#1. I do not know whether there are any gods or spirits or whatever, and neither do you. However, it is important to remember that godship is primarily a role, and we reject any such role of godship.
#2. Feel free to speculate when you do not know something, but don’t take your speculation too seriously. You could be wrong, and certainty stifles the spirit of inquiry on which all knowledge depends.
#3. When someone claims to have knowledge about matters for which there is no certain evidence, be extremely suspicious. This especially goes for people who tell you that this knowledge has been divinely revealed.
#4. So far as I know, God has not authored any books. If someone tells you that they know of a book authored by God, see #3. People often like to stamp their own ideas with the imprimatur of God to give their ideas more weight.
#5. Many people want to know what happens when we die because we are all going to die and few relish that thought. The truth is, we don’t know the answer to that question, but it’s ok to hope that it isn’t the end. It’s not ok to threaten people with eternal punishment if they don’t see things your way.
#6. Children are people too. And just because you are their parent doesn’t mean you own them. It’s not ok to hurt or threaten them either. It’s not ok to deny them an education. Teach them how to think, not what to think. It’s ok for your child to believe differently from you. And, like all people, it’s ok for them to make mistakes. They don’t exist to fulfill your dreams. Work for your own dreams, don’t live vicariously through them.
#7. Strive for justice in this world. Try to leave this world a more just place than you found it.
#8. Insist that your leaders be just. But do not think that you have a monopoly on good ideas about how to achieve a better world.
#9. Practice radical empathy and kindness. However, that doesn’t mean you should let people walk all over you or others.
#10. It’s ok to be wrong. It doesn’t mean you are stupid, it just means that learning is a lifelong project. Embrace the fact that you are sometimes wrong and take it as an opportunity to learn rather than digging in your heels when you are wrong.
#11. Read every day. Approach your world with a sense of wonder.
#12. Realize that this world is a morally complicated place. Cartoon villains and superheroes are fictions that appeal to our notions of “good” and “evil” but real life isn’t like a fairy tale. Resist the tendency to moralize because usually the “simple” moral answer is just ignoring all the many facets of complex issues.
#13. Your ingroup isn’t special. You aren’t better than anyone else. Like everyone else you are just an ape living on an isolated rock in a far flung corner of a small sized galaxy. Maintain perspective. The universe doesn’t revolve around you.
#14. Eschew nationalism like the disease that it is. See #13. You don’t have the right to bully other peoples and take their resources, nor to tell them how to live their lives. I don’t care how many drone bombs your country has. Your nation isn’t better than anyone else’s.
#15. Dismantle hierarchies. See #7 and #13. Entrenched systems where some have power based on their identities and others are vulnerable (hierarchies) need to be smashed.
#16. It takes ten years of intensive training to become an expert in any field. You are not an expert because you read an article online or watched a documentary. Have some humility for chrissakes.
#17. “I don’t know, to be honest” is almost always the correct answer
#18. We share this world with many other creatures. It’s their world too. They have as much right to be here as we do and we should not destroy ecosystems. We do not have rights to all the resources of this planet: we must leave enough for other creatures and future life, and must tread carefully on this – the only planet that we know of that can sustain life.
#19. Strive to live reflectively. This does not mean that you should attempt to suppress or subdue your emotions. But it does mean that you should live every moment forward, conscious of both the full meaning of this current moment as well as the way that this moment is likely to affect future moments. See also: the Examined Life.
#20. Strive to live relationally. We are social creatures who find meaning in the other. Building connections suffuses one’s life with meaning and enables us to build cooperative, rather than coercive, institutions.