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It’s impossible to count how many times secularists are told by religious folk of various faiths that we will regret our "godless" or "sinful" life sooner or later. Although I can’t speak for everyone, I can honestly report that this secular writer hasn’t experienced any regrets for my decision to trade in the unhappiness of traditional Catholicism for the joys of secularism. Since no regrets have surfaced in more than the twenty years that have elapsed since making the secular choice, it’s rather doubtful that they will surface any time in the near or distant future. Theists often write and speak of the wonders and happiness their religion provides. They often speak of miracles, doing good works for others, and the security in the belief that they’ll ascend into a place called Heaven when their lives come to an end. I have no doubts as to their sincerity, and if this is what truly makes them happy, I don’t see how any reasonable person would deny it’s a good choice for them. However, what many theists tend to overlook, either by accident or by design, is that secularists are just as happy, and can find the same joy in their world without following a particular faith. Some of us have been asked, more than once, what possible joy we can have in such a "godless" existence. What happiness can we hope to find without a particular faith or god to guide us? Only each individual can answer that question, since there’s no one answer that fits each person. I can only explain the joys I personally experience, as each one’s spiritual outlook is different. Joy #1 - Choice. Anyone who has voluntarily left Catholicism and other conservative faiths will no doubt cite the lack of freedom to make individual choices as one of their top five reasons for seeking a different path. I was no exception. Speaking from personal experience, I felt no joy in being told that I would have to remain celibate until marriage, even if for some reason I chose never to marry. I didn’t see the point of having the church decide the circumstances under which I could have sex, whether it be as a single or married person. I thought it was outright intrusive that a church believed it had the right to tell me I should never use certain kinds of birth control to prevent pregnancy, and that I couldn’t indulge in certain sexual acts that avoided it altogether. The Catholic church takes the position that making such individual choices in matters of sex, marriage, contraception and reproduction is not a good thing. They are half right. Leaving certain choices up to the individual is a good thing for each person. It is not a good thing for a church that wants to make those choices for us and which insists on absolute obedience to that particular church. Joy #2 - Happiness. What happiness would this be? It’s simple; that which comes from the absence of stresses, anxieties, and worries burdening people who don’t have the freedom to make their own life decisions. For example, a secular couple with no ties to a church or faith can decide for themselves whether they will become parents or not, and if they choose parenthood, how many children they can comfortably manage and afford. A traditional Catholic or conservative Christian couple generally feel they have no choice in the matters of sex and reproduction. According to their faith, sex must lead to children sooner or later, and the church usually prefers that it be sooner. If this couple is financially strapped with just the two of them working, things are probably going to get a lot worse when one or two children enter the marriage, especially if the wife’s income has to be sacrificed to become a stay-home mom. The husband may have to work not just one but two jobs to make ends meet after the wife’s Continued On Next Page (their, Page 2) ... AUTHOR: Susan Levine  TAGS: Opinion parents church god Religion US world work time BOOKMARK: Digg it | Add to Del.ICIO | Add to FARK ACTIONS: Comment Save Print Register free acount  |
