It has to be a great deal more than will be included in these few pages, through 80 years of life. All of life is a learning process, which continues until the day we die. We all have multiple problems facing us every day, which have to be solved, one way or another. We would otherwise not be able to survive, in this challenging world. We have to make the best of all situations we are in, day after day, have to build on what works, and have to discard those attitudes and behaviors which get us into trouble. So this is not about quantity. It is also not, directly, about our mistakes. We all sure make a bunch of them. I have made such terrible mistakes in my life; they make me cringe whenever they come to the surface of my mind. There is some kind of gut deep pain that occurs whenever I recall some terrible wrong I committed against someone else. The only way to survive and move ahead with life is to vow to do better, then shove that pain down under the surface again, in order to not function because of incapacitating remorse.
What this discussion is all about is those striking errors in social philosophy which have impressed me as the most detrimental toward the greatest fulfillment of each of our lives. I have also been impressed that our religions play a key role in these most egregious of our philosophic errors. Our religions, although each of them contains some magnificent moral guides, have led us badly astray as to how we should manage our lives. These, in my opinion, are the most egregious of those grave errors in social understanding, which lead to grievous misconduct.
Very few humans understand that life is a one-time only precious gift, which does not continue in any conscious way after our deaths. Our religions promise us something entirely different. They promise us reincarnation, life after death, pleasure and happiness after death, immense rewards after death, and many other eternal pleasures, none of which exist. The obituaries in the newspapers are full of this false promise. “He will be in a better place now.” “Now she will finally be back with her husband.” “They have gone on to greater rewards.” “At least now, he will be with Jesus.” “She has left us to be with our Lord and Master.” I really don’t mind anyone believing that they are going to be at peace after death. I believe that all of life will be at peace after death. I really don’t mind anyone believing they are going back to their creator after death. That is precisely what we do. We go back to that same energy, life source, creation, that gave us life. Our molecules and atoms are used in other various ways to sustain and create other forms of life, and other structures. What I do mind – no, what makes me angry, is the mind-set that this concept of human afterlife brings along with it. If all the emphasis and all our decisions are going to be based on what kind of rewards we will get after death, and what we have to do to get those rewards, we then make some god-awful destructive decisions while we are living. This kind of misdirection is what convinces Muslim zealots to fly airplanes into buildings, convinced that they, by this horrendous action, will be served luscious fruit and honey by virgin girls and obsequious boys for the rest of eternity, while their hated victims are burning in hell for an eternity. This is such an injustice toward both the perpetrators and their victims, I find it hard to put my objection into strong enough words. Every decision we make, based on this false premise, is wrong. There is only one life. There is only one attitude toward life that is most important; to treasure it, and create the most fulfilling environment for all of life that we can create. That is because there is nothing else. Each of us has only this one-time chance to leave something behind us that will be of lasting benefit for all those who follow us. When we don’t understand that we have to make the absolute best of our lives while we are here on this earth, this second grave misdirection in social justice occurs.
Very few humans take care of their bodies and their minds as a one-time precious gift. Vast majorities of us are overweight, have diabetes which we do not control, have hypertension which we do not control, have bad teeth which we do not control, waste our opportunities to make contributions to our societies, do not tell those who depend on us for guidance and support enough times that we love them, do not give help to those in need when we have the capacity to do so, do not keep our minds and bodies tuned because we do not challenge them to perform, prefer to wallow in self pleasures rather than make the extra effort to contribute something of value to their society, and wish to be taken care of rather than take care of others. It is as if the vast majority of us believe that there will always be some savior or miracle that will restore us magically to prime physical and mental condition. It just does not happen that way. It is entirely up to each of us to take the best care we can of this one time precious gift of life while we are here. We come to our deaths unprepared, because we have not understood that there is no other second chance.
Very few humans understand that all of life is one organism, bound together by reciprocal and dependent relationships. We cannot eliminate or manipulate any form of life without there being far ranging repercussions, which extend through all other forms of life. Any abuse or misuse of any form of life affects all of us deeply in many ways. We are all of us tied together as a unified life organism containing organs, cells, special structures and functions, which all interrelate as a whole to keep all of life going. We cannot rape our resources without all of life suffering. We cannot be meat eaters and feed the entire population of humans on this earth. We must understand that we are tied together with all of life, and must respect all of life as much as we should respect each other.
Very few humans understand that life is entirely a game of chance. We don’t understand when bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. That’s just the way it is. We keep gambling, thinking that we can beat the odds. Young people take horrendous chances, thinking that they will not be the ones who have to pay. They do pay. That’s the only way the universe is structured. It is our job to make the best choices we can, based on the odds. We can’t fight the odds and win. The odds will always get us, sooner or later. If we do not live within our means, choosing those odds that are in our favor, we will lose.
It is indeed time we shed these myths, fostered by our religions, that talk to us about knowing afterlives, the myth of human independence, the myth of a superpower on our side. It is indeed time we learn to live in harmony, without these sad misdirections.