A Declaration of Interdependence

It appears humans are born with an instinctive fear of death.  Were it not so, the species would never have evolved to this state.  From this primitive fear, the newborn infant cries for attention, and help, in it’s drive for survival.  It even withdraws from its source of food, its mother’s breast, when it feels possible suffocation.  As the brain develops in early childhood, the instinctive fears persist and more learned fears are acquired.  There is fear of abandonment, fear of strangers, fear of sudden noises, fear of pain, and a general fear of the unfamiliar.  It generally takes a child several years before they can comprehend their beginning and end (birth and death).  The instinct for individual survival is so strong that recognition of the significance of death tends to amplify the fear of this inevitable event.  As the fear of death grows, the brain searches for all conceivable means to delay the event or to extend the individual’s existence beyond the event.  I believe that most humans’ fear of death is the basis for their irrational beliefs.  Our vulnerability as individuals frequently leads to hope for, and belief in divine intervention.  Our recognition of our inability to ‘know’ the true nature of our universe often leads to the self-deception of ‘beliefs’.

Fear, of course, is the greatest roadblock along the thorny path of those seeking reliable and credible information about the true nature of our being.  We fear being ostracized and stigmatized by our fellow beings.  We fear censure and criticism.  We fear the loss of the promised life-after death in a heavenly place.  There is fear of a loss of public esteem and too frequently fear for our personal safety.  Security, stimulation, and self-identity are needed for psychological health. It is less fearful (more secure) to accept the dogma of an existing religion than taking the trail to the unknown and untried; especially, if we have been taught that questioning ‘The Word’ is sinful and damning.  Even our loyalty to our nation is questioned when we will not label ourselves as a member or a believer in one of the sects of our Judeo-Christian national culture.  Very few politicians in this country attempt to be elected to public office without first donning the cloak of some religion.  Even our aspiring military leaders are compelled to attend church services as part of their training.

We are induced by many forces in our, ‘not so civilized’, civilization to declare our membership in an established faith.  Our evolutionary instincts for survival can cause us to act against our better judgment in our needs for belonging.  We feel insecure when we do not belong, long for the stimulation of being involved with the flow, and find it hard to have a sense of identity without the approval of like-minded believers, however, these external forces and instinctive drivers are insufficient reasons for us to ever accept, or even profess to accept, established beliefs when these beliefs do not have the ring of truth within our knowledge system.

If there is sin, perhaps the greatest sin is to not use the full capability of minds to think, question, and avoid self-deception.  Life is, indeed, miraculous in both its origin and in the evolution of its many forms.  Because we cannot totally understand its origins, and it’s meaning, is not sufficient reason for us to attribute the existence of life, even human life, to the miraculous working of a god or goddess.  The belief that there can be miraculous events, due to the intervention of some god-force, dishonors our status as beings with the capability to reason, and to reject the unreasonable.

Science (scientists) has always paved the way for humans to examine, explore, question, and attempt to verify the complexities of our universe.  Scientific knowledge is increasing at an exponential rate with time.  We are exploring the nature of the microscopic building blocks of all matter and making measurements of existence at the far reaches of our fifteen-billion-years-old universe.  This is an age of reason unlike any previously known to mankind.  For those of you who question the established religious beliefs, have hope and have courage.  As knowledge increases, many of us will abandon those primitive beliefs.  There is both hope and evidence that life for many persons in the future will be centered on finding nobility of purpose in this life and establishing a rational foundation for future lives to come; rather than centered on seeking to earn an eternal life, which is both improbable and upon close examination pretty undesirable.