There comes a time in the life of every person in which one must ask of one's self the difficult questions of life and see whether or not one has yet arrived at any answers.  Therefore, realizing I am still a young man and have much to learn, I searched my soul to find those ideas in which I believe wholeheartedly, those things that ring true not because of popular opinion or indoctrination but because I have examined them and find they are the building blocks of a happy, contented existence.

Naturaly, these beliefs are not exclusively my own, nor am I the originator of some of the ideas within.  As such, I will provide at the end of this document a list of resources for the curious.  Though these ideas did not originate solely from me, it is important to point out that they are my own, for were they not this would be a pointless exercise.

I was raised in the Baptist church, Christians of the strongest cloth, and as such am predisposed to assume the existence of God.  Nevertheless, the question of the existence of a superior power is one that I have pondered at length.  In the end, I have to come to the conclusion that God does exist.  The universe is simply too complex and beautiful a place to be the product of chance, and the basic underpinnings of the world as we know it sing of the existence of a creator.  Just as we can not imagine a watch without a watchmaker or a symphony without a conductor, so should we not imagine a universe without a creator or an ecosystem without an orchestrator.  To say nothing of the mechanics of the human mind.

Moreover, I also must believe that Jesus Christ was who he claimed to be, that is, the offspring or issuance of God.  The circumstances surrounding his life, death, and resurrection are too well documented and obviously supernatural to enable me to believe otherwise.  Therefore, I have to believe that Christ is the savior of the world and of myself personally.  However, I wouldn't be surprised to find myself sharing heaven with a great many people who don't believe exactly what I believe. I like to imagine a "best possible afterlife," in which every belief system has its own consequences -- buddhists reincarnate, Norse Deists go to Valhalla, etc. This may not be the way it is, but I think it's the way it should be.   So I call myself a Christian, but one far removed from the religion taught to me by my parents and the officials of the church, as will be made apparent in the next few sections. 

I was raised to believe that the Bible is, in its etirety, the inspired word of God and must be taken as a whole or not at all.  However, I soon discovered that those who espoused this idea rejected out of hand some of the Bible's heftier passages -- from the dietary law of Leviticus to the role of women in the church outlined in Ephesians.  The explanation they gave for this was that some passages were intended only for those under Mosaic law, and that others were only for the first Christians, proscriptive rules for living to keep minor quibbles from tearing the church apart.  Thus one could accept the Bible as the inspired word of God while recognizing that some of the teachings outlining moral standards were no longer relevant.

So I decided that in order to avoid confusion, I would concentrate on the words and deeds of Jesus Christ, specifically on the two commandments he gave: Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (and note that this second implies a love of self as well, not to put words in Christ's mouth).   I believe that following the second commandment is the most effective way of following the first, so I will concentrate on that.

Love your neighbor as yourself.  This seems to be a philosophy of life in a nutshell, a plan for living a happy and fulfilling life.  First, I must love myself.  If I do not value my unique contributions to the world, if I do not acknowledge my potential and my inherent worth, I am comitting the most grevious wrong imaginable, for if I do not love myself I cannot love those around me and the system breaks down.

Second, I must treat my ?neighbor' (which Christ defines as pretty much anyone), as if they are as worthy a human being as am I.  Thus, since I desire happiness for myself, I should wish it on others. And since I do not wish to harm myself, I should avoid harming others.   Thus the acid test for morality breaks down to a simple question: "Is this course of action going to lead to the happiness of myself and others?"  If the answer is yes, the contemplated course of action is ethically sound.  If no, the course of action is probably ethically unsound.

This system covers most of the traditional ethics of my religion. Adultery causes unhappiness through betrayal and deceit; murder robs one of the chance for future happiness, one cannot be happy if one covets every one else's possessions. Sex is a complicated and powerful force, and therefore is best kept to the confines of marriage, or a world of heartache and hurt can result.

It is my firm belief that such a system was exactly what God had in mind when he established the code of ethics outlined in the Bible.  The goal of any code of ethics should be that the maximum amount of happiness should come to the maximum amount of people, and the ten commandments and such give us specific guidelines because we have so much trouble with our own selfish nature.

However, some of the morality that has been 'tacked on' to my religion seems so far removed from this plan as to be unrecognizable as God's idea.  For example, some men and women seem to be born with a predisposition to be attracted to, and want to share their lives with, persons of the same gender.   Does such a course of action lead to the happiness of themselves and others?  Indeed.  They love someone and are loved in return, and can share a rich and fulfilling life with their partner, providing a good example for society and even reflecting the love of God in their lives.  How on earth could such a thing be a sin?  Certainly, some homosexuals commit wrong by forcing themselves upon others or bringing emotional pain to their partners, but heterosexuals do the same thing, and it is exactly as wrong for one than for the other.   

I think the preoccupation with sex as 'dirty' and 'impure' is one of the major failings of modern Christianity. Does God honestly care that someone masturbates, if that masturbation enables them to control their sexual urges? Masturbation, pornography, etc., are only harmful when they are abused instead of used, when they become the focal point of life instead of God. Seeing a 'dirty' movie doesn't make you a bad person. There are plenty of Christians who scrupulously avoid 'trash' like American Pie, Eyes Wide Shut, and Playboy Magazine, and commit the most grievous of sins by not loving their fellow man.

Why would God give men and women a libido and a sexual preference and then make them feel guilty for following it?  It doesn't make sense, and I believe that an omnipotent, omniscient being well ought make sense.  We are not the product of an insane diety.

Thus much of the guilt that comes attached to Christianity should be kicked to the curb. Guilt should not come from masturbating in a closet, or from drinking a bit of wine, or from loving someone of one's own gender.  Guilt is a massive force and should be reserved solely for those who have deliberately brought harm to others or who have negligently done so and failed to repent.

In conclusion, in contemplating any action I will ask myself who will experience a positive emotional result from my action and who will experience a negative result.  I will place myself at the same importance, no more, no less, than the others involved.   If the action would produce more happiness than sadness, it must be a morally correct action and I will not bother with whether or not it agrees with the Bible's long lists of do's and dont's.

I think the answer to this is contained in the answer to the two previous questions.  There is a God, who has redeemed my soul through Jesus, and out of gratitude to Him I desire to please Him.  I do so by pleasing myself and others in a way that does not cause harm to come to any of us.  Thus the point of my life is to live well and attempt to make others happy.  One of the ways I propose to do so is by sharing this manifesto, through which I hope others can break free of the guilt that comes with religion and start living their lives to make themselves and others happy.  What is the meaning of life?  To live, to love, to laugh, and do no harm.

Okay, I want to put forth some ideas here and can't think of any other way to pose the question.  What would make life, in my opinion, ideal?

For starters, everyone would agree with me on parts 1-3.  Everyone would live life to maximize the pleasure and minimize the hassle.  Jealousy, anger, and hate would be a thing of the past, along with their fruits: rape, murder, theft, etc.

On a more practical level: there would be no legal restrictions on how one sexually comports onesself.  If someone desired to marry another person, that marriage would be accomplished and recognized, regardless of the genders of those involved.  If four persons wanted to enter into a lifelong agreement, so be it. I don't think anyone has any business telling any number of consenting adults who they can and can't have sex with.  I personally would live in a commune of as many like-minded people as I could find in which there were no permanent commitments and everyone loved each other equally. Which may be impossible, but let me dream, eh?

In other words, my ideal word would be a place where everyone is a little less uptight.  If everyone would agree with me even on just parts two and three, we could live in a world with more freedom and less negative consequences.   A world where sex isn't so mysterious and dirty that children just have to try it for themselves.  A world where people can be who they were born to be.  A world where God is not a harsh judge but a being who desires only that we comport ourselves in the best possible manner to ourselves and others.  A God who doesn't desire fear and grovelling but gratitude and happiness.  That's my paradise. 

And, finally, here are some additions to my basic philosophy of life, stuff that I've been living by and finding work pretty well to get along in polite society:

Money is inherently evil, and the more you have of it over what you need, the more miserable you will be.  The best way to always have enough money to get by is to give away the surplus.

If someone needs money bad enough to beg for it on the street, you probably should give them some if you've got it, along with a kind word and an acknowledgment of their basic humanity.

If you're frustrated at a restaurant, or gas station, etc.,The person in the silly uniform is never the one you want to yell at.  The one worth yelling at is always in an office somewhere and reasonably dressed.  There's no need to berate those just trying to earn a living on minimum wage.

Always overtip.  That extra dollar means nothing to you but could make somebody's day.

Never pass up an oppurtunity to make somebody's day.

The worst thing you can do in life is take it too seriously.  In the grand scheme of your life, a flat tire or a bad night at work doesn't mean a thing.

Think of how big a blue whale is. Now imagine how many of them are in the ocean -- that's an indicator of how huge the ocean is. Our planet is that big and bigger, and gaining 1,000 tons a day. The sun is so large that a million earths could fit inside. And yet, in the galaxy, it's a speck. In the universe, it's an atom. Kind of takes the sting out of waiting in the Jack-in-the-Box Drive-In for fifteen minutes instead of five, doesn't it?

God is not in the business of screwing up your life.  Allow Him to guide you and see what happens.

Your self worth is not measured by how sexually attracted people are to you.

Your self worth is not measured by anyone else, period. To God, you are worth His own son. To yourself, you are worth what you believe you are worth.

You can not love yourself or be loved by others until you are honest with yourself and others about your feelings.  Self-deception is suicide.

Obviously, my earthly paradise will never be realized.  People just aren't willing to either a) let go of their damaging moral ideas and the pleasure of their guilt or b) act as unselfishly as my code of conduct requires.  Heck, I have trouble with it on a regular basis, but at least I'm willing to try.   All I can do is propagate my ideas as much as possible, knowing that I can't reach everyone.  And I have to continue to learn and keep my mind open, for to stop growing and changing at twenty-two years old would be a premature death.

So, basically, that's me in a nutshell at this point.  A conglomeration of my past and present, ideas taught to me and ideas discovered by me, but all analyzed to some sort of stasis.  This is how I am living my life now and hope to continue living it in the future.  And you know what?  I have never been happier than I am now.  I am unbelievably content, and that ought to be some indication that I'm on the right track.

The Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and Ephesians 2:8-9.  The life of and teachings of Christ and a plan of salvation.

Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein.  The idealization of my perfect society is in here, as are some revolutionary ideas about God and sin.  This book has a lot to do with my current views.

Wishful Thinking, by Frederick Beuchner.  A dictionary of the soul.  Read the definitions of love, friendship, etc., and you'll see where I'm coming from.

The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman. Lots of musing on life and the afterlife, and the most engrossing story I've read in a long time.

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show", film 1975.   I enjoy this movie for many reasons, but it speaks to me on a perhaps unintended level.  Near the end of the film, all of the characters have cast off their inhibitions and are on the cusp of true happiness -- and then the disapproving Riff-Raff pronounces the lifestyle "too extreme" and helps them back to the path of righteousness by killing them all.   An entertaining movie, yes, but also one that details (however campily) a paradise lost.

"The Celluloid Closet", film 1995.  A great look at homosexuality in film, along with some insightful commentary on homosexuality in general.

And family and friends.  My parents Tom and Deborah, my sisters Andee and Evie, my uncle Brian, and dearest friends Justin, Charlie, Neil, Jim, Zak, Mike, Xylar, and Will.  May the circle be unbroken.