Humanists do good without God
John Lui
21 February 2010
Straits Times
Lifestyle - Hot
Living a morally good life without religion is the belief that a small group of people in Singapore hold and some of them have been meeting regularly to discuss social issues of the day.
The group, Singapore Humanism Meetup, uses a website to arrange social gatherings. They describe themselves as secular humanists, atheists or agnostics.
Mr Ryan Song, the network's organiser, says: 'Secular humanists can find themselves in a lonely place.' These 'natural sceptics' hold views that differ from those that religious people hold, says the 30-year-old IT executive. ?
They are also fond of debating ideas and the meet-ups give them a chance to do so. They range in age from 18 to 76 and include entrepreneurs and those working in the civil service and banks, he says.
Atheists and non-believers are more active and organised in other countries.
The British Humanist Association, working with scientist Richard Dawkins, who wrote a book on atheism, supported a controversial bus advertising campaign in Britain which said: 'There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.' The buses ran throughout the United Kingdom last year and inspired similar bus campaigns in the United States.
The British campaign was prompted by bus advertising by an evangelical Christian group which said that non-believers would be condemned to eternal suffering.
But in Singapore, humanists whom LifeStyle spoke to say that proselytising is not as strident, thanks largely to strict laws promoting religious harmony. So for now, humanist activities are limited to blogging and meet-ups at cafes around town.
So far, 14 meet-ups have been organised, with the first held in January 2008. About 20 people show up for the monthly discussions, which deal with topics such as courtship and ethics.
The meetup.com site was set up in late 2007, with a Facebook page created around the same time. Since then, the sites have garnered about 200 followers each, with some signing up for both.
Sociologist Paulin Straughan calls the trend 'a very interesting development' and sees the growth of the network as the attempt by some to 'find meaning in life' and 'to exchange ideals and reinforce their beliefs'.
'The Internet serves to connect and therefore, certainly plays a significant role in gathering like-minded individuals in cyberspace,' she adds.
The Singapore Population Census 2000 showed that those who stated they had no religion made up 14.8 per cent, slightly outnumbering Christians at 14.6 per cent. A majority of 51 per cent of the resident population aged 15 years and above were either Buddhist or Taoist, while Muslims and Hindus made up 15 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Those of other religions made up the rest, at 0.6 per cent.
Mr Wong Koi Hin, 34, who runs an IT consultancy and has attended one humanism meet-up, says he wants to be identified as a secular humanist because 'it gives us an opportunity to present ourselves as people who believe in living an ethical life and helping our fellow men while subscribing to a rational world view'.
Miss Chen En Jiao, 21, a student, has attended four meet-ups and is attracted to the idea that during these meetings, people can discuss topics such as sexuality without appealing to religion, but instead rely on research and desired outcomes, such as the reduction of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Not all humanists hold the same views and she enjoys learning about the wide range of opinions they hold, she says. 'It's hard to bring up topics such as sexuality education in schools in normal, everyday conversation without opening a can of worms,' she says, laughing.
The self-described humanist and atheist knows that some right-wing Christians characterise humanist views as anti- religious and anti-God, and that such views seek to impose a liberal, 'anything goes' approach to sexuality. It is wrong to say that humanists have no values, she says. In fact, the views of liberal Christians can be very similar to those held by some humanists, she says.
Mr Song says: 'We do have positive values but we base them on reason, science and the observation of the world. We also believe in compassion.'
For now, the loose network is not a registered society and has no official ties to any humanist group, local or foreign. But Mr Song says it is possible that a more formal grouping may form in the future if there is support from the network.
Links with overseas humanists groups will also depend on whether their views are in sync with Singapore values, he says.
He also thinks that in Singapore, it is more constructive to promote harmony between believers and non-believers by education than by promoting the humanist cause through advertising.
So a confrontational approach, such as that seen in the British bus campaign, will probably not work here. Even if one religious group is advertising itself, a 'tit-for-tat' approach taken by humanists 'is not healthy in the Singapore context', he says.
Major beliefs
The range of beliefs among those who call themselves humanists is broad. Here is a list of the major ideas, drawn from websites such as the British Humanist Association and the Humanist Association of Hong Kong.
They do not believe in a God or gods, or in an afterlife. Many of them say the claim that one is either for or against religion is a false choice. Belief in a deity is not necessary to live a morally good life. Not believing in a deity does not lead to a life empty of meaning orsolace in dark times.
They believe they alone bear responsibility for their actions and cannot blame or give credit to fate or a deity.
They prefer to rely on observation, experience and rational methods to explain and understand the world.
They hold moral principles, such as the Golden Rule ('Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'), and accept that compassion and human welfare should guide their lives. Therefore, helping causes such as world peace and famine relief follows.
They believe that because there is only one life to live, they should live it to the fullest.
21 February 2010
Straits Times
Lifestyle - Hot
Living a morally good life without religion is the belief that a small group of people in Singapore hold and some of them have been meeting regularly to discuss social issues of the day.
The group, Singapore Humanism Meetup, uses a website to arrange social gatherings. They describe themselves as secular humanists, atheists or agnostics.
Mr Ryan Song, the network's organiser, says: 'Secular humanists can find themselves in a lonely place.' These 'natural sceptics' hold views that differ from those that religious people hold, says the 30-year-old IT executive. ?
They are also fond of debating ideas and the meet-ups give them a chance to do so. They range in age from 18 to 76 and include entrepreneurs and those working in the civil service and banks, he says.
Atheists and non-believers are more active and organised in other countries.
The British Humanist Association, working with scientist Richard Dawkins, who wrote a book on atheism, supported a controversial bus advertising campaign in Britain which said: 'There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.' The buses ran throughout the United Kingdom last year and inspired similar bus campaigns in the United States.
The British campaign was prompted by bus advertising by an evangelical Christian group which said that non-believers would be condemned to eternal suffering.
But in Singapore, humanists whom LifeStyle spoke to say that proselytising is not as strident, thanks largely to strict laws promoting religious harmony. So for now, humanist activities are limited to blogging and meet-ups at cafes around town.
So far, 14 meet-ups have been organised, with the first held in January 2008. About 20 people show up for the monthly discussions, which deal with topics such as courtship and ethics.
The meetup.com site was set up in late 2007, with a Facebook page created around the same time. Since then, the sites have garnered about 200 followers each, with some signing up for both.
Sociologist Paulin Straughan calls the trend 'a very interesting development' and sees the growth of the network as the attempt by some to 'find meaning in life' and 'to exchange ideals and reinforce their beliefs'.
'The Internet serves to connect and therefore, certainly plays a significant role in gathering like-minded individuals in cyberspace,' she adds.
The Singapore Population Census 2000 showed that those who stated they had no religion made up 14.8 per cent, slightly outnumbering Christians at 14.6 per cent. A majority of 51 per cent of the resident population aged 15 years and above were either Buddhist or Taoist, while Muslims and Hindus made up 15 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Those of other religions made up the rest, at 0.6 per cent.
Mr Wong Koi Hin, 34, who runs an IT consultancy and has attended one humanism meet-up, says he wants to be identified as a secular humanist because 'it gives us an opportunity to present ourselves as people who believe in living an ethical life and helping our fellow men while subscribing to a rational world view'.
Miss Chen En Jiao, 21, a student, has attended four meet-ups and is attracted to the idea that during these meetings, people can discuss topics such as sexuality without appealing to religion, but instead rely on research and desired outcomes, such as the reduction of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Not all humanists hold the same views and she enjoys learning about the wide range of opinions they hold, she says. 'It's hard to bring up topics such as sexuality education in schools in normal, everyday conversation without opening a can of worms,' she says, laughing.
The self-described humanist and atheist knows that some right-wing Christians characterise humanist views as anti- religious and anti-God, and that such views seek to impose a liberal, 'anything goes' approach to sexuality. It is wrong to say that humanists have no values, she says. In fact, the views of liberal Christians can be very similar to those held by some humanists, she says.
Mr Song says: 'We do have positive values but we base them on reason, science and the observation of the world. We also believe in compassion.'
For now, the loose network is not a registered society and has no official ties to any humanist group, local or foreign. But Mr Song says it is possible that a more formal grouping may form in the future if there is support from the network.
Links with overseas humanists groups will also depend on whether their views are in sync with Singapore values, he says.
He also thinks that in Singapore, it is more constructive to promote harmony between believers and non-believers by education than by promoting the humanist cause through advertising.
So a confrontational approach, such as that seen in the British bus campaign, will probably not work here. Even if one religious group is advertising itself, a 'tit-for-tat' approach taken by humanists 'is not healthy in the Singapore context', he says.
Major beliefs
The range of beliefs among those who call themselves humanists is broad. Here is a list of the major ideas, drawn from websites such as the British Humanist Association and the Humanist Association of Hong Kong.
They do not believe in a God or gods, or in an afterlife. Many of them say the claim that one is either for or against religion is a false choice. Belief in a deity is not necessary to live a morally good life. Not believing in a deity does not lead to a life empty of meaning orsolace in dark times.
They believe they alone bear responsibility for their actions and cannot blame or give credit to fate or a deity.
They prefer to rely on observation, experience and rational methods to explain and understand the world.
They hold moral principles, such as the Golden Rule ('Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'), and accept that compassion and human welfare should guide their lives. Therefore, helping causes such as world peace and famine relief follows.
They believe that because there is only one life to live, they should live it to the fullest.
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