My fiancee asked me "What does creed mean?"

I stammered. "I think, uh, it's like your beliefs or your religion. Yeah, it's what you believe in. We'll check the dictionary when we get home."

It turned out my stammering was correct. Creed means a statement of the essential beliefs of a religious faith. So what is my creed? What is your creed? Should we even get into it?

As I drove in the cab last week, a man asked me in essence what my creed was. I don't like to get too specific. You can say one thing and your customer can hold it against you for the rest of the ride.

I've gone to a lot of church services, I've gone to a few new age sweats, I've gone on a few drug induced journeys. I used to actively search for a belief system that worked for me. Out of all of my seeking, two things ring true, and the rest is just rhetoric.

1. The Golden Rule--do unto others as you would have done to you

2. Karma--essentially what goes around, comes around

That's what all my seeking got me: Karma and The Golden Rule. The message in both is basically the same. Try to be good to each other. Easier said than done, but the more I practice my creed, the better I get.

Creeds I don't do.

1. Pray for forgiveness.

Karma covers this. If I do bad things, bad things will happen to me. It doesn't matter if I'm sorry.

2. Do anything in the name of any lord.

This includes killing, protesting, shouting at Congressmen about health care reform, shunning of other people, or any sort of holier than thou or exclusionary tactics of any group of people. Take responsibility for your own actions.

3. Conversion

There is need for many religions to increase their flock. Not just for monetary gain, but they feel more comfortable when everyone thinks the same way. If you get enough people to think like you, it ceases to be a cult. It's a religion! Personally, I don't care if people share my creeds. If you're an intolerable person, expect to be treated that way (The Golden Rule).

4. Rules on how you eat, abortion, sexual partners, stem cells, or lifestyle choices

Really, can't you figure out on your own what works for you? Why do you have to quote scriptures from old books to convince you what is right and wrong? I have found that most things that are considered right and wrong have many shades of gray. Nothing is cut and dry, and most scriptures are ambiguous by design.

5. The afterlife, past lives, ghosts, and the supernatural

If these things do exist, it doesn't really matter. They are a cop out for living your life how you should. No one should make themselves miserable in this life hoping for riches in the next. I really believe we get one shot as a sentient being. Everything else is wishful thinking.

I think the simpler our creeds, the better our results. I'm sticking to Karma and The Golden Rule. You would be surprise how difficult it is to believe and follow those two simple creeds. There are many tiny and gigantic evils to commit in the world, but if I treat others like I would like to be treated and assume good brings goodness and bad brings badness, I usually make an acceptable choice.

What is your creed? Do you live by it? Do you really believe in it?

Chris Jungle is more gooder than he used to be.