Sense and Goodness Without God

by Richard C. Carrier

I have taken a different approach, and wish to recommend it to everyone. My religion is Philosophy Itself. Every hour that devout believers spend praying, reading scripture, attending sermons and masses, I spend reading, thinking, honing my skill at getting at the truth and rooting out error. I imagine by most standards I have been far more devout than your average churchgoer. For I have spent over an hour every day of my life, since I began my teen years, on this serious task of inquiry and reflection. I am no guru. But I have gotten pretty far. Now, nearing middle-age, I have found myself with that coherent, sensible, complete, evidentially well-supported philosophy of life that I had been looking for. Though I know there is a lot I still don’t know, and many mistakes yet to be corrected, I am always learning. I have spent a long time pulling pieces together, correcting my errors, backing up from dead ends and starting over, making sense of it all. Now I can actually say I have something to say. I might not be right. I might be only partly on target. But at least I gave it as good a try as anyone could.

about as good as any three paragraphs in a book could ever be