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Are you are intrigued by the possibility of creating and living with a religious or spiritual sense of meaning? Intrigued about finding meaning without having to ground it on God? Or any kind of transcendental being? Then this website may be of interest you.
My purpose in developing a secular sense of the sacred is to anchor moral action in the fundamental universals of life. Furthermore, to do so without needing to draw on a God. By doing so we might find a reliable way to reduce suffering.
Following the decline of religions and ideologies during the twentieth century, political narratives and religious worldviews have failed to offer meaningful redemption from human suffering. As a result we have a chronic scepticism towards any universalistic moral claims. Above all a denial of religion’s transcendent claims does not lead to chaos. We are not reduced to a range of world views that have nothing in common.
A New Appreciation of the Role of Religion and Spirituality
This leads me to a re-appreciation of the role of religion. I firmly see myself as humanist, secularist and rationalist. However it is no longer tenable for people within this tradition to engage in a haughty dismissal of religion. Similarly we cannot simply dismiss religious believers. I approach humanism from a new direction.
Spiritual and religious traditions still articulate an approach to such fundamental issues as loss, suffering and death. These issues fail to find an adequate response in rationalist cultures. I seek to ‘translate’ religious concepts a into a secular framework. This can act like a pragmatic sacred which can inspire moral motivation. This way we can find a new way of relating to a fundamental religious inspiration. We can breath new life into such ideas as suffering, consolation, the Kingdom of God, the sacred, redemption and sin.
Myths and Rituals
Nevertheless even a rational sense of a secular sacred is still an insufficient source of moral motivation. I suggest a new and mindful way of creating narratives and stories, which, like myths, have a moral message. The rich symbolic texture of myths can be a powerful means of encouraging people to engage in an identification with the values enshrined in the secular sacred.
I hope that you enjoy this website.
My new book The Secular Sacred is now available as an ebook from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IPK4X8W
Click on the link below to download a PDF copy of the introduction.
The Secular Sacred – Introduction
