I liked it on Newsnight last night when Jeremy Paxman asked Richard Dawkins whether the comfort that religion brings people should be taken into consideration over the cold facts of science and he just replied "Well one's true and one's false". Brilliant.

Ahh yes "The Gospel According to Richard Dawkins", the poster boy of atheism who splitters, spluffs, and flutters about aimlessly when somebody dares suggest to him that he himself might be wrong, and not those who believe in divine power. The man who desperately attempts to belittle those with faith by preaching to anybody that will listen that there is no evidence whatsoever that "god" exists, but fails to realise that there isn't a bit of concrete evidence to suggest that a divine force doesn't exist either.

In my experience the people that are the loudest, most blinkered, and aggressive when it comes to opinions on religion are atheists, and not those with faith in a spiritual force. I've also noticed that many atheists like to believe in an imaginary war between science and organised religion, as an engineer myself would it surprise them that a surprisingly high percentage of scientists and engineers hold deep rooted religious beliefs? In essence, so far, the more questions science answers, a greater number of questions arise.

Now i am not a particularly religious person, but the popular atheism = cool & progressive, religion = uncool & backward position many take does wind me up. There are arguments for both, but for either side to dismiss the other is wrong in my opinion.

[Rincewind]

Scientific facts are cool myths and legends are fun to read but are just fiction told and retold over many milleniums. Fossiles have been found predating fthe story of creation by billions of years. I know it is an impossible task to convince some people that there are many flaws in these stories dispite all the evidence put forward.

What winds me up is that from the day we are born our days are governed by religion of one sort or another. Baptism, Christening school assembley, wedding death. There are bishops in the House of Lords. Religious teaching is part of the cirriculum. Religion is passed down by families. Choice is not an option. Freedom of thought is not an option if you are born into a religious family.

But religion is not needed to live good lives, caring and respecting one another. It is by human nature to do this. We don't need a figurehead. Lets have a society where we take people for what they are not whether they follow the right religion.

[somebum]

Ahh yes "The Gospel According to Richard Dawkins", the poster boy of atheism who splitters, spluffs, and flutters about aimlessly when somebody dares suggest to him that he himself might be wrong, and not those who believe in divine power. The man who desperately attempts to belittle those with faith by preaching to anybody that will listen that there is no evidence whatsoever that "god" exists, but fails to realise that there isn't a bit of concrete evidence to suggest that a divine force doesn't exist either.

In my experience the people that are the loudest, most blinkered, and aggressive when it comes to opinions on religion are atheists, and not those with faith in a spiritual force. I've also noticed that many atheists like to believe in an imaginary war between science and organised religion, as an engineer myself would it surprise them that a surprisingly high percentage of scientists and engineers hold deep rooted religious beliefs? In essence, so far, the more questions science answers, a greater number of questions arise.

Now i am not a particularly religious person, but the popular atheism = cool & progressive, religion = uncool & backward position many take does wind me up. There are arguments for both, but for either side to dismiss the other is wrong in my opinion.

Expertly put. I was going to write at length on this after reading that Dawkins quote but to be honest just about everything you wrote here sums up my own way of thinking on it. I guess I would just like to add that some people have just swapped one God for another; like you said Dawkins is the poster boy of the it crowd who think they know the mysteries of the universe in their mid 20's.

[ousefox]

RIchard Dawkins

[21st Century Fox]

Ahh yes "The Gospel According to Richard Dawkins", the poster boy of atheism who splitters, spluffs, and flutters about aimlessly when somebody dares suggest to him that he himself might be wrong, and not those who believe in divine power. The man who desperately attempts to belittle those with faith by preaching to anybody that will listen that there is no evidence whatsoever that "god" exists, but fails to realise that there isn't a bit of concrete evidence to suggest that a divine force doesn't exist either.

In my experience the people that are the loudest, most blinkered, and aggressive when it comes to opinions on religion are atheists, and not those with faith in a spiritual force. I've also noticed that many atheists like to believe in an imaginary war between science and organised religion, as an engineer myself would it surprise them that a surprisingly high percentage of scientists and engineers hold deep rooted religious beliefs? In essence, so far, the more questions science answers, a greater number of questions arise.

Now i am not a particularly religious person, but the popular atheism = cool & progressive, religion = uncool & backward position many take does wind me up. There are arguments for both, but for either side to dismiss the other is wrong in my opinion.

I've never seen Richard Dawkins 'preaching' to anyone who wasn't there to hear him. He does admit that Science can't disprove a divine force but the evidence against it far outweighs there being one.

I assume that would have something to do with religion being forced down peoples throats for thousands of years and it encroaching on our everyday lives still. Now science has got to a point where its able to un-blinker enough people to see past myth, fair enough that people finally want a voice against it.

Atheists have no reason to care whether other people believe in religion, there's nothing telling them that anyone who doesn't follow there path are any less worthy than they are, religion on the other hand. Seems like a rather sweeping generalisation to tar all Atheists with the same brush, just as it would be to claim all Christians are anti-gay, anti-abortion zealots.

[Rincewind]

Agreed. I would not condem some one to everlasting torment in the afterlife for not being an athiest. Athiests do not distinguish between religions. They see the stories that are passed down for just that stories. They see the universe as a mystery of science and discovery. New discoveries are being found all the time expanding our knowledge of life the universe and everything.

[Webbo]

Atheists have no reason to care whether other people believe in religion, there's nothing telling them that anyone who doesn't follow there path are any less worthy than they are

Why do they never shut up about it then?

[21st Century Fox]

Why do they never shut up about it then?

Because I'm one of those A*hole Atheists who don't, although I don't remember telling anyone they'll be damned.

I tend not to talk about it any where that isn't appropriate. I'd assume by clicking on a thread called Secular Humanism you weren't expecting a discussion on ballet.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off down to the city centre with my megaphone.

[Rincewind]

Went to the City Centre today. There were some of the God Squad there. Jesus is the Son of God and he will save you etc.

I walked by and told them to get a life. They are so annoying

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Thanks, but... i stole it from the wonderful Groucho Marx

O.M.G. You're a thief! Disgusting!

[BlueSi13]

Went to the City Centre today. There were some of the God Squad there. Jesus is the Son of God and he will save you etc.

I walked by and told them to get a life. They are so annoying

You tell a group of people who preach the messages of Jesus (which in case you don't know were love, respect, non-violence, tolerance, forgiveness, and to see the goodness in other religions, peoples and cultures) to get a life? Shameful But if it made you feel like a bigger man somehow then good for you.

I wonder what your reaction would be if you were out campaigning peacefully for something you believe in...say this Secular Humanoids thing or whatever its called...and a person who doesn't have a clue what you stand for said the same thing to you...anger or pity?

[BlueSi13]

Scientific facts are cool myths and legends are fun to read but are just fiction told and retold over many milleniums. Fossiles have been found predating fthe story of creation by billions of years. I know it is an impossible task to convince some people that there are many flaws in these stories dispite all the evidence put forward.

What winds me up is that from the day we are born our days are governed by religion of one sort or another. Baptism, Christening school assembley, wedding death. There are bishops in the House of Lords. Religious teaching is part of the cirriculum. Religion is passed down by families. Choice is not an option. Freedom of thought is not an option if you are born into a religious family.

But religion is not needed to live good lives, caring and respecting one another. It is by human nature to do this. We don't need a figurehead. Lets have a society where we take people for what they are not whether they follow the right religion.

You do realise the prophets worshiped in all the major religions actually existed right? The holy books tell of their stories, experiences and their interpretations. How do you know what is written in those books are fictional tales? Your presuming.

Like it or not religion has been humanities glue for all time, it has provided the basis for all of our laws and customs, it is more engrained into us then you might think. All atheists would do is replace one god with another and follow the exact same rules. But everybody has choice, i come from a religious family, yet nothing was ever forced into me, i was allowed to make my own choices and to interpret things my own way.

As long as the questions regarding our reasons for sentient existence, and what lies beyond after we pass, the existence of the divine can never be discounted.