To Make A Better World -- Excerpt #1

Copyright 2015, Joshua Michail, all rights reserved.

As I prepare to publish my book, To Make A Better World, I will periodically publish here some selected excerpts from my book. The following is the first excerpt of several paragraphs. I hope my readers will enjoy. As always, feel free to comment, to share your thoughts. Also feel free to share my posts. Thanks. 

FROM: To Make A Better World; The handbook for good secular living in the modern era.
by Joshua Michail.

Excerpt #1, from: Introduction. 

It is human nature to be together with our fellows, in tribes or families at least. We yearn for community because we are communal creatures. This is not something that can only be satisfied by a church or temple or mosque though. Many of us feel this sense of community with our neighbors and with people in other groups that we belong to, including fan clubs, or with friends or meet-up groups. The church is simply not necessary any longer. We can get emotional satisfaction without religion. We can get community and a sense of belonging without religion. We can be loved and love others without religion. Indeed, religion is not even necessary for transcendence. So, what does religion have left to offer? Even morality and ethics are within us, as a part of our species' nature. The guidance to morality and ethics are even better satisfied by secular means. After-all, most religions, and especially the Abrahamic ones, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, consider worshiping their god to be a concern of morality. They, however, forget in their holy books to consider rape, slavery and pedophilia to be immoral, while in secular morality those things are all extremely immoral. And, to the issue of having a framework for structuring one's beliefs, values and thoughts religion is no longer the only option. As a matter of fact, it is my desire to offer an alternative worldview and framework to that which religions offer.

The reader should know some things to start with. If you are a non-theist (atheist, agnostic, humanist and/or freethinker, or whatever you think of yourself as) you are not alone. If you are not sure about what you might call yourself, or think on the issue, that is okay. You are the captain of your own ship; you have the right to decide for yourself. Most atheists and agnostics were once religious. Humans have a certain capacity for critical thought, of-course it does take an effort to turn this from just a capacity to actual activity. We are taught to just accept certain notions, but when we can't make sense of those ideas we naturally want to begin questioning. And it's probable that most people will come to that crossroads in which they find themselves beginning to question what they were taught to believe. Unfortunately, so very many will let their fear, their belief that they are being “bad” for doubting, overpower that natural inquiry. Some people may be content to think that anything which doesn't make sense is just a mysterious manifestation of a mysterious will. Thankfully, many of us have such a strong desire to know the truth that we cannot accept unsatisfying claims of truth. You need not feel like you're the only one. Many of humanity's greatest minds have grappled with this very issue. At the end of this book I have listed some other books which the reader will likely find relevant to this context, as well as internet resources including non-theist community and support groups.

At this point I should explain my impelling force – the foundation of all my philosophy. A very simple idea that I think gives rise, to not only my optimism, but also to my reason for writing this book. And that is that perfection is the best of all impossible goals to hold. I don't mean that “perfection” in the sense of a state of being, which can never be attained, but in the sense of the process of improvement. It is necessary, and is the most noble of endeavors. When we strive to achieve perfection we improve ourselves, and our society. When we improve ourselves and our society we narrow the gap between the real and the ideal. This has very real value. The pessimist and the optimist see the same real conditions, but the optimist sees the need for improvement. While the pessimist sees the difficulties presented by reality as a reason to not bother, the optimist sees the challenge as ultimately conquerable, however difficult. Every time a change is made, a condition improved, it may indeed reasonably seem that the work never ends – though progress shouldn't be viewed as pointless. But we can say that progress is the shifting of difference between what is yet to be done and what has been done. Progress is incremental and often slow. While the pessimist can teach us that we must understand what reality means to our endeavors, we shouldn't give up. Instead we must analyze the conditions and adapt to reality to form a workable strategy for accomplishment.

I do not believe that one needs to be religious to be moral, nor do I believe that one cannot be both religious and moral. The fundamental difference is in what one concerns oneself with when considering what makes for morality. Take for example, homosexuality, while at least several religious authorities consider it to be very immoral, there are also many good religious people who know better. I have talked with homosexual people who love their partners in the exact same way that heterosexuals do. There is no logically valid argument for the alleged immorality of homosexuality that I have ever heard. I seriously doubt that anyone could ever make such an argument either. Meanwhile, many of the people I have heard in the public arena who lambaste homosexuals as immoral have themselves been caught-up in scandals that demonstrate their own immorality according to their own proclaimed beliefs. Yet we, those who are religious and those of us who are not, all agree that murder is highly immoral. So, when in this book, I discuss morality I mean it in the practical sense and not in the sense of religious dogma. Practical morality is the kind that is amenable to nearly every person; it is something that is generally agreed upon despite differences in culture or group affiliation. I say generally because there are some variations in some ideas of practical morality between some differing groups, but the principle concept still stands.

The essential purpose of morality is three-fold. First, is that of the society, one in which the moral behavior of the people helps to maintain the integrity of the society. For example; when police officers and/or judges accept bribes they begin to foster a growing sense in the people of a need to take matters into their own hands, vigilantism. This vigilantism, or voluntary amateur policing, is dangerous to the social good because it often leads to miscarriages of justice. Innocent people are strung up, witch-hunts get out of hand and neighbor distrusts neighbor. The society or the community at least, begins to breakdown. Second, is that of the people who depend immediately on the moral behavior of others, that is to say those who may be harmed by a person's failure to be moral. Children, for example, necessarily depend on the good moral character of daycare employees, teachers, authoritative adults and their parents for their physical and mental well-being. Third, is each of us individually, our own moral behavior benefits us in several ways, such as preserving our honor and dignity. If one allows oneself to use illicit drugs, like cocaine or amphetamines, one harms and endangers himself/herself, lies, steals and disrespects others and self, i.e.: behaving immorally. The use of drugs is not necessarily immoral, per-se. But, it often does lead to other behavioral problems that are immoral. Among users of illegal drugs it is common that one's actions and behavior will anger people who are prone to violence. And the use of illegal drugs will, in and of itself, greatly increase health dangers, cause mental disorders and often kill

the user in short order. A healthy society and a healthy person depend upon law and order. A healthy person and his/her society depend on the moral strength of each individual and that of one's self.

Which leads me to the book which follows. I believe morality is very important. I also believe that honor and dignity, as well as the beliefs we hold, are very important. Indeed, how we come to the beliefs we hold is important. It occurred to me that all too often what passes for morality, is either actually immoral, or nothing to do with morality. So, I decided to work on this issue. I also saw a need to address honor and dignity. I've seen and heard so much, from so many people, about honor in which the concept is just offensive. The fact is, however, that honor is important and it does play a much bigger role than many people are willing to acknowledge. Then there is the issue of how one can live in a meaningful way. People often say that they want to know that their life was not a waste, that there was meaning. I think it's possible, in a secular life, to have plenty of meaning. To go with this I wanted to address several issues of character. Issues like greed, ignorance, violence and destructive attitudes. I also wanted to provide some sense of structure, so I modeled a new secular moral codification on the very familiar “Ten Commandments”. I've also included a list of material for quick reference, on logic and fallacies, science and moral principles. I hope that this book will be more than enjoyable. I'm hoping that it will prove useful and inspiring.

To make a better world, one must start by making oneself better. One must be willing to improve oneself before one can improve the world in which one lives. It's sort of like surviving a car crash, if you want to improve your chances you'll first get into the habit of wearing the seat-belt. You'll put in the effort to learn how to drive more safely; if you want to survive a crash. As improving your chances of surviving a car crash is a goal, there are things you must do to achieve that goal. So it is, also, for improving the world around you. There are many “self-help” books out there. Some are genuine efforts to help people. Some, however, are just blatant scams. There are also probably many that fall somewhere in between. Of the self-help books in which the author has actually tried to be helpful, some are misguided and some are well-founded. Many will tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. Of course many people want to hear, or read, what makes them feel better, good or what flatters them. Often that will sell books, which is great if you're trying to make a heap o' money. But, often they will also have learned nothing new, it will not actually help. Real help doesn't necessarily make you feel better about yourself. Real help won't just pat you on the shoulder. Real help gives you the tools and teaches you how to help yourself. Get it? That's why it's called “self-help”. So, in a way, I think this book is a sort of self-help book, but it's a guide as well. My intention is to explore the way things are, and to offer alternatives that can lead you to a good life, or even a better one, without the superstitions and myths.

 

© 2015, Joshua Michail, all rights reserved.

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