Free Your Inner Thinker Essays - Truth, Atheism, Spirituality

Free Your Inner Thinker Free Your Inner Thinker Organized religions are laden with the debris of archaic, superstitious images. Everywhere people go they are submerged in biblical ignorance, religious illiteracy and historical stupidity (Edelen, ?The 10 Commandments?). People are surrounded by cultic codes and images at every turn. This must stop! One organization that is taking a stand is called The Freedom From Religion Foundation. It is most commonly referred to as free thought. A freethinker is a person who forms opinions and beliefs on the basis of reason, independent of tradition, authority, or established belief (Barker). Freethinkers love to learn new ideas and are not satisfied with what is already known. Thus, all members must be free from the conformity of a bible, creed, or messiah. They must be allowed to think for themselves, rather than blindly follow tradition or ?cosmic absolutes.? Freethinkers believe the truth and choose not to follow the lies and superstitions that are, inevitably, part of religion. Common mythological themes are saturated through out the bible, from the creation and flood myth to virgin birth and hero resurrection (Edelen, ?The Sin?). Unlike conventional religions, Freethinkers' beliefs are based on reality and reason. As defined in Nontract #11, ?What is a Freethinker,? ?Reality is limited to that which is directly perceivable though our natural senses or indirectly ascertained through the proper use of reason? (Barker). For an idea or belief to be considered true it must be testable, falsifiable, parsimonious, and logical. Every belief a freethinker has must have evidence or experiments to confirm it; all attempts to disprove it must repeatedly fail, require little to no assumptions, and be free from contradictions and character attacks (Barker). Freethinkers use the thinking part of there brain to understand the universe. Many people who don't understand free thought think that freethinkers lack morals. The morality of a freethinker can be summed up in one word, kindness. Morality is not a bunch of dos and don'ts but, instead, is based on human needs (Barker). Freethinkers try to be good and fair to everyone. They believe that all human beings should live in peace no matter what their race, sex, religion, what they think, who they love, or where they come from. They do their best to protect the earth and all its creatures. Religion promotes dangerous and inadequate ?morality? based on blind obedience, rather than a careful use of reason to weigh the possible outcomes when faced with a moral dilemma (Barker). The most common philoshical question pondered is whether there is a meaning of life. Freethinkers know that the meaning of life must originate in the mind. Since the universe is mindless and the cosmos do not care, if you wish to have a purpose, YOU must care (Barker). Not all freethinkers believe in a meaning of life, as with all beliefs, individuals are free to accept or discard it. Where as many freethinker choose to believe there is no divine plan, most freethinkers find meaning in life. They find meaning in human compassion, social progress, the beauty of humanity, personal happiness, pleasure, joy, love, and the advancement of knowledge (Barker). Unlike convention religions, free thought requires an explanation rather than a designer to explain the complexity of life. One such explanation is Darwin's theory of evolution along with natural selection. Freethinkers do not believe in a divine designer because the complexity of such a creature would be subject to the same scrutiny itself (Barker). Freethinkers also believe that religion is not only useless but also harmful. Historically, religion has always produced violence (Edelen ?Religion?). From Moses to the Crusades, Henry VIII, Salem, Hitler, Kosovo. Edelen writes, ?it is the countries with out religion that are the least violent? (?Religion?). He also stated in the same article that, ?America is the most ?religious' of all industrialized nations, and yet is the most violent nation in the world.? Many of the world's most gruesome leaders believed they were performing god's work. Hitler himself wrote, ?I am completely convinced that I am acting as the agent of god. I am now a Catholic and will always remain so,? in Mein Kampf (qtd in Edelen, ?Religion?). Freethinkers do not believe that all religious people are

Elements of a short story essays

Elements of a short story essays Abortion is a touchy subject, so why would such a great author like Ernest Hemingway himself write a short story over it? In a short story like this it is crucial to use multiple literary strategies and devices to make it a well-written piece. This story, Hills Like White Elephants, is about a girl, Jig, and an American man who are both waiting at a train station while trying different beverages. Although not clearly stated, the two are fighting about abortion. The man wants her to have an abortion while the woman wants to marry and settle down. Hemingway uses several dynamic literary devices to make this a great piece of literature. In this story, the two characters are essentially the main subjects. They are not described in great depth, but much can be interpreted about their characteristics through there dialogue. Jig, the girl wants to keep the baby and go on to live a normal life. After the couple speaks about the decision on whether or not to keep the baby the woman skeptically asks if he thinks they will be all right and happy.(Hemingway 2) Through these words the reader can infer that she desires to have the baby. She also worries about the future and realizes things will not be the same. Jig seems highly aware of the precipice on which she stands. (Henningfeld 2) She wishes that the American will marry her, they will return home, and they will establish a family. This is very true and seen throughout because of the way she does what the man wants in hopes that he will love her and start a family together. The other half of the story is of course the American... (Hemingway1) He is of course the cause of all the conflict in the story. He wants the woman to have an abortion. (May 1174) He also says things like I know you wouldnt mind it Jig, (Hemingway 2) which shows he wants her to go through this ordeal so things can b ...