Some of us, however, cannot live without an answer, and have long used spiritual answers for this question. These answers have organized and moderated entire societies, and the structures that have sprung up around this search for meaning continue to affect us to this day.
The first part of the reckoning that we absolutely must recognize that providing spiritual meaning for ourselves is completely separate from how we decide our individual moral code.
Spiritual meaning here is concepts of things like heaven and hell in the christian religion, or karma in the hindu religion. For example, those who abide by the orthodox catholic moral code will be rewarded in heaven, and those who do not will be punished in hell. There must be a separation between the concept of spiritual meaning and how we decide what the orthodox catholic moral code will be. Now, catholic's will tell you that their moral code is absolute, from "God" and interpreted from the bible. Here we must remember, the very first concept I introduced, which is that there are things in the universe which humans cannot understand completely, and that it is impossible for humans to try. Absolute morality is one of these things.
Humans cannot know what absolute morality is, and each human will have his own interpretation, subject to error. Even when using the bible to determine one's moral conviction, we must remember that the bible is written and compiled by human hands, which means the bible itself is subject to error. When interpreted by a priest or human, again there is the possibility of error.
Here I must stress the importance this realization. We must be completely objective about morality and build morality from the ground-up, not from the top-down. Every system of belief has different moral values and spiritual motivations. Here, in the 21st century, especially in a world where we are getting closer to each other, we must open our minds and allow ourselves to accept that our traditional value system needs to be changed, and contemplate the possibility of a new and better system.
The first part of the reckoning that we absolutely must recognize that providing spiritual meaning for ourselves is completely separate from how we decide our individual moral code.
Spiritual meaning here is concepts of things like heaven and hell in the christian religion, or karma in the hindu religion. For example, those who abide by the orthodox catholic moral code will be rewarded in heaven, and those who do not will be punished in hell. There must be a separation between the concept of spiritual meaning and how we decide what the orthodox catholic moral code will be. Now, catholic's will tell you that their moral code is absolute, from "God" and interpreted from the bible. Here we must remember, the very first concept I introduced, which is that there are things in the universe which humans cannot understand completely, and that it is impossible for humans to try. Absolute morality is one of these things.
Humans cannot know what absolute morality is, and each human will have his own interpretation, subject to error. Even when using the bible to determine one's moral conviction, we must remember that the bible is written and compiled by human hands, which means the bible itself is subject to error. When interpreted by a priest or human, again there is the possibility of error.
Here I must stress the importance this realization. We must be completely objective about morality and build morality from the ground-up, not from the top-down. Every system of belief has different moral values and spiritual motivations. Here, in the 21st century, especially in a world where we are getting closer to each other, we must open our minds and allow ourselves to accept that our traditional value system needs to be changed, and contemplate the possibility of a new and better system.