Resource
A Curious Foundation
Perhaps it was my curious start in life or the direction academics took me down the line, but my view on human purpose seems to diverge from the average perspective. I was born into a mixed-religion family, each member being a different religion, and they were fairly devout. Instead of being taught about one religion, I was taught the stories of many. It was also a zero-pressure situation in which the stories were made known to me, and I was expected to take my own path. I stuck with religion until I was about 15 years old, then dropped it and never thought about it again. Being brutally honest, while I was in the middle of leading a service, I realized I didn’t believe what I was saying and was only doing it for the positive attention I was getting. So I stopped and walked away.
I bring this up because I hear a phrase, suggestive of a certain line of thinking, quite often and I wanted to present an alternative outlook. The phrase orbits around the idea that without religion and God, we would have no purpose and no foundation for morality. What of me in a context like that? What about the person who was raised under the umbrella of several religions which do, at points, contradict each other? This situation was brought about by two religious parents trying to do right by their religions while also being respectful of each other and their child. Goodness led here, yet it presents us with an irreconcilable problem.
Considering I walked away from religion at 15, adulthood to me was a long process of discovery and learning in regard to purpose and ethics. To put it simply, you can see my experiences in my eyes. I saw more than I ever wanted to. Saw the best in people and the worst in people. The best from the worst and the worst from the best. I lived in multiple cities, across multiple states. From the bible belt to the pride capital. From the mountains to the beaches. Alongside that, my education took me down the path of astrophysics and homeland security, both of which empowered me with valuable perspectives.
A Fresh Start
What makes life truly unique? There are obviously many answers to that, but let’s really boil it down. Consider a rock on the beach. That rock will stay exactly where it is until you decide to move it. Maybe the tide will come in and sweep it off the sand. Regardless, the rock is stuck there unless something else interferes. Speaking of tides, what of the moon? The moon cannot decide that it wants to orbit Mars instead of Earth then do so.
Do this enough and it becomes clear, fairly quickly, that life has the inherent ability to change what would otherwise happen. You can skip that rock across the water. Humanity, together, can move the Moon to Mars; which, in turn, would alter the tides on Earth. We can mold reality to our liking in many ways. Nothing else can do that. To emphasize that point, in the observable universe, which spans 13.7 billion light years in every direction, we are the only things know to exist which can do that. Making the entirety of the universe our canvas, of sorts.
Turpis cursus in hac habitasse platea. Lacus vel facilisis volutpat est velit. Sit amet risus nullam eget felis eget nunc. Dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant. Id interdum velit laoreet id donec ultrices tincidunt arcu non. Pretium vulputate sapien nec sagittis. Molestie ac feugiat sed lectus vestibulum mattis.
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning failure. – OLIVER SANDERO
Et pharetra pharetra massa massa ultricies mi quis hendrerit dolor. Bibendum arcu vitae elementum curabitur. Sociis natoque penatibus et magnis. Facilisi etiam dignissim diam quis enim lobortis scelerisque. Hac habitasse platea dictumst vestibulum rhoncus est. Sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes nascetur ridiculus. In aliquam sem fringilla ut morbi tincidunt. Aenean pharetra magna ac placerat. Et pharetra pharetra massa massa ultricies mi quis.
