The value of values

A damp morning but a good run. 

A very interesting piece in Spiegel Online today (ref), discussing the rise of secularism – currently running third in world belief systems at a estimated 1 billion, behind Islam (1.6 billion) and Christianity (2.3 billion). Describing secularism as a belief system is maybe misleading, since there seems to be very little commonality between atheists except perhaps belief in the value of scepticism and rationality, and perhaps a more worked-through grasp of ethical issues than people who unquestioningly follow a religious script. “Rise” is also questionable. The perceived rise may be more to do with a higher profile of existing non-believers rather than higher numbers, just as the apparent rise of Christian fundamentalism may be more to do with a small number of people making a louder noise than before. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the rioting, and in the much wider context of tensions and violence between different belief groups across the world, this is a very good time for individuals and societies to be re-examining and reaffirming their ethical values, from whatever source.