Joss Whedon is amazing. I was driving and wondering about what he has said. Nothing is more important than how we treat people. Think of keeping faith in human beings in terms of three traffic signals on the road, as in my case it really happened.
On the first signal suppose you get a red light, but its a very small signal and everyone is tempted to jump it. Many do. But awesome guy that I am I listed to my conscience. You wait for it to be green and go. On the second one 5-10 seconds are past since it was green so you're going a little bit faster lest it turns orange. But one wise guy is jumping the signal and you almost collide with him. Luckily that doesnt happen. And you're on your way to the third signal. If the third traffic signal is red, will you jump it? How can you trust people to do the right thing? If wrong was done to you who would you take revenge from?
Some where one of the early human not killed by wild animals in the jungle after hunting and gathering thought to himself/ herself that sharing food would be better than eating alone. Maybe they could have fun and dance with each other in the heat or rain or snow when there was no TV or FB.
Point is humanism predates religion. We did not need sky bully to tell us what was the right thing to do and how we could survive, be selfish about that and yet share among our peers and have a good time.
Here's what I know - There is no Justice in this world. The sooner we understand this the better it is for us to decide whats the right thing to do. That burning desire to right the wronged. Undo the undone. It can never be undone. Many lives have been ruined in that desire for fulfilling the need for justice. Society with its cliches and media and advertising would have us believe what is right and what we should aim for, what sons should buy their parents and what father should do for his son and what love means. We need a higher power to dictate morality and define the purpose of life. We want to live in a way that conforms with the environment around us. But there was a time when you asked questions. Your mind was probably flooded with questions and you satisfied yourself with answers from the environment - your parents, friends, media, newspapers. Yet somewhere your chain of question might lead to where Joss Whedon is -
I believe that the only reality is how we treat each other. The morality comes from the absence of any grander scheme... Not from the presence of any grander scheme.
Another good quote is from Daniel Handler -
So it might sound arrogant - there is no entity divine or not to decide you whats right or not. As quite literal in the first example - you wont get a green signal for the morally right thing to do. So for that there's this thing called responsibility. Do good to others. Dont be unjust. Are we to follow this? Who decides? You. There is nothing up there to make decisions for you. its a void. From sounding arrogant it boils down to responsibility.
On the first signal suppose you get a red light, but its a very small signal and everyone is tempted to jump it. Many do. But awesome guy that I am I listed to my conscience. You wait for it to be green and go. On the second one 5-10 seconds are past since it was green so you're going a little bit faster lest it turns orange. But one wise guy is jumping the signal and you almost collide with him. Luckily that doesnt happen. And you're on your way to the third signal. If the third traffic signal is red, will you jump it? How can you trust people to do the right thing? If wrong was done to you who would you take revenge from?
Faith in god means believing absolutely in something with no proof whatsoever. Faith in humanity means believing absolutely in something with a huge amount of proof to the contrary. We are the true believers.
Some where one of the early human not killed by wild animals in the jungle after hunting and gathering thought to himself/ herself that sharing food would be better than eating alone. Maybe they could have fun and dance with each other in the heat or rain or snow when there was no TV or FB.
Point is humanism predates religion. We did not need sky bully to tell us what was the right thing to do and how we could survive, be selfish about that and yet share among our peers and have a good time.
Here's what I know - There is no Justice in this world. The sooner we understand this the better it is for us to decide whats the right thing to do. That burning desire to right the wronged. Undo the undone. It can never be undone. Many lives have been ruined in that desire for fulfilling the need for justice. Society with its cliches and media and advertising would have us believe what is right and what we should aim for, what sons should buy their parents and what father should do for his son and what love means. We need a higher power to dictate morality and define the purpose of life. We want to live in a way that conforms with the environment around us. But there was a time when you asked questions. Your mind was probably flooded with questions and you satisfied yourself with answers from the environment - your parents, friends, media, newspapers. Yet somewhere your chain of question might lead to where Joss Whedon is -
I believe that the only reality is how we treat each other. The morality comes from the absence of any grander scheme... Not from the presence of any grander scheme.
Another good quote is from Daniel Handler -
"I'm not a believer in predetermined fates, being rewarded for one's efforts. I'm not a believer in karma. The reason why I try to be a good person is because I think it's the right thing to do. If I commit fewer bad acts there will be fewer bad acts, maybe other people will join in committing fewer bad acts, and in time there will be fewer and fewer of them"
So it might sound arrogant - there is no entity divine or not to decide you whats right or not. As quite literal in the first example - you wont get a green signal for the morally right thing to do. So for that there's this thing called responsibility. Do good to others. Dont be unjust. Are we to follow this? Who decides? You. There is nothing up there to make decisions for you. its a void. From sounding arrogant it boils down to responsibility.
