One of the most common ways of dividing the world is into those who believe and those who don't -- into the religious and the atheists. And for the last decade or so, it's been quite clear what being an atheist means. There have been some very vocal atheists who've pointed out, not just that religion is wrong, but that it's ridiculous. These people, many of whom have lived in North Oxford, have argued -- they've argued that believing in God is akin to believing in fairies and essentially that the whole thing is a childish game.
Nje nga menyrat me te zakonshme qe ndahet bota eshte ne ata qe besojne dhe ata qe nuk-- ne besimtare dhe ateiste. Dhe, gjate dhjetevjecarit te fundit eshte bere e qarte cdo te thote te jesh ateist. Kane qene disa ateiste te zhurmshem qe kane nxjerre ne pah, jo vetem qe besimi eshte gabim, por qe eshte qesharak. Keta njerez, shume prej te cileve kane jetuar ne North Oxford, kane argumentuar-- qe te besosh ne Zot eshte e ngjashme si te besosh ne zanat dhe e gjithe kjo gje, ne thelb eshte nje loder kalamajsh.
Now I think it's too easy. I think it's too easy to dismiss the whole of religion that way. And it's as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. And what I'd like to inaugurate today is a new way of being an atheist -- if you like, a new version of atheism we could call Atheism 2.0. Now what is Atheism 2.0? Well it starts from a very basic premise: of course, there's no God. Of course, there are no deities or supernatural spirits or angels, etc. Now let's move on; that's not the end of the story, that's the very, very beginning.
Une mendoj se eshte shume e lehte. Eshte shume e lehte ta shkarkosh te gjithe besimin ne ate menyre. Dhe, eshte aq e lehte sa ti gjuash peshkut ne fuci. Dhe, ajo qe dua te paraqis sot eshte nje menyre te re per te qene ateist-- ose nje version i ri i ateizmit qe e quaj Ateizem 2.0. Cfare eshte Ateizem 2.0 Fillon nga nje kusht shume bazik: s'ka Zot, pa dyshim. S'ka shpirtra supernatyrale apo engjej, etj. Te shkojme me tutje; ky s'eshte fundi i historise, eshte vetem fillimi.
I'm interested in the kind of constituency that thinks something along these lines: that thinks, "I can't believe in any of this stuff. I can't believe in the doctrines. I don't think these doctrines are right. But," a very important but, "I love Christmas carols. I really like the art of Mantegna. I really like looking at old churches. I really like turning the pages of the Old Testament." Whatever it may be, you know the kind of thing I'm talking about -- people who are attracted to the ritualistic side, the moralistic, communal side of religion, but can't bear the doctrine. Until now, these people have faced a rather unpleasant choice. It's almost as though either you accept the doctrine and then you can have all the nice stuff, or you reject the doctrine and you're living in some kind of spiritual wasteland under the guidance of CNN and Walmart.
Jam i interesuar per pjesen e njerezve qe mendon dicka te tille si, qe mendon, "S'mund te besoj ne asgje nga keto." Nuk besoj doktrinat. Mendoj qe keto doktrina s'jane ne rregull. Por, "nje por e rendesishme", me pelqejne kenget e Krishtlindjes Me pelqen shume arti i Mantegna-s. Me pelqen te shoh kishat e vjetra. Me pelqen te shfletoj Testamentin e vjeter". Cfaredoqofte e kuptoni per cfare po flas-- njerez qe terhiqen nga ana ritualistike, moralistike, ana e perbashket e besimit, por nuk durojne doktrinen. Deri tani, keta njerez jane hasur me nje zgjidhje jo te kendshme. Eshte gati sikur te pranosh doktrinen dhe atehere ke gjithe keto te mira, apo ta refuzosh ate dhe te jetosh ne nje toke te abandonuar spiritualisht nen udhezimet e CNN dhe Walmart.
So that's a sort of tough choice. I don't think we have to make that choice. I think there is an alternative. I think there are ways -- and I'm being both very respectful and completely impious -- of stealing from religions. If you don't believe in a religion, there's nothing wrong with picking and mixing, with taking out the best sides of religion. And for me, atheism 2.0 is about both, as I say, a respectful and an impious way of going through religions and saying, "What here could we use?" The secular world is full of holes. We have secularized badly, I would argue. And a thorough study of religion could give us all sorts of insights into areas of life that are not going too well. And I'd like to run through a few of these today.
Eshte zgjedhje e veshtire. S'mendoj se jemi te detyruar ta bejme. Mendoj qe ka nje alternative. Mendoj qe ka menyra -- dhe jam me te dyja, me respekt e krejt laik - per te vjedhur nga religjionet. Nese nuk beson ne nje fe, s'eshte gabim te zgjedhesh dhe t'i perziesh duke marre nga kjo pjesen me te mire te besimit. Dhe, per mua, ateizmi 2.0 eshte per te dyja, sic them, nje menyre e respektueshme te analizosh nje religjion e te thuash,"Cfare mund te perdor?" Bota laike eshte plot me boshlleqe. Kemi laikizuar keq, do te thoja. Nje studim i thelle i religjionit mund te na jape shume mendime ne fushat e jetes qe nuk shkojne mire. Do te doja te pershkruaja disa prej tyre.
I'd like to kick off by looking at education. Now education is a field the secular world really believes in. When we think about how we're going to make the world a better place, we think education; that's where we put a lot of money. Education is going to give us, not only commercial skills, industrial skills, it's also going to make us better people. You know the kind of thing a commencement address is, and graduation ceremonies, those lyrical claims that education, the process of education -- particularly higher education -- will make us into nobler and better human beings. That's a lovely idea. Interesting where it came from.
Po filloj me edukimin. Edukimi eshte nje fushe ne te cilen bota laike beson mjaft. Kur mendojme si mund te bejme boten nje vend me te mire, themi edukimi; dhe aty investojme shume. Edukimi do te na jape, jo vetem aftesi komerciale, industriale, po dhe do te na beje njerez me te mire. I dini fjalimin e hapjes ne ceremonite e marrjes se diplomave, ato deklarata lirike qe edukimi, procesi i edukimit -vecanerisht ai i larte-- do te na beje njerez me fisnike e me te mire. Kjo eshte ide e bukur. Interesant te shohesh nga vjen.
In the early 19th century, church attendance in Western Europe started sliding down very, very sharply, and people panicked. They asked themselves the following question. They said, where are people going to find the morality, where are they going to find guidance, and where are they going to find sources of consolation? And influential voices came up with one answer. They said culture. It's to culture that we should look for guidance, for consolation, for morality. Let's look to the plays of Shakespeare, the dialogues of Plato, the novels of Jane Austen. In there, we'll find a lot of the truths that we might previously have found in the Gospel of Saint John. Now I think that's a very beautiful idea and a very true idea. They wanted to replace scripture with culture. And that's a very plausible idea. It's also an idea that we have forgotten.
Ne fillim te shekullit te 19te, frekuetimi i kishes ne Europen Perendimore pati renie dramatike dhe njerezit ishin ne panik. Ata i bene pyetjen vetes. Ku do te gjejne njerezit moralitetin, ku do gjejne udhezim, ku do gjejne ngushellim? Dhe zera me influence gjeten nje pergjigje. Ata thane kultura. Duhet te shohim kulturen si guide, si ngushellim, si moral. Le te shohim dramat e Shekspirit, dialoget e Platonit, novelat e Jane Austen. Aty, gjejme shume te verteta qe mund ti kemi gjetur me pare ne Ungjillin e Shenjte. Mendoj qe eshte nje ide shume e bukur dhe e vertete. Ata donin te zevendesonin shkrimin me kulturen. Dhe kjo eshte ide shume e besueshme. Po ashtu nje ide qe e kemi harruar.
If you went to a top university -- let's say you went to Harvard or Oxford or Cambridge -- and you said, "I've come here because I'm in search of morality, guidance and consolation; I want to know how to live," they would show you the way to the insane asylum. This is simply not what our grandest and best institutes of higher learning are in the business of. Why? They don't think we need it. They don't think we are in an urgent need of assistance. They see us as adults, rational adults. What we need is information. We need data, we don't need help.
Nese shkoni ne nje universitet te mire-- le te themi, Harvard apo Oxford ose Cambridge-- dhe thoni, "Kam ardhur ketu se po kerkoj te moralitet, udhezim dhe ngushellim; Dua te di se si te jetoj," ato do t'ju tregojne rrugen per te cmendina. Thjesht nuk eshte ky qellimi i i univeriteteve me te medha e me te mira. Pse? Nuk besojne se kemi nevoje. S'mendojne se kemi nevoje urgjente per ndihme. Ata na shohin si te rritur, racionale. Na duhet informacion. Na duhen te dhena, jo ndihme.
Now religions start from a very different place indeed. All religions, all major religions, at various points call us children. And like children, they believe that we are in severe need of assistance. We're only just holding it together. Perhaps this is just me, maybe you. But anyway, we're only just holding it together. And we need help. Of course, we need help. And so we need guidance and we need didactic learning.
Besimet fillojne nga nje pike tjeter. Gjithe besimet kryesore, ne pika te ndryshme na quajne femije. Dhe, si femije, besojne qe ne kemi nevoje te madhe per asistence. Ne vetem se e mbajme veten. Ndoshta jam vetem une, ndoshta ju. Sidoqofte ne vetem se e mbajme veten. Dhe, na duhet ndihme. Pa dyshim ndihme. Pra na duhet udhezim dhe te mesuar didaktik.
You know, in the 18th century in the U.K., the greatest preacher, greatest religious preacher, was a man called John Wesley, who went up and down this country delivering sermons, advising people how they could live. He delivered sermons on the duties of parents to their children and children to their parents, the duties of the rich to the poor and the poor to the rich. He was trying to tell people how they should live through the medium of sermons, the classic medium of delivery of religions.
Ne shek e 18 te ne Angli, predikuesi me i famshem ishte John Wesley, qe i binte vendit kryq e terthor duke mbajtur predikime, e u jepte keshilla njerezve si te jetonin. Ai dha predikime mbi detyren e prindit ndaj femijeve dhe femijeve ndaj prinderve, detyren e te pasurit ndaj te varfrit dhe te varfer ndaj te pasur. A perpiqej tu thoshte njerezve si te jetojne nepermjet medias se predikimit, medias klasike te dhenies se predikimit.
Now we've given up with the idea of sermons. If you said to a modern liberal individualist, "Hey, how about a sermon?" they'd go, "No, no. I don't need one of those. I'm an independent, individual person." What's the difference between a sermon and our modern, secular mode of delivery, the lecture? Well a sermon wants to change your life and a lecture wants to give you a bit of information. And I think we need to get back to that sermon tradition. The tradition of sermonizing is hugely valuable, because we are in need of guidance, morality and consolation -- and religions know that.
Tashme e kemi abandonuar idene e predikimit. Nese i thoni nje idividualisti liberal modern, C'mendon per nje predikim?" te pergjigjet, "Jo, jo. S'kam nevoje. Jam indipendent, person individual". Cila eshte diferenca, midis predikimit dhe mjetit tone modern laik te transmetimit, leksionit? Predikimet duan te te ndryshojne jeten dhe leksioni do te te jape informacion. Mendoj qe kemi nevoje te kthehemi te tradita e predikimit. Tradita e predikimit ka nje vlere te madhe, sepse kemi nevoje per udhezim, moralitet dhe ngushellim- dhe fete e dine kete.
Another point about education: we tend to believe in the modern secular world that if you tell someone something once, they'll remember it. Sit them in a classroom, tell them about Plato at the age of 20, send them out for a career in management consultancy for 40 years, and that lesson will stick with them. Religions go, "Nonsense. You need to keep repeating the lesson 10 times a day. So get on your knees and repeat it." That's what all religions tell us: "Get on you knees and repeat it 10 or 20 or 15 times a day." Otherwise our minds are like sieves.
Nje pike tjeter mbi edukimin: jemi te prirur te mendojme ne boten moderne laike qe, nese i thua dicka dikujt nje here, do ta mbajne mend. Uli ata ne klase, foli per Platonin ne moshen 20 vjec, dergoji te bejne kariere ne konsulence menaxheriale per 40 vjet, dhe ky mesim do ti ngulitet pergjithmone. Fete thone, "Absurde. Duhet ta perseritesh mesimin 10 here ne dite. Pra, bjere ne gjunje dhe perserite ate." Kjo eshte ajo qe na thone fete: "Bjere ne gjunje dhe perserite 10 ose 20 ose 15 here ne dite." Perndryshe mendjet jane si sita.
So religions are cultures of repetition. They circle the great truths again and again and again. We associate repetition with boredom. "Give us the new," we're always saying. "The new is better than the old." If I said to you, "Okay, we're not going to have new TED. We're just going to run through all the old ones and watch them five times because they're so true. We're going to watch Elizabeth Gilbert five times because what she says is so clever," you'd feel cheated. Not so if you're adopting a religious mindset.
Pra fete jane kultura te perseritjes. Ato qarkullojne te verteten e madhe perseri e perseri e perseri. Ne shoqerizojme perseritjen me merzitje. "Na jep te rene," themi gjithmone. "E reja eshte me e mire se e vjetra." Nese ju them, Okej, nuk do te kemi nje TED te re. Do te shfaqim keto te vjetrat e do ti shikojme 5 here sepse jane shume te verteta. Do te shohim Elizabeth Gilbert 5 here sepse ajo thote dicka shume te zgjuar," do tju duket se po ua hedh. Por jo, nuk te duket ashtu, nese adopton mentalitetin fetar.
The other things that religions do is to arrange time. All the major religions give us calendars. What is a calendar? A calendar is a way of making sure that across the year you will bump into certain very important ideas. In the Catholic chronology, Catholic calendar, at the end of March you will think about St. Jerome and his qualities of humility and goodness and his generosity to the poor. You won't do that by accident; you will do that because you are guided to do that. Now we don't think that way. In the secular world we think, "If an idea is important, I'll bump into it. I'll just come across it." Nonsense, says the religious world view. Religious view says we need calendars, we need to structure time, we need to synchronize encounters. This comes across also in the way in which religions set up rituals around important feelings.
Gjeja tjeter qe bejne besimet eshte organizimi i kohes. Te gjitha fete kryesore na japin kalendare. C'eshte kalendari? Kalendari eshte nje menyre qe siguron qe gjate vitit do te ndeshesh me disa ide shume te rendesishme. Ne kronologjine Katolike, kalendari Katolik, ne fund te marsit do mendosh per St. Jerome dhe peruljen dhe miresine e tij dhe bujarine e tij ndaj te varferve. Nuk do jete rastesisht, por sepse je i udhezuar ta besh ate. Ne nuk mendojme ne kete menyre. Ne boten laike, ne themi, "Nese nje ide eshte e rendesishme, do te ndeshem me te. Do t'a has ate." Pakuptim, thote pikpamja fetare. Pikpamja fetare thote na duhen kalendaret, duhet te strukturojme kohen, duhet te sinkronizojme takimet. Kjo ndodh edhe ne menyren sesi fete i krijojne ritualet rreth mendimeve te rendesishme.
Take the Moon. It's really important to look at the Moon. You know, when you look at the Moon, you think, "I'm really small. What are my problems?" It sets things into perspective, etc., etc. We should all look at the Moon a bit more often. We don't. Why don't we? Well there's nothing to tell us, "Look at the Moon." But if you're a Zen Buddhist in the middle of September, you will be ordered out of your home, made to stand on a canonical platform and made to celebrate the festival of Tsukimi, where you will be given poems to read in honor of the Moon and the passage of time and the frailty of life that it should remind us of. You'll be handed rice cakes. And the Moon and the reflection on the Moon will have a secure place in your heart. That's very good.
Merrni Henen. Eshte e rendsishme te shohesh Henen. Kur shihni Henen, ju mendoni, "Jam shume i vogel. Cilat jane problemet e mia?" E ve cdo gje ne perspektive, etj... Duhet te shohim Henen pak me shpesh. Nuk e bejme. Pse? Asgje s'na thote, "Shih Henen." Por nese je nje Zen Budist ne mes te shtatorit, ju thone te dilni nga shtepia, te hipni mbi nje platforme te shenjte e duhet te celebroni festivalin e Henes Tsukimi, ju jepen per te lexuar poema per nder te Henes dhe kalimit te kohes qe duhet te te kujtoje sa e thyeshme eshte jeta. Do t'ju japin kek orizi. Dhe Hena dhe reflektimi mbi Henen do te kete nje vend te sigurt ne zemren tende. Eshte shume e bukur.
The other thing that religions are really aware of is: speak well -- I'm not doing a very good job of this here -- but oratory, oratory is absolutely key to religions. In the secular world, you can come through the university system and be a lousy speaker and still have a great career. But the religious world doesn't think that way. What you're saying needs to be backed up by a really convincing way of saying it.
Gjeja tjeter per te cilen jane te vetedijshme besimet eshte: te flasesh mire -- S'po e bej kaq mire kete pune ketu -- por oratoria per besimet eshte celesi absolut. ne boten laike, ti del nga universiteti dhe s'je orator i zoti dhe prape ben kariere. Por bota fetare s'mendon ashtu. Ajo qe thoni duhet te mbeshtetet nga nje menyre shume bindese e te shprehurit.
So if you go to an African-American Pentecostalist church in the American South and you listen to how they talk, my goodness, they talk well. After every convincing point, people will go, "Amen, amen, amen." At the end of a really rousing paragraph, they'll all stand up, and they'll go, "Thank you Jesus, thank you Christ, thank you Savior." If we were doing it like they do it -- let's not do it, but if we were to do it -- I would tell you something like, "Culture should replace scripture." And you would go, "Amen, amen, amen." And at the end of my talk, you would all stand up and you would go, "Thank you Plato, thank you Shakespeare, thank you Jane Austen." And we'd know that we had a real rhythm going. All right, all right. We're getting there. We're getting there.
Nese shkoni ne nje kishe Pentekostale Afroamerikane ne Ameriken e Jugut dhe degjoni si flasin ata flasin mire. Mbas cdo pike bindese, njerezit bejne "Amin, amin, amin". Ne fund te cdo paragrafi entuziast, ngrihen ne kembe, dhe thone, "Falemnderit Zot, flm Krisht, flm Shpetimtar." Nese do te benim sic bejne ata-- nuk do ta bejme, por sikur ta benim-- Do tju thoja p.sh., "Kultura duhet te zevendesoje shkrimin". Dhe ju pergjigjeni, "Amin, amin, amin". Dhe ne fund te ligjerates sime, do te ngriheshit ne kembe dhe thoni, "Falemnderit Platon, flm Shejkspir, flm Jane Austen." Dhe ky do te ishte ritmi i duhur. Sigurisht. Ja po shkojme aty.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)
The other thing that religions know is we're not just brains, we are also bodies. And when they teach us a lesson, they do it via the body. So for example, take the Jewish idea of forgiveness. Jews are very interested in forgiveness and how we should start anew and start afresh. They don't just deliver us sermons on this. They don't just give us books or words about this. They tell us to have a bath. So in Orthodox Jewish communities, every Friday you go to a Mikveh. You immerse yourself in the water, and a physical action backs up a philosophical idea. We don't tend to do that. Our ideas are in one area and our behavior with our bodies is in another. Religions are fascinating in the way they try and combine the two.
Tjetra qe dine besimet eshte qe ne s'jemi vetem truri jemi dhe trupi. E, kur te mesojne nje mesim, e bejne nepermjet trurit. Per shembull merrni idene Hebre te faljes. Hebrenjte jane shume te interesuar ne faljen dhe si duhet te fillojme nga fillimi e te rinisim nga zero. Ata nuk bejne predikime mbi kete. Nuk japin libra apo fjale per diskutim. Ata thone te besh nje banjo. Ne komunitetet ortodokse hebre, cdo te premte shkohet ne nje Mikveh. Zhytesh ne uje, dhe ky veprim fizik mbeshtet idene filozofike. Ne s'jemi te prirur ta bejme ate. Idete tona jane ne nje ane dhe sjellja me trupin eshte ne anen tjeter. Besimet e bejne jashtzakonisht mire kombinimin e ketyre te dyjave.
Let's look at art now. Now art is something that in the secular world, we think very highly of. We think art is really, really important. A lot of our surplus wealth goes to museums, etc. We sometimes hear it said that museums are our new cathedrals, or our new churches. You've heard that saying. Now I think that the potential is there, but we've completely let ourselves down. And the reason we've let ourselves down is that we're not properly studying how religions handle art.
Te shohim artin. Arti eshte dicka qe vleresohet ne boten laike. Mendojme qe arti eshte shume shume i rendesishem. Nje pjese e madhe e suficitit te pasurise shkon te muzeumet, etj. Shpesh degjojme te thuhet qe muzeumet jane katedralet ose kishat e reja. E keni degjuar kete thenie. Mendoj se potenciali eshte aty, por s'e kemi bere. Dhe, arsyeja eshte qe nuk po studiojme si duhet sesi besimet merren me artin.
The two really bad ideas that are hovering in the modern world that inhibit our capacity to draw strength from art: The first idea is that art should be for art's sake -- a ridiculous idea -- an idea that art should live in a hermetic bubble and should not try to do anything with this troubled world. I couldn't disagree more. The other thing that we believe is that art shouldn't explain itself, that artists shouldn't say what they're up to, because if they said it, it might destroy the spell and we might find it too easy. That's why a very common feeling when you're in a museum -- let's admit it -- is, "I don't know what this is about." But if we're serious people, we don't admit to that. But that feeling of puzzlement is structural to contemporary art.
Dy ide jo te mira qe vertiten ne boten moderne qe shterojne fuqine tone per te marre force nga arti: Idea e pare eshte qe arti duhet te jete per art--nje ide qesharake-- nje ide qe arti duhet te mbahet ne nje fllucke hermetike dhe s'duhet te perfshihet ne kete bote te turbulluar. Nuk jam dakort fare. Tjetra qe besojme eshte se arti s'duhet te shpjegoje vetveten, artistet s'duhet te tregojne cfare ndodh aty, sepse nese e thone, do te humbte magjine dhe do ta shihnim si dicka te thjeshte. Ja sepse nje ndjenje e perbashket, kur jeni ne muzeum-- le ta pranojme-- eshte, "S'e kuptoj c'eshte". Por, nese jemi serioze, nuk e pranojme kete. Por kjo ndjenje konfuzimi eshte strukturale ne artin bashkekohor.
Now religions have a much saner attitude to art. They have no trouble telling us what art is about. Art is about two things in all the major faiths. Firstly, it's trying to remind you of what there is to love. And secondly, it's trying to remind you of what there is to fear and to hate. And that's what art is. Art is a visceral encounter with the most important ideas of your faith. So as you walk around a church, or a mosque or a cathedral, what you're trying to imbibe, what you're imbibing is, through your eyes, through your senses, truths that have otherwise come to you through your mind.
Religjionet kane nje qendrim mjaft me normal ndaj artit. S'kane problem te na thone cfare trajton arti. Arti eshte rreth dy gjerave ne te gjitha besimet kryesore. E para, perpiqet tju kujtoje cfare duhet te duash. E dyta, perpiqet tju kujtoje cfare duhet te kesh frike e te urresh. Ky eshte arti. Arti eshte nje takim vicioz me idete kryesore te besimit. Ndersa ecen ne nje kishe, xhami apo katedrale, ajo qe perpiqesh te asimilosh eshte, me syte tuaj, me senset, te verteta qe perndryshe do tju vinin vetem nga mendimi.
Essentially it's propaganda. Rembrandt is a propagandist in the Christian view. Now the word "propaganda" sets off alarm bells. We think of Hitler, we think of Stalin. Don't, necessarily. Propaganda is a manner of being didactic in honor of something. And if that thing is good, there's no problem with it at all.
Kryesisht eshte propagande. Rembrandi, ne pikeveshtrimin kristian, ishte nje propagandist. Tani, fjala "propagande" krijon alarm. Na vjen ne mend Hitleri, Stalini. Jo medoemos. Propaganda eshte menyra e te qenit didaktik ne respekt te dickaje. Dhe, nese ajo eshte gje e mire, s'ka asnje roblem.
My view is that museums should take a leaf out of the book of religions. And they should make sure that when you walk into a museum -- if I was a museum curator, I would make a room for love, a room for generosity. All works of art are talking to us about things. And if we were able to arrange spaces where we could come across works where we would be told, use these works of art to cement these ideas in your mind, we would get a lot more out of art. Art would pick up the duty that it used to have and that we've neglected because of certain mis-founded ideas. Art should be one of the tools by which we improve our society. Art should be didactic.
Une mendoj qe muzeumet duhet te shkulin nje flete nga libri i religjioneve. Dhe, te sigurohen qe kur hyjme ne nje muze -- nese une do te isha pergjegjesi, do te beja nje dhome per dashurine, nje per bujarine. Te gjitha veprat e artit na thone dicka. Dhe, nese do ishim ne gjendje te organizonim hapsirat ne menyre qe te mund te gjendemi perballe veprave ku te na thuhet, perdorni keto vepra arti qe te ngulisni ne mendje keto ide, do te mesonim me shume nga arti. Arti do te merrte detyren qe ka pasur dhe qe e kemi neglizhuar per shkak te ideve pa baze. Arti duhet te jete nje nga keto instrumenta qe ne permiresojme shoqerine. Arti duhet te jete didaktik.
Let's think of something else. The people in the modern world, in the secular world, who are interested in matters of the spirit, in matters of the mind, in higher soul-like concerns, tend to be isolated individuals. They're poets, they're philosophers, they're photographers, they're filmmakers. And they tend to be on their own. They're our cottage industries. They are vulnerable, single people. And they get depressed and they get sad on their own. And they don't really change much.
Le te mendojme dicka tjeter. Njerezit ne boten moderne, laike, te interesuar ne ceshtje spirituale, ne ceshtje te mendjes, ne ceshtje shpirterore me te larta, kane prirje te jene individe me te izoluar. Jane poete, filozofe, fotografe, regjizore. Ata perpiqen te jene me vete. Ata jane industria e vogel. Jane te rrezikuar, njerez te vetem. Ata depresohen dhe merziten me vete. Ata nuk ndryshojne shume.
Now think about religions, think about organized religions. What do organized religions do? They group together, they form institutions. And that has all sorts of advantages. First of all, scale, might. The Catholic Church pulled in 97 billion dollars last year according to the Wall Street Journal. These are massive machines. They're collaborative, they're branded, they're multinational, and they're highly disciplined.
Tani mendo per fete e organizuara. Cfare bejne ato? Grupohen bashke, krijojne institucione. Kjo ka lloj lloj avantazhesh. Para se gjithash, shkalla, forca. Kisha Katolike ka mbledhur 97 miliard dollare vitin qe kaloi sipas Wall Street Journal. Jane makina masive. Ato bashkepunojne, jane marke, jane shumekombeshe, dhe jane shume te disiplinuara.
These are all very good qualities. We recognize them in relation to corporations. And corporations are very like religions in many ways, except they're right down at the bottom of the pyramid of needs. They're selling us shoes and cars. Whereas the people who are selling us the higher stuff -- the therapists, the poets -- are on their own and they have no power, they have no might. So religions are the foremost example of an institution that is fighting for the things of the mind. Now we may not agree with what religions are trying to teach us, but we can admire the institutional way in which they're doing it.
Keto jane vecori shume te mira. I vleresojme ato ne korporatat. Korporatat jane shume te ngjashme me fete ne shume drejtime, pervec se ato jane ne nivelin me te ulet te piramides se nevojave. Ato na shesin kepuce e makina. Nderkohe njerezit qe na shesin gjera te nivelit me te larte -- terapistet, poetet -- jane per llogarine e tyre dhe nuk kane fuqi, nuk kane force. Religjionet jane shembulli me i dukshem i nje institucioni qe lufton per gjerat e mendjes. Ne mund te mos jemi dakort me ate qe ato perpiqen te na mesojne, por admirojme menyren institucionale qe perdorin.
Books alone, books written by lone individuals, are not going to change anything. We need to group together. If you want to change the world, you have to group together, you have to be collaborative. And that's what religions do. They are multinational, as I say, they are branded, they have a clear identity, so they don't get lost in a busy world. That's something we can learn from.
Librat vetem, te shkruar nga individuale te vetmuar, nuk do te ndryshojne asgje. Duhet te bashkohemi. Nese do te ndryshosh boten, duhet te bashkohesh, te bashkeveprosh. Kete bejne besimet. Jane shumekombeshe, kane nje marke, nje identitet te qarte, nuk humbasin ne boten e zhurmshme. Kjo eshte dicka qe mund te mesojme prej tyre.
I want to conclude. Really what I want to say is for many of you who are operating in a range of different fields, there is something to learn from the example of religion -- even if you don't believe any of it. If you're involved in anything that's communal, that involves lots of people getting together, there are things for you in religion. If you're involved, say, in a travel industry in any way, look at pilgrimage. Look very closely at pilgrimage. We haven't begun to scratch the surface of what travel could be because we haven't looked at what religions do with travel. If you're in the art world, look at the example of what religions are doing with art. And if you're an educator in any way, again, look at how religions are spreading ideas. You may not agree with the ideas, but my goodness, they're highly effective mechanisms for doing so.
Dua te perfundoj. Ne fakt ajo qe doja te thoja per shume nga ju qe operoni ne sektore te ndryshem, mund te mesosh dicka nga shembulli i fese -- edhe pse nuk beson ndonje. Nese merrni pjese ne dicka kolektive, qe perfshin shume njerez se bashku, mund te gjeni gjera tek feja. Nese punoni, le te themi, ne sektorin e udhetimit, shihni pelegrinazhin. Veshtro me kujdes pelegrinazhin. Akoma nuk kemi filluar te gervishtim cipen se cfare eshte udhetimi sepse s'kemi pare cfare ben feja me udhetimin. Nese jeni ne boten e artit, shihni shembullin cfare ben feja me artin. Nese jeni mesues prape, shih se si feja i shperndan idete. Mund te mos biesh dakord me idete, por, ato kane mekanizma shume efikase.
So really my concluding point is you may not agree with religion, but at the end of the day, religions are so subtle, so complicated, so intelligent in many ways that they're not fit to be abandoned to the religious alone; they're for all of us.
Konkluzioni eshte ju mund te mos bini dakort me fene, por ne fund te fundit, fete jane kaq te holla, kaq te komplikuara, kaq inteligjente ne shume menyra saqe s'duhet ti lihen vetem besimtareve; jane per te gjithe.
Thank you very much.
Falemnderit.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)
Chris Anderson: Now this is actually a courageous talk, because you're kind of setting up yourself in some ways to be ridiculed in some quarters.
Chris Anderson: Ky eshte nje fjalim kurajoz, sepse po e fut veten ne nje menyre qe t'ju qeshin ne disa vende.
AB: You can get shot by both sides. You can get shot by the hard-headed atheists, and you can get shot by those who fully believe.
AB: Mund te qellohesh nga te dy anet. Qellohesh si nga ateistet kokeforte, po ashtu qellohesh nga ata qe besojne plotesisht.
CA: Incoming missiles from North Oxford at any moment.
CA: Raketa te nisura nga North Oxford priten ne cdo moment.
AB: Indeed.
AB: Vertet.
CA: But you left out one aspect of religion that a lot of people might say your agenda could borrow from, which is this sense -- that's actually probably the most important thing to anyone who's religious -- of spiritual experience, of some kind of connection with something that's bigger than you are. Is there any room for that experience in Atheism 2.0?
CA: Por ju s'permendet nje aspekt te fese qe sipas shume njerezve mund ta kishit perfshire ne program, qe eshte sensi -- ajo qe ne realitet eshte ndoshta gjeja me e rendesishme per fetaret -- eksperienca spirituale e nje lloj lidhjeje me dicka me te madhe se ju. A ka vend per kete eksperience ne Ateizmin 2.0?
AB: Absolutely. I, like many of you, meet people who say things like, "But isn't there something bigger than us, something else?" And I say, "Of course." And they say, "So aren't you sort of religious?" And I go, "No." Why does that sense of mystery, that sense of the dizzying scale of the universe, need to be accompanied by a mystical feeling? Science and just observation gives us that feeling without it, so I don't feel the need. The universe is large and we are tiny, without the need for further religious superstructure. So one can have so-called spiritual moments without belief in the spirit.
AB: Absolutisht. Si shume nga, une takoj njerez qe thone, "Nuk eshte dicka me e madhe se ne, dicka tjeter?" Une them, "Sigurisht." Me thone, "Je ne ndonje menyre fetar?" I them, "Jo". Pse ky sens misteri, i universit te pafund, duhet te shoqerohet nga nje ndjenje mistike? Shkenca dhe vete observimi na japin kete ndjenje keshtu qe nuk e ndjej nevojen. Universi eshte i madh e ne jemi te vegjel, pa nevojen e superstrukturave religjioze. Njeriu mund te kete momente te quajtura spirituale pa besuar ne shpirt.
CA: Actually, let me just ask a question. How many people here would say that religion is important to them? Is there an equivalent process by which there's a sort of bridge between what you're talking about and what you would say to them?
CA: Le t'ju bej nje pyetje. Sa njerez ketu do te thoshin se feja eshte e rendesishme per ta? A ka nje proces ekuivalent sipas te cilit ka nje ure midis asaj qe po flisni dhe asaj qe do ti thonit atyre?
AB: I would say that there are many, many gaps in secular life and these can be plugged. It's not as though, as I try to suggest, it's not as though either you have religion and then you have to accept all sorts of things, or you don't have religion and then you're cut off from all these very good things. It's so sad that we constantly say, "I don't believe so I can't have community, so I'm cut off from morality, so I can't go on a pilgrimage." One wants to say, "Nonsense. Why not?" And that's really the spirit of my talk. There's so much we can absorb. Atheism shouldn't cut itself off from the rich sources of religion.
AB: Do tu thoja qe ka aq shume boshlleqe ne jeten laike dhe ato mund te mbyllen. Nuk eshte se, sic po sugjeroj, nuk eshte se ju ose jeni fetare dhe duhet te pranoni gjithcka, ose s'jeni fetare dhe jeni privuar nga gjithe te mirat. Eshte e trishte qe te thuash vazhdimisht, "Une s'besoj keshtu qe s'kam komunitet, jam privuar nga moraliteti, keshtu, s'bej dot pelegrinazh." Njeri do thoshte, "Absurde, Pse jo?" Ky eshte shpirti i vertete i fjalimit tim. Kemi kaq shume gjera per te thithur. Ateizmi nuk duhet ta ndaje veten nga burimet e pasura te fese.
CA: It seems to me that there's plenty of people in the TED community who are atheists. But probably most people in the community certainly don't think that religion is going away any time soon and want to find the language to have a constructive dialogue and to feel like we can actually talk to each other and at least share some things in common. Are we foolish to be optimistic about the possibility of a world where, instead of religion being the great rallying cry of divide and war, that there could be bridging?
CA: Mua me duket se ka shume ateiste ne komunitetin e TED. Por ndoshta shume nga ata nuk mendojne se feja do te zhduket se shpejti dhe duan te gjejne nje gjuhe te kene nje dialog konstruktiv dhe te ndjejne se mund te flasim me njeri tjetrin dhe te pakten te ndajne disa gjera te perbashketa. Eshte qesharake te jesh optimist rreth mundesise se nje bote ku, ne vend te fese qe ben ligjin te ndarjes dhe luftes, mund te kete lidhje?
AB: No, we need to be polite about differences. Politeness is a much-overlooked virtue. It's seen as hypocrisy. But we need to get to a stage when you're an atheist and someone says, "Well you know, I did pray the other day," you politely ignore it. You move on. Because you've agreed on 90 percent of things, because you have a shared view on so many things, and you politely differ. And I think that's what the religious wars of late have ignored. They've ignored the possibility of harmonious disagreement.
AB: Jo, duhet te respektojme diferencat. Respekti eshte nje virtut shume i neglizhuar. Shihet si hipokrizi. Por duhet te arrijme te nje pike ku je ateist dhe dikush thote, "Une u luta nje dite", ta injorosh me miresjellje. Ti vazhdon punen tende. Sepse ju bini dakort ne 90 perqind te gjerave, ndani te njejtin pikeveshtrim ne shume gjera, dhe me miresjellje mendoni ndryshe. Mendoj qe kete kane injoruar luftrat e fese. Ato kane injoruar mundesine e mospajtimit te harmonishem.
CA: And finally, does this new thing that you're proposing that's not a religion but something else, does it need a leader, and are you volunteering to be the pope?
CA: Dhe ne fund, kjo gje e re qe propozoni qe nuk eshte besim, por dicka tjeter, i duhet nje krye, po del vullnetar te jesh papa?
(Laughter)
(Te qeshura)
AB: Well, one thing that we're all very suspicious of is individual leaders. It doesn't need it. What I've tried to lay out is a framework and I'm hoping that people can just fill it in. I've sketched a sort of broad framework. But wherever you are, as I say, if you're in the travel industry, do that travel bit. If you're in the communal industry, look at religion and do the communal bit. So it's a wiki project.
AB: Nje gje qe kemi dyshim jane kreret individuale Nuk ka nevoje. Ajo qe po kerkoj te krijoj eshte nje strukture e shpresoj qe njerezit do ta mbushin. Kam krijuar nje lloj skeleti base. Por kudo qe jeni, sic thashe, ne sektorin e udhetimit, bej ca udhetime te tilla. Nese je ne industrine komunitare, veshtro te feja e merr sugjerime. Eshte nje wiki projekt.
(Laughter)
(Te qeshura)
CA: Alain, thank you for sparking many conversations later.
CA: Alain, falemnderit per bisedimet qe do ndezesh me vone.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)