8.0.12 Promoting and Defending This Way

Version 1.7 December 2016                                         (Previous Version)

Many people are already on the same path: decent human beings with a reasonable grasp of science and history that flows into personal behaviour and politics.  The unique aspect of this way is to see this path as an adequate substitute for religion, to assemble it into a comprehensive package, and give it a label so we can refer to it and promote it.

We preach tolerance, and we support multicultural, pluralist, secular, liberal democracy. 

But we can see all around us examples of religious bigotry and nationalistic fervour.  Far too much pain and suffering is caused by irrational people with short sighted or parochial views.  Rampant commercialisation of all almost every aspect of our lives is also blinding us to our core values.  There is a risk that capitalist, liberal democracy will be undermined by its own belief in freedom and tolerance, if we don't stand together to oppose self-interest, intolerance and bigotry. 

It is not enough to simply take these global beliefs and values on board and live our lives in isolation.  To the extent that we are able, we must promote reason and defend it.

It is all very well to propose a philosophy of life that is reasonable, based on reason and evidence leading us to these global beliefs and the choices we make that reflect our core values:

truth, diversity, reality, life, love (or compassion), beauty, responsibility equality and hope,

as well as implied values such as:

wonder, openness, reverence, mystery, uncertainty, struggle, courage, respect, justice, mercy, authenticity, freedom, stability, security, prosperity, democracy.

On the one hand, we should be wary of fundamentalist religion, ideological market liberalism, and jingoistic patriotism, which all promote narrow minded solutions causing more harm than good.  On the other hand, we need to make sure that moral relativism, postcolonial anger and guilt, and extreme multiculturalism don’t lead to a spineless response to injustice, welfare abuses, and social domination by irrational minorities.

We propose four kinds of action:

1.     Accept this Way, to live according to the global beliefs and values which constitute this way;

2.     Join the struggle against both ideological and religious certainties and the moral vacuum that comes with a lack of core values due to abject uncertainty or mindless materialism.

3.     Promote and defend this way, perhaps at some personal discomfort or risk, against threats to what we value, as exemplified in our ideal secular, pluralist, liberal democracy;

4.     Live this way in hope, in sacred time, connected to the natural, rational world.