I was gonna make this a comment in the Evangelicals Oppose Obamacare thread, below, but it got long enough that I thought I should make it a full post. One of the most -- THE MOST -- appalling things in all of human history, one that is repeated again and again and again, is the selling of idea that there will be some reward in the afterlife. Now, there may BE an afterlife. I dont believe in one myself, but I could be wrong. I wont know till I get there, because its... after life. Here, in THIS life, no one knows. NO ONE KNOWS. No evidence, no proof, only faith. Which is more than plenty for some, and accepting that is part of this whole line of thought. In other words, whether you believe in it or not, suppose there IS an afterlife, and its awesome. WHY IS THAT AN EXCUSE TO NOT MAKE THIS LIFE BETTER WHILE WERE HERE? Why is it so effing difficult to accept the notion that, hey, were here for three score and ten, howzabout making them pleasant and comfortable for everybody? Why do we have to work ourselves to death, all to make virtual currency for those who claim to be our betters because they have more virtual currency? Why do we have to suffer in sickness? Why do we have to have every single child ever conceived? Why, if its so necessary to have them, do we not take care of them and their mothers? Why must children and old people starve and wither and die? Why must our biosphere give way to pollution? Money? Money is honestly more important than breathing and having potable water and being able to grow decent food? Why must people bully, attack, even kill others for being different? What harm is suffered by someone who happens to be in proximity of someone else doing something that is in no way dangerous? Why is saying Happy Holidays or breathing while gay or not being of the Christian faith is considered some sort of War on Christians? It comes back to what it always comes back to: Motive. Im still mystified at the motive for most uber-rich people, because there seems to be neither limit nor purpose to their rapacity, unless its getting a High Score on some pinball table the rest of us cant see. The article I linked to below codifies what seems to me to be a valid motive for certain segments of the population working against what many of us would consider our best interests, and that motive is Glory Most High In The Presence Of Their God. Which is great for them, but really shitty for the rest of us just trying to tough it out here and now. I wrote a song on that theme. It was mostly intended to attempt to explain and reconcile my atheism with my moms faith. But there are other things in there -- things I try to live by. Mind your business, clean things up, get along. (The clean things up part is a nod toward pollution, not my really shitty housecleaning. I live in Clutterville, and its gonna take all winter to unclutter it. But I digress.) The grand bulk of people in the United States are religious, and the grand bulk of those identify with one denomination or another of Christianity. But I went to Sunday School, too. And I sure dont recognize much Christian about the words or actions of the loudest and most well-known of the self-appointed spokespeople of God. Why is taking care of each other so offensive to some people? Why is cleaning up the environment only thought of in terms of regulatory expense? Why refuse to help those who have paid the price in blood and psyche, after having VOLUNTEERED to fight SOMEONE ELSES war? How many times have we -- I mean us, here, you and me, Friends Of Tom, here on Facebook -- how many times have we solicited help for ourselves, for each other, for our friends who were hurting or desperate or alone? Thats society. Thats having people and caring about them. The part where we kick in financially? Thats GOVERNMENT. It really is. Its exactly the same as taxes, but on a much smaller level. (Yes, yes, taxes are required by law. Theyre SUPPOSED to be calculated so that everyone pays a fair share.) Its pooling our resources to help each other... or, at least, thats what its supposed to be. Except helping each other is off the table. Tax cuts for rich people, AGAIN? Sure. Pay for em with cuts in services to poor people? Go for it. Those slackers have to have some skin in the game, after all. Down here at the bottom, most of us have all the skin weve GOT in the damn game. And were a little busy trying to keep ourselves fed, clothed, sheltered, and healthy to worry about any prospective Afterlife in any but the vaguest terms. So. Everyone wants the Glorious Reward. Some think of it as money, All The Things. Some think of it as Afterlife, eternity in Heaven with The Lord. What do I want as a reward after I die? I dont -- I cant -- think in those terms. After I die, whatever I can conceive of in THIS life will not matter. I may be completely nothing, my life force burned out and whispered away on the wind. I may be in some Heaven somewhere. I might be in Hell. I may be on the shore of a vast river, regressed to the physical age of 25. I may be stuck into a skeleton, waiting in a barrel for some adventurers to come along. But none of that matters. Thats LATER. Its... after life. What matters to me, now, is living the best life I can. I try to help my family, friends, strangers on the street. Im taking better care of myself, because if Im not in good shape I cant do much good for anyone else. I do my best not to hurt anyone, even unintentionally... perhaps especially unintentionally. I vote and write or call my representatives and alert people to some of the stuff going on in the world because its stuff that we should care about NOW, not sometime. I do my best to tell the truth, all the time, even if it pisses some people off, even if it makes me look bad. I sing comedy, because I like making people happy. Theres not anywhere near enough happiness in the world. Were all slogging toward... something. And we need all the shared joy we can get. I have no idea if there will be any sort of afterlife for me. Doesnt matter. Im doing what I can to have the best life I can, for me and my tribe -- which, really, is everybody, whether they know it (or admit it) or not. Its certainly all of you. If there IS a God, if there IS an afterlife, taking care of that is HIS job. Ill keep doing mine. I love you all.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 22:14:26 +0000