The truth sets you free

My former accountant once said to me "The truth sets you free".

He was referring to a business matter that we were having trouble with.  Anyway, he became my former accountant, and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I didn't tell him the truth as to why I sort accounting help with another firm/person.

Beyond that, I still think about that phrase, and nowadays how it applies to the religious amongst us.

The religious have a series of beliefs that for them are "the truth".  Those of us who are atheists believe that the religious can only hold these beliefs if they abandon "reason".  We (the atheists) find it amazing that the abandonment of reason places the religious in a position that they can not accept or are unwilling to accept a "truth" about a natural phenomenon.  That the position of the Bible or Qur'an is deemed sufficient word on the matter and that no other truth is possible. 

Now this seems to me like the mind is imprisoned in the beliefs of the religion that they hold.  In other words, they are not free.  Yes, they tell us otherwise.  They say that there beliefs are "they way and the truth".

What do I believe?  That we live in a natural world.  There is no after-life, or any supernatural forces guiding us or the universe.  We are not controlled and not responsible for our actions or thoughts to nobody but ourselves.  That being "good" is part of our genes, part of how we exist as a species, and this is echoed in many other species.  Being good is essential to survival as a group/community.

Our Purpose? To survive!  How do we do that? By having children and allowing our genes to survive beyond our own finite existence.

Are there anomalies? Of course.  Some in our species have no children, either by choice or by being incapable.  Also some amongst us form relationships (while natural to them - same sex) are in themselves not going to allow their genes to be passed on. 

There are also personalities that are destructive, and that appear to act in destabilizing humanity.  We aren't good at rejecting these people.  In other species these personalities usually meet with an unfortunate end.

The truth?  Be good for it's own sake and build better communities for humanities sake and live this one life as best you can.  This will set you free