XVIII. The Meaning of Life
The meaning of life, what is it, and why?
In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in his cosmic loneliness. And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done.” And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man. Mud as man alone could speak. God leaned close to mud as man sat, looked around, and spoke. “What is the purpose of all this?” he asked politely.
“Certainly,” said man.
“Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this,” said God.
And He went away.
― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle
Every person who breaths air and roams the Earth for long enough will eventually feel an “itch” in the back of their mind. For some, that itch becomes a burning question. For others, it becomes a life-long journey. At some point in our lives, we all stop to ponder, “What is the meaning of life?”
So what do we “mean” by the “meaning of life”? Ponder the question that your are pondering for long enough, and we find that what we are searching for is an over-arching answer to many questions. Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What should we be doing? For what purpose? Is there a point to all of this?
It is easy to see why we would ask such questions, as the evolution and survival of our species has hinged on our ability to explain the hows and whys of our world, to look for pattern, cause and effect. Due to the incredible abilities of our brains, we look at objects and events in the world and see that “this causes that, and here is why”, so it is only natural that we would look at ourselves and the Universe at large and ask….from whence did we come, and why? I addressed the first part of this question extensively in my previous blog post, but what if the second part is a question without an answer? What if there IS no why, which suggests a someone or a something to give it a reason and purpose? What if there is only ‘what is’?
As a secular Humanist, I do not believe that there is any objective meaning to be found. I don’t believe there is a preconceived plan, or a purpose, or a point to the Universe or Life itself that we are here to discern or discover. I don’t believe there is a God to judge us, or a soul to guide us, or a universal mystical force that is waiting for each of us to ask just the right question or repeat just the right mantra or sit in just the right pose so that it may release the knowledge of enlightenment. I believe that we are here as a natural result of the evolution of stardust, which is here as the natural result of universal forces and “laws”, that are they themselves a natural result of the formation of the universe. Beyond that I am ignorant, but I can look around at the world and the Universe and conclude that it was most likely not designed, so I can only guess that the Universe arose naturally from something else. Some would say that is the realm where God exists, and that may be so. But if that is true, I have concluded that He is apparently no longer a part of the process, for I have found no evidence of Him or his plan in this time and place. For the record, I do not believe that any God exists anywhere, and I have made my peace with that.
Now, there are many things that we don’t yet know, and I fully embrace this as the Great Mystery that we are all tackling together. There is no doubt that what we understand today will change in the future, which will, in turn, change what we consider to be meaningful.
So the question becomes not “What is the meaning of life?” but rather “What is the meaning of MY life?” which I see as a far more valuable question, and perhaps THE most important question that everyone must face.
I do believe in personal meaning. I believe it is up to each individual to figure out what the accident of their life means to them, and what they wish to choose to do with the time and space they have been allotted. I see no meaning in life, other than what we attribute to it, but I do see life as a precious gift. Here we are! How wonderful that is! How unlikely! How absurd! How beautiful!
So the question really becomes, “What are you going to do today, and what does that mean to you?” Can you see the limitless possibilities in that question? And it puts the responsibility directly on each of us individually, as it should be. So how do we find meaning and come to terms with a Universe that doesn’t know or care that we exist? We build a relationship with it.
A “New” Kind of Spirituality
To answer the question of “what are you going to do today?”, you first have to have a goal. I would like to put up for consideration that the ultimate goal of humanity could be for each of us to create a shared experience of the greatest amount of happiness possible with the least amount of suffering possible, while working with the most accurate knowledge of natural laws possible in order to create harmony between ourselves and our environment. I see this as a noble and honorable description of what meaning could be in our lives, both personally and as a society. Please keep in mind that I do not see this as a commandment from above, nor do I believe that anything we do really “matters” in a Universal sense–the Universe has existed for billions of years without us and it will continue to exist for billions of years after we are gone. This is just my suggestion for a goal, because the fact remains that we are here, and we have to do something. Why do I care so much about meaning? Because every decision that every person makes is based on their worldview. If society wants a better world, individuals must develop a better worldview based on their individual values. Those values are shaped by meaning.
In order to achieve this goal of happiness and harmony, I argue that we must be wise, we must be aware, and we must be compassionate. (You may recognize these ideas from Buddhism, a religion that I don’t subscribe to, but, like Christianity, it is a philosophy that has many important concepts at its core.)
For one to be wise, you must have accurate knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge in your daily decisions. This is why I see education as the foundation for a positive, spiritual life. The more you understand about yourself and the Universe that you are a part of, the more responsible you can be in your daily interactions. For instance, I believe that if everyone in the world knew how and to what extent the burning of carbon fuels and the accumulation of garbage destroys our environment, it would cease to be an issue. If everyone understood the concepts of evolution, we would have a greater understanding of where we have been and could make more educated decisions about where we would like to go from here. Although I hated school for every year that I had to endure it, I now spend a part of every day educating myself, and I can only describe the moments of great clarity and epiphany that I have experienced upon learning something new as “spiritual” experiences, not as in relating to a tangible spirit or soul, but as in an awareness of my true essence and the essence of all things.
For one to be aware, you must be mindful of the complexity of your environment and how every decision you make affects all other parts of that environment. This is the Butterfly Effect. This is The Matrix. Mindfulness is an attentive awareness of the reality of things in the present moment, coupled with a clear comprehension (developed through education and wisdom) of whatever is taking place. By practicing and developing mindfulness, you can simultaneously perceive the matrix of the universe and your singular place in it. I believe that if everyone in the world were mindful, their decisions would be based on knowledge and wisdom rather than hate and fear. Each and every moment could be viewed as a precious gift, perceived through the full spectrum of the beauty, pain, absurdity and wonder of our existence. Think of the possibilities of the world we could develop together, if we only had this shared awareness. This kind of awareness can only lead to compassion.
For one to be compassionate, you must realize that all conscious creatures experience suffering. Developing true compassion allows you to see that all beings can suffer pain, loss, confusion, anger and fear just as you do. When you fully take this in to your awareness and understanding, it becomes harder and harder to be cruel, and it becomes easier and easier to love, and to help others, and to work to ease and extinguish suffering in the world with every ounce of your being as much as possible. This is what Jesus was trying to get across to his followers with the Golden Rule, and the Buddha with his teachings. I believe that if everyone in the world truly understood our capacity to cause suffering in the lives of others, there would be no need for war, there would be no need for rape, there would be no need for hateful violence among our species. There would only be room for compassion, and that compassion could fill each and every one of us with joy and satisfaction.
So what do these 3 principles look like in our daily lives? The culmination and application of these ideas is what I consider to be my spirituality. For example, every morning I wake up and drink my first cup of coffee as I look out the window at a live oak tree. I stand in silence and wait to see movement…the preening of a bluejay’s wing, the flicker of a squirrel’s tail. I look at the branching pattern of the tree and realize that it is the same pattern that river systems make, and it is the same pattern that my lungs and arteries make. I think about the bacteria that exist in and on all of us, and how we couldn’t exist without them, and they without us. I stop to think about how the bluejay, the squirrel, the tree, the bacteria and I all share a common ancestor, that we all evolved here together, that we are literally distant cousins with shared genetics. I realize that the coffee I am drinking is made with water that quenched the thirst of dinosaurs (and I often chuckle at the fact that I am drinking recycled dinosaur pee!).
Then I move my awareness to realize that we are all made up of atoms, even the rocks and the soil, and I remember that we are all here because a star died and exploded 5 billion years ago. Everything I can see, including myself, is the same. It is all stardust. This fills me with enormous wonder and gratitude, and I silently thank the Universe for allowing me to exist, even though I know it doesn’t hear me. Then I realize that there are billions of people who are not as lucky as me, who woke up today without a home to stand in, perhaps in the midst of war, without a tree to look at, with no clean water to drink or food to eat, perhaps waking in the fear that today will be the day that they and their family will be shot or blown apart. If I can, I allow the enormity of this fact to completely fill my awareness, I allow my emotions to wash over me, and sometimes, as even now as I write this, I am moved to tears. The gratitude that I feel for my own situation grows, as does my compassion for my fellow human beings, and I start my day with the conviction that I will do something, anything, to try and ease the suffering that I see all around me, in whatever small way I can.
Every day I work to expand this type of spiritual awareness farther, into every moment of my life as much as possible. This is how I am developing my relationship with the Universe. If I could, I would share this experience with every single person in the world, for I can only see goodness coming from it. Perhaps I am too idealistic. Perhaps my ideas will never change the world. But I know that MY life has changed for the better since developing this awareness, so I stand as an example of 1.
You are also an example of 1. What will you do today….and what does that mean to you?
With love and compassion,
~Chris
Chris the Humanist 
Sorry…I couldn’t resist.
my first reading … more of a scan ….. be back later …. but for now I think you are a fraud ……atheist my foot !!
Well, that’s a great comment first thing out of the box. I thought we had come farther than that Lois. But you are entitled to your opinion. Remember, an atheist is someone who does not believe that God exists. I do not believe that God exists. I cannot prove that God does not exist, but I have found no evidence of such. I have no problem admitting that there could be a “God” outside of our Universe that we can’t detect, but I personally don’t believe that there is.
I said that if there is God that created our Universe, then he is no longer a part of the process. Please don’t mistake this for me believing that there is a God. I’m just saying that if that is the nature of God, then he is not a God in the sense that we must worship him, or learn from him, or be inspired by him, or that “he” is a “he” or a conscious being that interacts with us or has a plan for us. That pretty much takes out the definition of God. Again, I have to allow for the possibility, because none of us can know for sure if a nothing-like-god God that exists outside of our Universe “created” the Universe or not. I personally don’t see the need for such a God to explain things, nor do I believe in one. I will continue to live my life as if there is no God anywhere, since that is what I believe. That is what I meant when I said that I have made my peace with that.
And I would appreciate it if you would take the time to read my entire post before calling me a “fraud”. If you still think me a fraud after reading about my hope for humanity with a secular spirituality, then fine.
Author’s Note: For the record, I have added to my statement about God in this post to avoid confusion about my lack of belief in God. I have also removed my statement about Einstein and what he called God, since I can see how that would be confusing in this context, and I will probably write a post about Einstein in the future where I can develop that idea further.
my dictionary has many definitions of atheist …… of course, I picked the one I liked ….. ha ha
oh … touchy, touchy ….. Yoda !! Yoda !!!
obviously you cannot appreciate a joke when it is directed at you ….
I will be dead serious the next offering I make …..
honestly … I apologize
Thanks.
Chris,
You misunderstood Lois, again. She was not accusing you of being false or of being a closet believer. She was being ironic. Your post is beautiful and the thoughts are commendable. For the most part they could have been written by a believer. To me, and I suppose for Lois (though I will not presume to speak for her) your post is evidence that God is very much involved in the process. He chooses the vessel to carry his message from among whom he will, even the most unlikely sources. Whether you intended to convey his message or not, you’ve done a good job. This is what I think Lois meant. Of course I can understand that you are very unwilling to give God credit for anything, especially your own thoughts. That’s okay. But, in my view where else could they come from? Wisdom, awareness, compassion: all attributes of Jesus Christ! How about that! So, he hasn’t given up on you! Of course you don’t believe it, nor want to
admit it. Okay, but just remember,
Jonah was a reluctant prophet, too. The main difference is that you have swallowed the whale. Congratulations! Good job!
Sorry if I missed the ironic humor in “you are a fraud.” Many people reading this blog for the first time would have taken that literally, so I felt that I needed to clarify. Lois, we’re cool, no hard feelings.
To answer your points Carson, I knew this would be your response. Perhaps now you can see why I was frustrated that we go on and on arguing about the existence of God, when on a certain level, it doesn’t really matter if no one can prove that there is or isn’t a “God” outside of the Universe that has no bearing on our lives. You and I and Lois all have the same hopes and wishes for society. That is my point, that an Atheist can have the values of a stand-up Christian and not believe in God. It’s not God that I am speaking for, it is the message that we should all get along and take care of one another. But I also speak for the truth, so I cannot allow people to spread untruths about God and Jesus and Heaven and Hell without speaking out against such ideas. I’m curious, (getting back to the point of this post) why do you think that wisdom, awareness, and compassion couldn’t exist in a universe without God?
I thought that I had made my point clear that I do acknowledge that Jesus had some good things to say according to the reports in the Bible. However, he said a lot of things that I see as extremely wrong and harmful. I suppose I will write another post going into that at length in the future. I don’t see Jesus, or Buddha, or Mohammed, or any number of mystics and gurus as the ultimate role model. I think we have yet to find such a person, if even such a person could ever exist. I kind of doubt it. But we can all be better role models for each other.
Here is my point (or rather, points) of contention with the majority of Christians. I am all for the Golden Rule. But I would never want anyone to believe that the best way to live a good life is by following the teachings of Jesus. I would never tell people that Heaven exists, or that God exists, or that you must believe in Jesus to get into Heaven, or that Jesus was the son of God. I would never tell people that there is life after death. I would never tell people that Hell is a place where bad people go. I would never tell people to live by the words of the Bible. I would never expect any educated people to believe the stories of the Bible. I would never tell people that they have souls. I would never tell people that they are born into sin. I would never expect people to live by the Ten Commandments or any of the ancient morality of the Bible, but rather a more evolved morality (that yes, includes some things that the Bible got right, like loving your neighbor and not killing people). I would never tell people that they were created by a God that cares about them and interacts in their daily lives. I would never tell people to pray to God to get ANY desired outcome. I would never declare that homosexuality is a sin. I would never tell people that we should bomb all Muslims to rid the world of their kind (I know that does not reflect all Christians, but I have heard that statement from the mouths of Christians many times). I would never tell people that Jesus is coming. I would never tell people that Satan is real. I would never tell people to prepare for God’s war of Armageddon. I would never tell people that the rapture is coming. I would never expect people to believe in miracles. I would never tell people that angels are real and are watching over them. I would never tell people that demons are real and trying to possess them or lead them astray.
The reason I would never preach these things is because I whole-heartedly believe that each and every one of those claims is false, and I believe that the evidence backs me up. Again, I respect anyone’s right to believe such things, but I look forward to a day when we can leave these harmful and untrue ideas behind. I hope that I have provided a good example of what that would look like with my concept of secular spirituality.
Now, if you still believe me to be a reluctant prophet of Jesus the Christ and his Holy father Yahweh, then I suppose I am, minus all of the nonsense about Jesus and God and the Bible. I suppose I am also a reluctant prophet of Mohammed, minus all of the nonsense about Mohammed and Allah and the Koran, and that would make me a reluctant Bodhisattva of Siddhartha and the Wheel of Suffering, minus all of the nonsense about Brahma and devas and reincarnation. I am also a reluctant prophet of Joseph Smith, minus all of the nonsense about golden tablets and magic underwear and polygamy and Jesus’s American gospel, the Book of Morman. And you’re looking at a devout Jew, minus the 99% of Jewish law that is complete nonsense.
Amen, Shalom, and goodnight.
ahem
do not misinterpret my intention:
You take us back to the primitive beliefs of Chrisianity, but have no mention of the primitive beliefs of science.
I would never tell anyone that the meds you are taking won’t cause another condition to your body worse than what you already have
I would not tell you that it is alright to destroy the Ozone layer just so I can see what would happen
I won’t tell you I am using you as a guiene pig in order to make money and become famous
I would never make a vaccine that may or may not kill you
I would never lie to you about my need to experiment regardless of consequences
I would never …. damn …. I wish I knew more about science, but I betcha Carson could take up this theme and curl your hair with it.
You see there are honest and dishonest so called “Christians” just as there are honest and dishonest so called “scientists” …… to go into the past to prove a point for today is ludricrous ….. someone will always be there to negate your intentions and or distort the truth.
I don’t believe that you are any of the persons you mentioned above …. I believe that you are Chris …. and I will leave it that that.
No one you are talking to believes themselves to be any of the negatives that you mentioned above either ….. we would in fact subscribe to much of the positive things that you claim .
and I am going to quit until I get past my Rhett Butler phase of “frankly, my dear … I don’t give a damn” …… he comes and goes with me when I am frustrated…….(that is a joke …. ha ha )
ps I do not see you as a reluctant profit of anything at all ….
there is nothing “reluctant” about you.
Rhett is still with me:
I will put it back to you ….why don’t you think that wisdom, awareness and compassion couldn’t exist in a Universe that is God oriented?
Great points, Lois. All of those bad things that you mentioned that have to do with scientific discoveries or practices are very bad. There are many more that I am already aware of that have indeed, curled my hair. I have spoken out against many such practices in my lifetime, and I continue to do so. I hope to reshape the ethics of science as well. But you may be wondering, why have I not made a bigger point about science in this blog and instead focused on religion?
Here’s the difference between science and religion. There are scientists that do ethical things and there are scientists that do unethical things, just like there are ethical and unethical religious people. However, following the scientific method (identify a problem, form a hypothesis, test the hypothesis, analyze the results, and form a conclusion) does not itself prescribe unethical behavior or force people to believe things that are untrue under penalty of death or eternal damnation. Religions, on the other hand, are guilty, even to this day, of doing just that. In fact, the holy books that the religious claim to be the unaltered word of God specifically instruct their followers to do unethical things.
Moreover, the scientific method itself does not encourage people to believe things that have been proven not to be true, while religion does. If a scientific finding is found to be untrue in light of new or better evidence, that evidence is incorporated into scientific understanding and the old idea is rejected for the new. Religions are notorious for sticking to the same wrong ideas for centuries.
You have a problem with science, when I think the problem is unethical people. My problem with religion is not the religious people themselves for being religious, but the religion that promotes unethical behavior. I envision a future where we combine the positive ethical values of religions (like loving your neighbor and helping less fortunate people) with the understanding and logic of science. In that future, I contend, if everyone lived by the ideals of wisdom, mindfulness, and compassion, there would be no need to pray to a non-existent God, and there would be no need to have scientists making bombs.
As for my list of “things I would never say”, these things are not from the past, nor do they represent the religious minority. I have heard those statements all my life. In this year alone, I have heard 3 different people, all who are devout Christians who read their Bible and go to church, say “We just need to bomb the entire Middle East and be done with it. Those people are never gonna change.” I understand that you Lois, and Carson, do not represent the majority of Christians. I think that’s great and hopefully a sign that organized religion is evolving or dying out. My beef is with the majority of religious people of all faiths and the books that they claim as the truth.
All three of us have the same basic idea of morality. I just wish you and Carson could live life without the dogma of religion. I also wish that all scientists would adopt this same morality, but just because some scientists do bad things, that doesn’t mean we should reject the scientific method all together in favor of 2,000 year old technology and belief as provided in books full of untruths.
To answer your last question, I do think that it’s possible for wisdom, mindfulness and compassion to exist in a God-oriented society (obviously they do), but all three suffer because of it. For instance, if you believe in what the Bible puts forth as knowledge, you are shortchanging wisdom. The Bible also falls short on the best way found so far to increase mindfulness…meditation. And if you read the Bible literally, as many people do to at least some extent, it teaches you many things that are distinctly uncompassionate. I find basically all other religions guilty of these same things.
That is my opinion. Now I re-ask my question, why do you think that wisdom, awareness, and compassion couldn’t exist in a universe where God doesn’t exist?
my answer to the question:
yes
all three (wisdom, awareness and compassion ) could exist in a universe where one might think that God does not exist ….. you are living proof of that
God is not a thing you can erase if indeed He .. Is.
He will not go away because you say so.
You cannot PROVE that He is not.
I cannot prove that He is
I say “far out” things to make a point
for the record … I appreciate science and its positive discoveries
I am not mad at science nor am I in the habit of “bad mouthing it.
I should know better than to try to touch on the intangible ……
by its very nature it defies explanation
and I have learned that until one is ready to let things be what they are with full acceptance …. wether you understand them or not ……doubt will always win the day.
are you happy?
I am.
are you afraid to die?
I’m not
do I weep for what is happening in this poor old world of ours?
yes I do
do I pray for those who suffer
I do
am I a fool for caring and praying?
I do not think so ….. maybe you do ….. but I do not.
I am going to make a challenge ……
If you can
from this point on …. can you make your case to support your beliefs without mentioning the name of God again ……just state your case and leave Him out of it …… no Old Testament, no New Testament and I will quit quoting from science books ….. and let’s just talk about the good we can do without mentioning God or science.
I think I can already hear your response to that ….. hey … surprise me …ha ha.
off to bed
sweet dreams to you
Selah
A beautiful, thoughtful response, Lois. Thank you so much. I actually have no plans of mentioning God in the last remaining posts, or the Bible (but of course I can’t promise that it won’t come up or be mentioned in passing, since I haven’t written them yet, they are only outlined as they have been since I started this project back in December). I do have one more small planned mention of the positive aspects of religion that must be incorporated into secular spirituality in order for it to be successful. And of course if it comes up in the comments, I’ll go there. But I promise that I am done tackling religion and God for now.
This may surprise you, but I really don’t care if one believes in God or not, as long as that belief does not cause one to make harmful decisions or spread untruths that negatively affect the world (In most cases, unfortunately, it does, to varying degrees– that’s why I have made such a big deal about it. It some cases, however, I admit that it does not.). But remember, no matter what, I am an advocate of everyone’s right to choose their individual beliefs.
After the next few posts are completed, I’m afraid that God and religion will come up, but only to describe the sides of an issue, like gay marriage, heterosexual marriage, atheistic regimes of the past, creationism vs. evolution, religious war, birth control and education, and I have promised to expand on my thoughts on Jesus, as well as the negative aspects of the other world religions, since I have mostly discussed Christianity and the Bible (since that is the majority of the religious audience that is reading this blog). There will be many, many posts, however, that will have nothing to do with religion, only fixing the world’s problems. Science will have to come up since I will have to refer to scientific studies on the issues I want to tackle, but I promise to discuss the harmful aspects of science as well and how to stop the tragedies of unethical scientific practices and discoveries.
Thank you again Lois. I have enjoyed our conversation thus far, emotionally charged as it has been at times (yes, even a Humanist like me can get grumpy!). I look forward to many more conversations with you. I am honored that you have taken the time to read my words, think about them, and that you are willing to share your thoughts.
Have a great day,
~Chris
thank you Chris ……
worn out tonight
will respond more later
xox
You always wrote well, and still do 🙂 For me the meaning of life did not exist until I had my daughter. Now it is perfectly clear, she is my life. Keep em coming my friend. I enjoy reading them.
Hey Brandy, thanks for reading and taking the time to drop a line. That means so much to me for you to say that…you made my day. Your daughter is lucky to have a mom like you to help her find your meaning together. Please give her a hug for me!
Your friend as always,
JC
Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder why, why, why?
Figured I’d add to your Cat’s Cradle quote which for the record has ensured I will be reading your blog regularly. Anyways, my meaning of life changes daily- I don’t think I could pinpoint one thing but my mind is always jumping all over the place.
Goodness, I’m kind of ruining all your formal comments with this one and I’m not sure how often you check these but I wanted to read through a bunch of your posts before commenting and then couldn’t resist because I am in love with Kurt Vonnegut. I also really enjoyed your writing. I definitely need to think about stuff more. I’ve just been breezing through life as an atheist because it just doesn’t make sense that there’s a god AND in the 4th grade my CCE teacher told me my dead pet rabbit wasn’t in heaven even though I’d poured holy water on him and he was more innocent than any human I’ve known. (I love animals, vegetarian for life!)
Okay, I have to talk to you again in person to fluidly get across any of my ideas on this. Hopefully before next Halloween too. Also, you should go come out tomorrow with Shannon, Kevin and I.
Wow. its like reading a book from me in the future? i am eighteen. i have been doing a lot (a lot) of thinking for a number of years, and i too have formulated the exact same ideas and concepts, even as i read your comments, i see a striking similarity in your ideas. Maybe this world is beginning to move towards your ideals sooner than you think? i had no knowledge of this page till now and yet, its like thoughts pinched from my mind. my ideas and my thought were not as complete and i still had many questions i had yet to answer, maybe this can complete them. im just amazed? i thought i was on my own, i seemed to think differently to everyone else, it was strange, people seem to pick between beliefs, but ever since a small child i had the concept that it was combination of all beliefs and religions is where we would find answers. i feel so similar to how you feel everyday. i walk outside my door, and i feel this amazing rush, i imagine the particles in the air, brushing against my skin, and i feel the suns light warm up my body, and the heat leaving my skin as i walk into the shade, and it is amazing. my only obstacle is my own troubles, this is my barrier to the understanding you have. because i sometimes forget, when i walk out of my door, all of these amazing elements that make up my universe, i am too preoccupied with small minded problems, and it makes me sad. but i am trying. i cannot wait to read more of your pages, i cant believe ive actually found this. sorry, im babbling :D, im just so excited that someone has not only the same beliefs, but more developed beliefs? i would love to talk to you, it seems i can learn a lot from you. i really just cant believe how similar it is to what i think everyday. you’ve definitely got my attention…
Matthew, thank you so much for finding my site, taking the time to read, and for leaving such complimentary comments. I am encouraged by your story. It is incredibly significant that you came up with a lot of these ideas on your own. You see, most beliefs are crammed down people’s throats from the day they are born. You came to understand essential truths about the nature of the universe despite this, and independent of it or anyone else’s dogma. That is both something to be proud of and a sign that the knowledge you have found is fundamental.
I encourage you to keep reading, and to keep asking questions of me and anyone else claiming to offer truth. I have always said that I am willing to change my ideas based on new evidence (I did it with Christianity), and I absolutely offer that I could be wrong about anything and everything (but I am fairly confident that I am at least right about some things, based on the available evidence). I firmly believe it is crucial to start from that perspective if you want to find Truth.
Keep working on those troubles, my friend. We’ve all got something we’re working on, I promise. Check out my posts about Finding Happiness and Finding Yourself. I hope they’ll be helpful. And check out my Facebook page for smaller chunks of Humanism and other stuff. Feel free to post questions/comments there too.
Take care and best of luck on your journey,
~Chris
oh, and this is a bit embarrassing but, i’ve just been reading through more of you pages, and i didn’t know till just, what humanism was :’), but maybe i should be proud at the fact that i have come up with these ‘humanistic’ ideas by myself?
Thanks a lot Chris 🙂