The hate and destruction that permeates our world is most unsettling in that it demonstrates our willingness to destroy ourselves. As a Humanist I have no capacity for prayer, but I do find comfort in my thoughts. Despite the very human tendency to destroy, humanity still retains the ability to save itself.

So long as our faith is projected to the metaphysical – so long as we beg for salvation from outside of ourselves – we will never find the peace and salvation we all desire. Faith lies at the heart of our violence, of our inability to find tranquility, of our inability to find the good in others.

No level of religious moderation can negate the fundamental principles of intolerance present in both the Koran and the Bible, for religious moderation is a farce. It is heresy to the fundamentalists and hypocrisy to the non-theist.

Here lies the ultimate conundrum of the believer, whether Christian, Jew, or Muslim. Living in our modern world, the moderate accepts that some principles of their scripture are invalid and incompatible with life. In doing so, one invalidates their faith.

There are choices though. The moderate can choose fundamentalism, thus becoming wholly intolerant of all other beliefs, and therefore breeding conflict and hatred. One can choose to maintain their moderation, justifying somehow that it is okay to only partially accept the tenants of their faith, or one can acknowledge that faith, in all its glory, has the greatest potential to one day destroy us all.

All is not lost. As I said, I find comfort in my thoughts, for I believe that there still may come a day when humankind accepts responsibility for its own destiny. When we can do that, we can do anything.