Apostate Presence Rattles World Conference on Religion

by SickofLies 34 Replies latest jw experiences

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  freeme

  jw mind: "yes, babylon the great will fall one day and this is the beginning! the bibel is true!"
  my mind: "it would be wonderful if humanity would be freed of all those lies"
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  Carmel

  sickolies, please do not take my comment as atheist bashing. I have several excellent friends that are atheists and/or agnostics. I simply felt the zealousness and enthusiasm of your feats at the conference laced with so many first person singulars sounded so much like that of the JWs beating their chests over the obvious blessings of Jehovah that they alone were privileged to appreciate. Although I never made it to the sacred grounds of atheism, many of my years were spent as an agnostic seeking answers and appreciating all the diversity of belief system and human condition. That I was attracted to a religion known for its tolerance, nay even celebration of diversity, is no mere accident or feat of opportunism. I do not subscribe to the proseltyzing by any group or individual regardless of how checkered there past may have been or how much intolerance they have subjected to. We are all responsible for our choices and our behavior and if it walks and talks like a duck, my first inclination is to see if it next lays an egg. may you live well carmel
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  Quotes

  Sorry I could not make it.
  
  I am of mixed feelings that a world religions conference had a portion on atheism, since that may confirm, in some people's mind, the incorrect idea that non-beleif in (insert deity of your choice here) is, in itself, a religion. (Indeed, some of the posts here seem to be repeating that canard).
  
  OTOH, it is good that you were able to present the evidence-based view to people that, I suspect, would never hear it otherwise.
  
  ~Q
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  SickofLies

  As promised I am going to post my speech from the world conference on religion. Thanks to those who messaged me as a reminder.

  Note: The official cleaned up version will be published next year, this is a raw transcript from my speech, it may not exactly represent 100% what I said on stage, but it's fairly close.

  I will post the article next post to make it clearer. If anyone would like to see the slide show that goes along with it let me know and I will upload it on a mass-upload site.
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  SickofLies

  Of Morals and Modesty

  A Humanist Perspective

  God is a delusion, religion poisons everything. How is it that titles like these have gone on to become national best sellers and what does it mean? These are just some of the questions I will be attempting to answer tonight.

  First of all I’d just like to say that I’m honoured to be here today and speak on behalf the newly formed McMaster Association of Secular Humanists. I certainly have a lot of tough acts to follow tonight. I want to apologize up front, I was volunteered to come speak here today at the last minute, and haven’t had much time to prepare so I might not take up the full 18 minutes, but I will be sticking around afterwards for the question and answer session and hopefully I’ll be able to answer everyone’s questions.

  I’ll just give you a quick background on myself, professionally I’m an engineer, I have a degrees in physics and mechanical engineering. I haven’t always been an atheist, I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, I was a minister for about 5 years. For the last 4 years or so I have been trying to promote humanists values through writing, speaking, political involvement and being active in various humanist organizations.

  As you’ve probably already noticed on the screen I will not be giving this presentation from a atheist point of view, but rather a from a Humanist perspective. I have purposely avoided using the word atheist for several reasons. First, is that the word atheism simply means not believing in any god or gods, it implies no moral or world view. Atheism by its very definition is amoral, meaning that it has no morals associated with it, this is not to be confused with being immoral which means to violate ones own standards of morality. While it may be true that all secular humanists are atheists or at least agnostics, it cannot be said that all atheists and agnostics are secular humanists.

  Now some of you may object to that statement because we see ‘atheists’ frequently in the news today making all kinds statements about morality, even if those statements involve only how they disagree with some of the moral values and world views of religion. No matter how tempting it is to associate these views with all ‘atheists’, making that kind of association would not be true. For example, someone can attend church services regularly and fully agree with the morals and values being taught, but they may still not believe in god. That is why groups that promote the values you see being voiced by these famous atheists like to call themselves ‘secular humanists’

  Change Slide

  The word secular implies that the it is free of religious influence and rejects supernatural world views. The word humanists implies a specific code of ethics and world view of which I will be talking about today.

  Secular Humanism campaigns for a more secular and ethical society. It presents the case for understanding the world without reference to a god, and works to separate Church and State and defend the rights of people who do not accept religious beliefs. Secular Humanists believe all ideas should be subjected to criticism and viewed sceptically until they can be proven true.

  Change Slide

  This movement that has been spurred on by now famous humanist and atheist authors like Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens and of course Richard Dawkins is not new. However, Secular Humanism is not new; it has been around a long time, while it’s arguable exactly when it started, most people trace is roots to accent Greek and Roman texts, where philosophers such as Epicurus

  Chang Slide

  Questioned the existence of the gods and made the proposition that humans created the gods and not the other way around. That being said, the rise of modern humanism has only occurred very recently.

  Change Slide

  The Humanists Association of Canada was first founded back in 1968 as a response to the government ban on abortion. Since then it has stood up for numerous moral and human rights issues. However, if you were to go back only 10 years you would see that secular humanism here in Canada was a very obscure movement with only a few scattered followers.

  Compare that to today where humanism is one of the fastest growing movements sweeping the globe.

  Just this past week I attended a meeting with SOFREE where we helped to establish the University of Guelph’s second secular humanist organization on campus. In Recent years membership in our groups like HAC, SOFREE, Freedom form Religion Foundation, Center for Inquiry, and many others has been growing exponentially. You’d be hard pressed to find any major university today without a humanist organization on campus.

  So what caused this dramatic shift in recent years?

  Change Slide

  There is no denying that the recent rise in activism and outreach by humanists can be traced back to one of the most morally repulsive events in recent history. As everyone here is already aware, on Sept. 11 2001, religious extremists used suicide attacks to kill thousands of innocent people for the ridiculous promise of multiple virgins and a hero’s welcome in the afterlife.

  The picture you see behind me … is part of a promotional effort by Richard Dawkins to create interest in his book, it has quickly spread across the internet and became a major meme for people try to advocate the need for a code of ethics or morals that is separate from religion.

  Change Slide

  People have also been growing more concerned about the erosion of church and state seen around the world. For example our neighbours to the south, the most powerful country in the world, use frequent references to religion are being used when trying to justify policies like the war in Iraq, the ban on stem cell research or efforts to include creationism in public schools.

  This erosion of church and state is not just unique to the US, here in Canada our own government has officially sanctioned funding only catholic school districts over all other religious schools, instead of sticking with one impartial secular school system. This is a morally irresponsible and repulsive act for a secular democracy to impose as all it does is promote intolerance.

  Because of recent events like these there has been a growing consensus, not just among atheists and secular humanists, but also among many believers that something needs to be done about this rising tide of extremism.

  Secular humanists are now taking on one of the greatest moral challenges of our time, one that could mean nothing less than our survival as a species. The challenge we have taken up is to promote a universal code of ethics and morals that is completely independent from religion.

  Change Slide

  I think we can all agree that it was the humanists objection to traditional religious values is one of the founding principles that has started Secular Humanism, but what I want to try and do now is to describe the alternative to religion that humanists are trying to create.

  Humanist and religious morality share many basic principles because in fact both are underpinned by the fundamental human moral sense as summarized in the Golden Rule: treat others with the same consideration as you would have them treat you. Humanists recognize that commonly held moral decencies being promoted such as, people should not lie, steal, or kill; and they should be honest, generous, and cooperative - really are conducive to human welfare.

  However, there are differences between humanist and religious moralities. Humanists realize that individuals alone cannot solve all our problems, but instead of turning to the supernatural, we believe that problems are solved by people working together, relying on understanding and creativity.

  Change Slide

  That is why humanists are committed to promoting human values, human understanding, and human development. Humanists also emphasize the importance of self-determination - the right of individuals to control their own lives, so long as they do not harm others. Secular humanists, therefore, often promote causes where traditional religion obstructs the right to self-determination, for example, freedom of choice regarding sexual relationships, reproduction, and voluntary euthanasia.

  If I had to some up the code of humanists morals in three words it would be the promotion of tolerance. Intolerance is one of the most serious problems facing our world today. Intolerance, believing that there is only one truth, or one way of doing things or one group of chosen people on the planet has been the main motivation for the ethnic cleansings in Africa, it’s been used to justify war, discrimination, segregation, slavery, and whatever else you can think of.

  We believe that having a secular democratic system where everyone’s equal and any ideas can be freely expressed is the key to the future of our society.

  Change Slide

  Humanists approach the issue of modesty differently from standard religious tradition. While humanism does not try to impose specific rules for appearance or lifestyle, it does have guidelines people can use to develop behaviour that is socially beneficial.

  For example,

  We believe in the need to test beliefs

  - It is our conviction that dogmas, ideologies and traditions, whether religious, political or social, must be weighed and tested by each individual and not simply accepted on faith.

  We believe in Reason, evidence, and the scientific method

  - In other words commitment to the use of critical reasoning, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith and mysticism, when seeking solutions to human problems and answers to important human questions.

  We encourage the search for truth

  - A constant search for objective truth, with the understanding that new knowledge and experience constantly alters our imperfect perception of it.

  By following these simple principles each individual can develop a sense of modesty that will prevent us from developing intolerant views, attitudes and behaviours.

  Change Slide

  Secular humanists disagree that, without God, life can have no meaning or purpose. We believe that people create their own meaning and purpose in life. The value and significance of life comes from how we live life, not from some supposed transcendent realm. Humanists believe the meaning of life is to live a life of meaning.

  Ultimately what we want to do is build a better world

  - It is our conviction that with reason, an open exchange of ideas, good will, and tolerance, progress can be made in building a better world for ourselves and our children.

  Thank you.