CAN THERE EVER BE A HUMANIST MUSLIM?

CAN THERE EVER BE A HUMANIST MUSLIM?

A hyper-zealous, religious Facebook friend (I will refer to him as X) told us today that he is a Humanist Muslim.

Honestly, this was a surprised, so I took some time to look back over his past comments to see if there was any evidence for his claim.

Humanism is based on some fundamental tenets. These are not always expressed identically, but most humanists would agree with the following eight tenets.

1. HUMANISM: Accepts a wholly natural universe which exists without any need for a supernatural mind or consciousness.

X: Believes in a non-material creator god and a whole pantheon of supernatural minds. FAIL.

2. HUMANISM: Accepts human life is a product of natural processes and the mind is entirely a function of a material brain.

X: Believes human life was created by a creator god and the mind cannot function without a spirit. FAIL.

3. HUMANISM: Holds that there is no conscious survival after death.

X: Believes in eternal life after death which provides sexual plenty for males who pass certain tests. FAIL.

4. HUMANISM: Has confidence that humans can solve their own problems by relying on reason, evidence, the scientific method and long-term vision.

X: Believes God guides us in solving problems. FAIL.

5. HUMANISM: Holds that morality should be grounded on the goal of this-worldly happiness for all humankind, without distinction of nation, gender, race or religion.

X: Believes morality comes exclusively from a supernatural source and happiness is not a goal for people whose beliefs diverge from his own. FAIL.

6. HUMANISM: Promotes government based on democratic principles in which everyone of legal age has equal rights and government is strictly separated from any religion.

X: Believes there is an important role for Islamic clerics in government but no role for other faiths and no role for unbelievers. FAIL.

7. HUMANISM: Encourages unending questioning of basic assumptions and convictions and holds that no idea is above challenge.

X: Believes that some ideas are sacrosanct and may not ever be challenged by humans--they just have to be accepted.

8. HUMANISM: Subscribes to extensive human rights for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a close, if not perfect, match to humanist ideals.

X: There is a wide divergence between the Universal Declaration and Bello's views. I can give some examples based on his actual answers to questions asked of him.

X holds that:

a) It should be a punishable crime for Muslims to change their religion or have no religion.

b) It should be a punishable crime to publicly criticise Islam.

c) It should be a punishable crime for gay couples to live together.

d) It should be legal to rape women captured during a military conflict.

e) Atheists and non-Muslims should have inferior legal rights to Muslims.

f) It should be legal for a man to assault his wife.

g) Men should have superior legal rights in marriage and divorce than women.

h) Brothers should be legally entitled to a greater share of an inheritance than sisters.

i) Women should be treated less favourably in a court of law than men.

j) Men should have superior access to education than women.

Every one of X's beliefs listed here would contravene the Universal Declaration, some will shock most of us to the core.

Clearly, X is not a Humanist on this tenet. FAIL.

X, shares NONE of these eight common tenets with Humanism, so why does he claim to be a Humanist?

I don't know. I guess he is either trying to deceive us, or he has no idea what he is talking about.

Perhaps what worries me more than anything is that X is proud of his backward, pre-medieval views--so proud that he declared today, "Islam, I am convinced, is the best system that can endure all times of human existence."

Damn!

~ With credit to Bill Flavell ~