The Status of America Today

I wasn't seeking "satisfaction." In fact, just the opposite. Wouldn't I have been much happier if I had just swallowed the whole package with a smile? Blotted out my higher brain functions and lived my life in willful, blissful ignorance?

You see, I came to realize that mankind invented religion because humans desperately want to believe three things, which are universal to all "faiths":

1. There's no such thing, really, as death.

2. Life is fair 

3. Life has a purpose.

All three are utterly false. But it feels SO much better to believe that they're true! Look, I get it! The peasant toils and sweats and starves, watches his children die, looks up at the lord's castle on the hill and says, "Well, I'm going to heaven and he's going to hell, ha ha, so it'll all be just in the end." That's great for the guy in the castle. No peasant revolts. Everybody keeps digging in the dirt.

It's a very comforting illusion. Much better than acknowledging, "My life is shit, and when I die, I'll be dead." Again...I get it!

Religion has proved to be extremely useful for rulers and masters. Do you think anyone could assemble an army if the soldiers all knew they were risking everything they had? That if they were killed, that would be the end of their existence? No! But tell them they're headed for heaven, everlasting glory, unlimited Netflix, etc. and they'll charge joyously into battle.

I'm very glad to be rational. "Faith," which by definition is to believe something without proof, is something I find abhorrent. As I said, I understand why people have faith. It often beats the crap out of cold, hard reality. 

Maybe neither of us truly had a choice. You had your brain stuffed with religion from a very early age. They didn't wait until you were mature and had adult reasoning powers and then present you with the God hypothesis. Oh, no. And I was presented with logical contradictions that I simply couldn't abide. Part of me wanted very much to believe. But I realized where that had come from--my human desire to believe those three things. The truth is:

1. Death is final. We cease to exist in any form.

2. Life isn't fair. The scales are never balanced, except by accident.

3. There is no purpose to life, no grand design, no overseeing master.

And I know you feel terribly sorry for me for feeling this way. I have no choice. My mind won't let me be irrational.

Your first paragraph...yes in a way.  Are you happy right now, your life as you are experiencing it?

Who said life is fair?  What is fair?  It is fair sometimes, not other times, but depends on how we look at it.  Why worry over this one?  It is what it is.

There is purpose to every life.  Even when our bodies fail us, Down Syndrome, paralyzed, on and on, we are of value to those who love us.  Even the evil one, gives us something to be thankful for that we aren't.  Being evil is a choice, of course.  We can only know about "purpose" in this life, on this planet.  You've had purpose to those who enjoy your take on Las Vegas, etc.  Your students.  On and on.

Nobody can know for sure what happens after physical death.  We hope to see our loved ones, our adored cats and dogs, but none of that can be confirmed.  We hope it is something more glorious than anything in our lives here and now.

Busy today, got to go.  Have a good one.

Candy

You might have missed my point: I shouldn't, and more to the point I can't, construct a belief system because it will make me happy. I feel that doing so would be a self-beteayal.

Would I be happier if I were a little bit dumber and spent my days happily on my knees singing hosannas? Without a doubt! However, I was cursed with a well-functioning brain, which closed that option to me.

To answer some of your questions: Who said life is fair? The God Squad does. Heaven and hell. Just punishments and rewards. Et cetera. It's a major part of the sales pitch.

Nobody knows for sure what happens after physical death? The God Squad sure claims to, and in great detail, at that!

Am I happy? Not as happy as I would be if I could convince myself that my inevitable aging and death is bringing me closer to a blissful afterlife. But I can't get myself to buy that. I would be happy if I knew that people like Hitler, Pol Pot, Trump, that guy who made my eggs over hard instead of over medium, are all in hell or going there. But again...no, they aren't.