CelticBear’s Musings

Over on The Secular Outpost, there’s a reprint of a post by Keith Parsons:

From Keith Parsons: Craig on the Relevance of Christianity

In it is a story of a Christian who tries to convince some non-Christian teens that basically life is meaningless and without value without Christ in their lives.

The counterpoint is obvious: There are countless people throughout history (some, like Aristotle, who Christian apologists use to help prove their flawed logic and reasoning when arguing for absolutism,) who were not Christians who were very ethical, moral, and contributed greatly to the betterment of humanity.

Reminds me of one of my many posts on Christian vs. non-Christian ethics:

Secular Ethics and Evidently Inherently Lawless Christians

and God’s Lowest Form of Morality.

As I do in both, I post again here the common beliefs of secular humanism which I fully agree with:

• Need to test beliefs – A 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.
• Reason, evidence, scientific method – Commitment to the use of critical reason, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith and mysticism, in seeking solutions to human problems and answers to important human questions.
• Fulfillment, growth, creativity – A primary concern with fulfillment, growth, and creativity for both the individual and humankind in general.
• Search for truth – A constant search for objective truth, with the understanding that new knowledge and experience constantly alter our imperfect perception of it.
• This life – A concern for this life and a commitment to making it meaningful through better understanding of ourselves, our history, our intellectual and artistic achievements, and the outlooks of those who differ from us.
• Ethics – A search for viable individual, social and political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility.
• Building a better world – A 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.