Monday, April 06, 2009

The World's Only Universal Religion

Outside of Christianity, there really is one true world religion. It is the melding of all of the world’s other religions into one common theme: The Self is God. In this religion, I am sovereign. The world revolves around me and you exist at my discretion and to serve my purposes.

In my religion, there may be times when I will grace you with my liberal generosity. I will, when it suits me, perform random acts of kindness. The criterion for my good deeds is a complicated, arbitrary system based mainly on my own self-aggrandizement. The main purpose of such charity is to appease my own screaming conscience. As long as I feel better about myself, it’s a good thing. It also helps if others notice.

In the religion of self, I hold the scales of eternal justice. The balance may tip any way I please. I decide what is reasonable. I decide what is important. I decide what is sin. I decide what I must do to redeem my soul. That is, if I decide my soul needs redeeming at all.

I may decide there is no such thing as sin at all, at least in terms of what I owe to any man. In my religion, you are a commodity to me. You are either a prop in the theatre of my life or, perhaps a tool by which I may acquire a thing or achieve a goal. If I am ill and your stem cells might cure me, hand them over, even at the cost of your life. If you are old and occupying valuable space and sucking tax dollars from the system, you may need to be eliminated. Get this straight. This is about me.

The only conflict in my religion comes when my interests compete with yours. When this happens, I will attempt to make you an ally for a while. Otherwise, I will form a coalition against you. It will be whichever is expedient.

The religion of self is Darwinism taken to its ultimate end. This is survival of the fittest. Someday, I may be on the short end of the equation. Until then, you are either a resource to me or a burden. If you are a burden, you have lost you usefulness. Prepare to be eliminated.