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The catch to my philosophy is that you must be able to reason.

Have you read Benjamin Frankin's autobiography, by chance? His philosophy was quite similar. He came to the realization that we should live by the Biblical Commandments because reason tells us that living in that manner is good for us and good for society.

For Franklin, this worked very well as he was meticulous in examining his reasons from all sides. It may work well for you. I believe that your philosophy would work very poorly for most people. We are seeing this now as mothers and fathers abandon their families in the name of happiness. They even convince themselves that their children will be happier despite the emotional pain BECAUSE the parent is happier. Most people are not reasonable. Most people are selfish bastards.

"Most people are not reasonable. Most people are selfish bastards. "

This statement coincides with the predictions made by those 4 nutty Berkeley professors. Conservates tend to believe this (according to that "study"). In my experience, people are generally good (and only human), and if people would stop closing their minds with religion then their honor and reason would shine through.

I've noticed that the more of a "bible thumper" someone is, the more of an immoral, hippocrat lifestyle they lead.

"Have you read Benjamin Frankin's autobiography, by chance?"

Benjamin Franklin is one of my life heroes. I try very hard to be like him. Here are a couple of quotes by Benjamin Franklin that make me think he was a liberal:

On the Iraq war:
"There has never been a good war or a bad peace."

On Ashcroft, the "PATRIOT" act, War on Drugs, and Dept. of Homeland Security:
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety "

"He came to the realization that we should live by the Biblical Commandments because reason tells us that living in that manner is good for us and good for society."

Yes, I remember reading this from him. Actually, I agree with that statement 100% -- the virtues of the bible are both good and reasonable, and people should follow them. (But that does not imply that God exists or is real. Note that the virtues of the bible are the same virtues of the Koran, and of the Tao Te Ching.)

It's also interesting to note that he did NOT attend church and believed that worship was a very personal thing, not to be taught by any church authority. (He was a Deist.)

In my view, there are perfectly good reasons that the commandments in the bible are good to follow. It may surprise you, but I live by Christian values more than most of the Christians I've met. But the fact that those virtues are good does not imply that all the mysticism in the mythology of the bible is true. I think that is something Franklin would have agreed with.