SECULAR HUMANISM AND A PALE BLUE DOT
Jun 24th, 2008 by Conor McCabe
I was quite surprised by my reaction to the recording I made below from the album of the Pope’s visit to Ireland. I didn’t think I still had such strong emotions on the subject. It got me thinking of what it was that convinced me that religion was wrong - utterly, utterly, wrong.
It was Carl Sagan, and his TV series, Cosmos.
Its first Irish broadcast was on RTE2 on 17 January 1981, (and labelled ’science-fiction’ by the Irish Times). The 13-part series changed how I saw the world, and how I thought about its future, its past, and how I thought about myself. It had a similar effect on millions of people worldwide. My family had a video recorder back then and myself and my brother Paul taped the entire series. I went one step further and recorded the episodes onto audio tape. I would listen to them each night as I fell asleep. Soon, I was able to quote large tracts of Carl Sagan’s script. I was eleven years old.
MY other brother would ask why I didn’t listen to music? He just thought it was freaky. and yeah, he was right. The obsessiveness I suppose never went away, that desire to absorb as much knowledge as I possibly could, any way I could. And with Cosmos, there was so, so much to take in - from the origins of humanity, to the Renaissance, to exploration of space, and speculations on extraterrestrial life. I was hooked.
Later that year my sisters bought me the book. I still have it. The photo of Sagan above is from the back cover, the one below is from the front.
Carl Sagan put forward an explanation of the universe that did not need a God to fill it. Looking back on it now, I notice that although Carl Sagan argued for a secular humanist explanation of the universe, he never dismissed religion or religious beliefs in the way of, say, Richard Dawkins. This was because Sagan realised that although religion and religious belief do not throw any light on the actual factual workings of the universe, they reveal a lot about humanity - how we think, and the way we see things. Sagan had a respect for religious belief because of the insights that an analysis of such practises and intellectual (and abstract) conceptual systems bring to our understanding of humanity, our understanding of ourselves.
In many ways, Sagan had a more christian attitude towards other belief systems, erroneous as they may be, than actual christianity. But this was no simple tolerance. Sagan, the true secular humanist, saw religion as a product of humanity - and because of that, it was worthy of not only respect, but actual inquiry. For someone like Sagan, the conclusions put forward by religious cosmologies may be dismissed as unscientific, but in some ways that’s to miss the point. The fact that we believe, THAT is what is curious, that is what is special to humanity. Belief systems are a part of this world, and need to be understood and contextualised. Sagan was not just a brilliant scientist, he was a great anthropologist as well.
But that generosity of understanding, of respect and tolerance, is lost on the Catholic drum-beaters who carved up the political, cultural, and social institutions in the post-partition South, and in the process blackened tens of thousands of lives with their narrow, conservative, and bitter, view of their fellow man. And listening to the album of the Pope in Ireland just brought back to me who completely in control they really were. Really, it turns the stomach.
Carl Sagan was an incredible educator. There are many tributes to him on YouTube, and this is one of them.
Enjoy.
I’ve recently had conversations with several people who are fans of Sagan, but it seems rarer these days to find them. My favourite work by him remains Billions and Billions, a truly awe-inspiring book.
Better yet “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.” One of my all-time favourite books. In fact I’ll go dig it out and read it all over again right now.
John, I love that book and it’s on the shelf beside the bed now. Cosmos was stunning. Even now I remember the music and if you look it up on YouTube you can get clips from it. I think Conor you’re completely right about his approach to such matters. It was so open, so humane it just was stunning. It was like, everyone is welcome… but here is the science. The graphics were stunning too for their time. I wonder is it available on DVD?
Prefer Françoise Sagan me… she was prettier too :->
Heartily recommend to you the book “Breaking the spell” by Daniel Dennett.
http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Spell-Religion-Natural-Phenomenon/dp/067003472X
Its a whole book arguing for the concept of studying religion which most people resist. The subtitle is “Religion as a natural phenomenon”. I’d say its a book Sagan would have loved.
I loved Cosmos and remember watching it ‘religiously’ as a kid. I went on to purchase the soundtrack which to me was absolutely fantastic - I too would fall asleep with it cascading over my ears and imagination.
However, over the years of studying, learning and making mistakes - and yes, sometimes getting it right - I have found that most people unfortunately base a lot of their belief on fiction or on what ‘they’ have come to believe. A statement based on eisegesis about christianity is very popular and is tragically where christians just piss most people off. So, stating that Christians may be or should have “simple tolerance” is a case in point. When we discuss and read the bible with exegesis, which is the truthful way to read and experience it - you will find that Christianity is not passive and neither is it tolerant. Jesus is an offence to all, He says so himself. I say this based on fact and not anecdotal evidence. You can discuss bhuda, hindi, islam, yoga etc. etc. and never have an issue but the moment anyone brings up God; the ‘chat’ is over.
Also, the bible has more insight and “”factual knowledge”" about the workings of our universe than most ’scientific’ journals. Therefore it is ignorant (and I dont say this to be condescending) to say any different. If you ever truly check into it you will find that science and the bible are actually wholly compatible and NOT juxtaposed as virtually all secular “anything” would have “anyone” believe.
I know and realise these are all sweeping statements which are easy to scoff at however there truly is all truth in them if you are willing to genuinely look via exegesis and NOT eisegesis.
Hi Conor,
What a charming story about your formative experiences. Since the Symphony of Science was released, it seems Carl is becoming popular again. We who remember the first run of COSMOS need to carry on Carl’s ideas and perspectives and make sure the next generation knows.