 |
 |
 |
I like
to think. Well, sometimes. There are times when
I would just rather not think at all. Too often, thinking
can be depressing. Of course, with the right inspiration,
thought can be stimulating and provocative.
I like
to reason. I value rational thought,
and I
consider myself fairly logic-oriented. Admittedly though,
that "left-mindedness" has softened over the last five
or six years. I used to think that I wanted to study
the sciences; it's certainly not that way anymore! Still
though, I like it when things can be reduced to an
almost formulaic description or solution. I tend to
weigh pros and cons when making decisions, and I
find precision very attractive.
These qualities have led me to a perspective
that
does not allow me to believe in God. Baptised
Anglican, I have abandoned that "faith" along with
all others that dictate religion. It is unreasonable
to accept the existence of an allmighty higher
power who has created everything and has always
existed. Why should we believe this? From an
entirely unbiased and purely rational point of view,
how can we accept these supernatural claims
that have no foundation in scientific observation?
Of course, my faith in science is not absolute. I
realise that science is only the most logical
expression of what we have discovered and
explained so far, but I believe that's the best we've
got. It certainly has better credibility than wild
arbitrary calls for blind faith in one of many religions.
Curiosity is a wonderful human trait.
It is what
drives us to discover more and more. Its antagonist
is our need to explain everything in neat packages
without grounding things in reasonable reality. In
(more) primitive times, people worshipped just about
everything. The sun was a god; the moon was a
god; everything mysterious and interesting was
chalked up to some allmightly power. It is no
coincidence that as time goes on and in more
advanced societies, religion plays a less and less
important role. Those who still cling to it are those
who are uncomfortable to accept that there
doesn't have to be a meaning in life. We don't
have to exist for some great reason. We shouldn't
need to explain everything right away. Whether
or not I'm in the minority, I am perfectly content
to do some light philosophising and leave the
unexplained phenomena to eventual discovery
through the valid channels of science and reason.
My reasoning also leads me to a position
in which
I cannot refute the existence of God. My beliefs
can be summarised thusly: I believe what it is
most reasonable to believe. With a bit of common
sense, a thinking individual should be able to
stand apart from his culture-fed biases and
traditions to decide for himself what really makes
the most sense to believe. At the same time, it is
not useful to be overly skeptical. We must accept
that our judgement can be flawed. In unproven
matters, always be aware that we simply do not
know what is the truth. At least not yet.
In some ways, religion is quite destructive.
It
serves to segregate, and it discourages individuals
from thinking out their own set of reasonable
beliefs. However, although I reject organised
religion, I am not against it for one important
reason. Religion is essentially no more than a
marriage of morality and mythology. The less
intelligent and more oppressed cannot separate
these two elements. If unfounded faith is a
prerequisite for moral and socially healthy
behaviour, and if fear of hell serves as a good
deterrent of destructive forces, so be it. It's
much better to have a world of orderly and
well-behaved sheep than one of violent and
anarchist atheists. Until people are able to
accept moral responsibility at the individual
level without the excess baggage of
organised religion, it's best to just
accept the whole package.
Reduced and simplified, my goal in life
is
singular and precise: I want to be happy.
That may sound rather banal, but I believe
that most people don't understand how
fundamental it is. Happiness means something
different to each of us, but it's the only reason
we do anything. Think about what you want:
Money? You want money in order to buy things
that will make you happier. Fame? You want
fame in order to receive attention in order to
be happier. Power? You want influence over
others in order to make yourself happier.
Someone once told me that everything in life
goes back to sex or chocolate. Allow me to
reduce the equation one step further: Both of
these things make one happy. Now it's up to
you as to what steps you will take to achieve
more happiness. That quest is the
true meaning of life.
