Why the Cult of Free Inquiry Needs to be Established.
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The other day I was watching some politician or preacher
or something babble on and on about "absolute values". Well, the values
that he was promoting were not such that I could agree with. But he caused
me to ask myself the question: "Are there any absolute values that I could
adhere to?" It turns out that there is one. Truth is an absolute value.
It is difficult to have such values when we are living in an age when people are enslaved primarily by deception, and only secondarily by force. The Age of Fraud and deceit. At the same time, we live in a bottom line, instant gratification age, where no one will listen to any argument that can not be compressed into a sound-byte. Few seem to be willing to consider the refutation of a complex lie, especially if the lie is comforting. No civilization can continue to exist if all important decisions are based on sound-bytes! This leads me to the conclusion that we need a religion or religious tendency whose primary first principle is the value of the discovery and spread of truth. The ideal of free inquiry needs to be defended with zeal. We need the Cult of Free Inquiry! I do not consider myself competent to establish the Cult of Free Inquiry. The author of such a cult would have to be a highly persuasive and articulate individual. However, if somebody does not try it, it will never happen. Perhaps if the cult could somehow be started going, an articulate spokesperson will come aboard later! Thus, I have decided to take an hack at it. To this end, I have prepared two documents: The first is my first attempt at the principles of such a cult. The second is my personal commentary on the first document. |
