Frank...

I have investigated different societies and governments. They all had one thing in common. They all asked you to submit to a higher power (authority). It was always a person or group of people that represented that higher authority.

The hierarchy of any social institution (whether it be school, church, government, business entity, private club, criminal gang, or military forces) is arranged that way. One person claims the highest authority and others follow (I would submit blindly). The submission to an ultimate higher authority seems to be a necessity for many people. It seems that some people require a kind of parental figure all of their lives. I felt that I had to grow up and assume my own responsibility for myself. I found that you didn't have to be a conformist to society's rules and expectations to lead a moral and ethical life. In fact, much of what we know of morality pre-dates the societal structures presently in sway in the world.

Therefore, I submit that they are largely arbitrary...just like religion. My attitude toward them, in fact, is pretty much the same as your attitude toward organized religion.

My wish is to be free of ALL such authority, not just free of it when it claims to represent "God", and I will struggle until my last breath to be free of ALL such authority and to judge for myself what is good and valuable and meaningful in my life.