VOICES OF SECULAR PEOPLES
“I DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD, BUT I MISS HIM.”
— ENGLAND
WHAT IS SECULARISM ?
LIKE ANY RELIGION OR WORLDVIEW,
SECULARISM PROVIDES
A FRAMEWORK FOR LIVING
(MAKING DECISIONS, CHOOSING GOOD
OVER BAD, RELATING TO OTHERS).
SECULAR PEOPLE SEE THE
SELF
AS THE ONLY PLAUSIBLE OPTION
FOR ORGANIZING AND
MAKING SENSE OF LIFE.
TYPES OF SECULARISTS :
RADICAL
RADICAL ATHEISTS (LIKE R. DAWKINS AND C. HITCHENS), THOUGH THE MINORITY, ARE VOCAL AND OFTEN GET THE PRESS. THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO WOULD DENY ANY REALITY BEYOND THAT OF HUMAN MATERIAL EXPERIENCE. THERE IS AN ATTEMPT TO ENERGIZE THE BROADER SECULARIST POPULATION THROUGH THINGS LIKE “SECULAR CHURCHES,” ETC. MORE IMPORTANT, HOWEVER, ARE THEIR “TRICKLE-DOWN” IDEAS THAT INFLUENCE THE LARGER CULTURE. OFTEN, THEY ARE MOST MOVED BY RADICAL CHRISTIAN LOVE.
TRADITIONALIST
IN PARTS OF EUROPE, THERE IS A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE COMMITTED TO A RELIGIOUS IDENTITY, BE IT CATHOLIC, LUTHERAN, OR EVEN MUSLIM. WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT PRACTICING CHRISTIANS OR MUSLIMS BUT RATHER PEOPLE FOR WHOM CULTURE AND RELIGION AND BEING A GOOD MEMBER OF SOCIETY OR FAMILY SEEM INSEPARABLE. IT IS A COMMITMENT TO “TRADITIONAL” IDENTITY AND NOT TO MORAL BEHAVIOR. IT IS A KIND OF CULTURAL CONSERVATISM THAT SITS ON TOP OF A SECULAR WORLDVIEW.
PRAGMATIC
THERE MAY BE A RESIDUAL THEISM THAT HOVERS IN THE UNKNOWABLE CLOUD BEYOND HUMAN REASON, BUT MOST PEOPLE LIVE AS IF GOD DOES NOT EXIST, AND THEY HAVE LEFT BEHIND RELIGIOUS LABELS. “IF THERE IS A GOD, HE HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH LIFE AS I KNOW IT.” THIS GROUP INCLUDES COMMITTED AGNOSTICS WHO DECLARE THAT WE CANNOT KNOW IF THERE IS A GOD AND PRACTICAL ATHEISTS WHO NEVERTHELESS LEAVE ROOM FOR GOD IN THE UNEXPLAINED OR UNCONTROLLABLE.
SPIRITUAL
MANY POST-MODERNS WORK ON "PROJECT SELF," WHICH THEY OFTEN DESCRIBE IN SPIRITUAL TERMS. THEY BORROW AND ADAPT TECHNIQUES SUCH AS MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS FROM VARIOUS TRADITIONS IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE GOALS LIKE HIGHER SELF-ESTEEM, EMOTIONAL STABILITY, AND AUTHENTICITY. THEY COMBINE A TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANITY WITH A MORE POST-MODERN, NEW-AGE INFLUENCED BELIEF SYSTEM, OR THEY STILL DABBLE IN THE TRADITIONAL FORM OF CHRISTIANITY IN WHICH THEY GREW UP. HOWEVER, THEIR SPIRITUAL BELIEFS DO NOT DOMINATE THEIR LIVES, PROVIDE A FIRM GUIDE FOR BEHAVIOR, OR GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR. THE INDIVIDUAL SELF STILL REIGNS SUPREME AS THE MORAL DECIDER AND PURPOSE-CREATOR.
[POST-CHRISTIAN EUROPE IS] THE MOST CHALLENGING MISSIONARY FRONTIER
OF OUR TIME.
LESSLIE NEWBIGIN
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SECULAR WORLDVIEW:
1
THE SELF PROJECT :
THE GOAL OF LIFE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL IS TO CREATE "THE TRUE SELF," A NEVER-ENDING, FLUID PROCESS OF FINDING HAPPINESS AND CREATING MEANING BY CHOOSING PREFERENCES IN ALL AREAS OF LIFE.
2
TRUTH DEFINED BY THE INDIVIDUAL AND DETERMINED BY CONTEXT :
NO AUTHORITATIVE, UNIVERSAL MORAL ABSOLUTES. IN SOME REGIONS, ESPECIALLY CATHOLIC-BACKGROUND, FAMILY STILL EXERTS STRONG PRESSURE ON BEHAVIOR, BUT NOT USUALLY AT THE MORAL LEVEL.
3
DO NO HARM :
A GENERAL ACCEPTANCE THAT NOT HARMING OTHERS - NEITHER HUMANS, NOR ANIMALS, NOR THE EARTH - IS GOOD.
4
EXPERIENTIAL :
TRANSCENDENCE IS SOUGHT BY IMMERSION IN POWERFUL LIFE EXPERIENCES, WHETHER INDIVIDUAL OR COLLECTIVE, SUCH AS EXTREME SPORTS, CONTACT WITH NATURE, MUSIC, YOGA/MEDITATION, TECHNOLOGY, SEXUALITY, ETC.
5
SEXUAL FREEDOM :
ABOVE ALL ELSE.