Please to Meet You, Hope You Guess my Name.

I want this first post to be an introduction.  For reasons that I might later share I would like to remain fairly anonymous so I will be going by the moniker, Dedalus, named from a character from my favorite book, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce.  In the book Stephen Dedalus, the young protagonist, searches for truth and honesty in religion, art and government.  The book and Dedalus' journey (and consequently Joyce's boyhood) so mimic my own that I instantly latched onto it and have gained a lot of wisdom and comfort from Joyce's words.

But enough about Joyce.  And now on to some harsher stuff.

I find much of what most people say and write to be complete shit.  (I am not sorry for the language.  But I will try to restrain my swearing to only the times when I want to make my point direct and honest).  Most of what we say, myself somewhat included, is full of thoughtless pleasantries, shallow gossip and opinions handed to us by our traditions, societal upbringing and parents.  All in all, conversation is mostly meaningless and for self-gratification.

Some of you, by now - if you have cared to read this far -are probably saying to yourself, "well, I have meaningful conversations with my friends and family."  That is great if you do.  I hope you do.  However, I live in a very conservative state, surrounded by very close-minded individuals and, despite my efforts, have very few meaningful conversations.  I want this blog to be an expression of my thoughts and opinions that I more often than not keep tucked away inside the confines of my skull.

But enough self pity.  What is this all about.

I came from a very religious upbringing and as of two years ago was heavily invested in my religion.  If I'm honest with myself, I can say that my former religion did me a lot of damage but it also fueled me with a curiosity and a different way of thinking from most.  My religion gave me a quest for truth. (Many of you might be able to guess my religion from view that I will shortly share that reflect my previous beliefs).

I am an atheist now.  But I feel that I am not a normal atheist.  While I don't believe in anything supernatural, superstitious or any of that like, I do believe that there is a best way of living and that we can achieve that and that this best way of living could possible be called an objective truth - a truth that lies independently from ourselves.  (I know crazy, huh?)

That's what this blog is about.  It's about finding truth.  Truth in art, politics, family, religion (here's a hint: there is very few truths in religion) and living.  The questions I want to ask and try to answer are question like:  "What makes some art good and some bad?" and "What is the best way to run an economy" (It is definitely not capitalism) and "How good of a moral teacher was Jesus Christ?"  and "What can I do here and now to make a difference for a definite good in the lives of people around me?"  (I'll be using the word "definite" a lot).  This a just a few of hundreds of important questions.

Please leave comments or email me if you find any mistakes or if you disagree.  Although many people might not like it and might find it hypocritical or confusing, I have been known to change my mind on many things.  And I hope to change my mind on many things with your helpful comments and through this blog.