I think I began doubting what was labeled truth way back in my childhood however being the anxious type I guess I could not find the balls to confront whoever was standing there preaching at me. I was raised in a faith (Unitarian/Universalist)that professed to be clear on what the truth really is however even here I had to walk back out into what was really going in the world. At this point-in my life it was folks being herded into camps and burned on one half of the globe and on the other sinister looking warriors chopping of heads quite indiscriminately it seemed. It was confusing and more so the older I got. I could find experts everywhere rambling on about the truth as they saw it in spite of evidence of the contrary. I decided to keep my mouth shut the result being that I never got any feedback about the depth and lack there of of what I think I believed.
I clearly remember thinking I should become a Christian as they seemed to know what they were talking about. They also seemed to know what they were talking about AND they had an expert witness called Jesus (or his Reps) who could clarify any ambiguity. He (they said) knew what he was talking about and instructed that if I follow his word I would be OK (saved). I bought a cross on a chain and began to wear it in public, public meaning one afternoon, through dinner and arrival in my bedroom to pray. My Father came into the room and said-”why are you wearing that thing?” Thus ended my excursion into Christianity!
As it was regarding religion my adventuring into the intellectual world was short circuited when my professors labeled me naive in my thinking and dismissed my ideas without a hint of the Problem nor any recommendation for an altered course in my process. Thus ended my excursion into academia.
There are other examples however what I am on to is the degree to which I was saved an enormous amount of intellectual work and/or I was left with a gross sense of insecurity about whether I was smart, whether I have anything to offer and is there any sense in continuing to put myself out there.
I have chosen the latter and I attribute my decision to George Carlin. Never have I heard the truth as powerfully as the truth George unapologetic-ally shouted out to anyone who would listen and his commitment to the truth was sanctified in one case by the United States Supreme Court. The most powerful aspect of George’s messages is that he did not sugar coat what he was addressing. He chose the language of the street and and he spoke his truth about what he was looking at unfettered by nice nice. He got my attention.
I have taken the opportunity lately to label what I see in the world of our creation- made up shit. I do not claim it as an original thought regardless of how refreshing it has been to own it as my own. However the extension of the thought is- if we made it up then we can recommit to the truth of it OR if we learn that it is no longer true then WE CAN CHANGE IT. As an example a lot of us have been raised around the notion- THOU SHALL NOT KILL. Who says so?
Well we do but we have fucked around with it so long that it hardly matters anymore who said that. As George stated whether to kill or not has become negotiable. We have reduced the impact of the message to an intellectual game of not my fault you did it first. Some have opined that democracy is hard, try living up to Thou Shall Not Kill.
I am reminded of the frustrated parent who when faced with a challenge to his or her authority yells out- because I say so. Perhaps the truth of the matter was that parent had no clue of the why’s and wherefores of what was insisted upon. In denying the truth of the matter the parent falls back on the root of so much of what we have collectively learned over the millennium. The beings in possession of power is what dictates the behavior of the those that do not.
This brings me back to Who says so. Not only back to Who but from whence does what Who says come from? The only logical conclusion I have been able to accept is that Who came up with an idea, made up a rule and got the rule accepted by those that Who was trying to influence, could have been a Who or a bunch of Whose. The test for me then comes to which way shall I go, the good way or the evil way. My own definition of the good is the extent to which I make a positive difference in the other Whose life as well as my own. My definition of evil then is the opposite in that I might make a negative difference in the other Whose life as well as my own. I can only imagine the ways in which these good and evil ways can get very complex. My success at this challenge has been and continues to be my willingness to recognize both and making corrections as I live on. I need to make a COMMITMENT to good every day.
Regardless the challenge for those that think is how to ascertain the Greater Good and that brings me to good and/or evil and my opinion that there is the potential for good and evil in all of us and we get to decide what direction to take all the time. From this comes RT’s first rule- we, all of us, are always behaving in ways that we believe are in our own self interest. To that end I believe we all then must answer the question what is the greater good. My answer follows.
Greater Good #1- human beings do not eat one another to order to survive therefore killing one another no longer applies as a survival tool.
Greater Good #2- human beings do not hurt one another in order to prove a point therefore torturing one another no longer guarantees the truth.
Greater Good #3- human beings do not mislead one another in order to justify their own inaction therefore to lie to one another is no excuse for any outcome.
Greater Good #4- human beings do not take from one another in order to satisfy the lust for more therefore stealing from one another satisfies nothing.
Greater Good #5- human beings do not judge one another to order to create distance from one another therefore to love you (the other) is to accept you as you are.
I believe it is time to stop attributing cause and effect to any one person or cause other than ourselves. I cannot effect the killing of innocent civilians in Europe but I can make a loud noise on my US Senators voice mail. In the matter of scale when I use my greater good list to evaluate my actions I believe my life and the lives of my fellow planet beings will become a better place for all of us.