Humanity - An Athiest's Rant (Stop me if you heard this one.)

[Exo Etherial]

Take a look at your hand. Tell me what you see.

I'll tell you what I see; I see millions of years of struggle. I see death and life intertwined, in constant struggle, while at the same time I see them in a passionate embrace. I see life beginning and then death taking, but death never takes everything. Oh, no sir. Death is... death is always incomplete in what it reaps. The strongest survive and they make life, but faster, and their offspring are strong. They change to avoid death, they live longer, then they die, their children are ultimately better than they are. The strongest of them will live even longer. They have children then become as obsolete the parents, and the cycle starts all over again. Death is only making life stronger. This seems to be the absolute truth to be, the system doesn't have to change in the slightest, and it is perfection as the world intended it to be.

But then I flex my hand and I touch the tips of my fingers to my thumb and I see a new component. I see intelligence; I see greater things, potential. I see humanity; I see experiences stored beyond the primal needs and fears. I see minds growing and changing, advancing, ideas, thought, reasoning, wisdom. I have to blink because of the flood of images. I can't take it all in, it is too much potential, too much that can happen, too much that will happen because of this new component introduced. It has disrupted the system of before. But though it all, through the bleak confusion I know, it is a good thing. It if wasn't we would have never had it. Evolution and the cycle of children being better than parent would not allow it otherwise. I have to find a word for this component, I call it the idea and it makes me smile.

I turn my hand over, I feel the ligaments and tendons sag under the pull of gravity. My fingertips point to the floor and suddenly I am saddened. Because I know that we aren't ready yet; we are not all that we can be. Potential is a good thing to have but by it's very implied meaning there is more than can be done, changed, or improved upon. We are flawed. I see darker sides of humanity, I try to understand it, and I try to learn from it, I try... I try to not get overwhelmed by the waves of revulsion I am now feeling. I see evil inherent in all beliefs, I see evil in those that abuse the concept of not believing in anything, I see the terrifying oppression in restricting behavior, and I see the horrible actions done without the restrictions. I see selfishness in most, I see greed in many, and in a few I see murderous hunger. I think to myself, "Why not just kill the whole lot of them?"

But I've already answered my question. They are like me; they are human beings like me. They feel pain, they have memories, and they have experiences tucked away inside their heads that are more complex than the primal needs and fears. Most won't hurt others; they will merely make life difficult for others. These selfish people (of which I am a member) are what make life what it is - the imperfect, cruel and uncaring world today.

I just stare at the back of my hand, and I look deeper into it. I draw strength from it. You want to know why? Because I am the strongest human ever made. I AM better than my parents, it is in my genes to be like that. I am the product of billions of years of life and death. But any animal can say the same, but I'm different and so are you.

Both you and I are humanity, and we have the idea...