CHLOE’S STORY - 8

CHLOE’S STORY - 8

I actually lost sleep asking myself these questions. I knew that if nobody else had life figured out I‟d have to do it on my own, but I didn‟t think I could or should for all the reasons stated/implied above. But then again, not trying was as good as suicide…and in the case of the daughter I was responsible for, murder. This infuriated me. It didn‟t seem fair or logical that life was an ultimatum between slavery, suicide, or blasphemy. I kept telling myself, “This is insanity. It doesn‟t make any sense.” Then, after a long night of tossing and turning in bed, I finally let myself admit the simple and obvious truth of the matter. It was insanity. It didn‟t make any sense because it was illogical.

There‟s absolutely no proof to back up the idea that we can‟t know the meaning of life. It‟s circular logic to say, “The reason we don‟t we know the meaning of life is

because it‟s too hard to know. The reason we know it‟s too hard to know is because we don‟t know it.”

For all we know it might be so simple a 6 year old can figure it out and the only reason we don‟t know it is because we gave up before ever even trying. If we assume it‟s possible it doesn‟t make any sense to sit around waiting for someone else with enough self-congratulatory credentials to figure out what we should do with our lives. We‟ll all be old or dead by the time that happens and our lives will already have been wasted because we thought we could pass off the responsibility of living our lives onto someone else. And even if somebody else does give us the answer how will we know their answer is correct without coming to our own conclusions? And finally, who is anyone to tell another person they‟re too stupid or not allowed to do anything?

As for the issue of blasphemy, again, who is anyone to tell anyone else they can‟t or (especially) shouldn‟t figure out what they‟re supposed to do? What gives one person the right to tell another person they can‟t take control of their own life?

If you‟re not allowed to decide what to do with your life that means you have to let someone else tell you what to do. That means you have to be a slave. Now I may not be a prophet, but I‟m not an idiot either. If God exists, He doesn‟t need or want slaves. Only people want slaves.

It‟s not blasphemy to use the brain we were given to do exactly what it was painstakingly designed to do. And it doesn‟t make any sense to create a universe full of people who aren‟t supposed to know what to do with their lives. If we were created for a purpose it would defeat the purpose if we couldn‟t know what that purpose is. Therefore, we must be able to understand the meaning of life. That‟s just common sense.

So I said to hell with anyone who tried to discourage me and spent the next six years figuring out a systematic, logical, and empirically valid explanation of the meaning of life. I won‟t make the claim that it‟s the one true way or that everyone must follow it lest they be punished in the afterlife. God didn‟t reveal it unto me. It‟s just a logical explanation I logically deduced from the empirical evidence around me. But hey, in a scientific universe that‟s the only kind of answer that was ever really possible to have anyway.

If you finish this book and find it lacking I hope you don‟t toss it aside and forget about it. I‟m not begging you to give it a second chance. My concern is that if you have a better answer, the world needs it. I need it. I want you to write the book or essay that beats this one. You even have my permission to edit this book. Delete the parts you disagree with and insert what‟s missing.

All I ask is that you leave my name and the version number of this book on the title page and append your name and version number beneath that. If you happen to come across a version of this book that has someone else‟s name and version number underneath mine and you make changes then place your name and version number underneath any other names that may be there.

You also have my permission to publish, copy, sell, print, and distribute this book however you want without any financial obligation to the author. However, no individual or business may secure sole rights to publish, copy, sell, print, or distribute this book in full or in part. Finally, you only have the original author‟s permission to edit this book if you agree to the conditions that anyone may publish, copy, sell, print or distribute your version of this book full or in part with no financial obligation to you as well.

The way I‟ll measure the success of this book is not by how widely it‟s circulated but by how many versions, articles and books are written challenging it with the intention of furthering human understanding