I really don’t like large groups, particularly organised ones, and even more particularly religious ones. Even if I call myself agnostic or atheist or humanist, it puts me in the precarious position of admitting I belong to a tribe of people with the same beliefs which means I get tarred with the same brush, opening me up to the same hostilities or prejudices that the rest of the group may face. It’s why I used to be so hesitant about political parties. Humans suck at nuance, but we’re great at forming tribes, and we hate all the other tribes!
The concept is fairly easy to understand. We are social creatures, better equipped to work together than go it alone. Bonding keeps us connected, even in times of strife, and that gives us a better chance of survival. However, when we enter this new group situation, we start to work against anyone who doesn’t conform to the tribe. It reminds me of a great South Park episode where society abolishes religion and then a few different groups of atheists fight over the one true form of atheism. It’s inevitable.
We find tribes everywhere and most are unavoidable. My gender, age, location, car, phone, job, education, music, general interests; all of these things give me something in common with someone else, and thus unintentionally we are aligned. Tribalism isn’t totally bad though, it’s a nice way to make friends; it’s easy for me to talk to someone wearing a Led Zeppelin shirt. It just happens to invite isolationism, creating an ‘us and them’ scenario which is not conducive to a fair and just society. That Led Zep fan might have a passionate hatred for Slipknot, and at a festival maybe he starts fights with fans of different bands.
I don’t want to write a deep philosophical argument here. I’m not going to discuss in detail moral relativism, multiculturalism, tribalism, post conventional moral reasoning, or any of that shit.
“The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Palaeolithic emotions, Medieval institutions, and God-like technology.”
E.O.Wilson, Scientist
Again, not wanting to join any sort of tribe here, but I like the values put forward by the American Humanist Association. It’s all about morality coming from our human perspective rather than from the view of a “God”, and it certainly doesn’t make any assumptions about our innate goodness or capacity for evil. I seem to be quoting people a lot and Vonnegut is highly quotable, particularly in his assessment of Humanism which he said was about ‘being decent to each other with no expectation of reward’. Here’s the ten commandments commitments:
- Critical Thinking – To practice good judgement
- Ethical Development – To always strive to be better
- Social Justice – To help people solve problems fairly
- Service – To aid the community
- Altruism – To help without reward
- Humility – To appreciate your strengths and weaknesses
- Environmentalism – To take care of life on earth
- Awareness – To understand the wider world
- Responsibility – To accept consequences and admit mistakes
- Empathy – To consider the experiences of those around you
This list doesn’t seem so bad to me. It puts the focus on us, on humanity. Today the movement is pretty much secular but when it started followers were practically all Christians who merely saw helping your fellow man as a good thing rather than a method to reach eternal salvation. I’m not against the modern agnostic side of Humanism either, I believe scepticism has a place in Humanism as it does all areas of our society.
The reason I’m writing about this topic is that I am growing weary of the human race. Yesterday, 31 men were found sitting inside the back of a hot, steamy, dark U-Haul truck waiting to ‘disrupt’ a Pride event in Idaho. They looked very professional, in their cargo khaki trousers, navy shirts, face coverings. What the fuck could possibly motivate a group of 31 men to get together, play mercenary, and attack a Pride event? We know what motivates them, the question is rhetorical. I mean as human beings, as people, what happens inside them? They have to drive from 11 different states, meet in a parking lot in a hotel, gear up and hop into a fucking U-Haul van. How are they this bothered by the Pride march? I have work to do, chores, pets, and stuff to get on with; how do they have the time to do this? How vital is it to them? What went wrong with these individuals to take them down that path, and what role does society as a whole have to play?
That’s one example, and I know that overall humanity is doing pretty well even if right now is doesn’t seem like it when you read the news, but it’s been bothering me. Groups have been bothering me. People are bothering me. Where does all the hate come from? I don’t want us to sit around a campfire singing Kumbaya but I have to believe we can be better than this.
“Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is.”
Albert Camus – Philosopher
“We’re all here on a big rock, zipping around a bad star for no good reason. We don’t know where it came from, we don’t know where we’re going, we don’t know how long it is gonna last, and we keep having to go to the bathroom. And on top of that, the whole thing is pretty meaningless.”
George Carlin – Comedian
I’m no misanthrope, which should come across in my alignment with Humanist values, nor am I a pessimist. I’m actually quite optimistic, and it’s my hope that keeps disappointing me. I’ve read pretty much all there is on these topics and a lot of that reading was done at university, yet still I’m baffled by it all. I wish we didn’t need to be greedy, ignorant, selfish, racist, sexist, brutal, and unforgiving. Animals can’t help it, but we can. We have logic, and we are capable of so much more. Whilst one man tries to buy Twitter, another hasn’t got access to clean drinking water. A foodbank had to shut down here because they received no donations, whilst a member of Parliament’s wife bought a supermarket to add to their £100 million property empire. I’m not preaching Communism, Socialism, or any kind of -ism. I just don’t think it is fair and I believe we can make things fair.
Justice and fairness, these are values that we should all want in our lives. We should strive for a fairer world. I should clarify, this doesn’t equate to an even society, and what is justice for one may not be justice for another, so yeah it’s full of holes and susceptible to be damaged or abused like any system or anything involving humans, but it’s all I can come up with for now.