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Freedom from religion, freedom to believe

According to estimates, there are over 4,000 religions, faith groups and denominations that exist around the world. Taking into account certain faiths that may be specific to certain regions (and so have small followings), there could be up to 10,00 religions worldwide.

With such diversity, one might think religion offers choice. It could be argued that with so many variations, religion has a powerful base on the mountainside of human consciousness. Religion must be hard to ignore. Like a shop full of sweets, there must be a flavour for everyone, right? Well, not quite.

We can quickly narrow the choice of religions to a handful of varieties based on popularity.

Researchers and academics generally categorize the world's religions into five major groups: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism.

The world's faithful account for 83% of the global population, with the vast majority of these falling under twelve classical religions:  Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism.

According to a 2020 projection based on figures from 2010, the number of people who follow the four most popular beliefs are:

Christianity                                                    2.382 billion       31%

Islam                                                               1.907 billion       24.9%

Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist     1.193 billion      15.58%  

Hinduism                                                        1.161 billion      15.2%

Note the third most popular belief - secularism. That’s right, a non-religious belief stands on the podium with a bronze medal. I would suggest the above estimate is slightly conservative. Secularism, (including organised beliefs such as Humanism), is on the increase, particularly in the Western world and Northern Hemisphere. So while secularism is only half as popular as Christianity, it isn’t too much of a stretch to think that one day, Secularism will reach the next milestone of 2 billion people. 2 billion souls in a world population of 8 billion people is not too hard to imagine. Will secularism become relevant to a quarter of the world’s population? I would say over the next 50 years, yes, judging by the way more and more people are raised in a non-religious or non-conforming household. The term non-conforming describes children who are not raised to follow the beliefs of their parents. This is happening more and more in the 21st century. Children are given the benefit of choice. 

Some might say secularism is no belief at all. Humanists like me will jump up and shout hello at this point. Humanism is not a non-belief. It is not non-religious or anti-religious - it is separate from religion. It would be like saying a football team (soccer to some) is non-hockey. Or vegans are non-meat eaters. It doesn’t work that way. Humanism stands on its own merit as a belief and doesn’t need to base itself on being anti-anything. Parallel, maybe, and indeed, Humanism unites with all other beliefs to uphold the golden rule. When you consider there are so many different beliefs and faiths around the world, does it really matter when everything that unites us is far more powerful? 

Ultimately, what you believe should be your choice. The important point is this: your belief should not be forced on others. I don’t care if there are over two billion of you. You cannot make me a Christian in the same way I do not want to make you a humanist. I want peace and equality, that’s it. Freedom of choice is a fundamental human right. No belief is better than any other and no one has the right to violate someone else’s freedom to follow their own path. Secularism is on the rise for many reasons and when young people begin to find their way in life and they see how religious intolerance inflicts terrible consequences on others, it’s no surprise that more and more people grow up with a more reasonable and tolerant attitude. Ideologies that encourage people to hate are on the wrong side of history. 

In summary, there are thousands of different types of belief but there is only one one mindset that requires no superstition or god. To me, this makes secularism the most robust belief of all. It doesn’t require different flavours. Yes, the whole point of existence is to embrace all the flavours. We just don’t have to live with the ones we find hard to swallow.

To believe in yourself, to believe in humanity (despite what you might see on the news) and to understand that we are responsible for our actions is the greatest incentive for us to try and live a peaceful and proactive life. What more do we need right now?

To be open-minded and embrace the known and the unknown gives me the grounding, the confidence and the sense of wonder I need. Humanism’s strength comes from accepting the eternal power of nature (of which we are all a part) and the way it continues to evolve. Humanism evolves too. It embraces new ideas and tries to base itself on evidence and truth. Secular means to be respectful, inclusive and tolerant. It means to not be indoctrinated and to be free to believe. This is Humanism, of which there is only one - and as humanity stumbles its way through the third decade of this turbulent century, anything that promotes a more respectful and more peaceful way of life has to be celebrated and encouraged.