For centuries, religion has helped structure our society. Organized religion has provided hope to folks in difficult times. It has motivated people to be “good people,” to do the “right thing.” And of course, the belief in God has created a simple explanation for why we are here, with the promise of a desirable afterlife if we follow the religious teachings.
But from a 21st century perspective, we appear far too knowledgeable as a species to still have the majority believe and follow an organized religion. The social construct of religion can have positive benefits, certainly, but those benefits in the end feel outweighed by the cons.
For instance, religion claims that it pushes people to be better, but this claim is only so successful with the leverage of getting into heaven. This instills the idea of doing moral things for a personal benefit, not to just obtain morality, creating a culture of selfish behavior. And when heaven isn’t providing enough motivation, fear tactics work wonders—the leverage of going to hell.
Who does fear work on most? Children. Preachers know this, they use this, and it’s effective. Teaching a child religion as fact, instead of as a theory, makes it very successful to create a large percentage of religious people in society. Furthermore, if tactics like brainwashing and fear mongering are so often being used, if they are necessary for the success of followers, maybe organized religion doesn’t stand strong enough on its own, at least not anymore.
A more positive element used in religion is faith, however it’s important to note that faith and strong beliefs are needed specifically when the story isn’t true. Meaning, if something is backed up by facts and evidence you simply don’t need faith, you don’t need to believe. It’s just… known.
Facts, in the modern age, are stronger than faith. Evidence is stronger than belief. Secularitsis understand this, which is why the first secular commitment is to the truth.
Why Secularism
Secularism can be defined by the negation of religion, and secularists can be defined by what they don’t believe in: namely, a god or gods. However, secularism is so much more than a hollow definition of non-believing.
On the contrary, secularism is a very positive and active view of the world, defined by a coherent code of values rather than by its opposition to this or that religion.
Some secular values are even shared by various religious traditions. Yet there is a big difference between religion and secularism. That is, secularists don’t believe that wisdom and morality came down from heaven in one particular place in time. Rather they view morality and wisdom as the natural legacy of all humans.
Secularism is largely organized by three commitments. The first is to the truth. Secularists do not dedicate the truth to one person or book, they dedicate truth wherever it reveals itself. For example, in the study of ancient fossilized bones, in images of far-off galaxies, in the tables of statistical data, in results of scientific experience, or in the writing of various human traditions.
The second leading commitment of secular people is compassion. Secular ethics relies not on obeying the ethics of this or that god, but rather on a deep appreciation of suffering. For example, secular people abstain from murder, not because some ancient book forbids it, but because killing inflicts immense suffering on human beings. There is actually something deeply troubling about people who avoid killing just because God says not to. Such people are motivated by obedience, rather than secularists who are motivated by compassion.
How do secular people decide whether to endorse or oppose rape, homosexuality, bestiality, and incest? They do this by examining feelings. Rape is obviously unethical, not because it breaks some divine commandment, but because it hurts people.
In contrast, a loving relationship between two men harms no one so there’s no reason to forbid it. Often in arguments or debates about gay marriage someone may ask, “If a marriage between two men is okay, why not allow marriage between a man and a goat?”
From a secular perspective the answer is obvious. Healthy relationships require emotional, intellectual, and even spiritual depth. A marriage lacking such depth will make you distraught, lonely and psychologically stunted. Whereas two men can certainly satisfy the emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of each other, a relationship with a goat cannot.
What about incest, how do secularists decide whether to endorse or oppose that? For instance, a relationship between a father and daughter. Numerous psychological studies have demonstrated that such relations inflict immense, and usually irreparable damage on the child. In addition they can intensify destructive tendencies in the parent.
Evolution has shaped the psyche of Homo sapiens in such a way that romantic bonds just don’t mix well with parental bonds. Therefore, you don’t need God or the Bible to reject incest. You just need to read the relevant, psychological studies on the matter.
The third secular commitment is responsibility. Secularists don’t believe in any higher power that takes care of the world, punishes the bad, rewards the just, and protects us all from famine, plague, or war.
Secularists attempt to take full control and responsibility for whatever they do or don’t do. Meaning when they achieve something, they wouldn’t thank God, rather they would credit themselves. In addition, if something terrible were to happen to them, like a beating, or rape, or cancer, they would not have to deal with the shame that for some reason they deserved this because God punished them.
No one should have to go through something traumatic and then feel as if they deserved it. This is exactly the type of burden religion puts on so many people with the expression of God’s plan, reduced to the saying that “everything happens for a reason,” or it’s “God’s will.”
No, everything does not happen for a reason. The world is a cruel place, we know this. Bad things happen to good people, and devastating disasters occur. Random acts of tragedy are not predetermined within God’s plan.
In contrast, if you do something wrongful or hurtful, you should not blame another entity like the devil. You can only blame yourself.
A truly committed secularist would definitely not do this, as responsibility is the third commitment, so they would own up for their actions. They would also strive to not do something hurtful in the first place, because of the second commitment: compassion.
In addition they would not even entertain the thought of blaming actions on a god or a devil because that belief would not be based on observation or evidence, which makes up the first and most important commitment of truth.
For secularists, their destiny remains in their control while still obtaining noble morality.