Final Post

1. Religion is a set of organizing principles for life.
2. Right and Wrong are subjective not objective, but that shouldn't stop us (humanity) from inventing a set of organizing principles based on human experience and reason.
3. Religion should be on firm ground. Humans have traditionally invented a 'faith-based' God to be at the foundation of a religion. But it needn't be that way. God is basically an entity that is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. Guess what, so is the Universe (defining Universe as anything that existed/exists/will exist in the future).
4. Universe is unquestionable, it exists in front of our eyes. We are part of it. However the creator of this Universe is questionable and beyond our grasp. Why even try to imagine (or invent) the creator? Just put the Universe at the foundation of religion.
5. A set of organizing principles that could be embraced by all of humanity should be based on human experience and reason. All humans experience 'duality' i.e. they just know that they exist (don't need a proof) and know other things exist that which are different from them. All humans and very familiar with rational framework of 'causality' i.e. a bunch of things need to happen, come together to create something, sustain it and eventually destroy/transform it.
6. Using the experience of duality and the rational framework of causality, we can define Universe as: "an interconnection of infinite, unique objects". It should be possible for every human to agree with this definition. This is critical to inventing a religion that entire humanity could embrace not just a particular group.
7. If Universe is the foundation of the religion, it only makes sense to learn from it.
8. From 'interconnectedness', we learn to be aware and to understand the interconnections in nature and to respect it and work in harmony with it.
9. From 'infiniteness', we learn that we are infinitesimal in this Universe but it is possible to overcome this depressing fact by being among people we love and who love us back.
10. From 'uniqueness', we learn that each person is unique in this space/time and whether he/she likes it or not, it is a fact. It is incumbent upon each of us to express that uniqueness and deliver positive things to world around.
11. From 'object-ness', we learn that we live inside a body that makes us a person. It is a pre-requisite to take care of the body as when the body wears off we cease to exist.
12.  Knowing the right thing is very different from doing the right thing. Being = Knowing + Doing.
13. There is a lot to learn with regards to "doing" the right thing. There are a lot of skills that once we learn and incorporate in daily life will help us stay consistent with word and deed.
14. There are two attributes that define a great life: meaning and pleasure. You don't want a life with just one of those things. Ideally you want a life filled with great meaning and satisfaction but at the same time very pleasurable.
15. Religion gives meaning.

Life and Death

At some point in life, one realizes that one actually has a choice to live or to die. For most of us the choice to live is instinctive. But a few among us, choose to take their own life. Faith-based religions have the ideas like sin/judgment day and karma/rebirth that are used to proclaim its wrong to commit suicide. Similarly, what are the ideas to promote life instead of death in the context of Rational Empiricism?

To recap, Rational Empiricism argues the following about life. 

1. Life is a sum of all choices.
2. The choices should bring meaning to life. Pleasure should be experienced within the boundaries of meaning.
3. What is meaningful in life is rationalized from experiencing Universe as an 'interconnection of infinite, unique objects'.
4. For illustration, 'Principle of Interconnectedness' infuses meaning into 'being sustainable on the planet'. 'Principle of Infiniteness' infuses meaning into 'being loving with our family and friends'. 'Principle of Uniqueness' infuses meaning into 'being useful at place of work'.

The decision to live or die is personal, all that Rational Empiricism or any other religion can do is to clarify the question 'what is the promise of a religious life?'. Given the above points, we can see that there is plentiful opportunity within the context of Rational Empiricism to live a meaningful and pleasurable life, to leave a net positive impact at home, society and planet by following the path and by inspiring other nonbelievers to join the path. If a person chooses not to live, he/she loses the opportunity to have a positive impact on the world.

In Rational Empiricism, living doesn't merely refer to the state of not-dying, but a bodily state of being healthy, fit and living a life of vitality with strong-will, optimism and hope for a future that's yet to be invented. So, physical and mental exercises, sleep, proper posture and ergonomics, self-defense techniques, nutrition, hygiene etc are paramount for a Rational Empiricist. You have to take care of your body first before you can take care of your home, work or planet.

Rational Empiricism - a religion for nonbelievers

What happens if you don't have a religion?
You conform unconsciously or get confused when you have to make choices in life. Looking back at such a wavering life could cause much distress. You might regret the lost opportunity and it may be too late to fix it.

What is a religion?
A religion is a set of guiding principles for making choices in life. Religion gives the person clarity to make those choices and to consciously decide where to spend their time and energy in this world. It facilitates the person to live a meaningful and pleasurable life and gives the strength to navigate through the painful times.

Does religion need a God?
Religion has to be based on some solid, unshakable foundation. Belief in a God and God's word or a God's messenger's word  is one way to create a religion. One downside to such God-founded religion is that there are powerful middlemen interpreting the God's message and laying down rules for others to follow. A second problem is, at times practitioners of religion vilify other Gods and religions and cause communal disharmony. A more serious downside is the nature of faith itself; a faithful can't rationalize why he has faith but he has to always protect his faith. After living a long, devout life, if some incident suddenly converts him to a non-believer, then it invalidates a large portion of his life which would be quite devastating.

What is the foundation for Rational Empiricism?
Rational Empiricism is a non-theistic religion founded in reflecting and reasoning human experiences. Every human can testify to these two experiences; a) duality - that he exists and he is different from other things in Universe and b) causality - that there are causes for things to come into existence, causes for their sustenance and causes for them ceasing to exist. From these experiences, one can rationalize a definition for the Universe to be ''an interconnection of infinite, unique objects'. How?
1. Duality gives rise observation of objects
2. Duality also gives rise to distinction of self from other objects and to distinction of one unique object from another.
3. Duality also gives rise to observation of incomprehensible number of objects in Universe which gives rise to infinite, unique objects.
4. Causality indicates that these objects are interconnected as they continuously interact in space and time creating, sustaining and destroying each other.
Putting these concepts together, the definition of Universe as an interconnection of infinite, unique objects is justified. This definition of Universe forms the basis for the religion: Rational Empiricism.

What are the guiding principles of Rational Empiricism?
There are four guiding principles of Rational Empiricism interpreted from conception of Universe:
1. Principle of Uniqueness - Each human is unique, so is every other object in Universe.
2. Principle of Interconnectedness - Humans and other objects are interconnected to each other in complex ways.
3. Principle of Infiniteness - Each human (himself a collection of innumerable objects) and other seemingly infinite objects constitute the Universe.
4. Principle of Fitness - Each human is a person unless he is a corpse.

What is the promise of Rational Empiricism?
Rational Empiricism promises a meaningful and pleasurable life (pleasures within the boundaries of meaning) for the practitioner, a more peaceful and just society and a sustainable planet.
1. Principle of Uniqueness encourages expression of individual's unique passions and adding value through work and predicts that people do their best work in such environment.
2. Principle of Interconnectedness supports equality for all in the society and promotes scientific understanding of the interconnected world and policy making based on those findings and predicts that a human society in-sync with nature will thrive.
3. Principle of Infiniteness asserts that a sense of belonging and companionship is desired by every human in this seemingly infinite universe and predicts that love at home will give the recipient of love the strength to navigate through the tough times in life.
4. Principle of Fitness encourage physical and mental fitness while alive before other objects eventually figure out and transform him/her to dirt.

Will Rational Empiricism stand the test of time?
If we stop experiencing duality and causality, then Rational Empiricism can be discarded. But I am guessing that when that happens we won't any longer be humans, we would have evolved to a different species or we will be living in a new Universe.
Also, if we find new ways to rationalize duality and causality different from the way it is done in Rational Empiricism, then Rational Empiricism can be adapted and evolved to the new concepts. For instance, there are two fundamental mysteries of Universe that are purposely not dealt with in Rational Empiricism: a) What is the origin of Awareness? and b)  What is the origin of Universe? Rational Empiricism doesn't bother answering these questions because these mysteries of the Universe doesn't negate our experience of duality and causality. However, if and when somebody presents rational answers to these questions and if that alters our conception of Universe, then we can evolve Rational Empiricism to the new concepts. Until then Rational Empiricism will be valid in its present form for humans.