Why humanism is the future, with David Voas | Humanists UK Convention 2023
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2023
- Seven years ago David gave a TEDx talk entitled ‘Why there is no way back for religion in the West’. It has been viewed 1.8 million times. Six months ago, he featured in a humorous video by CZcams personality Max Fosh, whose tale that ‘I technically started the third largest religion in the country’ has reached two million views. In this talk, at Humanists UK Convention 2023, David tries to find the moral to this story in a whistle-stop tour of religious decline, social change, and the rise of humanist values. He will look at what the census and various surveys tell us about the state of religion in the UK.
I'm fortunate to be one of the 53% of British citizens who are non-religious .
I am so glad i left the country where I was born. I am free to say i am a Humanist.
Thank you , most interesting, and informative!
Signed Atheist Indian Feminist born and brought up as a Catholic Christian in India !
:)
I have a very strong belief in large fonts on PowerPoint slides, no matter what the intelligent designers’ default settings start out as. 🤓🔭🔬👁
Really happy that religion is drying up and going away. Great video.
Me to
Wish that were the case, but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security over this. He’s only talking about the west and even here it’s not the complete picture
I think it’s a lot of wishful thinking. Humanity is great at snatching disaster from the jaws of success
Not fast enough, and probably not in time to save humanity.
Nice presentation
I lived in New Zealand throught the 70's. 80's. Every govt form requested that we state our religion.
We were all born into a religion however very few of us practiced it.
Apparently we were Church of England often refered to as C of E. I never new what C of E meant till early adulthood.
I think this was evident in many Commonwealth countries.
Isn't there supposed to be an update from the government about humanist marriage in england and wales today 31th July 2023?
That was the deadline, yes, but we think it'll be late.
As predicted correctly by great genius and champion of positivism and humanism Sigmund Freud in his future of an illusion. These are great news
Fascinating thanks David! A tangential point - but for Humanism to really boldly "be the future" we need to drop anthropocentrism. Any worldview that ignores or forgets the interests of non-human sentient beings or doesn't take them seriously in our practical decisions is destined to be a dead end. Fortunately, caring seriously about all sentient beings is good for us human sentients too - and the planet all our fellow sentients share.
False premise! Those who say 'humanism' is monolothically anthropocentric because it contains the word 'human' are just... wrong!
@@HumanistsUKI agree! Humanism is about humans as moral agents but it doesn't restrict us from considering non-human sentient beings (~animals) as full moral patients - and thereby not needlessly harming or killing or exploiting any sentient being - humans included. I'm glad some humanist organisations are starting to reference that in their definitions (AHA need to catch up!). I hope all humanists get the message soon! Many remain deeply anthropocentric - just like most humans. Maybe humanism can lead the way again on this new social justice wave?
One can be a Humanist AND choose to have additional views on other beings.
Personally I'm tired of vegans trying to co-opt other movements, the deliberate conflation of all pro-social mindsets to manipulate folk with obvious Fifth Column, in/out group politicking.
Hi, thank you for posting this video, I'm learning more about humanism and I'm non-religious, however I have a question, what is the humanist reaction to religion in cultures where religion is not organized like Abrahamic religions yet it plays an integral and essential part of people's lives, for example Shinto in Japan, Japanese people won't tell you they identify as Shinto or Buddhist but their lifestyle is heavily influenced by them, how can humanism operate in such as society (Taiwan is another example and Bhutan to some degree), I feel like Humanism shouldn't out loud say that it's against religions but to say that it's against religious laws that are forced on people, considering that there are examples of non-religious ideologies that are also harmful like communism and state-atheism like in China, where they were happy to massacre religious people and destroying thousands of years relics and temples, I would say that the problem is not in religion or atheism, but in country thinking that it has the right to tell its people what religion or non-religion they must folow
I'm still learning so I may have missed something 🙏🏻 have a great day
I would suggest that humanism is not simply against all religion as such but it is against the things which are often associated with religion such as irrational beliefs, fanaticism, authoritarianism, compulsion etc. Shinto and Buddhism in some respects are more benign and unobjectionable than fanatical religions. And yes, there are non-religious ideologies which are also fanatical. I hope this helps! David Warden, Dorset Humanists
@@davidwarden4974 thank you so much 🙏🏻💙
❤
Work hard
Go home to pray
Then sleep on hay
Because you'll have pie in the sky
Why you die, bye--and--bye.
Yeah, it's a nice thought. But it seems TOO GOOD to be true. Like a poster said: " an 80 --year-old is going to some place where he'll have a young body forever."
I think this is a natural progression of civilization.
More awareness, discovery and less superstition beliefs and harmful practices.
Reason and compassion >>> dogma and culture wars.
It aught to be if humans were rational. But we aren’t. We’re a really perverse breed capable of the most idiotic self harm. Climate change and a resurgence of the cconnection between religion and far right politics could destroy civilisation yet. Deep joy..
compassion is a dogma . There's no meaning of compassion. The idea of imagined harm is used specifically by atheists to target minorities
What happens when we extend lifespan
If humanism is absolutely and with certainty the future, why would anyone feel motivated to advocate the point?
life after death - what an immature combination of words - why not - birth before the TV program - also a senseless combination of words -- life after death - you mean as an 80 year old person in dementia or can I choose and be like a twenty year old full of vigor and life surrounded by virgins or like a new born - without any knowledge looking out for mother's breast and receiving a bottle of some artificial baby food - can I choose which version of life after death I can have?
I'm not sure how or if they're related but Socialism is also on the rise and seen more favorably by younger generations.
because as Religion was a powerful Social/belief structure of society is no longer seen as necessary or even relevant,
that same seems to be happening with Capitalism (though only just beginning) due to economic inequalities and issues being questioned.
Socialism at one level is seen as caring for one's fellow humans, and capitalism is the converse - doing the best you can for yourself, regardless of other humans.
Both views are far too simplistic and extreme but socialist tendencies have traction in a world where the extremely wealthy are getting wealthier at the expense of the poorest members of society. Plenty of graphs from respected sources to show that.
The ethics of Humanism chime more closely with wanting to see everyone benefit, imo, rather than few. Balance
i feel the opposite of this happening...
The data doesn't lie!
@@HumanistsUK i hope so!
Quit watching when I realized knowledge was not being addressed. It has recently occurred to me that qualities attributed to the soul are stored in the genome.
😻 "promo sm"
Religion will be relegated to museums in future. Buddha was the earliest Atheist, Humanist.
India's population is largely not educated and lot of poverty. It's still in dark ages
The human population is declining dramatically since 2021 22 and continuing to do so! The rich will get richer and the poor will become poorer!
It's scary to think most humanists don't believe in having children, yet they believe in caring for other human beings...? I'm out!
Make no mistake. Humanism is religion. One of the the definitions for religion is: a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance. Are not humanists making themselves more important than other species on the planet?
Well, according to chatgpt, humanism is not a religion. Key differences being the lack of supernatural beliefs and a secular approach to moral and ethical frameworks, based on reason and evidence. roh roh ..
This is a misunderstanding that I have heard before. Religion is about unquestioning acceptance of a particular explanation of how the Universe works, from figures of authority, regardless of whether or not they are correct. Hence the need for continuous repetition of sayings (prayers) or forced learning of written text. It is about dogma, indoctrination and manipulation. Humanism is about caring for other people (something we share with many religions) and relying on reasoning from objective evidence to drive ones knowledge and beliefs. In that, it is the exact opposite of religion.
On your final point, if a person cares about other humans, then they automatically care about other species, because our existence and quality of life is so intertwined with them. Being objective about knowledge, does not make one a heartless robot. There is, also, nothing more arrogant than believing that our species was uniquely made by a supreme being, in its own image, to rule over all others!
@@SteveSmith-en7ud wish I could like this comment more than once.
You stated that religion is about unquestioning acceptance of a particular explanation of how the universe works, but that isn't true. Scientists like Galilio, Newton and others early scientist studied science to gain an understanding of how the universe worked and they were not atheists. Many of the major universities were started by Christians to learn about science and understand our world. To your comment about following authority without question, the Bible doesn't teach that. In Isaiah 1:18 the Lord says, 'Come let us reason together' that doesn't sound like God is saying to follow him blindly. Granted there are some religions that do ask that of their followers, but that is not Christianity. You mentioned about caring for other humans. If God doesn't exist, why is it good for me to care about other humans? If all there is, is nature and all that counts is survival of the fittest, shouldn't I just care about myself? Also, you're making a moral claim. Where do you get your moral standard from? In an atheistic world all morals are relative and are just opinion. @@SteveSmith-en7ud
At the time of those original scientists, the only way to get an education, was through a religious body, unless a person was exceptionally rich. All the Universities were owned/ controlled by religious orders. Galileo may have been raised (indoctrinated) as a Catholic, but he got into trouble for making a fool of the Pope of his time, over the dogma of Earth's place in the Universe. Newton was religious, and a brilliant scientist and mathematician. he was also an alchemist: demonstrating that a person can be intelligent and irrational, at the same time. One of the great things about quotes from the Christian Bible, is that one can find justification for almost anything. To see a scholarly examination of the contradictions and pure falsehoods, that it contains, see the 'Koolaid' on CZcams. Your understanding of Darwin's discovery, is very simplistic. Richard Dawkins explained, in his book The Selfish Gene, (and his other books) how altruism comes about in 'selfish' genes. Nichola Raihani, in her book: The Social Instinct, explains how social behaviour evolves.
As far as your god causing people to care about others, I suggest that you watch the news and current affairs. Billions suffer terribly in this World. Given that your god, allegedly, made 'man' in its own image, there are only three options: 1) there are no gods, 2) your god is cruel, malevolent, capricious and malicious, 3) if there is a God, then there is a Devil and the Devil won a long time ago! The truth is that religions were made up by our ancestors thousands of years ago, when they were completely ignorant about their Universe, including themselves, to try to explain it all and write some rules for co-existence. After five thousand years of absolute failure, it's time to give up. @@MrHPT3
Surly you're not trying to turn everyone of every religion into one?
😠 Humanism is NOT a religion. If you can point to any equivalencies between them please do so. Humanism has NO clergy. Humanism has NO place of worship. Humanism has NO supernatural element. What can you offer now?
@@sirmeowthelibrarycat A clergy is nothing more than a teacher, who is that standing on the stage?
@@toni4729disingenuous... a clergy directly represents much more...a clergy is not a teacher, a teacher does not tell you what to think...
@@toni4729 Is this man claiming to speak for a deity (who NEVER appears themselves and verifies any of the claims being made) because that is what Clergy do. They claim to be speaking on behalf of some supreme being, with zero verification of that fact. This man is not doing that. Also, is this man claiming to have the right to assert authority over other humans and be the arbiter of what human rights and freedoms they have because they were given SPECIAL REVELATION by some deity? No he is not. But that is what clergy do. Assert authority through authorization by an invisible and (as far as legal proof goes, non-existent) being. Is he claiming that EVERYONE MUST follow his worldview and those who do not wish to do so, need to be punished? No. That is what clergy do.
@@alieninthecaribbean I think you've read what this man is claiming. It's up to you to make up your own mind what you consider what he's up to. I'm happy to be just human. Humanism is out of my realm. Not interested. I'll stay atheist, we're better off alone, minding our own business and not praying or trying to teach others how to behave. I have to admit though, I'm not an American and would be amused at watching them politely walking to church with their bibles.
I'm sorry, I don't see the difference between humanism and plain old atheism. Is it just a softening of the word? Are people in England just afraid to call themselves atheists? Are you just afraid. I thought that was just Americans.
😠 Try harder. Humanism focuses on the attributes of a human being in mental and physical forms. Intelligence and strength. Atheism is a philosophical view that says until verifiable evidence of a supernatural deity is provided, such will be ignored. Each is complimentary to the other, but you do not have to accept or reject both at the same time. Most importantly, neither is imposed on anyone by humanists or atheists. Unlike religion.
@@sirmeowthelibrarycat Atheism is unbelief. NON BELIEF. You are mixing Atheism with agnosism. They will sit on the fence forever.
@@toni4729atheism as a philosophical view...not about belief or non belief
Humanism is a development on atheism.
Broadly speaking for example, a sociopath can be an atheist but cannot be a Humanist. Humanists mostly don't believe in the supernatural but do believe in ethical frameworks of behaviour within hunan society based on rational, philosophical, and scientific principles of enlightened self interest and natural compassion/empathy
@@imaginejl4 Atheism is a word, it means something. That's all.