The Apple
by John B. Hodges
Would you bite the apple that gave knowledge of good and evil? Read on.
We find ourselves alive and conscious. What shall we do with our
lives? Beware "fishers of men". If we demand that someone
else supply
us with a purpose, someone else may DO just that. Purpose is ours to
choose.
There is a natural "default" purpose, which we may choose
if we like.
We all have parents, as did they, back to the beginning of life.
Every one of our ancestors had kids. Health is the ability to
survive; the goal favored by natural selection is "promote the
health
of your family." We are all members of Darwin's family, all kin
from
the beginning of life.
The Good is that which leads to health, The Right is that which leads
to peace. If you want to maintain peaceful and cooperative relations
with your neighbors, don't kill, steal, lie, or break agreements. As
Shakespeare wrote, "It needs no ghost, Milord, come from the grave,
to tell us this." If you value anything, value other humans, for
they
are the only help you will have in times of trouble.
Fairy-tales about the supernatural are not necessary to give meaning
or purpose to life. Meaning is the story we choose to join. Instead
of seeking a ticket to Heaven by being an obedient slave on Earth, we
can gain meaning by taking a positive role in history, seeking to
make this Earth a better place.
The Godless Universe is vast and wondrous, and more than enough. We
have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
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