Nexus of Thought: Does humanity need religion for its values, or can we obtain these from secular-based philosophy?

Sunday, May 31, 2026

Does humanity need religion for its values, or can we obtain these from secular-based philosophy?

The answer is both yes and no. Opinions will differ based on what type of society we personally prefer living in.

What is certain, though, is that if we wish to replace one value system with another, we better make sure that the alternative system has empirical worth. The burial grounds of the planet are littered with the victims of failed ideologies.

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My beliefs

I believe ….

1.That there is a God who transcends space and time. (I call it God for want of a name although I personally prefer the Kabbalistic term Ein Sof).

2. That it is impossible to know the nature of God. It cannot be truly defined.

3. That the universe operates according to the Laws of Physics. Life evolved through a combination of natural selection, genetic drift and other selection pressures acting on a genome whose variation arose as a consequence of mutation.

4. That God can intervene but such intervention is undetectable and does not contravene the laws of physics. God is a subtle actor who presents no evidence of understandable design.

5. That an agnostic position on a personal God makes sense.

6. That revealed religion are merely man made attempts at trying to understand God and although some carry the wisdom of earlier thought they are all inherently flawed.

7. That humans need to develop their own moral code based on reason, logic and the collective thinking of what has worked in the past.

8. That some religious customs may serve a purpose with respect to group cohesion but they need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

9. That God is likely a minimalist in action but not a disinterested party.

10. That the afterlife is unknowable.

11. That skepticism and the scientific method are the best tools we have in understanding the material world.