First of all let me wish Happy New Year and all the best for the future to our reader(s). We haven't abandoned this site but the Xmas vacation gave us an awesome opportunity to have a break from many things including blogging and thinking about the stupidity around us. Of course, the latter was not that easy because even if I wanted to relax with a nice cup of coffee (or frape) under the Greek sun overlooking the Parthenon, stupidity and bigotry were surrounding me. After all, these traits are universal and they know no boundaries.

Anyway, as you have probably realized by the above paragraph, I spent my Xmas vacations in Athens (that is the real Athens. Not the one in Georgia, US or Ontario, Canada). I had a great time doing the things I enjoy most: Spending time with my family and friends, going out for coffees around Plaka and Paralia.

The Xmas period is when I have my birthday. It is actually kinda nice. My bday is squeezed in between Xmas and Boxing Day. That means that within a period of a week I receive three gifts from people. So, this time I organized a small get together at my parents' place. Many people did come to see me and I thanked them for that. It felt nice to see people that I only see every few years since I now live somewhere in the New World.

However, there was one friend missing. In the old days, whenever I decided to organize a get-together at my parents' place, she used to arrive with a big bday chocolate cake and a huge smile. This time she had something else to do. She was escorting her brother's coffin from another country where they went a few weeks prior to that hoping to fight his rare case of cancer.

So, the next day of my bday, I had to attend the funeral. Needless to say that that was very difficult. At those moments, people go through a myriad thoughts and feelings: Sadness, despair, fear for our mortality. Some people use the opportunity to hate God; others strengthen their fate on God.

I cannot do either because I do not believe in God. How can I hate something/someone who does not exist? How can I believe in an imaginary entity which has been created by man in order to explain life, provide reason to our existence and give hope for our ultimate fear? No, I did not use that opportunity to either hate or believe in God. ( I am not going to talk about the existence of God. I have already done that elsewhere in this site. [1])

I did use the opportunity to do something else instead: To re-iterate my disgust for all religious establishments and the stupidity of people. Just look around you and use your faking brain. If you do that, you will realize several things. Firstly, we are not that different from any other primate, mammal or living thing on this planet. We are born like the rest of the animal kingdom, we breath, we eat, we FAK and eventually we seize to exist. Humans want to survive and exist like any other living thing. Nature through evolution gave us the chance to survive by developing one single organ within us. It is called the brain. Other animals have an advantage in survival by having better eyes, bigger legs, etc etc. Homo Sapiens has one major organ which offers a competitive advantage for survival.

Use that organ to realize that this is, indeed, the case. What makes you thing that you are so special in a supernatural entity's eyes? In everything else, we are similar to all other of His so-called creations. Why would you believe that there is life after death for you but not your pet or the poor cow/chicken/pig/dog/snake that you had for dinner? The only thing that makes us special is our brain which, in turn, provides us with the capability to think logically. Use, then, this freaking logic of yours to see and accept things the way they are. Accept the fact that you are not that different from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Secondly, accept the fact that because of your higher consciousness (which is a result of your brain) you have the ability to ask questions such as the meaning of your existence or the possibility of life after death. Your ultimate fear of death is an evolutionary trait. If you did not have the fear of death, you would not care of dying and Homo Sapiens (similar to other animals) would not exist.

Man created God in order to provide a solution to this ultimate fear. This fear is being used by most religious establishments to control and manipulate the masses in order to benefit their establishment. Again, creating a society and eventually an establishment provides an evolutionary advantage to that group of people.

But what about your advantage and right to survive? It is time to realize that by doing a few simple things the future generations which will carry our genes (and perhaps even yourself) can live longer. Why believe in those stupid religious people who want your money and control your thoughts? Why not saying "WHAT THE FAK are your trying to 'sell' to me"? No, I no longer believe in your mambo-jumbo. I am a free man and I choose to ignore you. I will refuse to fight, kill and be killed in your name. I won't give a penny to you. Instead, I will donate to charities. I will give money to medical research so that we won't have a single case of cancer in 50-100 years from now. Now that sounds compelling.

I think that it is, perhaps, time for our next evolutionary move. Homo Sapiens has a more complicated brain than any other animal, which in itself offers a competitive advantage of survival. However, we still do similar things to other living things, like killing, and creating groups/packs. We just do it at a higher level because our brain is capable of higher functions. Let us start to use our brain to deviate more and more from our animal friends and primate ancestors. Let us realize that by deviating our efforts from killing and controlling to research and technology we stand a chance of living better and longer.

Of course, we can never be completely altruistic and nice; not just yet. As I have said, we are still too similar to other animals. But it is important to start thinking about alternative ideas. It is important to look at the future and realize that we are the only species which has the chance of ultimate survival. Our technology is still young but look at what we have achieved. Imagine 1,000 or even 10,000 years from now. No cancer, no viral infections, traveling and colonizing other planets.

I am sure that you think I have lost my mind and I should stop reading science fiction books. Well, do not forget that today's science fiction is tomorrow's science. I wonder how many people laughed when Jules Verne wrote his book 'From the Earth to the Moon'. Let us stop believing in superstition, metaphysical crap and instead concentrate our efforts to the ultimate survival of our species. Why do you want to believe in life after death when there is a chance to live for a very long time? Eternity is an awful long time to be dead.

Let us all see that through our technological marvels, there is an almost infinite potential for life. We may make mistakes along the way. Jee, we may even get destroyed by an asteroid, just like the dinosaurs, although we may actually have the means to stop that through our technology. In many years from now we may have the capability to leave the cradle of our civilization for other destinations. It is up to us to do just that.

Perhaps it is time to bring you back to Earth if you are still reading this crazy editorial. My deceased friend was one of the kindest and nicest persons I have ever met. He was a medical doctor working for a hospital. He never drank alcohol or smoked. Jee, we was not even chewing gums. He was as close to perfect as possible. He was only 32 years of age. Adios Amigo.