The Deal

When I begin to talk about fun and death a subject that arises very soon is religion. In my biased opinion our religions are all about regulating fun and avoiding death. Look at the fun side. Go down that list of ten commandments. Do any of them strike you as being fun? Honest now, no one is looking, ever lust after another’s spouse? Ever want to just eat till you pop? How about killing? If you think that killing is never fun take a look at a small boy pulling wings off a butterfly (or any member of the NRA out on the hunt). The prohibitions are all about denying powerful urges. The deal is: if I will just regulate my behavior (thus diminishing my fun) I can avoid death. Good deal? The only catch is that I can’t do it. It is like trying to beat the house at a gambling casino, its a rigged deal—the house always wins. It is a commonplace to hear of the most sanctimonious preachers falling from grace by visiting prostitutes in secret. And how many practice what amounts to stealing? (No, that is just Capitalism, isn’t it?) So religion has a get out of jail free card. I just have to confess my sins and I can still get the prize. But, of course, I won’t know for sure until I—you guessed it—DIE! (And I have this bridge that I’d like to sell you.)

What this looks like to me is a big control scheme. I’m sure that will be no surprise to you. I got that lesson very early on from my Grandfather Call. He was an agnostic and I thought he was the most intelligent man alive when I was a small child. So, I reject the DEAL. Does that mean I’m an atheist and a humanist? Not on your life. I have seen and experienced enough instances in my lifetime of events that can’t be explained by my logic or by the sense data coming in to me, to think that this world as I experience it is all there is. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to wake up some morning and find that I had died—and that I would come to realize it. All the “near death” experiences point in that direction and all the world’s religions speak of continuing life. I have no idea of what that might look like and I don’t believe that any religion or philosophical system has a clear picture of this plane of existence. I’m not ready to buy any of them, but I do reject the DEAL.

It is true that overindulgence in any of those behaviors banned by the ten commandments will cause me grief, but so will overindulgence in any number of non-banned behaviors (try drinking ten gallons of water). I believe in “sin in moderation.” I believe in carefully considering the end result of any action to see if it is ultimately in my best interest. In short, I practice situational ethics. Perhaps this blog will give me the opportunity to deal in greater detail with all those ten commandments. Sounds like fun to me!