Week 8 - Assigned Reading - A Free Man's Worship

Bertrand Russell's “A Free Man's Worship” is a brilliant piece of literary non-fiction. I dare say it is the single greatest piece of non-fiction I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Full of metaphor and simile, it is every bit as creative as the creativity it worships. Bertrand Russell has always been one of my favorite philosophers, but I now see him as peerless in literary prowess. His ability to evoke imagery more powerful than all the great religious works of the world is simply magical. I loved “A Free Man's Worship,” I hope it strikes all of you with the same force that it has struck me.

Bertrand Russell's devotion to human creativity, knowledge, wisdom, and thought are as strong as any individual's devotion to their faith. His scathing rebuke of man's creation of God is evident in full force throughout this piece. The simple mindedness with which humanity created something so omnipotent, so everlasting, and so intolerable as God is at the very core of the evil in the world. It takes a small man to create something from which he can not escape. Man created God to give meaning to the world, and so long as this creation stands man will forever be unable to escape the eternity of pain with which it brings. To subject oneself to the torment of artificial imprisonment is not a sign of fortitude, but a sign of weakness. The beauty that is created through philosophy and art shall forever be a testament to what humanity is capable of when it frees itself from the shackles of omnipotence.

I find that Russell's use of language brings exactly the kind of beauty to science and philosophy that is thought to be missing from them. Science answers the unexplained and philosophy ponders the unexplainable, but without literary sophistication they can be colorless and bland. His weaving of words is a mastery of the very thing that he implores people to develop and manipulate, that beautiful thing know as creativity. It is the sign of true freedom. The essence of it can be felt everywhere, for it is truly everlasting.