A Religion for the Non Religious

[Catholic_Lady]

Pretty much everything he says here is stuff I had already thought of, and you probably have too... (and ironically very relevant to my faith, so perhaps we're not so different after all!) ...but the way he illustrates it and lays it all out is pretty awesome!

I found it to be a bit overwrought, and the impression is that the writer should have organized his thoughts a bit more before posting.  There seem to be two or three concepts that he's trying to explain and he mixes them up a bit and it becomes long-winded and boring.

He seems to be talking about setting goals and carving a meaningful path for ourselves by focusing on certain core values that can help us to feel better and avoiding the primal, gimme-now-now approach that can create psychological highs and lows on a downward curve.  There are quite a few self-help/self-motivation 'gurus' out there who have various approaches which are similar: how to give your life meaning and purpose through goal-setting and standards-setting.  He also dabbles in subliminal and subconscious influences and how they can affect our attempts at achieving meaningful goals in life.  But I think the "fog" analogy confuses concepts like how our subconscious shapes the way we perceive the world and the extent to which we can understand and control how our subconscious mind works.

While I think that determining a purpose and meaning in our lives through goal-setting is very effective, I don't like to consider it as a religion or as a spiritual approach to life.  Appeals to a higher power or purpose motivate us to leave our fates in the hands of outside forces or work towards the ends of someone who doesn't have our best interests in mind.  I'd rather take control of my life and my fate instead.  When god is the person you face in the mirror instead of a mysterious cosmic arbiter, you realize that you are responsible for your life, and that makes you feel more powerful and more free.

Thanks for the well thought out reply!

Your last paragraph, though is not what he's saying. He's not saying we should appeal to a higher power. He doesn't believe in a higher power. And he is precisely telling us to take control of our own lives and fates.