Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
Maybe the most important part of my philosophy is that most people are good. If you run into a Starbucks and throw your car keys to the first person you see and say, “My wife is having a baby, I have to jump into her car and drive her to the hospital. My Porsche [I wish I knew cars, so I could give a good example of a fancy car, but I drive a Mini Cooper] is double-parked—could you take it, move it, and . . . here’s my cell phone, just call “Mommy” on there and tell us where it’s parked . . .” If you say that to most people (providing you pick them and they don’t pick you) they’re going to do the right thing. Your car and cell phone are going to be safe whether you throw those keys to an atheist, Muslim, Jew, Christian, or Jain.
ONE ATHEIST’S SECOND SUGGESTION
Do not put things or even ideas above other human beings. (Let’s scream at each other about Kindle versus iPad, solar versus nuclear, Republican versus Libertarian, Garth Brooks versus Sun Ra—but when your house is on fire, I’ll be there to help.)