Boy, that list looks pretty similar to the principles of Unitarian Universalism (full disclosure, born and raised). The suggestions are good but if we look at the history of the Unitarian Universalism it was heralded by various scholars as the secular religion for the coming enlightened future. None of that has happened and the fastest growing religious communities these days are fundamentalist, evangelical Christian…
The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
11–20 of 183 posts
Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#12Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#13I wonder if an "organized secularism" would only copy some the problems found in organized religion. Do people become less religious only because of a rejection of the supernatural, or for other reasons as well? I think some people become less religious for two additional reasons as well: "shared values" and "rituals." A set of shared values is nice until it fails to change in response to changes in the values of ind…
I think what makes most religions so inflexible is having a canon which can be difficult to circumvent. If a secular order is based on the opinions of the founders who are treated as wise humans instead of divine, it becomes easier to accept that they could be wrong or just misinformed.
Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#14No thanks. This is the first thing I started to dislike about being raised Catholic, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#15What we "need" is for people to worship Jesus Christ and get their butts to church.
"it was good for my dear old daddy / and my dear old mommy too...i don't need nothing new"
Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#16What we "need" is for people to worship Jesus Christ and get their butts to church.
Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#17> Ritualize No thanks. This is the first thing I started to dislike about being raised Catholic, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#18Possibly the principals of "think for yourself", "relative and perspective", "freedom of association" are antithetical to these kind tight knit groups. It's a shame in some ways and definitely more lonely. But, looking at the types of people some more radical religions attract, possibly lonely is the better option.
In the meantime, if we really need a community support group without the superstition and hoopla, I guess there is always the possibility of joining a street gang....
Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#19I wonder if an "organized secularism" would only copy some the problems found in organized religion. Do people become less religious only because of a rejection of the supernatural, or for other reasons as well? I think some people become less religious for two additional reasons as well: "shared values" and "rituals." A set of shared values is nice until it fails to change in response to changes in the values of ind…
Re: The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution
#20I wonder if an "organized secularism" would only copy some the problems found in organized religion. Do people become less religious only because of a rejection of the supernatural, or for other reasons as well? I think some people become less religious for two additional reasons as well: "shared values" and "rituals." A set of shared values is nice until it fails to change in response to changes in the values of ind…
On the same topic, but contrary to what you are saying, organized secularism with rituals, values, expectations may only draw out this natural propensity towards "religion" in people even further.
Touching on your point further, Protestant churches actually fare pretty well with some of these cultural issues that force change. If someone disagrees about gay marriage or another controversial topic, they just start a new church and half the congregation goes there. It makes Protestant churches at the same time possibly more extreme but also much more varied in their belief systems and allows for religion to evolve. (This is not an endorsement of Protestantism, just an acknowledgement).
I dislike the notion of organized secularism because it creates an us vs them attitude. You have churches and then secular churches when the real solution (whatever it may be) should be a less dogmatic form of outreach that grabs at people from all walks of life and engages them. That's how people change, that's how they get better.