Be Reasonable

I'm a humanist and I'm ok

I'm a humanist and a member of the British Humanist Association (BHA). I've identified myself as a humanist since I had the term described to me when I was eighteen, I was already a humanist for some time before that, but didn't know it.

The BHA describes humanism as follows:

"Humanism is an approach to life based on humanity and reason - humanists recognise that moral values are properly founded on human nature and experience alone. Our decisions are based on the available evidence and our assessment of the outcomes of our actions, not on any dogma or sacred text.

Isn't that a wonderful way to live your life? To accept that there's no higher power judging us or telling us what to do. To accept that we must find our own way to live a good life. That morality isn't something set in stone, but something that we must endeavour to improve as we learn more.

Humanism includes atheism but introduces an ethical aspect. The Humanist Manifesto is a not a dogmatic set of principles, instead it captures the current thinking in an evolving world view. There have so far been three versions of the Humanist Manifesto, each taking into account how society has developed and what has been learnt since the previous version.

Humanism is a grown-up lifestance. Humanists accept that just as we are able to look back at those who supported slavery with a sense of moral superiority, future humanists will be able to look back at us with a sense of moral superiority. This encourages us to think about how we could improve our society, for example by eradicating homophobia. We can't just rest on our laurels and believe that if we just follow a particular set of rules then we'll have lived a good life. We have to try harder than that and evolve what it means to live a good life.

Being a humanist makes me feel alive. I know that I have only a limited lifespan and that this life is the real thing, not a rehearsal. I owe it to myself to make the most of it. For me that means achieving personal happiness and fulfilment in the context of aspiring towards a greater quality of life for everyone.

Humanism definitely helps with understanding what personal happiness and fulfilment involves. I've got no higher power to thank or blame for events in my life. That gives me both a sense of empowerment and a sense of responsibility. I don't believe in fate which means that I don't just sit back and wait for things to happen - things happen as a result of the laws of nature and human action. If I want to see a particular outcome then I need to do what I can to influence it, not just sit back and say "well, if it's meant to happen then it will".

Humanism is more demanding than religion. It doesn't give you easy answers, but it does give you the best answers that are available. This makes it far more satisfying.

Christian family values?

I just watched a fascinating episode of American Wife Swap with a southern religious couple and a gay couple. The straight man refused to let his male 'wife' sleep under his roof after some incredibly bigoted advice from his priest ('treat them like lepers'). There was lots of talk from the straight partner in each household about how the bible condemns homosexuality. The swap definitely did some good with the attitude of both straight partners improving during the experience and the wife shedding her prejudices entirely.

Anyone who thinks that Christianity and family values go hand-in-hand should really watch this programme.

The gay couple and their two teenage daughters (via surrogates) were pretty much the ideal family. The parents had good jobs, the daughters were well behaved. The family spent lots of quality time together, shared chores and ate healthily.

Meanwhile, the straight couple and their three sons had some serious problems. Only the mother worked, but the father did very little around the house and spent large amounts of money they couldn't afford on his car. The boys were regularly disciplined with a wooden bat. The trailer they lived in wasn't well looked after and the family were overweight and lived on junk food.

And you're trying to tell me that gay couples shouldn't be allowed to marry because it undermines the family unit.

Gene Robinson: The only gay in a mitre

Gene Robinson, the American Anglican/Episcopal gay bishop is currently visiting the UK. I watched his appearance on the Heaven and Earth show this morning.

I find Robinson's story incredibly sad. The poor guy is the target of real hatred from many quarters of the Christian community, including many in this country.

I know it's easy to say that he's put himself in this position and deserves all he gets, but he does seem to genuinely believe that God has called him to be a bishop. Had he lived in a non-religious society it's extremely unlikely that he would have felt this way, his need to belong and to make a difference would have been expressed in some other way.

Religion causes so much unnecessary suffering in the world due to its warped sense of morality. Intolerance towards homosexuality based on a few paragraphs in the old testament is a prime example.

Gene: You seem like a decent guy, why not drop the religion and become a humanist? We don't accept intolerant attitudes towards homosexuality and humanist organisations have long campaigned for gay rights. (You will have to drop all that God business though.)

Charity and Religion Don't Mix

When I was writing yesterday's post on Alabama 3 I took a look at their website. The band recorded a version of Bob Dylan's Trying to Get to Heaven in order to raise money for victims of hurricane Katrina - the lyrics of the song are very appropriate to that disaster. In light of recent events, they have now changed this so that the proceeds go to victims of the South-East Asia Earthquake.

Great idea, I thought and followed the link. In order to download the song as an mp3, you need to make a donation to victims of the earthquake. Then I read the declaration I needed to sign (it's an honesty system):

I swear by almighty god that I will not download the MP3 file -"Trying to get to heaven" - until I have made a donation to Islamic Relief.

The god reference isn't a problem, based on the bands views I'd say it's ironic. And anyway, the declaration is actually optional (you can download the track without agreeing to it). The bit I have a problem with is the reference to a specific religious charity: Islamic Relief. I doubt if the band were directly involved in choosing the charity but it's still a bit disappointing to see this. Or maybe it was done deliberately to make Christians donate to an Islamic charity?

I don't donate to religious charities at all. Religion and charity do not mix in my book. I want to be absolutely certain that I am not supporting a religious agenda anywhere in the world.

I'm pretty sure Alabama 3 didn't intend to encourage atheists to donate to an Islamic charity so I decided to make a donation to a alternative agency instead. I did a quick search and it seems that the Disaster Emergency Committee is the main umbrella charity collecting donations for the quake appeal. However, many of the member agencies of DEC are religious charities including CAFOD, Christian Aid and Islamic Relief. DEC spends its funds by distributing them to its member organisations. Hmm. I wonder if I've been caught out by this in the past?

I know that both the British Red Cross and Oxfam are secular charities so I went directly to Oxfam and donated there. (You can use the following links to donate via the British Red Cross or Oxfam.)

I wanted to email the Alabama 3 site and ask them to add a secular charity as an alternative, but couldn't find any contact details on the website.

I downloaded the track, which is excellent although it was slightly spoilt by my brain making unpleasant connections between the sentiment of "Trying to get to Heaven" and Islam.

How can a theist be moral?

A couple of things this week have got me thinking about the relationship between religion and morality.

Firstly, a letter to the Guardian included the following: "... if there is no God, why should I be moral? Arguably, this question is more embarrassing for atheists than for theists. In a world with God, we cannot attain our happiness without loving God, and therefore obeying God's commands. In a world without God, however, moral standards are nothing more than merely abstract ideals. And why should I be bound by that sort of ideal if there is no such being? Any serious defence of secular morality must face up to this challenge." A quick google shows that there are plenty of people genuinely asking this question.

Secondly, there was a BBC News article describing how a mullah tried to prevent the daytime preparation of food for earthquake survivors because it broke the rules of Ramadan. I just don't see how anyone can think that morality must come from religion or is even compatible with religion. Here are a few reasons why:

1) Doing things because you think you'll be rewarded in the afterlife is not my idea of morality. As Ricky Gervais said "Being an atheist makes someone a clearer thinking, fairer person. They [atheists] are not doing things to be rewarded in heaven; they're doing things because they're right, because they live by a moral code."

2) Religious folks often pick and choose the bit of their religious texts that most closely match their own sense of morality. This is why we find Christians who are pro-choice and in favour of gay rights and other Christians who are anti-choice and homophobic. In this case morality is not coming from religion, instead religion is being used to reinforce morality.

3) To my mind, religious texts often promote a code of conduct that I would describe as immoral. Take a look at the  if you need reminding of the truely awful morality of the Bible.

4) Many modern day ethical issues are not addressed in ancient religious texts. For example the bible does not explain under which circumstances gene therapy can be applied. Anyone trying to use religion to address such issues is in the realm of interpretation. How can anyone think that such an interpretation is preferable to having an informed debate based on the facts?

5) The idea that people need a 'carrot and stick' ideology in order to behave well is flawed. Atheists clearly do live by a moral code. The reason they do this is a combination of human nature and    the society in which they participate. Instead of asking 'What would Jesus do?', we ask 'What should I do based on the knowledge I have?'. Falling back on religion is a lazy attitude to morality, it gives people an excuse not to think about difficult issues.

I find the impact that religious 'morality' is having on modern society frightening. I'm fed up with religion being brought into discussions on important ethical issues such as euthanasia (see Polly Toynbee's article in the Guardian on this topic).

I find it disappointing that there are religious people who even need to ask the question 'How can an atheist be moral?' I suggest they take some time properly consider the question 'How can a theist be moral?'