Dear Graduating Class of 2015

If it's the latter part of May, it's again time for my annual advice to graduating seniors.  I have both a college undergraduate and graduate student this year, so I'm going to say it with more meaning.

This year, I only want you to remember three things:

Challenge authority -- sometimes.  You've probably been taught to respect authority, and that's what you should do.  However, the racial tensions we're seeing now related to police actions against black citizens ought be enough to keep you from respecting authority without question.  The best way for anyone to avoid confrontations with authority is to follow the rules/laws.  Having said that, remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely.  To borrow half of a phrase from the late Ronald Reagan, respect, but verify.

Challenge religion -- mostly.  You've probably also been taught to be a God-fearing Christian, or Muslim, or Jew, or some other religion (but probably Christian).  There is more good about that than there is bad.  However, you should be wary of organized religion -- the kind that people use to justify all sorts of crazy, damaging ideas and actions.  Do you really want to live your entire secular life based on the rigid, non-secular, white-male interpretations of scripture supposedly written over 2000 years ago?  Instead, remember the words of Galileo Galilei: "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

Challenge group-think -- always.  If too many people think the same thing, and those people only talk to each other, they think everybody agrees with them.  What other excuse is there for all of the far right candidates running for the 2016 republican presidential nomination, most of whom have no more chance than I do of becoming president?  On a related note, this is an overarching problem with all of today's politicians, who lack the courage and/or conviction to take a stance contrary to that of the dogma of their own political party.  You would do well to always remember the old saying, "Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side."

Now, go out there and try to never move back in with your parents!