The Heartmost Desire

The Heartmost Desire is author/filmmaker J. Neil Schulman's most personal book, containing his manifesto for why liberty is necessary for human self-realization and happiness, and his autobiographical description of the experiences that led him from atheism to God, but still relying on reason and rejecting religion, scripture, and faith. From the preface and foreword by fellow Prometheus-award-winning novelist, Brad Linaweaver: Over the years many fans of J. Neil Schulman have said they want another book by him. Sometimes you get what you ask for ... but it's not always what you think you want. Neil Schulman is one of those writers who doesn't just write the same book over and over and over. He writes a book when he has something to say. Neil crams more into single paragraphs than other libertarians put into entire boring tomes. He can rattle off more limitations on our supposed free speech that most of us ever consider. He can recite a list of cultural taboos to frighten the staunchest social conservative. Neil is a libertarian. So why is he so often in hot water with other libertarians, the natural audience for this book? ... A libertarian defends the right to be wrong. It takes a lot of effort to initiate force or fraud. Short of that, the libertarian is tolerant of actions that liberals and conservatives cannot understand. But a libertarian also has the right to judge the value of values. A libertarian can have common sense. He can weigh the good and the bad in the shadowlands where ideas have yet to be put into practice. There is one kind of libertarian who will derive no benefit from the words that follow. That is someone who has no heart.