By: Ray Massart

Ray Massart — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:52:40 +0000

It all boils down to the following conclusion: history has proven that a society that is not based on religious principles just doesn’t work. If we like it or not, man doesn’t have the guts to face up to his limited existence on earth and has always sought salvation by clinging to a belief in the eternal. Humanism has always failed as a basis for mankind as it cannot transcend the absurdity of life in whereas religion offers a deeper meaning. Of course, all this is very theoretical and what it really means is that the ruling classes have always subdued the masses by imposing moral principles that were derived from a so-called higher divine source. Furthermore, if we look around us at the actual stage, it is crystal clear that the decline of both the Anglican and Roman Catholic faiths have lead to a total erosion of the foundations their societies were built on and that within their structures, the individual has claimed so many rights to self-assertion that a collective sense of meaning has totally disappeared. We have seriously underestimated the role of religion in our evolutionary process and overestimated the strength of man to overcome his earthly predicament by giving meaning to himself and others in a quest for solidarity and transcendence. However, these ideals are so abstract and demand such an effort on the part of the individual that they could never succeed on a larger sociological scale as people not only need certitudes but also leaders who relieve them of their responsibility and act on their behalf. Seen in this context, the success of Islam and its continuing expansion is unavoidable and an expression of fundamental human needs even in this “enlightened” 21st century.

Comments on: AMERICANS’ TRUE RELIGION: SECULAR HUMANISM

By: Ray Massart