Logically, searching for and following a Supreme Creator is the most rational decision of any of the possibilities. Either 1 – I live like I’m accountable to a Supreme Creator, or 2 – I live like I’m not accountable to a Supreme Creator. Furthermore, either A – there is a Supreme Creator, or B – there is no Supreme Creator. This only allows four possible outcomes: 1-A, 2-A, 1-B, or 2-B.
By choosing option 1, I will fall short of perfection, but my morals are only relative to how much I understand of a Creator’s design. I continually improve my thoughts, words, actions, habits, and character because my target isn’t moving – it’s only becoming more and more clear. If A is the outcome, I am peacefully accepted into the presence of God. If B is the outcome, then I’ve lived a life of struggle but little regret and at least die in peace.
By choosing option 2, I get sex without commitment, nights that are off the hook, crowds that appear to love me, expensive toys that I don’t have to share (or can, if she’s pretty enough), freedom from guilt (because morals are really only a construct of current societal acceptance), and all the indulgences my intelligence can achieve. I also eventually get old. My toys get old and I have too much debt to buy new ones. Sex is something I remember, but I have no-one to remember it with. I have aches that won’t go away – health conditions that cost a fortune in time, money, and pain to manage. I want to die and the world around me seems to not really notice. When I do die and A is the outcome, I won’t enjoy the presence of God – I’ll be bitter with myself, with my so-called friends, and with God who refused to force me to behave. As much as God still loves me, how could he trust me with an inheritance after ignoring his guidance? I would almost pray for outcome B to end my misery.
I understand that these views seem glib and harsh. I even understand that option 2 could potentially be less riotous, but through the epistemology of empiricism, or discerning truth through my own experiences, I’ve noticed that the people who strive to keep the commandments of God as they understand them and to the best of their ability, are happier when they get old. Even if they realize later in life that option 1 is best and change directions, they still carry a peace about them that choosers of option 2 don’t. I think that I’m so stubborn about option 1 because option 2 is so unappealing to me. And my decision to follow option 1 was made while completely uncertain about whether the outcome was A or B. This was the beginning of my acceptance, but it certainly didn’t end here. This line of reasoning only opened the door to my considerations of a Supreme Creator and helped me decide to seek him out and follow him when I found him. What came next was profound and life altering…