secularism all

god is an illusion and the result of wish fulfilment

SCIENCE: religion had its place but now, with the rapid advance of science, it is important to move away from the need for religion and to understand the world in scientific terms.

HUME: in the 18th century also saw religion as childish and said it was mainly practised by by the uneducated people of the world.

FEUERBACH: in the 19th century argued that religion is the projection of all aspects of human nature onto God. What they call an experience of God is actually an experience of themselves.

God is NOT an illusion and the result of wish fulfilment

CHRISTIAN STORY: let alone other religions, has too many different examples of reasons for belief to condense them

al down to be rejected simply because of wish fulfilment - miracles, religious experiences, inspirational leaders and so on.

CANNOT PROJECT:the neurosis of a few people onto all humanity.

FREUD'S ANALYSIS over-simplifies religious belief as ritualistic and does not take into account the variety of beliefs in other religions that do not put as much emphasis on guilt, or a male god.

HELPFUL: there is nothing wrong with dreams and wish fulfilment. Martin Luther King's dream speech illustrates the idea that dreaming brings about goodness. Whether or not religion is true, religion's usefulness in society is an important consideration.

Christianity is a major cause of personal and social problems

MULTIFAITH SOCIETY: is the established religion and therefore creates a society where one group has preferential treatment to others.

SCIENCE: Christianity rejects advances in science (to various extents) and therefore hold society back.

OUTDATED: ethical aspects of Christianity do not match with the views of modern society, such as ni its views about homosexuality and this causes tensions ni society as well as personal problems for individuals.

OPPRESSES WOMEN: through its belief in the authority of the Bible that si outdated, impacting both on individuals and societies.

Christianity is NOT a major cause of personal and social problems

DAWKINS: gives of religious wars seems to ignore al the major wars, such as the two World Wars, that did not involve religious motivation.

DAWKINS: uses extreme forms of religion, especially Christianity and Islam to make his point but these are arguably not representative of religious belief.

HUMANS: Christianity si made up of humans and there will always be individuals who fall short of God's ideal but this does not make the whole religion a cause of problems.

SOCIAL JUSTICE: Christianity has an extensive track record of social justice, which improves, rather than damages society and the lives of individuals.

spiritual values are just human values

HUMAN VALUES: of goodness are given relgious 'flavour' in diff traditions but are all essentially the same - non non religious person would disagree w religious values

HUMAN VALUES: come first historically + these have been adopted by reliigons eg the 10 comandements are in other religious lists of their time

RELIGIONS: would not object to the values listed in the 2022 amsterdam declaration (secular)

spiritual values are NOT just human values

SPIRITUAL VALUES: require a belief in god who is the final purpose for these values. beleif in god transforms our understanding eg why we forgive

SOME CHRISTIAN ETHICA L VALUES: are opposed to some non religious values eg upholding the dignity of life over personal freedom (euthanasia)

SPIRITUALITY: about finding a connection to the divine/oneness with god through religious experience. this is something that is the domain only of religion, not humanity as a whole

other issues

PROBLEM TO DEFINE BOTH: Richard Dawkins does not reject spirituality in the sense of thinking beyond the physical. He simply rejects the idea that there is another plane of existence where spirituality can, in some way, be 'found".

NO SUCH THING AS HUMAN/SPIRITUAL VALUES: complete list foreither can be made, especially given the differences between people globally.

religion as a coping mechanism

religion becomes the answer to the internal needs of a person

consequence of traumatic memories un-dealt with

fear of the natural world + its danger - religion is a source of comfort

religion as a neurosis

religion is a type of neurotic illness

religion is a consequence of traumatic memories which have not been dealt with

the trauma is always associated with sex in nature

primaral horde

consequence of this (rally around 1 man) was ambiguous feelings toward the main male - hatred, respect, and fear. This shows that the Oedipus complex is not only personal trauma, but a trauma that affects every society on a historical level.

It explains why religion is universal and the concept of God is so powerful.

The guilt of the original crime is passed down in our genes.

criticism of freud

- freud depended on a very limited amount or narrow focus of evidence.

- freud's theory heavily depended on the importance of the father figure, which is further developed in the male God of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Freud's theories, therefore, did not consider religions which were based on goddesses, or a religion where no Being is revered, such as Buddhism.

Freud, thus, created theories which seemed to explain, to his mind, the complexities of the societies he was familiar with, but not every

Bruce

Describes Christianity in Britain as a pale shadow of its former self.

Humphry

Children have a right for their minds not to be addled by nonsense & society has a duty to prevent it.

Cardinal Levada

New atheism misrepresents the doctrines of the Church & is the main cause of discrimination against Christians.

Hume

Religion is childish & mainly practised by the uneducated. Those who are mentally grown up have no need for religious belief.

Cacioppo

We have an innate biological need to be apart of something bigger.

Cole

Belief in a higher purpose may make us less stressed about threats to our personal wellbeing.

Williams

Secularism is a welcome challenge to the Church, encouraging people not to 'privatise' their beliefs but to engage with all aspects of society as Christians.

define secularism

the idea that religious beliefs + institutions should not affect how the state is run; all belief systems are equal in the eyes of the law

society would be happier w/o christianity

freud + dawkins argues that the idea of god is an illusion + the result of wish fulfilment

christianity is infantile, repressive + causes conflict

both would advocate for secularisation + the development of society toward the removal of religion + promotion of reason through science

freud's key ideas

- religion is wish fulfilment as it is a reflection of our subconscious projecting onto our conscious minds like a daydream

- it is an infantile result of the oedipus complex as jealousy toward fathers is repressed into the subconscious mind + projected onto the idea of god

what did freud say ab religion?

- expressed in primitive cultures through the totem pole (phallic symbol of maleness in societies)

- in modern society this is the male god we seek comfort from through religious ritual

- repetition of this worship is obsessional + found in all parts of society

- religion is unhealthy + leads to negativity within society (has been the cause of many conflicts)

RELIGION IS A UNIVERSAL OBSESSIONAL NEUROSIS

dawkins on science

- points to evolution (science has removed the need to speak of a divine spark/ soul in people)

- unanswered questions should not be filled with an unsubstantiated belief in god but should be filled with trust that science is on its way to finding answers

why does dawkins think religious belief is problematic for society?

- causes war + conflict

- holds back children - a form of child abuse as parents label their children before they can think for themselves

dawkins quote

"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence."

faith schools

1/3 of schools in the UK are faith schools

mainly RCC + COFE

arguments for faith schools

- only 1/3 are faith schools, families have a choice

- church attendance is dropping but many consider themselves christian + should be able to reflect this in education

- all schools have mission statements + value systems - faith schools are no different from other schools

- reflects diversity + tolerance (fundamental british values)

- students in faith schools are as diverse as the societies they are in - not necessarily made up only of their faith background

- get higher gcse grades

arguments against faith schools

- labelling children from a young age

- teaching in some areas eg RS/ science may be biased, esp in fundamental schools - may lead to radicalisation

- students are not fully aware of the rest of secular society

- faith schools may reflect some people's narrow views of what religious people are like

- faith should be something only taught by parents + religious communities

christianity is a major cause of personal + social problems

CAUSE OF WARFARE: when it has tried to gain supremacy over other traditions eg crusades

REJECTS SCIENCE: holds society back eg in beliefs ab soul

OUTDATED: views dont match modern society eg homosexuality

ABSOLUTIST: approach is intolerant of the views of others + is damaging to society eg views on euthanasia limit freedom of peoples own lives

RADICALISE: can radicalise converts as much as any religion

PATRIARCHAL: oppresses women

BELIEF: promotes belief in things that hold ppl back from reality + stop personal development eg life after death

CHILD ABUSE: suffered from child abuse scandals + has not reacted appropriately to accusations

TRUST: christians place trust in a bible that is outdated + condones practices like slavery

DIFFERING BELIEFS: can divide families eg when one member converts

EVANGELISTS: some ppl's intention is to earn money not to preach faith

christianity is NOT a major cause of personal + social problems

COMMUNITY: christianity is a community always seeking the ideal way to live based on jesus' cmmandments to love but humans fall short of god's way of perfection - it is wrong to judge the redeeming work of jesus against humans

EXCLUSIVISTS: some may reject all other denominations + say the divided church may be the cause of problems but their own denomination does not

Hume

Religious principles are, "... sick men's dreams."

Comte

"Atheism, even from the intellectual point of view, is a very imperfect form of emancipation."

Dawkins

"... isn't it always a form of child abuse to label children as possessors of religious beliefs...?"

Freud

I "...hope that in the future science will go beyond religion, and reason will replace faith in God."

Terry Eagleton

Secularism is, "... largely doomed, because religion is an exceedingly hard act to follow."

British Humanist Association

"We want non-religious people to be confident in living ethical and fulfilling human lives on the basis of reason and humanity."

Pope Benedict XVI

"Christianity finds itself exposed to an intolerant pressure that at first ridicules it, and then deprives it of breathing space..."

Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury)

"Faith is the root of freedom and programmatic secularism cannot deliver anything comparable."