In one of my class assignments, we were asked to complete a philosophy quiz. After answering the questions and submitting my results, I was identified as an existentialist. I had to look up what that meant, since I've never studied much philosophy. Of those who responded, I had another existentialist, a hedonist, and a Divine Command. Cristy suggested that a good blog topic would be the way people live. I agree!So, here we are, gentle readers (hopefully Miss Manners won't mind that I borrowed her phrasing). Maybe we should have some music.
"Memories...
Like the corners of my mind.
Misty, water-covered memories...
Of the way we... live."
Like the corners of my mind.
Misty, water-covered memories...
Of the way we... live."
Go on. Hum a few more bars and imagine that famous voice (you know, the one that's like buttah) singing the theme song to The Way We Were. But in this instance, let's say that Babs had a synaptic hiccup and renamed the song The Way We Live.
So much for humor. :-)
How should we live? Is there an absolute for all? Our federal, state, and local governments have enacted laws that we must all abide by, but when the letter of the law ends and we get into moral questions, how do we make choices? What do we use as our guide? I don't necessarily think that God's law (or what has been interpreted as God's law) should be the sole guiding moral force in our lives. At the same time, it doesn't hurt to follow some basic religious principles. For instance, we can probably all agree that it's best not to kill, or steal, or be dishonest, and we really should try to be good people. At least in the sense that we're not going out of our way to be bad or do harm to people.
There are many people who are devoted to their church and their faith, but many who are not. I believe in God, but I'm not devoted to a particular church. I grew up Baptist, and I really don't think I'll ever go back if I can help it, but that doesn't mean that I'm without any spiritual faith or that I deny the existence of God. I don't know that I could deny the existence of God -- or some higher power -- because there are too many things in our lives that are unexplained. My big issue is that I grew up thinking and hearing that gay people were sinful, and as a gay man, I have a hard time supporting a church that feels that way.
I do agree with existentialism that we ascribe meaning to our own lives. Really, our lives are what we make of it. We can make our own destiny. We don't control all that happens to us -- there's no way we could possibly do that -- but we can make the best choices possible based on the information available to us and aspire for goodness.
Feel free to leave comments and share your thoughts.
2 comments:
I think that there are times when all of those categories tend to overlap in some way. If we find meaning in our own lives, if we are good people, haven't we also followed a bit of God's law? Also, I think that there is a bit of hedonism in all of us. But since I share that with my life partner, isn't that OK? You've read my blog and know that I am definitely alright with hedonism. I think that as long as we can all get along, without being judgemental, isn't that a good day? And just so you know, I think that God created ALL people in his image. I think he loves you no matter. I know I do. I love your blog. C
You're right. These categories do overlap. Maybe that's what makes one a well-rounded person. We can't follow just one way of doing things. At least, I don't think I can. And whether we're hedonistic, existentialistic, divine commandistic (I know that's not grammatically correct, but I'm going for a flow here), or whatever, we need a combination of influences. Otherwise, we'd be pretty dull indeed. I think we should start a new movement: non-judgmentalism. Just think how much happier our world would be. Much love, S.
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