Compassion is the key in Islam and Buddhism and Judaism and Christianity. They are profoundly similar.
Karen ArmstrongRead
Western liberal humanism is not something that comes naturally to us: like an appreciation of art or poetry, it has to be cultivated. Humanism is itself a religion without God-not all religions, of course, are theistic. Our ethical secular ideal has it's own disciplines of mind and heart and gives people the means of finding faith in the ultimate meaning of human life that were once provided by the more conventional religions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humanism requires cultivation akin to art appreciation, offering ethical guidance in a secular context.
In this quote, Karen Armstrong highlights that Western liberal humanism is not an innate disposition but rather a perspective that must be intentionally developed, much like the appreciation of art or poetry. She describes humanism as a secular religion that doesn’t rely on a deity, suggesting that it provides moral and ethical frameworks to pursue the meaning of life, similar to traditional religions, thus promoting a deeper understanding of our existence and shared humanity.
Themes
HumanismEthicsSecularCultivationMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on ethical philosophy, to discuss the importance of cultivating humanist values in society.
More from Karen Armstrong
All quotes →Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our limited needs, fears and desires. We can assume that he loves what we love and hates what we hate, endorsing our prejudices instead of compelling us to transcend them.
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When violence becomes imbedded in a region, then this affects everything. It affects your dreams, your fantasies and relationships, and your religion becomes violent, too.
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Far from being the father of jihad, [Prophet] Mohammad was a peacemaker, who risked his life and nearly lost the loyalty of his closest companions because he was determined to effect a reconciliation with Mecca
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Yes, all fundamentalists feel that in a secular society, God has been relegated to the margin, to the periphery and they are all in different ways seeking to drag him out of that peripheral position, back to center stage.
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Religion is a search for transcendence. But transcendence isn't necessarily sited in an external god, which can be a very unspiritual, unreligious concept.
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