Religion and Government
What is religion? I like the meaning of the word religion which corresponds with the idea that Jordan Peterson introduced me to regarding our actions. When asked if he believes in God, he responds that he lives his life as if God exists. I think our actions are the essential part of our religious belief. I think it was the Christian James who taught faith without works is dead. I think our work is vital and defines our religion.
What is government? Government is the thing which exists when rules and processes are incorporated into a system. An individual can have their own rules and process to govern their lives. A machine can have software which governs its behavior. Collections of these individuals and machines are also government.
My religion is to avoid forcing other people to do things they do not want to do so long as they are not causing harm to others. And I do not believe emotions are harmful. Many people do not share my religious view and I believe these people have an overwhelming tendency toward immoral behavior and immoral thinking.
My religion is the religion of peace. My claim is that peace can exist if everyone were to learn and teach my religion.
My government is a system of rules and processes which do not force harmless people to do things. My government tries to share information which helps individuals make informed actions. A legitimate role of a mechanized unthinking government system is to collect and provide information. As we discover better information technology we are able to move toward a better form of government which is primarily a learning resource for individuals to make informed decisions.
The immoral people who want to force moral people to behave in certain ways are at odds with themselves because they have different opinions about how people should behave. There are groups of individuals who want to outlaw creating guns who are often in opposition to groups of individuals who want to outlaw growing the cannabis plant. Both groups of people have immoral intentions. Moral people can create their own guns and grow their own cannabis plants.
The process for transitioning from an immoral government toward a moral government is to allow individuals like myself to be exempt from the laws of the land so that we can learn and teach other individuals how to behave in new ways which are moral. I can teach the world how to create guns in a responsible way. And I can teach the world how to grow and use cannabis plants in a responsible way. If I make mistakes, people can file claims of injury against me to receive recompense and facilitate learning.
The laws of the land only get in the way of progress when they prevent people like me from running careful experiments in a responsible way for the benefit of all.