Humanism Is Perhaps The Default Philosophical Position For Millions Of People In The World Today

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 31 January 2025 This is a rejoinder to Rasheed's morbid and monomaniac insistence that only those who're religious and believe in god are morally superior humans who've guided mankind. Referring to AI, this irascible man says, "AI chose ten figures from the last hundred years whose moral influence shaped societies. Notably, not a single atheist appears on the list." Very good! My question is: Has AI independently generated the names of these morally sound theists? Who fed the information? Obviously, humans. Remember, AI also chooses figures who never believed in god and religion but contributed to humanity. There are many atheist humanitarians from the last century, including social activists, politicians, and philosophers. Goparaju Ramachandra Rao Also known as Gora, he was an Indian social reformer and atheist activist who founded the Atheist Centre in Andhra Pradesh. He was a participant in the Indian independence movement. Bertrand Russell A prominent atheist, philosopher, mathematician, and campaigner for social, intellectual, and sexual freedom. He wrote Why I am Not a Christian, in which he argued that religions are harmful and untrue. Jawaharlal Nehru India's first Prime Minister, who disavowed belief in gods and was described as a "scientific humanist". Sahodaran Ayyappan Co-founder of the modern atheist movement in Kerala, India. He was also a minister in the Travancore-Cochin government. John William Gott An English trouser salesman and leader of the Freethought Socialist League. He was the last person in Britain to be imprisoned for blasphemy. Christopher Hitchens A British-American columnist, polemicist, and free-thought activist. He wrote the New York Times best seller God is not Great. And last but not least, the French existentialist and Nobel laureate Albert Camus who fought for human dignity throughout his life. His sublime morality, compassion and ethical values didn't stem from any sort of religiosity, spirituality or Christianity. The Dalai Lama has shown the way in his book, Beyond Religion. He argues that compassion is the most central instinct which enables human beings to survive and thrive. Compassion leads us to treat others as we would wish them to treat us—a central tenet of Christianity—that is, with concern, affection and warm-heartedness. The Dalai Lama—a lifelong Buddhist, of course—advocates, “an approach to ethics which makes no recourse to religion”. He argues for a secular ethics and sees no contradiction between that and his religious beliefs. Secular ethics, or humanism, is beyond religion, as the Dalai Lama suggests, not beneath or above it. By the way, was the Buddha morally unsound as he was an apatheist (one who goes beyond theism and atheism)? We now know from evolutionary biology and neuroscience that these values are innate in our biological nature. Humans survive and thrive only if they espouse these values. We need to promote these values within ourselves and in others. Many will say that they pursue ethical and humanist principles because of their religion. That's okay. Secular morality is not anti-religious, it is areligious. Of course, the areligious increasingly are the majority of adults all over the world, not in specific countries or pockets. If you want to teach morality on the basis that it conforms to the will of god and you know that three-quarters of the people you are teaching will lose their faith in god by the time they are 20, how are you expecting them to lead moral lives? What support do they have for leading moral lives in their adult life?” It is an interesting fact that if you look at the countries which all the research shows have the lowest number of people who believe in religion, you will find that they have the lowest crime rates, the lowest levels of infant mortality, the best education systems and the best social security systems. They are, of course, Sweden, Denmark, Canada to some extent, Estonia and countries of that nature. In the United States, the states with the lowest crime rates and the best systems of education and so on are in fact those which have the lowest number of people who believe in religion. I am not making a direct correlation between the two, but it is difficult not to. The fact is that that is what is happening. I am sorry, but I do not believe that somehow we are living in a worse society now than we did; we do not, we live in a much better world than we had in the past. Society has improved as religion has declined. Humanism is perhaps the default philosophical position for millions of people in the world today. Yet, the adamant theists, who love to make a fetish of their idiosyncrasies, will continue to assert that theistic morality and its adherents and proponents have made the world a better place to live in. Let those deluded individuals live in their delusional world. Atheism is already helping to free man from his dependence upon punishment and reward as the heavenly bargain-counter for the poor in spirit. True morality should not be contingent on fear of divine retribution but rather arise from rational, ethical considerations rooted in human experience. Atheism thereby liberates individuals to pursue virtue for its own sake rather than for potential cosmic favour. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/humanism-philosophical-people-world/d/134484 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism