Leo Igwe: Why I choose humanism over faith
Leo Igwe: Porque eu escolhi o humanismo à fé
Leo Igwe works to end a variety of human rights violations that are rooted in superstition, including witchcraft accusations, anti-gay hate, caste discrimination and ritual killing. Full bio
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with a different idea of life.
com uma ideia diferente da vida.
the main teachings of religion --
os principais ensinamentos da religião...
what on earth is humanism?
o que será que é humanismo?
of human beings.
dos seres humanos.
that we, human beings,
seres humanos,
to make a difference in our lives,
de fazer a diferença em nossa vida,
that the best humanist lessons I learned
lições humanistas que aprendi
manifestos and declarations.
e declarações humanistas.
was from the life of my own parents.
foi através da vida de meus pais.
from a poor family background
the circumstances of their bad upbringing
que as circunstâncias de suas origens
for themselves and for their children.
para eles e seus filhos.
trained as a teacher,
treinado como professor,
at a local primary school.
de uma escola primária local.
of school quite early,
could not afford her education.
não podia pagar a educação dela.
and taking care of my siblings and me.
e cuidando de meus irmãos e eu.
the Nigerian civil war --
a guerra civil nigeriana...
a struggle day by day.
I can still see water
ainda posso ver a água
of our house when it rained.
de nossa casa quando chovia.
to supplement the family income.
para complementar a renda familiar.
after school hours or during vacation
após a escola ou durante as férias
no pipe with water.
encanamento com água.
from the nearby streams.
dos córregos próximos.
to erect a block apartment
um bloco de apartamentos
to enjoy a standard of living
when they were growing up.
enquanto cresciam.
is my best lesson in humanism.
são minhas melhores lições de humanismo.
I believe that human beings
acredito que os seres humanos
not predetermined.
não são predeterminados.
our lives and destinies
nossa vida e destino
into those of wealth and prosperity.
em riqueza e prosperidade.
to alleviate suffering,
de aliviar o sofrimento,
reduce infant mortality
reduzir a mortalidade infantil
by wishful thinking with our eyes closed
sonhando acordados
or by expecting salvation from empty sky.
ou esperando salvação de um céu vazio.
imagine that their religious faith
imaginam que sua fé religiosa
praying for miracles
orando por milagres
in their lives.
in the world's poorest nations.
nas nações mais pobres.
where 95 percent of the population
onde 95% das pessoas
of their daily lives, were African.
da vida diária delas eram africanas.
many Africans to extraordinary length:
muitos africanos a extremos:
to commit ritual killing,
realizar matanças ritualísticas,
those with a bald head.
recentemente, pessoas carecas.
believing in witchcraft,
in reason or in science.
children and elderly persons
normalmente mulheres, crianças e idosos,
banished and killed.
banidos e mortos.
and witch persecution in Africa.
e perseguição a bruxas na África.
in a proactive approach to life.
em uma abordagem pró-ativa da vida.
cannot be achieved only by dreaming
ser alcançadas somente sonhando
wishing and imagining
desejando e imaginando
magically disappear.
desaparecerão magicamente.
will not fall like manna from heaven.
não cairá como maná dos céus.
by wishing and dreaming.
de apartamentos desejando e sonhando.
they tried again.
falharam, e tentaram de novo.
they plowed ahead,
eles seguiram em frente,
we must be adventurous and even daring.
que temos que nos aventurar e até ousar.
with risk and uncertainties.
de riscos e incertezas.
to do what people have never done.
para fazer o que as pessoas nunca fizeram.
have not been to.
nunca estiveram.
have tried but failed.
tentaram mas falharam.
of knowledge and understanding
novas fronteiras de saber e compreensão,
not just what is possible
yield our desires.
produzem nossos desejos.
disappointments and setbacks.
e contratempos.
poverty and diseases
e conflito, pobreza e doenças
ou feitos pelo homem,
have led to new dangers,
levaram a novos perigos,
have resulted in new health risks.
resultaram em novos riscos à saúde.
create their own problems
criarem novos problemas
to give up or to resign.
ou nos conformarmos.
that our efforts are of no consequence.
que nossos esforços não têm consequências.
answers and solutions
seja o fracasso.
we must not despair for humanity.
que não devemos perder a esperança.
of overwhelming difficulties
e nas circunstâncias mais sombrias.
new solutions and new cures.
novas soluções, novas curas.
knocks on the horizon?
quando o inesperado bate à nossa porta?
to be inventive and innovative,
ser inventivos e inovadores,
of a savior from above?
de um salvador que vem do céu?
to take our destiny in our hands
tomarmos nosso destino nas mãos
in the scheme of life.
livre-arbítrio no plano da vida.
to this game of blame
a esse jogo de culpa
full responsibility for our own lives.
responsabilidade total por nossa vida.
prisoners of our past.
sido prisioneiros do nosso passado.
and pessimism to drain us,
e o pessimismo nos drenasse,
limit our imaginations
limitasse nossa imaginação
for a better and brighter future.
para um futuro melhor e mais promissor.
and the new colonialism
e o novo colonialismo
including our own self-inflicted wounds.
incluindo nossas feridas autoinfligidas.
is damned and doomed.
que a África está condenada.
the chances and possibility
e irreparável as chances e a possibilidade
and flourish.
no part of the world
nenhuma parte do mundo
or enslaved in the past.
ou escravizada no passado.
have moved on,
seguiram em frente,
that the past is gone;
acredito que o passado se foi;
with limitless possibilities
com possibilidades ilimitadas
and remake our destinies.
e refazer nosso destino.
begin the urgent task
iniciar a missão urgente
tijolo por tijolo.
to our ideas and imaginations,
intelligence and ingenuity
inteligência e engenhosidade
of rebuilding Africa
de reconstruir a África
prosperity and civilization.
e civilidade sem paralelos.
as an African humanist.
um humanista africano.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Leo Igwe - Human rights activistLeo Igwe works to end a variety of human rights violations that are rooted in superstition, including witchcraft accusations, anti-gay hate, caste discrimination and ritual killing.
Why you should listen
Many of humanity's most pernicious divisions -- factors that keep one person from seeing another as truly human -- are based on superstitions entrenched in societies, such as a belief in witchcraft. As a leader in the Nigerian Humanist Movement, Leo Igwe works to combat those superstitions and the human rights violations they often lead to, including anti-gay hate, sorcery and witchcraft accusations against women and children, ritual killing, human sacrifice, “untouchability,” caste discrimination and anti-blasphemy laws.
Igwe is the former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and he holds a doctoral degree in religious studies from the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies, University of Bayreuth Germany.
Leo Igwe | Speaker | TED.com