Sir, - I object to Father Faul's uninformed attack on secular humanism (Rite and Reason, December 1st) in an attempt to defend that of which more and more Irish people are sceptical: of Irish Catholic education. Unable to explain humanism in any rational way, he charges its adherents with having an agenda of "personal greed and pleasure as the supreme values of life".
Far from placing greed and pleasure above all else, humanists have higher values which we consider are the equal of the Christian virtues. Our ethical code includes tolerance, compassion, respect for truth and reason, openness and honesty, together with a high regard for human life, which, after millions of years of evolution, is linked to every other living organism on the planet.
Humanist values have also evolved over many centuries, and were debated and developed by philosophers in every age, who are respected today by all men of culture and learning in every country. They include Socrates, Rousseau, Erasmus, Voltaire, Toland, and many, many more, who arrived at their views after serious, life-long study of religion and civilisation. They found that religion was divisive, disruptive and dangerous, because it promotes hatred, intolerance, greed and jealousy which often lead to war. Events in Northern Ireland over the past thirty years alone bear witness to the truth of this, and despite the fact that it has a positive side, religion's negative influence contributes greatly to conflict. It is for these reasons that humanists argue the case for an integrated educational system, an idea that is also demonised by Father Faul in his article, but which is gaining popularity, North and South.
Father Faul goes on to state: "Secular means concentrating only on this world with the aim of extracting as much pleasure out of it as possible, forgetting about the past and ignoring the future. Even paganism is preferable to secularism because at least pagans believe in spirits and can be easily converted." The definition of secularism here is narrow because no humanist would concentrate only on this world simply for pleasure, and it reflects the writer's need to link humanism with self-interest and greed, which would be quite irrational, from our point of view. Self-indulgence and greed, along with the need to amass worldly wealth in order to obtain power over others, is alien to the humanist, who, while acknowledging that this is likely to be the only life we will ever experience, is anxious, nevertheless, that its bounties should be shared equally with all others.
It is true that pagans believe in spirits and humanists don't, but the reason why this makes them "preferable" to humanists, in the eyes of the writer, is because their lack of knowledge and awe of the supernatural leaves them vulnerable to the mass of myths, legends and superstitions that he calls religion. It is true also "that it is practically impossible to convert the liberal, secular mind, "but not because it is based on "pride and greed for money" as he so crudely describes it, but because it is based on scientific fact. Humanists depend on science and philosophy for information, comfort and enlightenment, because the benefits these have bestowed on humanity can be experienced everywhere in the civilised world.
The contrast between these and the mixed blessing of religion which has few answers for modern man, is obvious. That is why churches are closing, vocations are falling, and people are opting for non-denominational education. The Catholic Church in particular has failed in Ireland by abusing its power in all fields, as contributors to the Letters column of this paper regularly testify. Father Faul's defence of its educational system will leave them unmoved, I suspect, as the reality is the opposite of his hollow rhetoric. - Yours, etc., Sean Kearney,
Editor, The Ulster Humanist, Glantane Drive, Belfast 15.