“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
― Marcus Aurelius
I couldn't say it any better!
When I look back on my life, that's the way I started out thinking in my childhood and early teens. Then, I got caught by a mesmerizing cultic con man and all around sleaze ball by the name of Herbert W. Armstrong. His deceptive cultic system enslaved me for over twenty long years.
It's been a long journey back to basic sanity and clear thinking unencumbered by fairy tales, burdensome religious rigmarole and gospels. Today, I'm free of gods, free of dogma, free of financial slavery to religious machines -- FREE AT LAST -- TOTALLY!
I base my life on humanist ethics and morals. I find those far more of a reliable moral guide than what any religion offers. No longer are my attitudes guided by feelings of superiority toward any other human being. I recognize that we are all cousins somewhere along the genetic pathway and worthy of equal loving respect and concern.
When I was religious, I felt religiously superior to, and thus allienated from all others who were not "in the truth." The nonsense of British Israelism made me feel racially superior as well.
Humanism unites.
Religion and its dogmas divides.
I see that division everywhere. Even in our national politics.
There is a self-righteous haughtiness in politicians like Mitt Romney and Rick Santorium. It virtually exudes from their pores. It's the basis of a lot of their gaffs that give offense to a wide range of people who are different from them.
Today, I'm convinced there are no gods to be concerned about. I haven't made enough of a splash in the world to be long remembered, but that's OK. It's the fate of all my ancestors I'm aware of and the fate of the majority of human beings.
Marcus Aurelius made it into the history books. I currently have a fair presence on Google, but that likely won't last too long after my demise. I don't expect my name in any history books.
At least, the truth that Marcus Aurelius wrote stands. I can only echo it and see that a few more read and comprehend it.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
THE BLINDNESS THAT DOOMS NATIONS AND EMPIRES
A friend sent me an email and urged me to view a You-Tube video. I did. Several times. It cut to the depths of my being and said so clearly what I have thought and sensed for so long. I urge all of my readers to view it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16K6m3Ua2nw&feature=youtu.be
It took a brave and honest man to state what that man stated. It took real love of country and the truth to brave the chavinistic blindness that filled most of the people in that room and that fills the unaware minds of most of my fellow Americans. He had to not care that he would be hated by many of those who heard him -- and probably by many who see the video. Inconvenient truths are never ovewhelmingly popular.
They weren't popular in Ancient Rome and inumerable other empires and nations that proudly trumpeted their inevitable power, glory and superior majesty while in the midst of interior rot and decay that doomed them to decline and ultimate ruin. The final Roman emperors all bought their thrones. Our presidency is being bought on the open market by the richest among us -- and our judicial system aids and abets the whole process. Can we defy history and hope for our republic to endure?
We decided decades ago that exploring space was too expensive, ignoring the fact that it, above all other factors, guaranteed our technological lead in the world. Away went much of the appeal for young men and women to pursue science and engineering as a lucrative career. Why work your ample behind off and stretch your brain when you could become obscenely rich chasing and carrying balls around courts or manipulating fiat money in ever more intricate financial schemes and scams -- while producing absolutely nothing of intrinsic value to any member of the human race?
In the interests of lower taxes for the bloated richest among us, we have let our vital infrastructure fall into rack and ruin instead of maintaining and expanding it. Why can't we ride bullet trains coast to coast and border to border? Why aren't we driving non-poluting hydrogen powered cars? The seas are full of hydrogen and oxygen -- that's what water is. It's not hard to separate them, and when they are burned, they go back to the water they came from. A polution-less solution to a multitude of growing problems.
The answer is that the greedy among us rule. They are destroying their world and ours -- and the first thing they are destroying is our beloved country. Yes, we have a powerful military. So did Rome. So did a multitude of other nations and empires. That didn't save them in the end.
My parents always told me that pride preceded a fall. All I see around me in most of this nation are the self-satisfied and self-congratulating smirks of national pride. The gentleman in the video laid bare the real facts.
I'm listening. Are you?
It took a brave and honest man to state what that man stated. It took real love of country and the truth to brave the chavinistic blindness that filled most of the people in that room and that fills the unaware minds of most of my fellow Americans. He had to not care that he would be hated by many of those who heard him -- and probably by many who see the video. Inconvenient truths are never ovewhelmingly popular.
They weren't popular in Ancient Rome and inumerable other empires and nations that proudly trumpeted their inevitable power, glory and superior majesty while in the midst of interior rot and decay that doomed them to decline and ultimate ruin. The final Roman emperors all bought their thrones. Our presidency is being bought on the open market by the richest among us -- and our judicial system aids and abets the whole process. Can we defy history and hope for our republic to endure?
We decided decades ago that exploring space was too expensive, ignoring the fact that it, above all other factors, guaranteed our technological lead in the world. Away went much of the appeal for young men and women to pursue science and engineering as a lucrative career. Why work your ample behind off and stretch your brain when you could become obscenely rich chasing and carrying balls around courts or manipulating fiat money in ever more intricate financial schemes and scams -- while producing absolutely nothing of intrinsic value to any member of the human race?
In the interests of lower taxes for the bloated richest among us, we have let our vital infrastructure fall into rack and ruin instead of maintaining and expanding it. Why can't we ride bullet trains coast to coast and border to border? Why aren't we driving non-poluting hydrogen powered cars? The seas are full of hydrogen and oxygen -- that's what water is. It's not hard to separate them, and when they are burned, they go back to the water they came from. A polution-less solution to a multitude of growing problems.
The answer is that the greedy among us rule. They are destroying their world and ours -- and the first thing they are destroying is our beloved country. Yes, we have a powerful military. So did Rome. So did a multitude of other nations and empires. That didn't save them in the end.
My parents always told me that pride preceded a fall. All I see around me in most of this nation are the self-satisfied and self-congratulating smirks of national pride. The gentleman in the video laid bare the real facts.
I'm listening. Are you?
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