Philosophy - My vision for the world
February 17, 2014

I wrote the following in response to a theist who asked me to describe my vision for the world while encouraging me to learn more about their religion, and it is my hope that this interests and inspires you...

Thank you, and I do agree that there is a "gap" between us, at least from a "philosophical" standpoint.  I am not interested in learning a lot more about Islam, and my reason is that I have better things to do that are relevant to modern times.

Although history is important, spending time trying to understand modern applications of ancient religions that are confusing and sorely outdated is, to me, a terrible waste of time and intellect.  In fact, the vast majority of religions have been left behind, and Islam is just one of the remaining few that will also eventually be abandoned as societies progress toward more socially psychologically healthy ideals.

My vision for the world is one without social classes, and one that values and protects everyone's rights for freedom to question, challenge, or ridicule any idea without fear of violent reprisal, freedom to have sex with whomever they want (as long as all participants consent), freedom to have complete authority over personal health decisions (which includes the early termination of pregnancy without having to provide any justification for it), entitlement to have the fundamental needs of food, water, shelter, clothing, health care, and education (which teaches critical thinking with an emphasis on impartiality, along with the other usual subjects like literacy, science, math, arts/music/drama, history, debate, physical education, etc.), the encouragement of innovation and technological progress, and a few other things as well that also include protecting the rights of non-human animals and other species, preserving and improving the environment, the elimination of dependency on money, etc.

I realize that my vision is an extremely tall order, and in the current climate with religious wars and political strife amidst prolonged human suffering and animal cruelty, it's clear to me that my vision is not presently possible, and that is what saddens me the most.  The thoughts that some people have of "screw religion, it has done nothing to truly fix this world," pales in comparison to how disappointed I feel about how atrociously all species are routinely mistreated en masse throughout the world.

Groups like Peta, Anonymous, Green Peace, the United Nations, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, et al., are making tremendous efforts to improve life on a global scale, but it's not enough, and I see religion as one of the largest adversaries that is intrinsically opposed to Tellurian Solidarity and that is why I do not approve of it and regard it as such a tragic waste of lives and resources.

My prediction for the future is that China is going to gradually become better known as the next greatest global contributor to protecting and improving the environment.  This surprises people, but China knows that if they don't start working on this now that it will be more difficult to undo today's damage in the future, and they've already successfully implemented some major projects that do make a positive significant difference in this regard but without all the fanfare that is more typical of certain other countries.  But I also think that this still isn't enough because there are still too many countries that aren't thinking long-term like China is, and so I worry that the overall improvements globally won't be as wonderful as they otherwise could be.

So, that's my vision, and that's what I lose sleep about.  (Religion is merely one of many significant hindrances whose days are ultimately numbered in the larger scheme of what's going on in the world today.  The sooner that hindrances like religion, politics, psychopathy, corruption, suffering, diseases, etc., are eradicated, is all for the better in my estimation.)

Yours very truly, with a heartfelt sense of love and compassion for all,

Fidem Turbāre, the non-existent atheist goddess.
http://www.fidemturbare.com/

See also:  My original Google+ posting of this vision

Notable reactions

I have received numerous responses to this vision, the vast majority of which have been encouraging -- thank you, everyone.  Two interesting points that keep resurfacing are:

1. my reference to Peta has yielded mixed reactions, some of which seem to characterize Peta as a militant or extremist group that often takes things too far
    
2. that the colourful image attached to my original posting is factually impossible because the moon is in the wrong position

I appreciate the effort expended by everyone who read and/or commented, and I'm delighted that people take such a keen interest in these important matters.  Thank you so very much.