The Frosty Atheist

By Ross Meisner

Fortunately for us, atheism has nothing to do with politics.

OK OK, relax! Catch your breath … when you’re done laughing in outrage, I will start again.

Unfortunately for us, even though atheism SHOULD have nothing to do with politics, it is one of those culture-war issues being forced into modern politics. Just like your skin pigmentation, your chromosomes, or your accent, your spiritual belief system should have nothing to do with how a group of citizens organize a system for mutual benefit, protection of equal rights, and self-governance. Yet alas, it matters in today’s world.

So, with politics being forced upon us, how do we effectively engage with politics without driving ourselves to alcoholism or cardiac arrest? This question is timely, as we pause to reflect on the most disruptive year I have ever witnessed, and contemplate a new year with our tradition of seeking to “do better.” There are two concepts that guide me as I look forward.

The first connects to the philosophies shared in my prior articles. In such a grand universe where we live such fleeting lives, where reality “is what it is” and doesn’t suffer us to impose a meaning on it, what control do we really have over our lives, our society, or our world? In short, none. Strip away all pretense and we find we have control over only two things: our attitude and our actions. That’s it.

We get to choose how we react, how we feel about something. This is central to Zen, learning to accept things we cannot change. Managing our feelings and expectations goes a long way to improving our happiness and sense of well-being. I will continue to focus on this in the new year.

And we control how we act. What we choose to do may be small, or may be powerful. Such agency is our key to influencing politics, society, and the state of our world. Between the opposing end-zones of pure optimism (the world is good) and pure pessimism (the world stinks), there is a wonderful concept called “meliorism.” Meliorism is the belief that the world is imperfect, but that it can be made better over time by human effort. Our effort. It’s a word I hardly ever hear, but it’s a foundational concept for democracy: People working together to make a better society for all.

So, I wish you a Happy New Year, and may we all “meliorate” just a little bit!