A matter of faith.

You know that I am a Libertarian and an agnostic. I want to explain why I am both. It all comes down to the fact that I have no faith. My favorite definition of faith is believing what you know just ain’t true. I think Mark Twain came up with that one. I have noticed that I even have a hard time using the word believe. I prefer think or understand.

In regards to religion, why is believing in God so important? What does it do for you? Religion is supposed to answer three big questions.
How did we get here?
Why are we here?
And probably most importantly for the deeply religious people I’ve observed,
What happens when we die?
My question is; why does it matter what happens to us when we die? You’re dead. Period. Religious righters love to preach about loving life and right to life, but what are they doing with theirs? Worrying about what happens to them after they are dead? Wow, they want to make sure more people can be born so they can spend their life worrying about what happens after they die. WHAT? Let’s just leave it that the third important question that religion answers is actually best answered by a FUNERAL DIRECTOR. Will that be buried or cremated? And you ain’t getting anything to go. Looking for Paradise? You better make yours in the here and now!

Science studies the world around us to try to help us understand how we got here and what we can do with what we’ve been given. For me, that takes care of: how did we get here?

Why are you here? You are here to live your own life. Living with the fear of God and in the needy arms of the Church (any Church, Synagogue, Temple, Mosque, or other religious construct) is living your life for someone else. They will tell you that someone else is God or Allah or Buddha or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The reality is that the someone else is whoever is leading the group and their favorite causes.

OK, I think that takes care of why I’m an agnostic. It’s not that I don’t think there is a God; it’s just that I don’t care. Being an atheist means I have to spend my life trying to prove that God doesn’t exist, no thanks.

Why am I a Libertarian? It is the same lack of faith issue. To believe that government is anything less than evil you have to believe something that you know just ain’t true. You have to believe in altruism. You have to believe that public servants serve the public. You have to believe the politicians are going to do what they say they will. You have to believe that the rules apply to everyone equally. You have to believe…well I think you have to believe an awful lot that just ain’t true.

I am a Libertarian because I will not believe, I have to know. I need to know that the rules apply to everyone equally. I need to know that when I buy something, that I am buying the best thing for my needs, not just believe that the government has the best of intentions when they restricted what I can buy. I need to know who is making the rules, not believing that campaign finance reform can stop the abuse of the system the politicians enjoy or that bureaucrats have any other motive in mind other than CYA when they set out regulations (which is a power given to them when politicians who are too busy abusing their power abdicate their responsibility to the people by giving that power to bureaucrats).