This page has a bunch of questions we are trying to answer
in this site.
At the bottom there are some more comments on whether we can
have a sensible discussion on religion, then a high level view of the 8 main
parts of these beliefs.
To cut to the chase, click on “Next Page” above.
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Are you trying to work out what to believe, how to behave, what is truth, justice and the correct way to live? Are you concerned about conflict in religion and politics, the clash of civilizations, terrorism, and religious fanatics? Or that the country (or the world) may be taken over by religious zealots (or godless atheists) who will destroy all that is good? Do you have trouble understanding history, why people are so evil, why is there so much conflict between all sorts of ethnic, religious and national groups? Should we all hate the Americans, the Chinese, the Jews, the Muslims, the capitalists, the communists, the oligarchs, the bunch next door, the others? Are you wondering what political party you should support? Will we all be ruined if the opposition party comes to power, as the government predicts? Should you support Green Peace or donate to the Society of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, or anyone else, or is it a waste of time and money? |
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Are you lost in the maze of science and technology, confused by all the pseudo-science and plain fraud? Are you uncertain about what really is scientifically proved, how it all fits together, or how to integrate new facts into what you already know? Do you have a religious background, but find it harder to believe? Are you feeling lost, because without religion there is nothing left of value, nothing good, nothing to live for? Do have doubts about your religious leaders, but don’t know what to think? Do you have trouble explaining your religious or spiritual experiences or practice in a modern sceptical world? Do you have the feelings but not the words? Does your spiritual life or your conviction that there is goodness and justice and value make you think there must be a god, even if you see no other reason for it? |
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Should we ask more sinister questions, such as: Are our political leaders deceiving just us or themselves as well? Are they really as aware, competent and honest as they say they are? How can they stuff things up so much if they are really trying not to, unless they are selfish or corrupt? Is the media really telling us the whole truth, or just the part that they think will be popular? Is the media beguiled into thinking trivial things matter because of its own need to attract audiences so they can sell advertising revenue? Do we measure a TV show’s success by its audience size, how long it runs for, or by its truth and accuracy? Are oil companies and multi-national companies in general destroying the environment and devastating local indigenous populations, just for profit? Are the aliens really out to get us? |
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Can we address
all these issues in one “book”. Well,
yes, but it’ll be a big book – a bit like an encyclopaedia, a summary of all
the relevant areas!
Is all religion irrational?
Many
people think that religion has to be irrational, but that is incorrect. The Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed, and their
early followers, all believed their religion was rational, even if they didn’t
use the word. Many religious believers
today are willing to explain why they think their beliefs should be followed by
others, appealing to reason and the evidence.
Opponents of religion disagree with the reasoning and dispute the
evidence. These disagreements can be
discussed calmly, rationally and politely – discussing the reasoning and the
evidence, not attacking the person.
Other religious believers today acknowledge that the
primary source of their beliefs is revelation.
These people believe that what was said by a teacher, or what is written
in a sacred book, is literally true, not just a story with a moral, and, for
them, reasoning and considering the evidence must include those “revealed
truths”. To them, the statements in the
sacred book, such as the Torah, the Bible or the Koran, are part of the
evidence. Some of these people feel that
anyone who ignores this evidence must be ignorant or foolish, or at worst,
evil. The reasoning and evidence behind
“revealed truth” must be examined seriously.
Still others base their religion on
experience rather than rational belief.
They adopt an approach, more or less on “faith”, and by following
certain practices perhaps gain insights or the wherewithal to lead a more
fulfilled or better life. Many religions
are based more on ritual and narrative rather than core beliefs. It is reasonable for us to discuss such
approaches and perhaps learn from them.
In
this site we also appeal to reason and the evidence, in a broad sense, as well
as appeal to experience, taking into account emotions and our sometimes
primitive human natures.
Our
focus is on the inescapable need that, in day to day life, we have to make
choices: to be or not to be, to love or not to love, to struggle on or to give
up, to act or to cringe.
An Eight Point Summary
Essentially, the core global beliefs are:
1. We
must accept some degree of uncertainty in all knowledge. We have to understand that the whole idea of
knowing “the truth” and using our “free will” to make life decisions is
actually quite mysterious. In fact there
are inescapable dilemmas involved in seeking the truth and making choices.
We need to accept that our beliefs
may change as our understanding increases or new evidence becomes available or
as our experiences, including emotional or ‘spiritual’ experiences, lead to new
insights.
There
is no reason to believe in things that somehow ‘transcend’ the universe, and we
get no net benefit if we do believe in such things.
Ultimately,
our values, our sense of what is right, and what is beautiful, cannot be
imposed on us from outside, but must come from within: our values reflect the
choices we make and our choices are guided by our values.
As individuals, there are reasonable
grounds to seek and value the truth (acknowledging its uncertainty), to choose
life and love, compassion, justice and mercy.
Beauty is ubiquitous – everywhere – if we choose to see it.
See
more on Philosophy.
2. Science
can explain much about our origins. It
explains how the universe evolved from the big bang, through to galaxies and
the solar system, the beginning of life on Earth and the evolution of humans
and our conscious minds. It helps to
explain why we behave as we do. Science
contributes a major part of the universal narrative, the story, we are part
of.
Science
cannot explain where the universe came from.
Science cannot tell us what our values should be or
how we should behave, but it can provide a lot of
information that helps us to work out what is possible and practical.
See
more on Science.
3. History
can explain how societies evolved, in different directions and at different
rates. The growth of technology,
business and government allows many of us to live more comfortable lives. But with technological advances, as nations
and corporations become more powerful, there is even more need to promote human
rights and protect the environment.
History
shows how often societies and even large civilisations can reach their peak and
suddenly collapse due to overuse of resources.
It provides lessons on individual and social behaviour and which kinds
of governments work best. History
doesn’t give us meaning but it adds a lot more to the
universal narrative, the story, we are part of.
See
more on History.
4. Religion
is humanity’s attempt to find meaning and purpose. Religion is concerned with
our fundamental beliefs about the world, or at least our
fundamental approach to the world, to guide how we
should address it.
We
must acknowledge and take from religion the wisdom it offers. We must acknowledge and leave aside its past
mistakes –false beliefs, false gods, and harmful practices. Wisdom can be found in some religious stories
regardless of whether they are historically true or scientifically valid.
We need to move on to a
sophisticated understanding that allows us to find meaning and purpose and proper values, while still being reasonable, compassionate and merciful. The best of religion adds richness and depth
to our universal narrative, the story, we are part of.
. On
the other hand, many atheists are confused about where their values come
from. Some would like to extract values
from science, but that is misguided.
Values may align with some of our natural tendencies but we still need
to choose to adopt these values, and to justify our choices.
See
more on Religion.
5. In
the wider social context, culture – music, art, dance, literature and movies,
comedy, and the rest – can provide insight, sometimes by confronting us with
strange ideas, sometimes providing specific resolutions to universal problems,
which broaden our perspectives, and thus help us to work out how to respond to
the world. The arts can sometimes
provide an unspeakable experience of something which feels more fundamentally
real than ordinary reality. The arts also often provide simple amusement and
entertainment.
A
key issue is truth, which in the art world is called ‘authenticity’.
Art and culture, transmitted by all
media, pervade all areas of our lives.
The mass media has a special obligation to provide balanced news,
reporting, and entertainment, that fills out and colours our narratives, the
stories, in which we live.
See
more on Art, Media and Culture.
6. As
individuals, there are reasonable grounds for us to seek the truth, to choose
life, love and compassion. We can all share reasonable values:
wonder,
truth, struggle, compassion, respect,
responsibility,
mercy, liberty, equality, diversity, beauty, hope.
These guide our actions in personal
and social contexts.
. We
play our part in the universal narrative through the many roles we adopt (as
children, friends, lovers, spouses, parents, workers, managers, intellectuals,
professionals, citizens, public servants), and the multiple identities we have
(based on age, gender, ethnicity, race, caste, sexual preference, religion or
nationality).
We
can find reasons to hope in family life, friendships, loving relationships,
work, and our shared values based on our common humanity.
See
more on Personal
Practice.
7. These
conclusions subsequently lead on to principles for politics and economic
management. These cannot be based on any
“transcendent” principles but are based on a notion of equality, shared values,
and public reasoning.
These
principles lead on to civil and political rights, economic and social rights,
social justice, business ethics, the rule of law, elected representative
governments, sustainable development, independent support groups and watch
dogs, and a culture of tolerance and compassion.
See
more on Politics.
8. The
totality of these insights from philosophy, science, history, religion, art and
culture, and the associated consequences regarding our personal and political
action provide better explanations and guidelines for our behaviour than
traditional religions. We might, or
might not, want to call these evidence based beliefs a ‘natural rational
religion’. But regardless of what we
call them, these are the basis for leading a reasonable way of life.
See more on A Reasonable Way of Life.
Beliefs are the basis for action – making choices.
Science,
technology and modern management are advancing too rapidly for most of us to
follow, generating cheap consumer goods, and cheaper entertainment (ie less
costly and more crappy). To many people
it seems as though they deal with people, culture, the whole environment, as
though we are just here to be analysed and exploited, and nothing has intrinsic
value.
Many
people feel overwhelmed by change, insignificant in society and the universe,
and have nothing to cling to. We need
some way to focus attention on what is real, what we really can value, and what
we can honestly support and promote, what unites rather than divides us.
The
reasonable way described here is not just intellectual learning, or passive
contemplation, or spiritual awareness but leads on logically to choices which
reflect our values, guides for personal behaviour, and standards for political
institutions.
What do we mean by “beliefs”?
Some people think that “beliefs” are
· what others hold onto, perhaps on faith alone, despite reason and the evidence, or
· arbitrary choices people make when there is uncertain or conflicting evidence, or
· generally, what people hold, when they don’t really “know”.
These “global beliefs”:
· are based on reason and the evidence, consistent with modern science;
· are not dogma fixed for all time, like some religious creed;
· are tentative, allowing for doubts, and will be revised as we learn more;
· must accommodate the ‘spiritual’ experiences that many sane people have;
· can help us make day to day decisions about how to live;
· will guide our choices, and our choices reflect our values.
Some philosophically minded people get a bit hung up on the word “beliefs”.
· The argument goes like this: they say that everything that can be called “knowledge” must be definitely true, otherwise we don’t “know” it for certain. Things that are not definitely true but that we still hold dear are “beliefs” and these must be dogmatic, because they aren’t definitely true but we still believe them.
· Here we don’t use the word “beliefs” in this way. The 42 sets of statements that make up these “global beliefs” are not definitely true, but neither are they dogma. They are NOT beliefs we hold regardless of reason and the evidence. They are not “beliefs” devoid of any reasonable justification. They are not “beliefs” like purely faith based religions beliefs, held regardless of other considerations.
· Instead,
o being as open as we can to all the evidence and to criticism from all parties,
o knowing that there is considerable uncertainty about the fundamentals underlying these beliefs,
o being as conscientious as we can be to get the reasoning right,
we put forward these “global beliefs” as working hypotheses,
that help us to make decisions on what to do when we need to act.