Judgement and Righteousness

 Just some metaphysical stuff that popped in my head about our attitudes of "judgement" and "righteousness".
Some people say they feel a greater presence, a greater purpose, something higher. They often call this God. I've felt this, stronger than most I'd say. But I don't place this presence in some paternal figure that watches over us, rather I see this presence and essence contained within each and every one of us. The forces that move us, our potential to fulfill our unique potentials and the intrinsic worth of life we carry within us. Together we form a collective consciousness, a being of its own made from our greatest faults and triumphs. This is the river, in which we're just drops of water. But the point I want to make here is that we have the choice to either fight or accept who we are, we take ultimate responsibility for our actions because we have to answer to ourselves. Putting an omnipotent man in the sky takes away that responsibility - it lets us judge others and justify our own actions. There is no right and wrong, it's a matter of opinion. If I end a gunman's life to save a child, I am not justified by a higher power or some morality - my actions are my own, and I'm willing to perform them without some moral claim because those actions embody who I am. Responsibility is daunting, and we naturally try to hang it on someone/something else - in this case, a set of morals laid out in a religious text. We're in no position to judge right or wrong, and trying to draw these lines is, I believe, a defense mechanism. We're worried that without set rules, anarchy would reign. The truth is, a lot of these rules have nothing to do with morals but instead promote the survival of our species - we don't need religion for our so-called "morals". You can pull very similar rules, minus the judgement and righteousness, from a very basic drive - survival. I don't think we should do away with religion, the weak and broken still need a place to find solace and hope, and I find it difficult to ask those in that state to undergo the self-transformation necessary to find strength of their own. We're human, and if we're broken enough a veil, or perhaps blanket, of safety, hope and purpose can be exactly what we need to avoid shattering before we can stand again. But we cannot expect to ever find true strength in the righteousness of religion, we cannot accept ourselves if we reach for someone else's idea of perfect. Those who hang their importance on a religious ideal, who justify their actions with it, can never stand next to one who takes full responsibility for their actions and embodies their true self. Religion isn't wrong, I find it beautiful in so many ways and it has helped make me who I am. But if you're looking to find your true self, you can't ever view religion in the same light. It's not that you have to reject its ideals and run from it - I've found myself living up to the vast majority of Christian morals. Not because they're right or wrong, but because it's who I am. It's who I want to be. I was raised Christian, and still consider myself one in many ways, but I don't believe in the "God" figure anymore. I feel the "Him" around me in nature when I close my eyes, from the smallest plant to the tallest tree. I see Him in every person I meet no matter how troubled, "good" or "evil" they may be. Once you realize you are not the judge of others, you start to understand them - you see their motives, what truly drives them in life and you choose to love them. You see that you're not justified in trying to make them something they're not. And maybe then you accept your own path, the true path that you've always known was there, and you do it for you. There lies some power this world has rarely seen, the kind that causes ripples in that river and changes the path of humanity. Without a God watching over me, without the conventional heaven, should I feel alone? The truth is I've never felt more surrounded by love and purpose in my entire life, and I believe our consciousness is not a light switch hinged on life and death. I love life, but I don't fear death. Change that was once hard now feels like a returning to self. And now I finally see my path, because I'm looking through my own two eyes. So with every chance I get, I want to end the mentality of judgement and righteousness that dominates our society and continues to hurt the people I love.

I previously mentioned a situation where I would have to take a life to save one. I want to go further than just saying that I wouldn't use a set of morals to justify my actions. When we use a set of morals to justify our actions we create an "I'm Right"/"You're Wrong" or "I'm Good"/"You're Evil" mentality. I say here and now that "Evil" is an illusion created to feed our moral justification and remove any feeling of responsibility for actions against it's forces and agents. It allows us to hate someone. I choose, when I look at that person I am compelled to stop, to choose empathy instead. Whatever drove them to do what they've done - circumstances or even who they are - are as real to them as the things that drive me in the archetypal "Good" direction. Instead of hate I choose empathy, understanding and love for a brother, a sister who acts true to what drives them in this life. I will not support them and I will likely oppose them, but I will never hate them. To do so would be to claim I am justified by some set of morals in acting against them. I am not. Just as they are, I am simply acting true to who I am. I will act against them and their actions, but I will do so by my own volition, ready and willing to bear any and all responsibility for my actions.