The reasoning theists, atheists, liberals, libertarians, & conservatives of Secular Bible Study, First Minneapolis Circle of Reason, Circle of Ijtihad, & Winnipeg Circle of Reason join Interbelief Conversation Café for our 302nd Plurationalist (Interbelief Reasoning) Dialogue by Zoom, “Are You Trying to Heal the World, & How?”
A central tenet of Judaism is Tikkun Olam, or “repairing the world” -- in modern times referring to one taking responsibility not just for one’s own welfare but also for that of society. But a personal commitment to such “social justice” has more recently been accused of being politically “woke” ideology, compared to the libertarian tenet of taking personal responsibility for one’s own welfare, but not for the welfare of larger society (apart from one’s commitment to engage in free trade with others, instead of overtly coercing them).
A tenet of both Christianity and Islam is that healing the world is achieved partly by evangelizing the entire world’s people to accept God’s (Allah’s) offer of salvation from death and damnation in an afterlife paradise, but also partly by providing personal charity to the poor and the suffering while living on Earth. But different sects or denominations, with disparate political philosophies, within the three major Abrahamic religious traditions consider differently the role that one’s government – or lack thereof -- should exert in “helping” people heal the world as a whole.
Even the definition of what it means to “heal the world” also depends on the level of one’s avoidance of, or commitment to, an extreme role for government – whether that role would be either total abnegation of government in the form of anarchy, or total government domination as religious, political, or economic totalitarianism.
A tenet of politically-progressive non-religious humanism and atheism is that no religious doctrine need underpin one’s commitment to heal the world, which is considered a worthy secular goal of personal action as well as moderate government. (In the words of the early British humanist Harold Blackham, "Humanism is about the world, not about humanism.”) But non-religious libertarians and conservative atheists, as well as political neo-fascists (regardless of their theist or atheist stance) reject the notion of healing the world as a whole, rather than ensuring the well-being only of their own community, nation, or ethnic group.
Nietzsche, an early existentialist committed to the personal struggle for power over one’s own life, considered it our individual obligation to overcome our own limitations and suffering, not to primarily commit to healing the world around us. Yet his fictive prophet, Zarathustra, descended the mountaintops to reveal to rest of humanity the value of affirming life & the personal struggle to enrich it.
Epictetus, an early stoic committed to encouragement of the practicing of controlling one’s own thoughts, judgments, and actions, considered such self-control “virtuous,” and to naturally benefit others and the world in which we then act.
Consequently, as complex human beings of diverse perspectives and commitments, we all gaze upon a broad tapestry of diverse and intricate designs on how best we could conceivably “heal the world,” and we perceive this tapestry with a wide range of emotional, doctrinal, and philosophical reactions about the merit of such a tapestry existing at all, as well as about the merit of each of its diverse designs.|
So these questions may arise within us:
“Am I trying to heal the world? If so, how will I do it? How have I been trying to do it? As a general, or as a foot-soldier, in the army of destiny?”
“Am I not trying to heal the world? If so, how have I refrained from doing it? As a bystander watching the army of destiny? While I stand by, whom or what am I trying to help, instead?”
We also may ask ourselves:
“What does it really mean for me to ‘heal the world?’ Does it refer only to my helping heal its people, or to healing nature itself? Are people more or less important to me than the health of Earth itself? If I focus on healing the Earth, will that also help heal human society, or would it make human society expendable?”
“Is it my role as an individual human being to even attempt to heal other people, or to heal the world, at all? Is my role instead only to heal myself -- only to thrive by, and for, myself?”
At 7-9 pm CDT Mo 8/18/25 by Zoom we'll reasoningly share our diverse or even disparate views on whether & how we try (or don’t try) to heal the world. Meanwhile our agreements of open-mindedness, acceptance, curiosity, discovery, sincerity, brevity, & confidentiality should heal any rifts in our dialogue!
