The spirituality of atheism: The N Commandments

I recently read the book "The Compleat Gentleman" by Brad Miner.  In it, Miner traces the gentleman back to what he believes to be the early archetypes - the knight, the monk and the warrior.  While I did enjoy reading the book, I finished it thoroughly frustrated for two primary reasons.

• Reason 1: On many accounts, Mr. Miner admits that all characteristics of the gentleman can be mastered as well by a woman as they can by a man.  However, he asserts that being a gentleman is a man's game (and not just because the word contains the word "man").  I believe this to be an ignorant stance and I much prefer to establish a new concept and term to refer to a person that embodies the positive qualities that we might associate with a gentleman.  
• Reason 2: While Miner traces the history of the gentleman, he never once tackles the question of why, over time, the archetype "gentleperson" from other cultures and of generations past has so much in common with the "gentleperson" of today (though some research is required to show that this is indeed true).  That is, what is the root of these behaviors, why did we practice them to begin with and why would we adhere to them today?

I hope to tackle some of these questions in this and future posts.  First, however, we require a name for the type of person I'm referring to and, as I am not aware of a fitting name at this time, I will use "Compleat Cosmopolite".  This choice will become clearer in a bit.  Let's list some of the qualities that we might associate with this ideal  (Note: I expect to refer back to, amend and edit the list below as I continue this journey).  Below you will find some, what I consider to be, positive qualities that I have noted in friends and strangers.  They are all qualities that I aspire to have as my own.  I'm absolutely sure that I've forgotten some and that I've misrepresented some of those that I remembered.  However, I hope to lean on my friends and random passers by to help make this list accurate and comprehensive by sharing their own thoughts and comments.  In any case, here it is in its current form:

• The Complete Cosmopolite is gentle with others.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is willing to help others but will not do so at the expense of their own happiness and wellbeing.
• The Complete Cosmopolite understands how to communicate their ideas, and can and will fight for the things they believe in.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is open-minded and can admit when they're wrong and even revels in the discovery.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is creative - can create new ideas by synthesizing their own and taking input from others.
• The Complete Cosmopolite can deal with defeat.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is genuinely happy.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is physically fit. (Note that this doesn't mean the person has to be thin)
• The Complete Cosmopolite is active.
• The Complete Cosmopolite can and will stand up for themselves and others using whatever means necessary as the situation demands.  However, the Complete Cosmopolite will use violence only as a last resort.
• The Complete Cosmopolite does not gloat about their abilities but rather helps others rise to excellence.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is comfortable seeking assistance from others.
• The Complete Cosmopolite cares for their surroundings and the world they live in.
• The Complete Cosmopolite does not pursue happiness at the expense of others' happiness.
• The Complete Cosmopolite holds true to their promises.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is honest.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is comfortable in isolation but can enjoy the company of others.
• The Complete Cosmopolite is patient and entertains explanations for others' actions beyond the explanation that first comes to mind.

I'll refer to this list as the "N Commandments".  While I do hope we can all giggle at the name (life's too short to take ourselves too seriously) my intention is certainly not to make fun.  The wordplay is in admiration of the Ten Commandments - a helpful guide in righteousness.  However, I don't believe any set of "commandments" will be comprehensive, I don't consider the commandments above to be immutable and I don't consider my N Commandments to the same as everyone else's - though I suspect that our lists will have much in common.  So, the "N" in "N Commandments" is meant to imply - as it does in mathematics - that the content of the list will change over time and will differ from person to person.  At this point you're probably wondering "why bother creating a list if it's not universally applicable?"  Well, the answer to that is that I believe that all the characteristics above are natural outcomes of a single thing: believing oneself to be a citizen of the world.  By citizen of the world I mean a person that observes themselves simultaneously as an individual, as a composite (i.e., molecules glued together to form something much greater than the individual pieces), and as a part (i.e, as a molecule themselves in a much larger, much more complex, much more wondrous whole).  I'll call this state of being the "cosmopolite's perspective" and I considered what it might be like in The spirituality of atheism: "On Having No Head" revisited.

So, hopefully my choice of moniker for this type of person is now clear.  A cosmopolite is someone who is a citizen of the world.  By world, I mean all things that exist (let's avoid the subtleties of that word for now).  I chose to use "compleat" to suggest this new moniker is an evolved version of the moniker "The Compleat Gentleman" used by Henry Pecaham in 1622 as the title of his book.  "Compleat" (or complete) also is used to suggest an ideal, something unattainable but worth pursuing.

The interesting question at this point: is there really such a clear connection between the "N Commandments" and the cosmopolite's perspective?  Another interesting point is that the Compleat Cosmopolite's "god" is knowledge as he/she achieves spirituality from learning about the world around them.  We'll leave these for consideration in future posts and future discussions.  In the meantime, I would truly appreciate different perspectives on my thoughts here as it's all too easy to follow the path you're on when others are so well hidden.  Be well.