However, it strikes me as odd that, as forcefully as you battle for your ideology, you think, when it suites you, that you can claim to NOT be struggling for "a particular Truth's dominion." Beyond which, you still haven't addressed how your deliberately offensive language (I mean, scatological/eschatological... did you make that up yourself or did some college professor pass on the gem?) is supposed to yield a "better tomorrow" for anybody, least of all yourself.

But you err most dramatically in your assertion that somehow Christians believe that they are instantly absolved of culpability for their lives. Quite the opposite is true.

You may disagree with the way in which some, maybe many, religious people apply their understanding of the universe as it is (i.e., a divine creation), as do I, but your alternative is hollow. You cannot simply declare a wish for "better existence" when nothing in either your other opinions or the way in which you present them supports the claim that you believe in the wish.

You contradict yourself in such ways that I believe that you haven't formed a unified understanding about these issues, and I hope for your sake that when/if you discover that you have no foundation, that your ideology hovers above an abyss, that you have not so ravaged the bridge of faith that you cannot escape your belief system's collapsing in upon you.

With sincerity and hope, Justin Katz

It's a pretty honest question, one that I've heard directed my way many times before.

Heaven knows there is alot more ellucidation on the themes of responsibility, of value and of meaning in a world without sky gods, that I've posted here over the last few months. In any event, here was the small response that I posted back:

Jason, what the homilies and the stories only intimate at is that the long dark night of the soul doesn't occur just once, that Gesthemene is passed through more times than you can count, and the bridge over the abyss shatters, breaks and casts us into its depths a great, great many times. There is no one victory, save that which occurs each time we pick ourselves up after the latest in a thousand defeats and start again. Cliched, perhaps, but then much of life is.

There is no dominion in truth with a small "t". No complete and supreme authority over some kind of transcendental or spiritual reality. Prevalence or present understanding, but not dominance. Dispelling the myth that a world without sky gods and cave demons isn't a world of abandon, but rather one where good and evil is our responsibility because there is no one else to blame or appeal to, is about the best I can do.

And no, the eschatological/scatological joke wasn't something a college professor made up. It's humor that arose out of my adolescent confusion over the terms and what they meant. It was also one of the first moments where I learned that things aren't as simple and complete as CCD or Sunday School would make out -- that the world is a much more interesting, fascinating, tragic, scary yet still sublimely wonderful place than any of the good books ever proffered.

The universe is a tough place to live in. It can be daunting, intimidating even scary. There is an Inuit saying though Sila ersinarsinivdluge which means "be not afraid of the universe." I've actually always found that to be a pretty good word of advice, all things considered.