My First Experience Of Writing On Medium
As a retiree from employment in Government service, I have experience of only drafting notes in files, drafting memoranda, office orders, circulars, notices, letters, speaking orders, and preparing their fair copies, and filing complaints against owners of business establishments and factories for prosecuting them in criminal courts for violating the provisions of the Indian labor laws.
I didn't know the craft of article writing.
My two crucial obstacles to article writing are (1) English as my second language and (2) my educational status as a total non-techie. I am a college graduate with English literature, psychology, and Kannada, my mother tongue as my three academic study subjects.
However, I have now learned the minimum elements of internet technology with dedication.
With this preparation, to spend my retired lifetime creatively, I thought of writing articles about the niche of the rational and humanist approach to life and intellectual self-improvement which I am passionate about.
It appeared difficult to write about this unfamiliar niche on a well-known public platform, Medium. After exercising a long and focussed reflection on my niche and procrastination, I gained the self-confidence to write about it.
Humanist philosophy covers this my passion niche.
I am stunned at the barbaric and cruel religious violence against and killing of innocent people including children in the name of God and at the command of His alleged written voice, the scripture. My heart burns with wrench when I read about such insane mass violence and killing. All right-thinking people vehemently condemn it.
This human tragedy proved a trigger to write about my niche message and spread it through Medium.
My humanist message includes refutation of the irrational claims that the supernatural God, soul, rebirth, incarnation, heaven, hell, salvation or moksha, miracle, magic, ghost, witch, and so on exist and that the scriptural commands to its followers are eternal and binding on human beings.
Some of the believers are bigots in this age of science and pervasive rational knowledge accessible to all.
A supernatural God didn’t create life and the universe, as such a God doesn't exist.
Humanists don’t recognize a teacher or scripture as the ultimate authority.
“We are part of nature, an animal among other animals, related to all life on earth….We were not created for any particular purpose, and there is no plan which guides our lives. The universe cares not for us, leads not to a given end….. We are born, age, and die like all other animals and have no evidence that another life follows this one. We are part of nature, nothing more.”-The Magic of Humanism by James Croft.
We create our values of life and instinctively desire to live ethically in society. For prevention and punishment of antisocial and illegal aberrational behavior of individuals and human groups, we have man-made laws and rules and socially accepted customs which the concerned authorities enforce. God doesn’t punish any offenders. Nor does God reward the deserving individuals.
In all the ethical decisions, the humanists’ overriding basic principle is to seek to uphold the dignity of people. We know that only human hands can dispense justice to us; only human hands can advance it. Humanists are committed to truth and human dignity. Truth is their head and human dignity is their heart. This is our only finite life. This world is the only world for us. We have to make the most of our life. There is no other life or another world for us. Our concentration is on human life including animal life on this planet. All our activities should be centered primarily and especially around human life.
We don't look to Heaven for gifts or grace. We look into the scripture to winnow the wheat from most of the chaff. Progress is our daily mantra. That which changes and leans towards humanism is human progress.
We can create meaning in our lives and live our best lives in society.
I am an ardent adherent of this philosophy of life and practice it.
Basavanna, the twelfth-century Indian humanist, spiritual, secular, and rational mystic propagated and practiced, and established Lingayatism as a progressive and fulfilling way of life which is, in its fundamentals, similar to rational humanism.
Charvaka, Buddha, Epicurus, Lucretius, Ingersoll, Bertrand Russell, A.C.Grayling.Mahatma Gandhi, Vivekananda, Carl Sagan, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins are some of the revered humanists.
I deeply respect all of them and similar other humanists not included here.
I hesitated-and hesitated- to write about this somewhat unfamiliar niche on the Medium platform. But my relentlessly pressing trigger and haunting passion overpowered me and pushed me to express my shocked anguish about human sacrifice for God and the scripture!
I took Ayodeji Awosika, the well-known writer’s Medium writing course from which I imbibed valuable insights and encouragement. The author offered-and continues to offer-straightforward, convincing, and practical writing advice to all of his students.
I then became a paid subscriber to medium.com.
Finally, I wrote and published my first story on the Medium platform and continue to write on it irregularly. I have to become consistent in writing with no excuse now. This is my journey from a hobby blogger to an aspiring professional writer.
