Secular Big Questions and Answers
Other Secularists tout self-actualization
or self-fulfillment as the only goal an individual can envision.
It is difficult for a Secularist to propose a purpose for
the group, such, as the formation of a United Nations
or an Earth
Charter, because group values exist only as the
arithmetic sum of individual values.
There is no authoritative group,
such as a Catholic Church, or authoritative tradition,
such as among Rabbinical scholars, or authoritative teachers,
such as the Dalai Lama, for Secularists to follow.
Q: When did humans first appear?
A: Most Secularists would reference the findings of evolutionary scientists
or the views of a Scientism Big Story.
Q: How are humans to act?
A: Secularists would hold
that the one thing they do know is how humans should not act.
That is, they should not act as if they have a special knowledge
or a Revealed truth which is not knowable by
every other human. Most would propose that heartfelt moral
actions can be discerned
by using Human Reason, which is the artful practice of rational
analysis, working only with reasonable assumptions, and engaging
in self-critical discourse.
Secularists are guided by the insight
that, “Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned
to repeat it." (George
Santayana) For them, a study of history is the
best guide for learning about human mistakes and for developing
a plan for individual and group action.
Continue—Q&A
