The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Friday April 24, 2015
Did you know that yesterday was Secular Day? Yeah, me either.
Happy (?) Secular Day
We live in a strange (some would say obnoxious) time in which every day has some random, superficial meaning attached to it. Doughnut Day! Runner’s Day! Tabletop Game Day! Kitchen Sink Day! This over-saturation of “days” proves the natural human inclination to remember, celebrate, and have traditions (see the calendar of the Catholic Church). Or the power of advertising, but whatever.
Yesterday was declared Secular Day by openlysecular.org. The website encourages people to tell at least one person that they are proud to be secular, that is, to live a life without any affiliation to spirituality or religion.
I wonder where this conversation would lead. Like Christians, secularists prove the validity of the philosophy by how they live their life, how they treat people, what basis they have for their beliefs, and whether their views stack up to logic and common sense. Just telling someone “I’m a secularist” is just as empty as a Christian just saying “I want you to know that I’m a Christian.” How annoying would that be?
The concept of Secular Day also makes me cringe when I consider the devastation that secularism has wrought in our times. The same secularists that decry religion for holy wars completely ignore the tens of millions killed in the 20th century due to their worldview. When it comes to terrorism and murder, secularism makes religion look like a walk in the park, and their worst offenders are in our supposedly more enlightened times.
I get that people want to show that you can be a good person without being religious. Or that secularism is a viable alternative to living a spiritual life. But if someone is going to proclaim it to those around them I hope they have the sense to do it diplomatically. I also hope that they’re open to beliefs other than theirs.
An olive branch
That’s not to say that there isn’t merit to the philosophies behind secularism (agnosticism, atheism, etc.). There are plenty of legitimate reasons to not believe in the spiritual world. A lot of songs in this vein are intelligent, admirable, and creative. This is one of my favorites, Kristian Hoffman’s “Devil May Care.” It rightly condemns religious people who are, in Johnny Cash’s words, so heavenly minded that they’re no earthly good. It’s got a nice little beat, too.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
RSS Feed
