3
OF TOLERANCE
SUMMARY
This Treatise starts with the absolute uncertainty of all human knowledge, set
out in the Treatise of that name. On that basis it concludes that, provided
only that they do not conflict with its Aim, the Society of HumanKind must not
only tolerate other forms of religion and belief but must actually support and
encourage other sincere belief systems where they exist.
It cannot be concluded from the Axioms that all the past and present religious
beliefs of our species are mistaken. That is so because the uncertainty of
human knowledge created by the Axioms is absolute. The possibility of the
existence of powers, entities or beings which are beyond the present grasp of
the intellect, abilities or capacities of humanity can therefore never be
dismissed by the Society of HumanKind. God and any or all of his competitors
may forever lie beyond the unrecognisable limit on human comprehension set by
the Axioms.
The absolute degree of doubt about our potentialities created by the Axioms
also leaves permanently open the possibility that, in the full realisation of
our knowledge, or perhaps through the exercise of attributes within us we do
not yet recognise, we may come to identify an eternal all-knowing entity as the
origin and creator of ourselves and all that surrounds us. Equally, and in
the same way, we may discover that a predestined existence after death awaits
every member of our species. The Second Axiom indicates that our future
knowledge can never be fully predictable, and so those possibilities, however
uncomfortable or unlikely they may appear, cannot be denied by adherents of the
Society of HumanKind. Indeed a full understanding of the Axioms and Dogma has
a further consequence for the Society. It is that, far from being contrary to
the existence and preservation of religious and other beliefs, to the extent
that those earlier ideas were intended to give purpose and meaning to our
lives, the emergence of the Society can be regarded as their culmination.
The Principles derived from the Axioms reinforce and extend that conclusion.
They make explicit an obligation on adherents of the Society of HumanKind to
acknowledge and tolerate such earlier ideas. The Principle 1.2 indicates that
the future form of human society cannot be predicted. One of the requirements
of the Principle 2.2 is that every aspect of the intellectual capacity of the
human species should be regarded as equally worthy of preservation and full
development. That must include the capacity of our species to develop such
beliefs, and to generate fervour in their advocacy. A devotion to the Aim of
the Society of HumanKind must therefore necessarily include a concern to see
that any such capacity and tendency is fostered and encouraged in any
individual in which it may be found, provided no threat to the maintenance of
the Conditions of the Dogma, or the achievement of the Aim of the Society,
results.
By the same reasoning equal tolerance and encouragement must be shown by the
Society and its adherents toward the practice of constructing systems of ideas
that purport to foretell the future of our species or predict its development.
That will apply whether those ideas take the form of an analysis of our past
as a means to divine the future, or of attempts to make such predictions based
upon assertions about our essential or fundamental characteristics. Or, it
must be said, by any other as yet undiscovered means.
All those differing approaches to our history and our nature run directly
contrary to both the Second Axiom and the Dogma. There is nevertheless, no
incompatibility between, on the one hand, the development and promulgation of
alternative views of the origins and purpose of humankind, and on the other,
the existence and programme of the Society of HumanKind. All human beliefs,
even mistaken ideas, are respected in the era of the Society. The purpose of
the Society is not to seek to replace, supplant or destroy such beliefs and
their associated movements. Rather it is to provide a refuge for those
members of our species who, like the author of this book, cannot accept them.
This conclusion is significant and important in itself. When however, it is
joined with those reached in the Treatise on the Individual an important
practical consequence for the Society emerges. The duty of the Society is to
respect all knowledge and to foster the full development of every individual,
even when that leads to ideas and movements that are contrary to its
foundations. This must mean that neither the Society, nor any of its
adherents, can ever evangelise. If it is to concur faithfully in the uncertainty
of all human knowledge, which is the first consequence of an acceptance of the Axioms;
and if it is to comply with the Principles which flow from them; then neither
the Society nor any of its adherents can embark on any attempt to convince
others to give up their firm opinions or beliefs, nor can it seek to persuade
them to join its ranks.
The tolerance of the Society and its adherents set out in this Treatise must
not however, be extended to one aspect of these earlier forms of belief.
Excessive fervour and belief in a divine or preordained destiny for our species
by an individual or a group of humanity can pose a real threat to the
maintenance of the Conditions of the Dogma, and thus to the achievement of its
Objective. Zealotry may emerge, and with it actions that threaten the
extinction of our species. A zealot or his group may aim at the destruction
of humanity or some part of it, or attempt to put dangerous constraints on the
permissible field of enquiry in our search for knowledge. Those threats arise
precisely because the believer so completely trusts the truth of his faith.
In his certainty the believer may conclude that he or his sect, which he may
regard as the only true and worthy representatives of humanity, have nothing to
gain from a line of enquiry nor anything to fear from any action or decision no
matter how dangerous or extreme.
The arrogance and blindness resulting from this extremity of fervour may be
matched in those who believe they have discerned a hidden purpose or inevitable
progression in human history. Such believers may accept an analysis of human
nature or human history that claims to predict with certainty the future course
of events in our affairs. Again, such utter confidence about the future can
lead to a loss of care for the present, and a lack of any feeling of personal
responsibility for actions and decisions which may
in extremis
endanger the survival or progress of our whole species.
All the hopes of the Society are rooted in the maintenance of the Conditions of
the Dogma. Any fundamental threat to the survival of our species or the
growth of our knowledge strikes at the heart of the Society, and at its hopes
for salvation and a life beyond death for all humanity. Any such zealous
attack on the Conditions of the Dogma must therefore be regarded by all
adherents of the Society as a matter of overriding importance requiring an
unequivocal response. This is a rare example of exceptional circumstances in
which no compromise can be found between the Society of HumanKind and its
opponents. In these circumstances the Society is justified in using of every
ounce of its power and authority, and that of all its members and supporters,
to counter the threat.
There must, at the same time, be a limit to the strength of the response of the
Society to this threat. Any defence of the Dogma by the Society must always
stop short of endangering the survival of our species. The Society cannot
embark upon actions that will bring about the destruction humankind if it is to
abide by the Axioms and Dogma and follow the Principles. This is a dilemma
from which there is no escape for the Society and its adherents. They will
always be faced with the possibility of having to choose between risking the
survival of our species by an extreme action or by a failure to take that
action. All that can be said in anticipation of the unpredictable
circumstances in which such a choice may have to be made is that our
uncertainty must give the Society a slight preference for inaction over action,
for delay over decision, and for prevarication rather than pre-emption.
In reaching that sad conclusion some comfort can perhaps be drawn by the
Society from a reasonable presumption. Those who founded or taught the
beliefs or ideas which the Society must oppose cannot have meant to bring about
the decay or destruction of our whole species by their teachings, or even
intended to have given rise to the risk of that consequence. Had that been
their conscious or deliberate intent, then the Society is surely entitled to
judge them as being mad or worse, and thus to be ignored if possible, or
vigorously opposed if not. In any event the Society must conclude that anyone
who claims that his understanding of his teachings is such that it leads him to
believe that they allow for, or encourage, actions or proscriptions which risk
the survival of our species or the destruction of our knowledge, is surely
mistaken in his understanding; is himself mad, or is following the lead of a
madman.
The Society may therefore safely take any proper steps to protect itself and
its Aim, including applying sufficient restraint to such zealots to prevent
them from pursuing their purposes. It may also, if necessary, apply judgement
and sanction to such people without thereby contravening the requirement that
tolerance should be exercised by every member of the Society of HumanKind
toward the existence in our species of both a capacity for religious belief,
and for a propensity to advocate a preordained or determined future for
ourselves and our fellows.
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