Rejoice! Oh Ye Unbelievers!!

Rejoice! Oh ye unbelievers!!

You may stay up late on Saturday night and sleep in on Sunday.

Never will there be a time when you must choose between your church and your country, between your prophet and your president.

You may eat bacon! and lots of it!!

The only person who will ask you to fast is your surgeon, and hopefully just a few times throughout your entire life.

You may spend 3 hours drinking beer and watching the game instead of eating one piece of bread and a little water while listening to a boring sermon.

Never will you be forced to choose between the dictates of your conscience and the commandments of your church.

In the future, you will spend far less time helping others move their stuff than the average church-goer.

There is no great eye in the sky watching and judging your every action, no big brother restraining your mind and body. You are free to experience the joy of true solitude, true individuality, and autonomy.

You have no reason to join either side of a crusade or holy war.

You are free to express absolutely everything you feel, from the slightest inclination to the deepest, most primordial craving. Use any word, any idea that feels right. Paint any image and sing any melody.

You may explore and experiment with fewer borders-discover potential, new feeling, new insights, and new experiences.

Think about sex, think about it all you want and in any form you fancy. And if you'd like, go do it, even if its Sunday.

Rejoice! oh yee unbelievers!!

The River of Life

The following is a creative thinking exercise, not an exact or complete representation of how I view life.

Life is like a river. We're trapped in its current, drifting towards death. No matter how we struggle, no matter how much we object, the river will eventually deliver us to our end.

We're being carried, or compelled, downstream by more than just the waters of time. The moment we were born we were in possession of both common and unique traits. These were the best traits of our ancestors; the ones that kept them alive, drew them to a mate, and successfully reared children. But they were traits that cared little for culture and custom. The moment we entered the stream of life, we had to contend with more than simple mortality, we faced a lifelong struggle against our genetic programming.

Just like we didn't choose our genes, we didn't choose our parents and family, our hometown, our initial economic status, the schools we attended, and the friends we made. Our genes and our environment made us who we are. We believe like our parents, act like our brothers, and think like our friends. We feel like our ancestors.

Our genetic and environmental programming relentlessly, cruelly, push us down stream, along a preordained, highly predictable path. Its all we can do to keep our heads above water, let alone steer an enlightened, free course through life.

Finally, we share space in the river with everyone else. Some are closer to us than others-we call the closest our friends and lovers. Together we combine our strength and succeed in changing our course somewhat. But we can't help but bump into countless other people in life, inadvertently altering our course and making it even more difficult to act of our own free will or get what we want.

Since we can only dream of stepping out of the river, can we at least hope to find some shelter from the current? Or can we become so strong that we swim through the water like fish?

What do we do to rebel against our own programming? To challenge our own upbringing? To capture moments that seem out of time and free from persuasion?

We've never been more aware of our predicament in the river of life. We've never been so powerful and free.

A Duty To Truth

Do we have a duty to expose lies and uphold the truth?

It depends upon what values we care about and how we rank them. Does truth trump personal happiness or the happiness of others? Does it take precedence over respect? Is truth more important than acting on impulse or instinct? Does truth make a person's list of values at all? It might not.

Who has the right to decide for other people what is more important than something else? What I value is irrelevant to a superstitious nation who spends its time and resources on religious ceremony because it values the spiritual experience. The fact that I get upset when I think about how truth is ignored or neglected by countless people does not give me the right to impose my values on those people. Compulsion should not follow from simple frustration or disgust.

Of course, I don't believe the answer is as obvious as this. Its easy to say we don't have a right to impose our values or way of thinking on others. Speaking of "rights", I believe we all have the right to act in accordance with our values. If I value truth more than spiritual experience, I am free to search it out and share it with others. I am even free to argue passionately in truth's defense and promotion, just as believers are free to attempt to convince me that I am mistaken in my thinking and values.

So we have two answers to the question "Do we have a duty to expose lies and uphold truth?". One perspective provides the answer "No. To do so infringes upon the right of others to live their lives according to their own values and not your own." Another answers, "Yes, if truth ranks highly on your list of values, you are free to work to discover it and attempt to change the minds of others."

But there's still more to consider. Personally, I do not think truth trumps happiness. If I thought that believing a myth would grant me absolute serenity and joy, I'd opt to do so, truth be damned. I'm not just saying this. I have considered the possibility that being an atheist can be a less happy existence than being a believer, but I don't know that for sure. Currently I think its more likely that contentment and joy are better obtained by possessing as clear a picture of reality and ourselves as possible, allowing for acceptance and the mastering of the art of living.

Duty and purpose are things we create for ourselves. If some institution or tradition claims we have a specific duty or purpose; they are, in a sense, being tyrannical. So no, no one has a "duty" to do anything they don't want to do. I've created a mission for myself, based on the belief that a myth-free existence is critical for freedom and happiness, to combat misperceptions, delusions, propaganda, as well as any other barrier to clear thinking. I have little doubt that "missionaries" will upset or offend, but these are minor annoyances for the real zealot.

(have a mentioned that I hate writing conclusions)