The following article, "On Being", was submitted by Harvey Freilich.  It is published here without alteration.

ON BEING ©
by Harvey Freilich

 “…and all your money won't another minute buy, dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.”
            -Popular song lyric

In death there is no pain. The heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing, and the body dies. Many believe that death is not the end of their consciousness, but that their “self” is endowed with a disembodied image; a “soul” which continues after the body stops functioning, and one which is somehow linked to a creator or creative force to whom “it” eventually returns in a realm apart from the material world of Earth - a “paradise” within a heavenly light, located in an unknown reality. I can appreciate how difficult it is for the human mind to accept oblivion as the ultimate destiny for a body grown from a single cell and nurtured for a time through to where it is aware of itself and the environment surrounding it. After not having been for billions of years, just the fact of being can be intimidating to a human brain of unlimited potential but inhibited capacity. Here we are, then; either male or female creatures endowed with the ability to reproduce; not a unique quality among mammals. But the human animal has another characteristic borne of evolutionary development. It can think about things. It reasons. It does not act strictly on instinct as do the lesser species whose brains are not so highly developed. Yet, even in this does the human animal fall short of its greater potential, for in evolving to a state where it can harness the elements of air, earth, wind, and fire to its bidding, it fails to recognize the unique opportunity afforded it to soar above and away from the animal mentality it required in its growth and change. Some, however, do try to rise to their maximum potential. There are the scientists who strive to discover kernels of knowledge buried in the living planet and the cosmos which surround it. There are the medical practitioners searching to unlock the secrets of human anatomy in their quest to alleviate pain, and suffering. There are the academically curious, the compassionate, and the caregivers; the peacemakers, and the mediators. The planet swarms with mental giants who contend with idiots. Inventive productivity vies with destructive capability. War mongering, greed, avarice, sloth, envy; name a depravity, and the human animal exists who can and will exhibit its basest form. Then there are the others; the innocent victims of ignorance and want. These are the majority that, having been indoctrinated by tribal or family tradition, or not wishing to exceed their own limited view of life on Earth and the universe without, turn to invisible gods to compensate for their never having had the inclination to consider alternate possibilities.

In this observation, I become as the little boy in the fable of,  “The Emperor's New Clothes,” who, upon seeing his naked emperor parading before the people in the belief his royal tailors have outfitted him in stunning new regalia, remarks, “Why, the Emperor is wearing nothing at all!  In turn, I am simply stating the obvious when, in taking into account all spiritual belief systems of Earth's human population, I remark, “Why, there's no physical evidence to prove any of it is true!” This simple observation is countered by the practitioners of the religious arts with a call for “faith” as a defense against doubt or more, as a purge against reason and logic.

 Religious faith is defined as  “a secure belief in God and/or His Will.” The key word is, “secure.” As a blanket or pacifier for an infant conveys security, so does this faith anchor believers to a safe haven; a tranquil harbor apart from the maelstrom which rages beyond the breakers in that stormy sea of real world economics, technology, and sociological progress.  Surely, this “faith” must give rise to images of such profound effect, so as to overcome any objection; any argument against rationalism. Let us examine what faith has revealed by considering the major world religions which foster its ideals:

Judaism: A religion based on deceit, murder, betrayal, debauchery, and magic, surrounding an omnipotent male deity in whose image male and female humans are cast. “He” demands unswerving allegiance under pain of death. “His” followers may indiscriminately destroy families and nations. “He” savors the aroma of incense, and promotes animal sacrifice. “His” will directs the smiting hand of  “His” chosen against their enemies, as well as in the chastisement of  “His” own who disobey.

Christianity: A religion based on prophetic, cryptic discourses in Judaism, including the foretelling of the return of an ancient personality who does not die the death of men, but is “taken up in a fiery chariot” to Heaven; namely, one called,  Elijah, who will announce “the great and terrible day of the Lord!” This offshoot of Judaism modifies the original prophecy, and instead offers a “John the baptizer” in Elijah’s stead, and introduces a Jewish-born Jesus as the “Promised One,” a Messiah (anointed) who is God manifest in flesh  (and at the same time God's Son), and who is endowed with the “Holy Spirit!” Truly a force to be reckoned with, for this Jesus tempers Judaism with love, mercy, charity, and miracles (healing the sick, raising the dead, and feeding multitudes with scraps). The core of this religion is a promise and a threat: If you believe Jesus to be as reported, your soul will be transported to Paradise upon the death of your body; otherwise it will suffer the torments of an equally unknown realm called, “Hell,” where it will burn for eternity. Unfortunately, no one, once deceased, has ever returned to verify either fate.  A noble segue from Judaism's bloody history, this Christianity... but then there are the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Holocausts, the pogroms, the ethnic hatred, the prejudices, the bigotry, the charlatans, the TV evangelists with their coffers of gold and their influence within and upon the House Politic, the gilded cage of the Catholic Holy See, and the silence as the lambs were, and are still, led to the slaughter.

Islam:  Here is a religion born of both Judaism and Christianity. Founded by one man, believed to have been influenced by an Archangel, its ideology is followed by those called, Muslims, and echoes the Judaic Torah and Talmud (including the chauvinist philosophy whereby women were held to be subservient chattel) while recognizing Christianity's more charitable aspects. Jesus is seen as simply another prophet (like Adam, Abraham, and Moses); a forerunner to Muhammad, their founder. The Muslim believes his objective is to correctly apply his Bible, The Koran, with its perception of immoral actions on the part of Humanity, and purify, if you will, global corruption. To that end, rigorous intolerance is advocated, whether it be via a “Jihad” (holy war), or physical discipline (in any and all severity). Islam's primary goal is to reform the world where anyone other than a Muslim must be either an infidel or simply a misinformed human, unaware of the “Divine” nature of Allah (God) and his direct channel, Muhammad.

 These three are but one theology, and their foundations bear a striking resemblance to the Body Politic. Their base is power, and their mortar is money; the giving and the collecting of it, for how can any organized religion survive without the maintenance of their caretakers, and the structures which house their trappings? Would that the count of world religions were restricted to these three, and global reason prevailed upon the rest of human society. Putting aside the rise and fall of demagogues or those dark arts practiced as adversarial nether-world magic against the gods above,  there are at least fifty religions documented down the corridors of time which have plagued history and decimated humanity.

Would that humans could fathom the dimensions surrounding their vulnerable planet and the tenuous grip they hold as a life-form in a solar system of worlds long dead, or in the throes of birth. Would that humans could have more respect for intelligence, engaging in peaceful pursuits, rather than religious or territorial conflict and endless, empty pleas for help from an impotent source which has no ear to hear nor eye to see with.

Earthlings suffer from a penchant to lay their misdeeds and personal desires upon a sacrificial altar. Why? It seems they need to. A reason is required for their existence. God must judge while bearing the responsibility for everything that is; otherwise, what's the point? That is religion's driving force; the absence of a logical explanation for being.

The sixteenth century French philosopher, Descartes, who penned, “I think, therefore I am!” said it best when he observed that, “We are aware of our bodies only as the cause of sensations and other mental phenomena. Consequently our personal essence is composed more fundamentally of mind and the preservation of the mind after death would constitute our continued existence.” The human brain, having evolved to a point to where it is actually aware of itself, must then create a theological safety-net, lest it fall from the realization that all of everything there is might just be a random series of events in Time and Space.

Thus, we have reached a state of development where Humanity multiplies itself and does not consider whether Earth has the ability to sustain and maintain its numbers, including the natural resources necessary for life to continue; for after all, God will provide; right? Of course, the reality is such that our land masses dwindle as our atmosphere and water sources become polluted by industrial wastes and toxins. We scrape and gouge the surface of our planet for the elements required to increase our commercial progress without regard to future generations who will never know the poetry of nature, but will accept the sterile environment of conditioned air, towering skyscrapers, and artificially produced nourishment.

Religion will continue to flourish, regardless that the planet refuses to provide one more resource, one more acre of farmland, one more son to fight a territorial or spiritual war as the search for meaning and God continues. There are greater laws than those of a God or gods; higher laws created with the first amoebic stirring. Natural selection; survival of the fittest living strain of the species. How simple to believe in an Adam and Eve creation story. Practically all the diverse races on Earth have such a story. It puts people on a par with God. It allows the human mind to believe that this mind is special; this body is sacred, this life has purpose, this “soul” will continue forever.

 Just as the salmon swims upstream to the pool of his birth to conceive and die, I have fulfilled the purpose for which I was conceived; I have procreated and grown older; my physiognomy has changed with the years as surely as the salmon in his final swim. Most of my life is spent, yet I am content in the knowledge I am. I exist. And when I'm gone, I will still have been. I did not wage war against my fellow human beings. I never had a fight. I tried to be friendly to all humans whom I could communicate with. I argued, I dialogued, I laughed, I cried. I loved, I hated; was loved and hated. I was hot and cold; emotional and distant. I saw beauty everywhere, and ugliness only in intolerance and criminality. At times I felt invulnerable. At other times I was frightened at the prospect of a premature demise. I am; but only a man - the most common of all denominators on a planet teeming with life.

There is but one task remaining; one gesture of our having been. To leave something behind of what we were, that successive generations might ponder, and learn from. I choose, not only to express my love for the little ones of my heritage, or those belonging to the stranger in the gate. Those dear, sweet, innocent, trusting faces, reflecting in miniature the older visage of family gone before. I choose, not only to express my appreciation for the genetic quality inherent in my fore-bearers, but that I enjoyed the camaraderie of friends, and the affection of significant others. I do choose to convey my respect for intellect by offering the following:

You, who come after me. Know that I was as you were, and I grew to become what you are. In your dash through the days and nights of your life, pause, if you will, every once in a while, and consider who and where you are. Are you happy? If not, change your course in midstream. There is always time, while you are, to be what you wish. Drink deep of the cup of sentience; its effect lasts only as long as you are alive and aware. Be not afraid of living and loving, but be cautious, for in all lives and loves there are pitfalls. You may consider everything, including your own emotions and those outside influences which act upon them; enjoy them immensely, but don't let them overwhelm you. You may believe in anything, everything, or nothing, but never be ashamed to think or act independent of the will of the majority; even they can be wrong or misguided. And finally, look up and out sometime. Reflect on the universe above and about you. Whatever you decide regarding reality, creation, religion, or any philosophy to the contrary, I ask that you keep the dialogue (or dialectic) stimulating, and should you ever think on this rambling dissertation of mine, let your lips turn a smile at my having been, and a shout of revelry burst forth from that smile for the awe and joy of your own existence. My; but isn't being alive, and aware that you are, the most extraordinary experience?

With respect, and in friendship, I am: Harvey Freilich