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If there is life after death, most religions tell us how to live in order to achieve eternal happiness. If there is no life after death, we must seek happiness in the one life we have and come to terms with our inevitable demise. Happiness Our beliefs form an important part of our identity. All of our beliefs are more or less imbued with emotion. Here is a short compilation of videos on death and happiness narrated by Stephen Fry. 2
Labels are useful as long as we don t use them to stereotype people. We are individuals after all. A theist is someone who believes in a god(s) and the consequences of this belief. An atheist does not. That s pretty much all you can say about them. The relationship between a theist and an atheist is similar to a stamp collector and someone who does not collect stamps. There is not much you can say about a person who does not collect stamps. An agnostic believes nothing can be known about the existence of god(s). They live their lives as atheists. A Humanist is an atheist/agnostic who agrees with some basic principles. Humanism exists because of religion. If religion did not exist, we would have ethical societies instead of religious or Humanist organisations. In fact, the BHA used to be called the Union of Ethical Societies. 3
Humanists... use reason and experience to explain the world and solve problems believe in the scientific method and the importance of evidence in testing theories about the world, e.g. evolution, Einstein s theory of general relativity reject the idea of the supernatural because of lack of evidence believe that, in the absence of an afterlife and any discernible purpose to the universe, human beings can act to give their own lives meaning by seeking happiness in this life and helping others to do the same base their moral decisions on reason, empathy, and a concern for human beings, other sentient animals and the environment. Around half of the population are non religious. Many of them are Humanists but may not be aware of the term. 4
Morality is a way of thinking about right and wrong conduct Humanists believe we are descendants of the great apes; they exhibit pre moral sentiments such as altruism (selfless behaviour), cooperation, bonding, empathy, etc. Our acquisition of language, increased social intelligence and thousands of years of collective experience have enabled us to develop complex systems of morality. In contrast to religion, a Humanist approach to morality is based solely on reason and experience. It s guiding principle is consequentialism, where the morality of an act is judged by its consequences. The aim of Humanist morality is to increase happiness and reduce suffering for ourselves and others. The Humanist principles of morality provide a foundation for a universal morality that can be accepted by all rational people. The United Nation s Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are attempts to codify a universal morality. Here is another short video from the British Humanist Association.
Non religious people take part in charitable acts and volunteering to the same degree as religious people. Humanists support Human Rights and Equality, including freedom of belief. Article 18 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights says: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. The British Humanist Association (BHA) represents the interests of Humanists and non religious people generally. Recently successful BHA campaigns include equal marriage and the repeal of blasphemy law. The BHA campaigns for a secular state, one that is neutral regarding religion and belief: disestablishment of the Church of England, removal of the right of Bishops to sit in the House of Lords, converting publicly funded faith schools to fully inclusive community schools, ending compulsory worship in schools, ending religious discrimination in the workplace, public services and chaplaincy, and so on. The BHA trains and manages a successful and growing network of celebrants who conduct baby namings, marriages and funerals. 6
Humanism needs to be taught in all of our schools as a positive alternative to religion. So called Religious Education, RE, in England is biased towards religion and varies across the country. WSCC s locally agreed RE syllabus now includes Humanism, but advises schools that they only need to teach it where appropriate, giving them an opt out. WSCC has repeatedly blocked Humanist full membership of SACRE. The BHA is campaigning for an unbiased alternative subject to RE such as Philosophy, Culture and Belief, drawn up by independent educators and made part of the National Curriculum to be taught in all schools. The BHA has created and commissioned teaching materials and runs training courses. With an increasing diversity of beliefs, there is a need for dialogue between religious and non religious people, especially concerning the benefits of a secular state. There are three broad types of dialogue. Perhaps CIFN might like to be involved in facilitating dialogue between individual, e.g. through Meetup groups? 7
Is there sufficient interest in setting up Crawley Humanists? I have printed out a few copies of this presentation. It is also available online at www.westsusssexhumanists.org.uk 8
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