The World I Want To Live In…

Cross posted @ the Atheist Oasis

Violence is the last resort of the failed argument, and the first resort of the coward. - Zen Proverb.

Let’s take a step back for a second, from the complaining and outrage, to get a better overview.

Recently, a Muslim poster from a couple of posts ago, accused me and/or this site (Oasis), of advocating murdering Muslims. This is untrue. The only times I advocate something like that, is when faced with the crazy assholes (of any religion) who go about blathering about how their version of their religion is hollering for genocide, slavery, ideocide, and how blood and fire is the only way to ‘cleanse’ an unclean world. These people (if they can be called that: there is a point where any human can abdicate from humanity) are a blight. A crazy-ass bloodlusting hairy-eyed fanatic is for the most part a rabid dog. I consider a member of ISIS or Boko Haram to be equal to that mad asshole Manson. Or McVeigh. Anyone who is willing to resort to violence to enforce their vision of the world on others, is bugfuck crazy. I don’t care if you hale from the Middle East or Minnesota, Arabia or Indiana. It’s not geographic, it’s not demographic. If I were handed a gun, and told to shoot Manson in the head, I’d do it. Probably without hesitation. ‘Cause that guy, he’s abdicated. He only looks human. This is neither a failed argument nor cowardice: some things just need to be done, regardless of how distasteful they are.

Certainly this falls under the purview of Hume’s Is/Ought guillotine – that is, my idea of a ‘perfect’ world is based on how mucked up this one is. It’s easy to preach reform, it’s harder to instate it.

Here then, is my idealized version of the world.

The world I want to live in….

Is free of mentally deranged individuals hiding under the umbrella of religion. (Yeah, likely impossible)

Is not based on payscale. Everyone gets free housing, food, medical care. Anything else, you gotta work for it.

Does not discriminate based on religion, or the lack of it.

Only gives free passes to the mentally and physically challenged (and even those should be limited: having Down’s Syndrome, for instance, is not a free pass to massacre people, any more than is someone’s religion).

Where everyone is equal, where everything is equitable. Where women and gays have equal rights, where someone’s belief doesn’t fuck up my (or anyone else’s) life that doesn’t believe likewise.

It’s too much to ask, I realize that. Our species, we’re pretty amazing critters when we’re not being idiots.

I hope that we’re drawing to the end of the Age Of Tribalism. That someday, people can live in peace not fear, where poverty is gone, and we as a species use reason as a tool, where being intellectual is acceptable and not a disease.

The old explanations are just that: old. We were born in sin, fucked up from the start, that’s a terrible justification. Who would do that to a child, let alone a nascent species, except some terrible psychopath with too much time on his (imaginary) hands.

I say there is no sin, only responsibility. We are responsible to and for one another. Because there is no Allah, Yahweh, Brahma, Jesus, or any other daft deity looking out for us. We are on our own. It is the weak mind that looks for external excuses or validation: there is no fate or destiny outside of what we forge for ourselves. We are like swords, our wills hammering out our purpose on the anvil of reality.

Remember this: we are alone, but not to each other. Be responsible. Be exceptional. Be good, be safe, but not at another’s expense if it can be helped.

But take no shit from anyone – because there’s limits to everything, even the universe. Prompt no harm, cause no harm, but don’t allow harm to come to you.

Till the next post then.