Skip to main content

I believe in god - my god.  I believe partly because my parents believed and raised me to believe.  But mostly because of my mortality.  My tenuous existence drives me to believe in a god or gods, or life forces, in outerworldly notions unsupported by any evidence other than the similar language or desires of others.

Since the affirmation of others is the only support I have, I seek out affirmation in as many places and ways as I can find.  I try to spread the joy and comfort I experience from affirmation to others, claiming that I want them to share in what I have found, but actually needing to reaffirm my belief.

The more people I can find or persuade toward my belief, the better.

If I am insecure in my belief, I may become more adamant in my desire to spread my belief.

I may become a missionary to teach my word.  If that is not enough, I may threaten those who disagree.  I may chastise or condemn them.  I may shun them.  I may imprison, torture, or kill those who believe differently.

I may do whatever I can to prove that my god is "the" god, greater than any other god.  With the blessing and aid of my god, I can destroy anyone who believes in another god, a false god, or no god at all.

But, all the while, I know, deep down, that the only logical belief, the only belief supported by any evidence other than testimonial, storytelling, myth or legend, is that we live awhile, and we die.

The sooner we can accept that, the sooner we can appreciate whatever life brings, the sooner we can figure out that all we can do is figure out ways to live well together for as long as we have, then the sooner we can stop the persecutions and wars of insecurity and join together to try to make everyone's brief stay pleasant and joyous.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Henry and The Common Good

Well John Henry said to the captain "By   god I ain't no fool Before I die with a hammer in my hand I'm gonna get me a steam drill, too, lord, lord Get me a steam drill, too" - parody by the great Smothers Brothers They had the right idea.   Instead of millions of workers being put out of work by robots, workers should have ownership of the robots that replace them, which they then lease to the companies that they once worked for, giving them a wage, a stake in the success of the company, and the opportunity to do other work as well.   This would be not too dissimilar to the annual dividends that all Alaskans get from the energy companies, although there will need to be an alternative as we move away from fossil fuels.   This would all fall under the broad umbrella of taking care of the common good, a concept that we've too often replaced with individualism.   Entrepreneurial spirit is fine.   I had it when I ran a small business. ...
Post a Comment
Read more
The National Rifle Association-backed gun advocates claim that passing this law or that law wouldn't have prevented this mass shooting or that mass shooting.  It's a completely false argument.  It's like saying that passing this election reform law or that election reform law wouldn't have prevented Donald Trump or Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan from being elected.  It may be true, but it would be a good start. - Pete Barkett   02/22/18
Post a Comment
Read more
 Bannon Up! This analogy is far from perfect, but it represents to me a futile mindset.   A sacrifice bunt in baseball involves giving up an out to advance a runner into a better position to score a run.   Occasionally, a pitcher tries so hard to throw pitches that are difficult to bunt, that he ends up walking the batter, which moves the lead runner into scoring position, gets no out, and puts another runner on base.   I’ve heard former coaches and players announcing games cry, “He’s trying to make an out.   Let him!”   I believe Steve Bannon wants to go to prison, to make himself a martyr and hero to the right-wing nuts who support him.   I say, let him.   I’ve heard some pundits worry that convicting him would further infuriate the right-wing nuts.   I think it’s time to abandon that type of thinking.   We have seen time after time that making concessions to appease these people is completely unproductive.   They see conces...
Post a Comment
Read more