"why not make sure you enjoy today and every other day in this life we know we have." -Mark, Hong Kong

Enjoy? Yes, indeed we should enjoy today. But, you're dabbling in dangerously relativistic waters here. Certainly even Adolf Hitler enjoyed himself upon occasion. "Eat and drink for tomorrow we die" only works for so long.

I think this is what Rabbi Sacks is trying to say. I agree with Paul Williams of Northampton when he writes, "[we] find inspiration and grandeur in reaching true understanding of the universe." Indeed we do! But a purely humanistic approach ignores a great deal of this "understanding." If you reduce everything down to a bunch of electrochemical brain processes, what do you lose?

Yes, science can show us the mechanics of something (falling in love = electrochemical processes in the brain) but it cannot entirely describe its gravity upon human life. (Certainly "love" has a greater significance to individuals than the latter half of the above equation.)

Justin, Knoxville, TN, USA

Perfectly agree with Rabbi Sachs. I am Christian and perfectely recognize in his words the rationale of my belief .

I add:
"When human beings stop believing in God, they began believing anything", even that science is above everything, our conscience included.

olga, london,

Gosh what a damning indictment of the theist mind that is!

Humanity is at its very finest when acts of kindness / value / self-sacrifice are performed, not because some invisible policeman is watching, but because those acts are the right things to do.

The atheist who performs those acts without thought of celestial reward is infintely more 'holy' than the theist who believes he is ordered to do those acts.

The Rabbi doesn't seem able to find inspiration and grandeur in reaching true understanding of the universe. I find that that surprising and a little sad. Surely there can be very little that is better than learning, improving, discovering?

The article is very well written in a gentle style, but at the core there is a hidden warning that we should stop looking for answers, stop learning, stop advancing and instead remain ignorant to preserve faith.

That is the most disappointing part of the whole thing.

Paul Williams, Northampton, UK

The god-fearing certainly had more faith in human beings. What happened to the Midianites and the 7 nations who made the stupid mistake of living in the land which god gave the Israelites? This any-faith-is-better-than-no-faith-at-all lecture shows just how much Rabbi Sacks have had to concede to the scientific enlightenment and materialism

malcolm morris, London,

"We will have knowledge without wisdom, technology without reticence, choice without concience, power without restriant".
Sir Jonathan Sacks

Seems a perfect description of Israel and its actions against its neighbours.

Robin, Metepec, Mexico

God/Nature probably does even worse than Bob's conservative estimate. Spontaneous abortion occurs in at least 15 percent of clinically recognized pregnancies, but many women are not aware they are pregnant at the time of abortion.
One study of very early pregnancy diagnosed by urinary human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) measurements indicated that the rate of spontaneous abortion was about 43 percent (only 25 percent of these pregnancies were recognized at the time). The true incidence of spontaneous abortion (including unrecognized pregnancy loss) has been estimated to be 50 to 78 percent of all conceptions.
If there is a God he hasn't planned it very well, and has created and still does create many billions of lost souls without a cerebral life to give meaning to them!!!

bill, towoomba,

Whether one has faith in a god or not is of no importance.How people live their lives is what matters.There is no evidence that belief in the supernatural makes one a better person.I

Iain Rae, Tunbridge Wells, U.K.

All religions, including that of Sir Jonathan, arose as primitive attempts to deal with uncertainty. Rather than examining what was currently known they substituted an artificial certainty. This led to two problems, firstly, it was not necessary to re-examine the basic ideas underlying any given religion,in some cases it was even forbidden to do so. Secondly religions took little account of advances in human knowledge. As a result each religion, periodically paints itself into a corner from which it cannot escape. I think that Jonathan has given us a prime example of this. He singles out Sir Francis Crick for having no problem with infantcide, but neglects to inform us that 25% of all human pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion. In the light of this how does his God compare to Sir Francis? He also uses a typical religious tactic y stating that if we lose religion or we lose humanity. But he offers no evidence to support this statement.

Bob Gibson, New York, USA

Oh Jonathan, you do so want (us humans) to be something special. Oughtn't we to show a little more humility?

alan, germany,

"to you is granted the power, contained in your intellect and judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, the divine", says the rabbi, and contained within is the ability to have tickets on himself as being greater than he may in fact be.
"the human person is not distinctive at all. We are part of nature; nothing more. There is nothing corresponding to the soul, nor is there anything in the “rich repertoire” of works of the human spirit to differentiate us in kind from other forms of life". There is all that is human within us to differentiate us, and that is a vast array of abilities and properties.
"For what does it profit humanity if it gains the world and loses its soul?" What does it profit anyone to act as if he has a soul if he doesn't possess one? To lead such a life would be folly indeed.

bill, towoomba, aust

A staggering list of non sequiturs!

Derek, Lewes, East Sussex

Even more terrifying than this evil "rampant secularism" is the rampant belief in an imaginary man in the sky, who, like a spoiled angry child, wants to destroy any living creature that does not do exactly as they're told.

Rifter, Seattle, WA, USA

This is the LOGICAL outworkings of atheism but most people do not follow the argument through to its conclusion.

The consequence of this incoherent thinking or limited thinking is that people do not face the full horrors of rampant secularism.

It worries me that we could wander blindly into such a world, embracing its full teaching without ever realiising its consequences until it's too late.

Just stop to consider the reality of a fully outworked moral relativism powered by a survival-of-the-fittest mentality and the excuses this would allow.

I find it truly terrifying!

Nathan, Inverness, UK

Sir Jonathan's line "Only when people discovered that they were not gods were they able to reach their full stature as human beings",

...should probably read...

"Only when people finally understand that they are no gods will they able to reach their full stature as human beings"

Rather than waiting for a second chance in some mystical after-life you might have, why not make sure you enjoy today and every other day in this life we know we have.

Mark, Hong Kong,