Wednesday, March 25, 2009

start with atheism and freedom.

i start with atheism. i just can't believe in some outer deity beyond space and time. the god of genesis, or any other god. i've read too much mythology from around the world to believe that one group has got it right, and the others are misguided.

there is no god 'out there.' the only god is within each of us. it's a concept, an idea. mental states are real -- qualia are real -- spirituality is real -- in some sense every idea is real. so god is real in that sense. it's an idea we can use to guide us.

as a catholic i will use my background for this. people from other faiths can do the same thing. atheist jew, atheist muslim, atheist hindu, atheist buddhist, atheist mormon, atheist whatever. we are all free to use the ideas in our culture to help us live our lives better.

i start with that freedom. i do not ask anyone to believe me. each of us is free to choose. we are born free -- just like the song says!

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