Politics, Religion, and Soapboxes!

As some weird form of sadomasochistic exercise, I sometimes like to debate the various political and financial systems of the world with friends and family. I’m not sure why I do this, beyond the simple need for keeping mentally fit with cognitive gymnastics routines, but I’ve done it for years. For better or worse, I seem to cling to the preposterous notion that there is a better way to do things. There’s always a better way.

Late Saturday night, Brittany and I were lounging around the living room of our home and occupying ourselves with our own little leisure activities. She was reading, and I – because I am a man-child – was busy mashing the buttons of my Xbox controller, furiously pretending to be a polygonal super-powered mutant with adamantium claws and a notoriously intemperate disposition. Eventually, I got tired of forcing the tiny, digital version of Hugh Jackman to do my bidding, so I cut the system off. I went and grabbed a book, and did a little reading of my own. Of course, at some point, I suppose I got tired of that, too – because I eventually started moving my mouth and making words come out. Never a good sign.

Brittany, always the embodiment of Patience, put up with this sudden and uninvited intrusion upon her Me Time with the soft grace and gentle acquiescence of a singular, gentle sigh, as she put her book down and settled in for one of my infamous soapbox rants. This is an experience not altogether unfamiliar to her, as I tend to do this sort of thing with the absurd and unprovoked frequency of a sleepy cat suddenly waking up in a panic to realize that it simply must run (at top speed) to some other room right now. To my credit, the rant itself was uncharacteristically short, as I meant it more as a conversation starter than as something motivated by the usual fascination I have for listening to sound of my own voice.

I started out talking about the successes and failures of our American democracy, and moved on to discussing the same pros and cons of various -isms, such as: Communism, Socialism, Monarchism, and Kristian-Rules-The-Worldism. Brittany is an interesting sort of person to have these kinds of talks with, because she is overwhelmingly optimistic while also managing to be oppressively cynical, all at the same time. Personally, I’m an unfortunate idealist in the body of a hardline pragmatist – which translates into having the sad experience of believing in the best, while hating myself for being so naive. (Now that I think about it, this may go a long way towards explaining my strange affinity for duality, with duality being just a nicer word for describing my bizarre acceptance and embracement of certain acceptable levels of hypocrisy.)

Anyway, we talked back and forth about the merits of a democracy, and about how our representative democracy here in America is at direct odds with our hideous financial system, and so on. Eventually, however, the conversation took a somewhat expected detour into religion, which often happens whenever Brittany and I get involved in one of these talks. Brittany always takes the side of the personal religious experience while eschewing the oppressive nature of organized religion. I, of course, continue my lifelong quest to Change The World by repeating the same, exhausted phrases about personal empowerment through knowledge and education, and in thinking and believing in oneself, above all else.

How dare you anticipate my strategy?!

Once it was firmly established that I don’t really have a problem with religion itself – organized or otherwise – Brittany observed that what I seem to really disagree with is Faith…and she was right. I despise Faith. I have this natural aversion to simply believing in anything without first doing my own research and coming to my own conclusions. I can’t stand the idea of just accepting what anyone tells me, and I resent and loathe authority figures for precisely this reason. Of course, any long time readers of this blog know this all too well, so I’ll let it stand at that, and move on to spare you the repetition.

Sometimes I feel bad about always playing Devil’s Advocate, although applying the term to me is a little redundant, but I’m not really anti-religion at all. I do have a belief system, but I prefer keeping it to myself. Still, it’s hard to not jump into an interesting debate, especially when I almost always have the opposing view. Brittany makes it difficult, though, because at some point she will start making sense. I hate it when people do this!

As our conversation was winding down, Brittany began to summarize her thoughts by expressing the commonly held belief that, “I just don’t think you have anything to lose with religion. If I’m wrong, then I don’t stand to lose anything when I die – but if I’m right, I get into Heaven.” It’s hard to argue with this sentiment, at least when it’s coming from her. She believes in all of the good and positive things that come from Christianity, while actively distancing herself from the negatives. She’s not racist, she’s not judgmental or homophobic, and she doesn’t think religion has any business in government. She’s all for the personal relationship with God, and since following all of the “good stuff” while leaving the “bad stuff” behind makes her a pretty damn good person, there’s really not a lot left open for debate.

For example, Brittany is firmly against one of the basic tenants of Christianity that is drilled into the hearts and minds of True Believers from the time they’re old enough to toddler-waddle into Sunday School: the ugly idea that this world is only temporary. This is not the really real world, they believe; this is the sinful, ugly Earth that we’re born into with Original Sin, and from which we must transcend into Eternity, which lasts forever. This is all well and good, until you realize that, for people who truly believe this, then this world isn’t worth making any better, because we’re all just passing through on our way to somewhere else. Someplace better.

Since the real world – the eternal world – is beyond this realm, why should they sacrifice anything to make this temporary housing any better? For all they care, we can cut down the rainforests, poison the air and the seas, pollute our own bodies with chemical additives and poisonous pharmaceuticals, and none of it really matters. Like every generation before them, they believe that the End of Days is upon us, so why not use up the Earth? It’ll be gone soon, so it doesn’t matter! Nothing matters, because they believe that there is something better on the horizon – that, if we can just struggle through this life of gluttonous subsistence (oxymorons are fun!), we’ll be rewarded by the promised land of Heaven.

Come on, Adam…Think Different!

And, while these people are willing to take all of this on Faith, they’re not willing to do the same for the here and for the now. What I realized while talking with my fiancee, is that if only people of Faith would apply the same sort of “Well, I’ve got nothing to lose if I’m wrong” mentality to this Earthly realm in which all of us live, love, and die, then maybe things could get better. If you want to believe that you will eventually get into Heaven, and that being a good and loyal, church-going Christian will open the pearly gates for you in the end, then go for it! You’ve got nothing to lose if you’re wrong, and everything to gain if you’re right.

But what if…? What if you could apply that same way of thinking to where you are right now. What if, at the same time you’re hedging your bets with the afterlife, you’re also hedging them with the here-and-now life. Since you’re playing both sides anyway, why not go ahead and actually play both sides? If you want to believe in an afterlife, why not also plan for the possibility that there might not be one?

I bring up this queer little exercise in voluntary cognitive dissonance simply because this might very well be all there is to our existence, and I wish more people would start acting like it. There may be no glorious afterlife filled with angelic choruses and puffy clouds and harps. There may be no tearful reunions with loved ones long passed, and there may be no gold at the end of the religious rainbow. Of course, there very well might be – so go ahead and live your life as if there were. Just, to humor me, also live it as if there weren’t.

What if there was no great reward at the end of a tedious and miserable life of endless struggle and abject misery? What if there was no cruel and evil Satan to punish you for breaking God’s laws, even as he himself breaks them? What if there is no redemption for a life of sickening transgressions and repulsive infidelity, nor any consequence or punishment for the very same offenses? What if this is all there is?

If this is it – if there is nothing better on the other side of the bridge, and all the grass we’ll ever have will only be as green as we ourselves make it, then shouldn’t we start working on this world, and this reality? Don’t we have an obligation to leave the world a better place than we found it, so that our children and our grandchildren can benefit from our successes rather than inherit our failures?

When I look at Trey, and I see in his young and trusting eyes the unreserved and complete belief that I would never harm him, I can’t help but understand that to not make things better is to harm him. I should hope that every parent would feel this way, regardless of our varied religious beliefs. One day, I might reveal what it is that I believe, but right now I enjoy the ambiguity of not telling you. Still, whether I’m a Christian or a Jew, a Creationist or an Atheist, a hammer or a nail – I believe that people across every nation, race, and creed want to leave their children something better than they had. I have to believe that, and because I have to believe that, I have to make this a better world for my son, and for his children, and his children’s children…

All it takes is the same, simple logic that so many of you use to rationalize and explain your own personal religious Faith. If the atheists are wrong, and there is a grand reward or hideous punishment when this life is over, then you’ve got either great or terrible things to look forward to! Either way, they’re the dummies. If they’re right, though, – and there is nothing else after this life – then you’ve got nothing to lose by holding onto your beliefs, while also trying to make this sad and lonely blue planet the best little speck of cosmic dust in the whole damned universe.

While we all want there to be something more after our lives are over, this might very well be as good as it gets. This world might be the pre-show and the post-show all wrapped up in the simple, sprawling, and all-to-brief individual lifespans of each and every one of us. We are, all of us, alone together on this big ball of mud and rock and water – and it can be better. It should be better. We can all work together on this, I promise. Christians and Muslims and Taoists and Jews and Shintoists and Hindus and Atheists and the Professor and Mary Ann – together, we can make things better. All it takes is a little – gulp – Faith!

I gotta have Faith!

Want some books? 'Course ya do!

NOTE:  I know times are hard and yeah, I need to make a living too, but if you want to read any of my books but can't afford to buy them right now, hit me up.

I'll take care of it.

Humor | Nonfiction
Available now from the following retailers

Have you ever lived through an experience that was so humiliating that you wanted to die, but when you tell it to all your friends, they can't stop laughing?

Have you ever made a decision that seemed like a good idea at the time, but you're still living with the hilarious consequences years later?

If so, then grab a snack, get comfortable, and prepare to have all of your own poor life choices seem just a little bit more bearable.

You're welcome.

Short Stories
Available now from the following retailers

The nine stories of rage and sadness collected here range from the most intimate of human experiences to the wildest realms of magic and fantasy. The first story is a violent gut-punch to the soul, and the rest of them just hit harder from there.

Those who tough it out will find a book filled with as much hope as despair, a constant contradiction pulling you from one extreme to another.

Life might knock us down, over and over, and will the beat the ever-loving snot out of us from the time we're old enough to give it attitude until the day we finally let it win and stop getting up.

Always get back up.

Gaming | Nonfiction
Available now from the following retailers

This isn't just a book. It's a portal to other worlds where there be magic and dragons and hilarious pirates. Okay, not really. But this book is about those portals, except they're called video games.

The Life Bytes series of books take a deep dive into one man's personal journey through childhood into kinda/sorta being a responsible, competent adult as told through the magical lens of whatever video games he was playing at the time.

Part One starts way back in 1975 and meanders down various digital pathways until, oh, around about 1993 or so.

If you're feeling nostalgic for the early days of gaming or if you just want to understand why the gamer in your life loves this hobby so much, take a seat in your favorite comfy chair and crack this bad boy open.

I'll try to not be boring.

Horror
Available now from the following retailers

What you are about to read is not a story. There is no beginning, middle, or end.

What follows is nothing more than a series of journal entries involving shadow people, sleep paralysis, and crippling fear. It’s not pretty, it doesn’t follow story logic, and nothing works out well in the end.

You've been warned.