Reply #11: Secular Humanism, at least from what I've read in this manifesto [View All]

[shrike]

sounds a lot like what we need. And what the Dalai Lama (an unpopular figure on DU, I know) was discussing: a set of principles, unrelated to any religion in particular, which we all can agree on and follow -- any spiritual beliefs would then be a private matter.

Ethics are extremely important -- I remember reading "A Beautiful Mind," the bio of the great mathematician John Nash, with a good deal of dismay. The story discusses, in addition to Nash's life, the attitudes of Nash' milieu: the great minds of Princeton who were:

A. Very anti-semitic
B. Distressingly elitist (their ideas would have fit in well with Strauss' theory of the ruling class.)
C. Misogynistic, for the most part.
D. Outright racist, in some instances.
E. Dismissive of almost anyone who did not breathe their rarified air.

To a man, these men were secular non-believers. They were also some of the best scientific minds of their age. It was quite depressing, to see men of such brilliance and education (some of whom had even come from poor backgrounds) close their minds.
Anyway, this post is rambling, but I think a dialogue is necessary; one that goes beyond religion -- the earth is such a polygot right now we cannot pick ONE religion -- and takes on the topic of what is good for us as human beings, and for the planet, what is right and wrong -- surely different cultures and mindsets can come to some consensus. As to how this dialogue can start, I have no idea.