“Spiritual Humanism is convinced that there are resources within the human soul to repel the evil with the good, that truth and virtue have their own power to defend themselves. We should have long given up the very idea of self-defence by physical means. While other animals were growing weapons of self-defence upon their bodies, man was shedding off all such weapons. See how defenceless our physical body looks compared with other animals as though there are powers, yet unknown, deeply concealed in our soul. How weak does man appear though he is armed with nuclear weapons, and how powerful a Buddha or a Jesus looks with his bare hands having made the choice of walking on the path of Peace.
It appears as though we have accustomed our soul to combat violence with violence, destruction with destruction, physical threat with physical deterrent. We seem to have forgotten how powerful the choice of the peaceful deterrent could be. Spiritual Humanism therefore calls for every party to act first without waiting for the other to act when it is convinced of the principle that the evil be repelled by the good. If disarmament is the good, let one disarm without waiting for any other to disarm first.
Responding to violence by suspending human rights is to act with violence to one’s own moral and social fabric. Life is honoured when the individual is honoured. The individual is honoured when the individual rights are honoured. Only by honouring the life and the rights of the other, our life and rights are preserved.”
by Professor Hasan Askari (*see also “Towards a Spiritual Humanism: A Muslim – Humanist Dialogue” by Hasan Askari & Jon Avery)
Spiritual Human 
I don’t know how I didn’t see this post sooner Musa, but I just came across it now, and I really love it. Short and very sweet! I especially love what Hasan says here: “If disarmament is the good, let one disarm without waiting for any other to disarm first.”
This is a really provocative thought, especially in international contexts (you know how I like those!). Can it be possible for one to lay down their arms (particularly nuclear ones) in this very modern, very dangerous world? I’d really like to think so, but so much of the time, people are unwilling to cede even the tiniest bit of their own security for the betterment of all humankind.
If only people could think of each other in a context that encompasses all of life, rather than just their own group in which they feel comfortable. If this can happen, the world will be a far better place.
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