The Truth

2008.12.20   prev     next

An unsolicited religious pamphlet recently appeared at my doorstep. It posed a set of questions:

To me, this pretty much sums up what organized religion is about, and to whom it appeals. We live in a world in which many persons have miserable lives, which strongly suggests that we weren’t created by anybody who cares what happens to each and every individual. We live in a world which, even today, abounds with war and suffering. We live in a world in which each person inevitably dies, and (at least until that death) is deprived of knowledge of what lies outside our universe; we don’t get to ask the creators because they’re not talking to us. And we live in a world in which many, many people are profoundly unhappy with their station in life.

Many persons find it so difficult to grasp these realities that they must subscribe to a belief system that claims that somehow, all these realities are deceptive — that our one, parent-like creator, working in truly mysterious ways, has negated each one of these unpleasant truths. So God, the omnipotent creator of everything, really cares about you, even when you’re miserable. Huh? So God is the bringer of peace even in times of never-ending war. Say what? So God delivers his message of the afterlife to us even though we have no way to verify its veracity. Oh-kay. So God hears your prayers even though he responds with total silence. Right. And, so even though you’ve been dealt a lousy hand in this life, by knowing God, you can be happy anyway. If you say so. But it looks more like deep melancholy to me.

Do Something

There’s another option. What if our creators put us here to face challenges? What if we don’t know what lies outside this universe so our life here will be maximally intense? What if our creators don’t want to talk with us (until after game-over); they want us to talk to each other? What if happiness is not a state of life, but rather a cool feeling that we get to experience every now and then? What if “true happiness” is next-of-kin to severe boredom?

Why not do something with your life instead of wallowing in misery and pursuing a make-believe state of true happiness? Build something. Tear something down. Say something. Discover something. Compete. Challenge. Change. Risk. The evidence all around us is not deceptive. We live in a world where we have a chance to act.