Enter the dragnonly.

Some readers left complimentary comments after the previous post, words that vindicated me somewhat when I know that my opinions are contrary to many. However, LadyLibellule was not one of them, and she posed some very interesting questions which I felt compelled to address.

If one person hurts another, does it really matter?

If, in the end, we�re all worm food, and the people we hurt or help are all worm food, and everybody that our actions have an effect on are ultimately worm food... then what is the point? It seems pretty pointless to me. If we�re only here for a finite amount of time, only to have the essence of who we were destroyed upon death (and even the memories of us would eventually be gone, as those who knew us died), then what is the point? If we�re not here to learn and grow, then why bother? If you�re having a crappy life, why not end it? In a couple hundred years, it won�t matter. Nobody will remember.

1. If one person hurts another, does it really matter?

It sure as hell matters to the person being hurt.

2. If, in the end, we�re all worm food, and the people we hurt or help are all worm food, and everybody that our actions have an effect on are ultimately worm food... then what is the point?

The point is very aptly put in a popular song that I have never actually heard, but have heard of, where the chorus goes: �We�re here for a good time, not a long time.� Just because we are ultimately worm food, and we would be anyway, regardless of whether or not our consciousness survives, doesn�t mean that the lives we lead from the cradle to the grave should not be as full and as satisfying as we can possibly make them.

3. If we�re only here for a finite amount of time, only to have the essence of who we were destroyed upon death (and even the memories of us would eventually be gone, as those who knew us died), then what is the point?

The essence of who we were isn�t completely destroyed upon our death, not if we have passed our genes and our philosophy on to the next generation. Some people, great artists, musicians, writers, scientists, et al. will leave tangible evidence of their passing. How else could we as a species have advanced so much if we had not developed some way of recording the thoughts and accomplishments of those who have gone before? Our success will not be measured in individuals so much as in what we, humanity, have accomplished as a whole. Just as the individual cells in your body work with each other to keep you alive, so do people work with other people to further the forward motion of our race. In the same way, billions of people have lived and died and I have no idea who they were: rice farmers in China, goat herders in the Sudan, rug weavers in Persia. What makes me so special that I should stand out from any one of them? It is only human arrogance that makes us think that we really �matter� individually in the long run.

4. If we�re not here to learn and grow, then why bother?

In the great scheme of things, human beings are just animals, domesticated animals with very large brains. We have developed elaborate social structures to accommodate our various ways of life, systems that allow for the raising of young, the provision of food and shelter for the community, and hierarchies very similar to many of our primate cousins�. The main difference is that we don�t stop there. We are constantly striving to obtain more knowledge, to expand our borders and stretch our horizons. For that reason alone, the legacy we leave of recorded knowledge shows that we are here to learn and grow.

5. If you�re having a crappy life, why not end it?

This, of course, is the clincher. Why not just end it all right here, nobody will care, in the end it really won�t make a difference, etc. Sure, in geological time it won�t matter, none of this will, but in the short run, it matters a great deal. Human beings have built into them, as all creatures do, an incredible survival mechanism. If we didn�t, I think there would be a lot more suicides than there are. But ultimately, life is for living. Since, in my humble opinion, this is all we get, it makes sense that you make the most out of it, that you enjoy this precious gift to the utmost since you don�t get another opportunity. If you made mistakes in this life, you don�t get a chance to correct them in the next, so you had better think about that before you jump off the window ledge or throw yourself in front of a speeding freight train. This question too relates directly back to the first question that LadyLibellue asked, the one about hurting others. Think about people you have known who have died, people you loved, or cared for in some way, people whom you didn�t even know but whom you admired, others who were strangers to you but died because of malicious acts of terrorism or accidentally in impersonal natural disasters. Each death diminishes us in some way, from the ones that shouldn�t have happened to the ones that were due. Why would I, if I were having a bad day, even consider inflicting that kind of pain on the people who love me?

With this response, and with yesterday�s entry, I am not belittling or mocking other people�s beliefs, I am simply making my own known. I guess what I�m really trying to say is that I don�t need to believe in a god or an afterlife to make my brief existence here a good one. In fact, because I don�t believe in �second chances�, I am more likely to make the most of this one shot I get at happiness and fulfillment. If, on the way, I am able to somehow improve the lives of people around me in any small way, then I have accomplished more than I had hoped or dreamed.

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I got the following email from zuzus-petals and thought I’d post it here as Diaryland is being weird:

I tried to add this comment to your post, but diaryland told me it was spam and wouldn’t let me publish the comment.. so here it is!

I enjoyed this post, and the one before it even though I don’t wholly agree with everything. I do believe that there is an existance in some form after this place - because I can’t conceive of a complete end. Not a heaven or hell, per se, but a place where some part of our consciousness lives, maybe joins a collective - like electricity. It’s just a thought, no proof, just something. And in that place there is no daddy-figure or mommy figure and no pearly gate and no one to reward you for believing a certain way or punish you for believing another. I’ve secretly hoped that that place would be a place where all those silly assumptions would be revealed in groteseque clarity and we’d all have a good laugh about your crazy commitment to Judaism or your nearly obsessive compulsive Buddhist practice, etc. “Were YOU just a whack job,” one beam of light would chuckle to the other knowingly as ALL of our weirdnesses are revealed. At least it’s pretty to think so. But/and back to the whole bit about if you’re just worm food what’s the point of being a nice person debate. I think THAT question is the primary reason why many free-thinking and free-feeling people abandon organized religion. The very FACT that someone has to ask that question reveals that they are a sick and troubled individual - perhaps most in need of herd-like doctrines (and we should be thankful for these religions because they keep psychos like that in line). Religious halls are mostly filled with people whose ONLY reasons for being “good”, “nice” or “kind” to other people is to avoid consequences (hell and damnation) and to seek approval (father/daddy/God/Jesus tells me so and will love me if I live this way - I’ll be more like Buddha). The reason we as eventual worm food don’t hurt other eventual worm food is because we’re empathetic, compassionate, generally kind people - we don’t have to be told not to hurt other people from a doctrine that gives us reward and consequence for behavior - some percentage of the populace does the right thing because it’s the right thing, not because someone has to tell us what the right thing is and tell us we’ll be punished if we don’t do it. The rest of them need religion I guess - because at their core they have no moral compass of their own - which is really sad. I know, I know.. people will say that they are “comforted” in other ways by their faith. I say, “good for you!” I am comforted by the rich and deep relationships I cultivate within my communities with real people - I’m glad that you’ve embued your imaginary playmate with the power to forgive you and the power to help you feel less alone. .. heh.. anyways... I loved these posts! - Zu

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