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Helping Others:Establishing a Caring Committee for Your Local Group While the rejection of supernaturalism is important to humanistic philosophy, the cornerstone of humanism is its concern for the well-being of society. READ MORE >> |
Why I am a FreethinkerDana Mulligan I grew up in a family with a dirty little secret. This was a secret I didn’t care to share with a soul and knew to keep it quiet at a very young age. READ MORE >> |
Why I am a Freethinker
Dana Mulligan
Runner-up in the HNPS essay contest
I grew up in a family with a dirty little secret. This was a secret I didn’t care to share with a soul and knew to keep it quiet at a very young age. I held onto this surreptitious knowledge with quiet pride, but also with deep fear of its public knowledge. It seemed that as soon as other people found out about my families clandestine information they would cower away in fear or perhaps even disgust. I could never tell which it was; I just knew that I became painfully aware of the change in behavior from others as soon as our secret had been revealed.
As I looked around and compared my family to others, I found myself confused by our saintly behavior compared to others and their devilish ways. I always felt loved and safe in my own family. I can hardly remember an argument in our family which was very different from other families. Yet, I knew it was those other families that would surely judge us if they knew who we really were. My father worked, and my Mom stayed home and raised the ideal all-American family, something I knew was a rarity in most families these days. I definitely appreciated this aspect of my family and knew how lucky I was. Mom was most admirable, teaching us about proper nutrition, the value of home baked cooking and the respect for the earth in which we should grow our food. We never had much money, but we were taught not to envy others for their wealth or judge others for their misfortunes. We were taught to take care of ourselves and our well being, which was a vast contrast to what I witnessed in many other neighborhood families I knew, who would have been quick to judge us.
My fondest memories are the weekly get together with my siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins for game nights. Other special moments were spent grooming our heritage, planning holidays, the colossal meals we would share, and chatting with our elders about the good old days. We were taught to love one another, be kind to thy neighbor, be a giving citizen, look out for one another, and above all be honest. By all accounts we were the envy of other families and friends because our families were so intact and loving. In my mind, we really were the perfect family. So, what was our dirty little secret? We never attended church and didn’t have blind faith in a supernatural existence.
I began to feel my first guilt about our non beliefs when I felt forced to lie to people about it. Friends would often ask if we were Christians, when they found out that we didn’t attend church. I would always think to myself, “oh great, now I have to lie to you about my beliefs and feel guilty just so you won’t judge me.” As I grew up hearing Jesus would save me for my sins, I would always find myself thinking, why I would want to sin in the first place. Doesn’t that just give me an excuse to be naughty if I know I will always be forgiven? Something just doesn’t sit well with me about that. As I got older I would see those that had committed grave acts of unforgivable sins, in my mind, and then boast that they had found God and were forgiven. It all seemed to boil down to people and their fear of what will happen to us in our “afterlife”. What about always living an honorable lifestyle here and now? Continually I go back to being able to live with myself and my own behavior here on earth. I am certain I am my worst critic, so I choose to be the type of person in which I can look in the mirror every day and say, I don’t need to be forgiven for anything. This makes me happy, and I am sure, if there is a God, Elohim, Yahweh, Jehovah or whichever supernatural being people might refer to, he or she would approve.
I have found comfort in being my own person, but it still is difficult how that all fits in with a society that can be so judgmental. When it comes to birth, marriage, death, gay rights, polygamist lifestyles, and religious freedom to name a few, this is where the debates over God and society can get heated. In some cases religious views represent laws of the land that we must all abide. However, who are we to judge how people live? Don’t we live in a country that has freedom “of” or “from” religion? This is a question that cannot be answered in one simple statement, but it is a fact that makes me continue to question why religion places so many rules on others behavior in society. This is especially disheartening for those that may only have good hearted intentions.
I continue to believe that religious dogma does nothing more than leave people feeling guilty for their own natural behavior. If the word of the Lord as the Christianity religion so profoundly professes would take a look at some of their biblical statements, I would ask them to first look at “Judge Not, Lest Thee Be Judged” as stated in the gospel according to Matthew, which I believe most Christian religions are indoctrinated.
This brings me back to the first lie I ever remember telling in order to not be judged. It seems like an unnecessary crazy circle of guilt that religious tradition and beliefs place on people to be perfect. We are all perfectly human; but what does it mean to be perfect, or normal? By whom are we being judged anyhow, God or man? I think the latter. We will all make mistakes, but should find through our own heart the ability to be as honorable as possible. I cannot live by rules that confuse my own integrity to be good. I do not live with blind faith that I will be forgiven for unforgiveable acts. I live by a code of human conduct that is proven by my own free will to be a good person. I believe I have grown to have the ability to embrace the diversity and goodness of all people. It is with love and understanding I appreciate people from all walks of life. Isn’t that how life is supposed to be? I believe this is true. That said, I don’t judge people that feel a need to go to church or have a religion to rely upon. It would be foolish of me to assume I am a better person than the next.
To have walked in the shoes of a man judged unfairly gives a person a gained respect for all others around him. Through this, and the evolution of my life, I have become and remained a free thinker.
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