As Long As There Is Religion, There Will Be …

“As long as there is religion, there will be the poor and downtrodden amongst us. As long as there is religion, there will be wars and rumors of war. As long as there is religion, there will be separateness and inequality. For these things are inherent to the teaching and practice of religion, inherent to the very sacred texts themselves. And, this is just the facts of life, both historically and presently, anywhere and everywhere around the world. Faith in and adherence to religion is the source of near all human evils. Or, at the very least, the instigator and justifier of our human hate for others. If this were not so, then there would be no atrocities committed in the name of a god or a religion. But, the reality is that there are plenty, in every country of this world, done in religious “rightness” of thought and behavior, justified by a god that is only perceived through the faithful worshipper and carried out by the very hands of “man.”

The only religions in this world that are an actual *exception* to this self-evident fact of human life is Zen Buddhism, Secular Humanism, Dudeism, and rational Science. None of these preach separation – “us” versus “them,” or beliefs that require a need to suppress some for the sake of an absolute and unchallengeable sets of religious “rights,” or embrace inequalities in society or start holy wars in the name of a theology about god. When we actually universally embrace the only religions worth our time and investment, these four non-theistic ones above, and reject all others as inherently dangerous, this is when we will begin to build a world of peace, compassion, understanding, and a devotion to the sanctity of life. All life, and not just human life. It starts with you and I embracing the only religions worthy of a modern Human’s focus and time. It’s time for us to grow up as a species, and be spiritually meaningful in our relationships with all humans, with other species which we share this world with and, as well, with the planet we call home that literally makes possible our life.

Our childhood is over, my human friends and family! And it is seriously time to see our religious fantasies for exactly what they are – precious religious *fantasies.* Only then can we properly appreciate them and engage in them mature-ly, as a responsible human species upon this planet. A species given to our survival through balanced relationship with nature. The most ethical (aka, civily moral) people on the planet are secularist Humanists, both historically and presently, and this is statistically so. For they do not mistake the lofty ideology of religion for the life-changing meaning that is at its heart-felt intent. We do not need a god to tell us what is right or wrong, or what we need to do. We do not need a god, no matter how worked down to benevolence, to do what is “right,” what is ethical to do. We only need to observe and *choose* to do it and , then, actually *commit to the doing* of it. May we overcome our primate nature, become master with emotion *and* reason. May we learn to live in real and genuine peace, here on earth and within our lifetime.

May we achieve, through concerted and deliberate effort, the lofty Gan Eyden (Garden of Eden) we read about in mythical lore and profess will be the days to come. No human imagined god of any nation or any people will do that for us, until we first put our hands and mind and efforts to reality of this within our lives. It began with us, and it is ours to achieve. If you are not a secularist humanist, you really need to get on board – and help make a difference in this ailing world of humankind. We are wreaking havoc upon this earth, that our children cannot recompense. We need to wake up as a humanity now, and change our beliefs and our ways. If we really do value life, then we will make a stand and do what is ethically and appropriately best for all humankind. Our children’s children and, even, their children are depending upon this. Don’t worry, you can also be religious, too. Just engage in a future responsible religion, that does not jeopardize our future upon this planet.” – Joseph T Farkasdi

There is a litmus test used in both scientific circles and in humanist/atheist circles, and the litmus test is this: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. In others words, given the probability of two competing claims, the most likely one to be correct is the one that requires the least amount of proofs to support. Also, it must be self-evident to anyone and everyone willing to embrace it and test it. It can’t be a subjective experience only, for this is an objective world with our subjectivity applied upon it. If it is a reality or a factuality, it will be demonstrable to and duplicable by anyone who embraces awareness of it. Until then, it is literally only your truth, individually or collectively as a group. And, just because a majority of human kind presently believes a set of subjective beliefs to be the ultimate *truth*, does not necessarily make it the truth – nor will it cause it to eventually be the truth. Beware of any teaching that says otherwise, for this is the step into emotionally pleasing and pacifying self-deception about life. Honesty, intellectually and emotionally, is really the better path. Even if it is for some a more painful path to embrace (the already indoctrinated into practices of self- and communal- deception). For by being truly honest about reality and our condition within it, we are free to put our creativity powers to work towards bettering our life experience and situation. We are free to act on behalf of humanity, and find what really is the truth and what works for the sake of all life we share this planet with.

I am a Secularist Humanist for this very reason. Because – for me, at least – there is no real peace or joy in self-deception for the sake of discomfort over the realities of life that present itself daily to us. I personally cannot believe in the idea of a god that creates us to punish us just so this god can then reward us if we suffer well and believe blindly in this invisible god’s existence, despite the obvious conclusions to be made by simple observation of reality itself. This idea is ludicrous to me. If it is real, then it is already self-evident and demonstrable to all and by all. I personally will stick with what I can rely on as being real. But, this is just me. Now, to more important “us” things that I would like to share upon this particular page. … Starting with, our children. It is vital, absolutely vital, that we keep separation of church and state in this country. There is way too much of an attempt going on by religion, disguising itself as secular, trying to insert religious beliefs, disguised as alternative science (but is nothing more than debunked pseudoscience), into public schools around this country. This is a violation of constitution to do so, and a danger to our children’s education to even entertain such notions. We live in a global world, now, and our children deserve the best education we can give them. Keep your religion in your churches, and keep unimpeded *real* science in the classrooms! We owe this to our children, and anything less is akin to child abuse.

Now, just so it is understood, there is a difference between being a secularist and a humanist. That is, until a human combines the two together in his or her living of life. To be a secularist is to insist that common grounds, that public domains, remain secular and free of theistic imagery and dogma. To be a humanist is to insist that we seek the best of ourselves as humans through rational thinking, emotional control, and deliberate social and political action. One can be personally religious or non-religiously spiritual, and still be in action and expressed belief a secularist humanist. For what defines secularist humanism is the willingness to acknowledge ones professed beliefs as being one’s professed beliefs, and that other’s professed beliefs (unless proven demonstrably otherwise) are as viably truthful and meaningful as one’s own. In other words, no one person, culture, society, religion, theory-ology (theology or philosophy) has the monopoly on things that are truthful, and all need to be respected for the good and truth that they do provide us as humans. Assuming the physical outcomes, the actions that result from such beliefs prove predominantly helpful, healthy, and beneficial to any and all who are affect by the experience of it. It’s called having responsible beliefs, that honestly recognizes its shortcomings as *beliefs* by which we live by. It is important to keep an open mind and explore all beliefs for the gems of self-evident truths that all people can attest to as so. These are the gems we wish keep, polish, and teach, irregardless of the packages we store them in for transport.

“Are you aware that religion is the reason or justification for almost every war or injustice in this world? Test this for yourself, by asking what is the reasoning or motivated belief/teaching behind these acts. Where does the permission to do so – to others – come from? Religionists would like to make it appear that religion saves us from unethical behavior. But, this is only so after the unethical behavior is brought on by the conflict of conditioning taught to us by religion. It is far easier to live a good and ethical life, a moral life, without religion than it has ever been or ever will be to do so professing belief and action in a religion.” – Joseph T Farkasdi

We need to support and encourage the kind of holidays that actually teach us to live and work together in peace and harmony, constructively for the betterment of human life and the life of all species upon this planet that is affected by us. We need to support our very own sustainability, before evolution decides to write us off as an experiment in intelligent life gone terribly wrong. We can only hurt the earth’s ecosystem so far, before the Earth herself turns radically against us. How long will we live with intellectually dishonest blinders upon our eyes and theologically blind beliefs within our mind, before we start to face our very real and present human condition? We can bring peace and the meeting of needs to the world this very day, if we act together! We have the resources already by which to do this. But, we must give up the precious ideologies that separate us from the whole of humankind, that teaches that somehow we are different and they are not worthy. We really need to abandon the concept of money in world culture, abandoning it all together as a human species, and in it’s place institute a basic system of credit that ensures everyone is automatically entitled to the most important things in life – that of food, a home, an education, and medical care throughout life, without ever have to work for money in order to obtain these basic subsistence needs. From here, then, jobs for the rest of life’s pleasures – jobs that benefit the community being engaged in – come into play. If we only would get this right in human culture!

Here, below, is a list of culture-connecting meaningful secular holidays by season that can be engaged in along with or *in place of* society endorsed religious holidays, as encouraged by the American Humanist Association (AHA). They cover the entire year round, to ensure that we humans get what we emotionally and psychologically need in the way of communal ritual – an inherent trait of our species and the structure we institute by which we feed our natural spirituality as human beings. There is nothing more healing and gratifying to us, as human beings, than feeling and, even, somehow knowing that we are a part of something much greater than ourselves – and that it is very real and very affecting, here in the now of our every day lives. It’s magical, even, that we are capable of this as a primate species upon this planet!

Celebrations by Season:

The highlight of the Secular Seasons project, is the collection of events celebrated within the non-religious community at various times throughout the year. In addition to the calendar provided on the home page, here we index these events by month. Check this linked page out for individual detail covered for each specific holiday.

January

New Year Reality Revival – January 1-31
Thomas Paine Day – January 29

February

Darwin Day – February 12

March

International Women’s Day – March 8
Pi Day – March 14
Freedom of Information Day (US) – March 16
Sunshine Week (US) – March 16 – 22
Spring Equinox (Northern Hemisphere)
Autumn Equinox (Southern Hemisphere)

April

April Fool’s Day – April 1
Yuri’s Night, or Cosmonaut’s Day – April 12
Earth Day – April 22

May

National Day of Reason (US) – First Thursday in May

June

World Environment Day – June 5
World Humanist Day – June 21
Summer Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
Winter Solstice (Southern Hemisphere)

July

Chevalier de la Barre – July 1
Indivisible Day – July 4

August

Ingersoll Day – August 11

September

Autumn Equinox (Northern Hemisphere)
Spring Equinox (Southern Hemisphere)
Banned Book Week – September 23

October

Freethought Month – October 1-31
Freethought Day – October 12

November

Church/State Separation Week ~ November 24

December

International Human Rights Day – December 10
Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)
Summer Solstice (Southern Hemisphere)
Festivus – December 23
Human Light Celebration – December 23

What is Humanism exactly (the definitions of Humanism)?

“Humanism is a progressive lifestance that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead meaningful, ethical lives capable of adding to the greater good of humanity.” • American Humanist Association

“Humanism is a rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion. Affirming the dignity of each human being, it supports the maximization of individual liberty and opportunity consonant with social and planetary responsibility. It advocates the extension of participatory democracy and the expansion of the open society, standing for human rights and social justice. Free of supernaturalism, it recognizes human beings as a part of nature and holds that values-be they religious, ethical, social, or political-have their source in human experience and culture. Humanism thus derives the goals of life from human need and interest rather than from theological or ideological abstractions, and asserts that humanity must take responsibility for its own destiny.” • The Humanist Magazine

“Humanism is a democratic and ethical lifestance which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethics based on human and other natural values in a spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.” • The International Humanist and Ethical Union