Carpe Diem Society of BC

INTRODUCTION

Welcome! Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the Carpe Diem Society of BC. Since our philosophy underpins everything we do we will begin with a brief description of this world view, followed by a description of the activities and events that we promote as a way of putting our philosophy into practice.

Carpe Diem is the practical, applied expression of a secular humanist philosophy. It provides a comprehensive alternative to religion and superstition, encouraging a proactive lifestyle that promotes a positive philosophical world-view grounded in reason and the empowerment of human potential, rather than the helplessness and disempowerment that arises from superstition and fatalistic faith in supernatural powers. The search for personal meaning and the acceptance of human responsibility for our destiny and well-being are thematic cornerstones of this philosophical world view.

While world events make it seem that we are awash in superstition and religious fanaticism the historical reality is that the hold of religion and mysticism over human society has never been weaker, and the recent upsurge of zealotry represents a backlash against the spread of science and reason. The 2001 Statistics Canada census tells us that 45% of Victoria residents under the age of 45 are “non-religious,” and that figure jumps to 47.5% when we look at those under the age of 25. It is clear that religious belief does not satisfy a vast swath of our younger population, and if demographic trends continue over the next few decades the south coast of British Columbia will become the first region in the American hemisphere where unbelief is in the majority. These people are looking for an alternative to a religious world-view.

Carpe Diem is one possible form for that alternative.

To get a solid feeling for the thinking that we espouse there is no substitute for hearing the intellectual leaders of our worldview express their ideas in their own words! I encourage anyone interested in our point of view to download and listen to these two lectures in MP3 format. The first is a lecture given in 1994 to CFI by Carl Sagan shortly before his death concerning the relationship between science and wonder. The second is a very recent lecture given by Sam Harris, a leader in what is becoming known as the literary "new atheist" movement.

Carl Sagan - Science & Wonder - MP3 - 52MB - 56m:23s
Sam Harris - The View From the End of the World - MP3 - 19MB - 1h:21m:29s

And here is a brief (7 min) video of Christopher Hitchens, the great Arch Anti-Theist.

WHAT IS SECULAR HUMANISM?

Carpe Diem is affiliated with the Centre For Inquiry, a secular humanist think tank based out of Buffalo and a world leader in promoting a secular humanist world view. They summarize the essence of secular humanist philosophy as follows:

A conviction that dogmas, ideologies and traditions, whether religious, political or social, must be weighed and tested by each individual and not simply accepted on faith.
Commitment to the use of critical reason, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith and mysticism, in seeking solutions to human problems and answers to important human questions.
A primary concern with fulfilment, growth, and creativity for both the individual and humankind in general.
A constant search for objective truth, with the understanding that new knowledge and experience constantly alter our imperfect perception of it.
A concern for this life and a commitment to making it meaningful through better understanding of ourselves, our history, our intellectual and artistic achievements, and the outlooks of those who differ from us.
A search for viable individual, social and political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility.
A conviction that with reason, an open marketplace of ideas, good will, and tolerance, progress can be made in building a better world for ourselves and our children.

Carpe Diem draws upon these and other principles as the foundation of our world view. However it is what we do with these principles that distinguishes us from the approach of traditional humanism. Unlike most other existing humanist organizations who devote the bulk of their energy towards attacking religion, superstition, mysticism, pseudo-science and other nonsense, we believe that a constructive approach to build secular alternatives is necessary and ultimately more productive.

It is vital and necessary for rational thinkers to engage in sharp dialectical criticism of faith-based or anti-rational thinking, however it is even more important and necessary for humanists to construct a comprehensive and viable alternative to the supernatural worldview that they are seeking to undermine. This goal has been badly neglected by current humanist groups; sitting around and attacking religion all day quickly becomes tedious to all but the most embittered few with a psychological axe to grind, and as a consequence the vast numbers of individuals who identify with our worldview have found little compelling reason to become involved with humanist groups. Most who subscribe to a humanist world view rather wish to move past talking about religion and build a community and a lifestyle that transcends bronze-age myth, focusing instead on building strong community relationships, exploring the wonder and mystery of science and making the world a better place through the deployment of reason to enlighten all aspects of our moral and social lifestyle.

While traditional humanist groups have tended to focus their gaze squarely backwards upon religion and superstition itself, we choose to direct our energy and enthusiasm forward towards crafting a society that is free from irrational ignorance and faith-based non-thinking. Thus the mission of Carpe Diem subsumes the traditional secular humanist framework while seeking to expand and elevate humanist discourse to higher and more constructive goals. For more detailed information about our approach to humanism please visit our philosophy page. You can also visit The Happy Heretic blog for a current discussion of topical issues.

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

The practical manifestation of our humanist philosophy is to create an eclectic community that fosters active participation in a range of life-enriching activities. All activities focus on one or more of three categories that we believe are vital components of self-fulfilment and self-actualisation:

SOCIAL – Community & Charity
INTELLECTUAL – Personal Growth & Development
PHYSICAL – Sports & Adventure

Our purpose then is to encourage our members to participate in all of these aspects of a healthy and well balanced lifestyle by providing a diverse range of services, programs and events that incorporate some balance of these spheres.

Most importantly all of our events incorporate a social element that builds community, including regular monthly meetings where members get together to watch movies, plan activities, and discuss or debate various topics related to humanism. Every new life member to the Carpe Diem Society is required to raise money or volunteer their time to a recognized good cause as a condition of their membership. We also expect each member to play an active role in hosting or sponsoring activities that in some way contribute to the humanist community.

Secondly, intellectual development is heartily encouraged among all members by the promotion of critical thinking and encouragement of our members to take personal responsibility for making the world a better place, one day and one person at a time! Types of activities can include reading groups or video nights that delve into topics of import to our members, guest lectures, classes and the occasional philosophy nights where members are encouraged to express their ideas on different topics of interest to them. Various charity activities can also fall into this category.

Finally, a central component of living an active and vibrant lifestyle includes a range of exiting activities that enhance the experience of life while bringing people together in fun and thrilling surroundings. The club has embarked on ski trips, hang gliding, paintball, hiking, indoor rock climbing, wilderness survival education, camping, laser tag and other activities designed to get the adrenaline pumping! Less intense activities might include free classes in ballroom dancing, yoga, meditation, massage or bonsai. Anything a member thinks is a valuable addition to their life is a potential part of our activities, provided it is compatible with our mission and purposes.