Turkey, and God

It’s been a rather busy pair of weeks for me. The usual stuff mostly, working and the like. It has also been productive though in some ways. I’ve learned how to make Cream of Mushroom Soup for example. Thanksgiving came and went, nothing amazing there really. The fact that I give thanks for what I have most days makes it less special I guess. I don’t need one day to be thankful for the things I have. Of course I’ve worked hard to get where I am, and I don’t think some dude in the clouds gave it to me.

I’ve always heard, and read, how as you get older you are more likely to believe in a God, to find Religion. For me though it seems the opposite. Every year I come to think less and less there is any force watching over the world, or me for that matter. And more and more it becomes more important to act better towards my fellows and to the world. The way I see it if this is all there is t hen what I do is even more important. If all we have after death is the memories of those we leave behind then I want those memories to have meaning. And if there is more? Well I’ve not seen much evidence that whatever is beyond cares a whole lot about here. So again, what I do here matters. I guess I am becoming more and more of a humanist as time goes by.

What is God really? Is it merely our attempt to provide control on a chaotic, uncontrollable world? Is it a construct, a projection so that we can feel there is a purpose to life? Is that how religion started? Out of a need for control and meaning? I think that is probably the seed for it. I am not going to judge the merits of religion. In most cases I don’t see the harm of someone who wants to believe in and follow one. I suspect the most basic meaning of life is simply that we live and die and leave children behind. Further the species and all that. But there is more to life, to living. We create our own meaning out of the chaos and the order of our existence. It’s not about God, it’s not about what the world may be. It’s about what we need, what we want from the world, from the ones we love, and from ourselves.

Is God merely a construct, a reflection of our own being? I don’t know, and frankly I don’t care. Who cares if Bob believes in a guy with a white beard? Who cares if Marcy prays 10 hours a day? Does it matter if someone deprives themselves of a food because of religious law? Not really, and in the case of the food – more for me! What does matter is what I do with my life, how I affect others, and how I am affected. I simply live my life the best I can. If that would put me in Hell when I die then so be it. I need to live for now, not a theoretical afterlife.

That is the one thing that I don’t like about many of the very religious. They spend their lives living in fear, living for a possible afterlife. It’s a waste of life imho. They tend to ignore the now, life here for something else. What is the point of this life then? It needs to be lived, and loved. If you want to believe, do so without bothering me with it. If you want to believe, do so but don’t expect me to join you.

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