1 post tagged “morality”

I've not been motivated to do Friday night posts lately. For that you can blame JW. Or more precisely, the absence of same. Mrs Snowy and I have been on a health kick for a couple of months now. We've been replacing two meals a day with shakes. I've been using these because my private health fund provided them free to diabetics, and Mrs Snowy has been on the Tony Ferguson diet. And I'm pleased to say that both are working. We've both lost around 9kg. In addition to the dieting, we walk every day. We're up to 3/4 hour a day.

I have to say that I am enjoying the walking. I like to look at the sky, clouds, flowers, birds, and anything else that takes my fancy. It reminds me how marvelous it all is. Somehow, all the petty worries seem to fall into their rightful place in the grand scheme of things. I am alive. And that's the wonder of it all.

Lately, there's been quite a few bloggers asking the questions we all ask about religion at some time in our lives. So, I've been thinking about it while I walk. I've been an atheist for quite some years now. I see no need to defend, or to proselytise, that belief. I may well be wrong. So be it. That's just the way I see it.

I think it all began with the concept of the soul. There may be such a thing, but if I am to believe evolution, and I do, then every living thing must have a soul. Or not have a soul. I see no reason why humans should be special in this universe. Who knows? We may very well be seen as having a dog's intelligence by some being elsewhere in the universe who has progressed further along the evolutionary tree than we have. So, if belief in a soul that is judged by a supreme being is a prerequisite to eternal life, then count me out!  I can't believe what I don't.

So, having rejected religion, what am I left with? Well, a glorious sense of freedom for a start. I do not have to conform to the teachings of someone else who is but a human as I am. I can determine my own moral code, and try to live by it without the fear of eternal damnation if I fail. And I can embrace the wonderful words of Albert Einstein that adorn the side bar of my blog. Yes, I think that will do nicely.

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security." : Albert Einstein - (1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921