Posted by:
schrodingerscat
(
)
Date: November 09, 2021 08:26AM
I was once a nihilist, in the aftermath of 9-11, and in my disillusionment with religion, but it was too depressing living my life devoid of meaning and purpose.
I couldn’t remain long in that smoldering black hole once filled by faith in a loving God.
So I searched wide and far for a sturdy lifeline that could use to pull myself out of that downward spiral. I read biographies of wise men who accomplished great things in their lives, without god. I read about the deist thinkers responsible for the America’s experiment in democracy, Paine, Jefferson and Franklin. They chose to protect religion mainly because they saw it as a force for good in society. They all had experiences with being robbed by amoral men who were unrestricted by any sort of ‘morality’ or religious obligation to honor their word. But I really didn’t see the practical need to invoke a non-interventionist creator, since evolution gave us a superior explanation of our origins.
I heard an interview with the author of, “The History of Doubt” on a radio show called ‘On Being’
https://onbeing.org/programs/jennifer-michael-hecht-a-history-of-doubt/She spoke admiringly of Stoicism and Epicureanism of the Hellenistic Greeks. I bought her book and read about all the great philosophers who had developed wholistic world views that did not rely upon a personal God. What really appealed to me most was a combination of Stoicism and Epicureanism. Both of those schools of philosophy were the main competitors of Christianity at the time it was adopted as the state religion of the Roman Empire. They were all shut down after that, because they were seen as the greatest threat to the emperors newly consolidated power. He saw how the Pope was able to get Christians to pay tithes far more eagerly than they paid their taxes, so he co-opted Christianity in order to get his subjects to pay their taxes and it’s been working great towards that end ever since.
Like Napoleon said, ‘Religion is what keeps the poor from killing the rich.’
What appealed to me about Epicurus was the fact that he was so far ahead of his time in developing non-deterministic atomic theory, 300 yrs before Christ, along with the Law of Reciprocity (Later called the Golden Rule) and his Four Part Cure for what ails us.
1. Do not fear the Gods, for they are not real.
2. Do not fear death or pain
3. What is good in life is easily obtained
4. What is horrible is easily avoided.
Then I read the ‘New Atheist’ responses to 9-11, by the ‘Four Riders of the Apocalypse’ Harris, Dawkins, Dennet and Hitchins.
I was particularly impressed by Dawkins first chapter in his book, ‘The God Delusion’, ‘A Deeply Religious, Non-believer’ where he expresses his faith in the religion of Einstein. He never names it, but I read Walter Isaacson’s biography of Einstein, where he details Einstein’s pantheist beliefs.
The idea of a non-personal god, nature, that does not intervene in human affairs, appealed to me most and gave my life meaning and purpose.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/2021 06:30PM by schrodingerscat.