No, but I also recognize that I may be wrong. To be honest, arrogant atheists bother me even more than arrogant theists.
To me, the whole point is that any answer is impossible to prove. Trying to definitively, factually state that no kind of higher power exists is irrational, and thoroughly undermines any claim of logic or reason. The stubborn, uncompromising kind of atheist frequently describes themselves as a logical, rational person, so I expect them to see this problem.
Not anymore, but grew up in church.
I’m quite drawn to the ritual aspects of religion but there’s another part of me finds it all hopelessly silly.
Ritual can be entirely divorced from theism or a belief in the supernatural. Nothing wrong with creating a secular ritual if it helps you in some way.
I’m a Christian. I’m in a weird state where i’m trying to figure out where my faith sits and trying to find a new congregation I am comfortable with, since there’s so much bad stuff coming from Christians nowadays.
We ended up in a reconciling UMC congregation, which is a big change from the fundie stuff we grew up with. Our congregation has been protested by evangelicals so I think it is doing something right.
I’ve been looking at UMC, presbyterian, and UCOC since some are LGBT affirming and that’s really the big thing I look for (or at least a clear statement that they aren’t discriminatory about gay/bi and trans people). I am trying to dip my toes in, but it’s very different from what I grew up in, with robes and organs and what not. It’s definitely a journey!
I grew up conservative evangelical (like I was a missionary on three continents) and ended up in very progressive and flamboyantly affirming UMC church. I’m agnostic to the existence of an afterlife and believe in God probably 51% of the time. I decided I would only go to a church that I would still be ok with being around those people the 49% of the time I think it’s BS.
UMC congregation has fit the bill. Fully embracing LGBT+ community and accepted science, psychology, etc. Extremely diligent in protecting vulnerable people and children from abuse. They view the Bible as a complicated book of people writing about God, not the inerrant word of God. The purpose is self improvement and community care with Jesus as the example.
Not really.
I like witchy stuff but only if its considerable to placebos. A rose quartz bracelet, for example, might not be scientifically going to attract love and good fortune—but its cute and makes me happy, so who knows, THAT might help.
If I had to choose a religion though, I’d probably go with one of those polytheist religions because ever since I was a kid and first went to a church camp, I decided that a singular “God” scares the shit out of me. I basically considered “God” too overpowered and decided that wasn’t for me.
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No. I was raised in a secular household, and honestly, I haven’t seen anything that makes me think there’s a supernatural at all.
im pretty neutral on it maybe theres a god maybe there isnt doesnt make a difference me people can believe what they want as long as its not actively harming them or others
It literally hurts my entire being that religion has brainwashed billions of people. Generation after generation. It’s sad that one brainwashed family indoctrinates their children. IMO: religion is a scourge on humanity. So many deaths in the name of one religion over another. Countless amounts of $$ stolen from those that gave cash/equivalent or slave labor.
What’s more sad than religion based on thousands of years?
Seeing the insanity of cult behavior for following clearly ridiculous people like Donald Trump. The power of social media with misinformation, blatant propagada, etc…in addition to actual live news programs pushing the same inane, disgusting and pathetic shit is flabbergasting.
It may sound twisted…however, COVID, had the potential to unionize and solidify entire populations to join forces against a common enemy. I’m still in awe and disbelief as to how divided people became against the truth of science.
You know what the COVID episode demonstrated with 100% certainty?
Humanity will be extinct far sooner than people could possibly imagine from the apocalyptic level of damage caused be climate change. I truly wish people the best they can manage in the nearest future.
Agnostic atheist here. If you twisted my arm to choose something I’d make a religion out of this story [http://galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html](“The Egg”)
Other than that, I don’t have any reason to believe its anything other than nothing, non-existence after we die.
I was looking for someone who labeled themselves in both axes of religious belief: theism vs. atheism and gnosticism vs. agnosticism.
For those who don’t know, the idea is very roughly that theism is the axis that defines belief in higher powers/spirituality, and gnosticism is the axis about whether the beliefs are knowable/proveable.
So, for example:
- A gnostic theist might believe in god and believe they have proof of its existence.
- An agnostic theist might believe in spirituality, but that organized religion is just based on other people’s ideas about spirituality, not the divine word.
- An agnostic atheist might not believe in spirituality, but that it’s impossible to prove that spirituality doesn’t exist, either.
- A gnostic atheist might believe there is nothing spiritual and that the origins of all “spirituality” can be explained by anthropology, history, or human psychology, so it’s all provably false.
I fall into the gnostic atheist camp, myself. A minority within a minority. ;)
This breakdown helps, I guess I’m also a gnostic atheist. I’ve also read “The Egg” and found it an interesting story.
Thank you for the detailed breakdown… also a gnostic atheist and I rarely find someone who knows wtf I’m referring to, lol.
I grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist, but lost my faith and left the church/religion in 2012 (was born in 1989)
Nuh uh. “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M. still feels surreal and sad for my heart.
I was raised particularly southern, like three denomination deep Protestant, (that only existed because some people argued if you should speak in tongues in church or if that would be “distracting from the lawd”.) And my family participated in the activities so I was forced to attend EVERY SUNDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT until I was 18.
I don’t have a lot of good things to say about it. After I realized I only tried to follow it cause of where I was born (and what measure of truth is that?) I started to address each moral question as it came and settle it myself based off of morality I could stomach.
A lack of belief is easy when I’ve seen nothing to believe, in fact I used to feel alone in it. Eventually I realized I cannot fake it, and what reason would there be, what diety would accept it?
I used to be religious, became an atheist in my teens and now as an adult, I’m agnostic
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As someone who was indoctrinated into islam as a child, I cannot recommend. 0/10 stars. Or any of the abrahamic religions imo. Way too dogmatic and patriarchal. While the culture and ritual is interesting from an anthropological point of view, you’d likely have a better time hanging out with people you care about, instead of prostrating yourself to a god who thinks anyone with a uterus is subhuman.
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Yeah I feel that. It’s certainly not my place to dictate what other people should believe, cuz it’s not like any of us definitively know how the universe works. Religion just brings me anguish personally. I’ve seen other people benefit from it, though in my experience it’s typically been people who modify their religious practices to fit their own needs, rather than those who blindly stick to dogma/ use the religion to oppress people. Basically, I view it as a tool for people to contextualize their experiences. Which can and continues to be misued by those in power. But on an individual/small community level I can understand why some people benefit from practicing their religion.
Religions have been perverted into a system of manipulation and control of the masses. Granules of truth in each one keep people coming back, but in the end they are like a virus in human consciousness that is designed to control us. I really believe each person can only find real truth by turning inward and deeply exploring their own consciousness.
I disagree with this. Definitely there are many examples of organised religion being perfect case studies of the adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But there are also many ways that religious communities support each other and their wider communities, outside just providing a doctrinal “granule of truth”.
Sikhism I think are most famous for this, and I feel like at least where I live whenever something bad happens in the background on the news I see Sikh communities mobilising to render assistance.
Similarly, the denomination I was brought up in (church of christ) have always been oriented, both in theory and practice, around doing community work first and debating doctrine a fairly distant second (also, each church of christ congregation is an independent entity, which I think has probably contributed to it being able to maintain its strong community-first focus over time).
thank you for pointing this out. i understand why some people tend to blanket religion as unrational, cold, hateful, and/or controlling, but it’s really unfair to generalize such a diverse group like that. there’s a lot of religions, boiling them all down to whatever awful thing you hear in the news about one specific religion is pretty bad imo.
was raised catholic, then kinda fell out at 14ish, now im more catholic than ive ever been
Interesting, what made you go back to the faith you were raised in?
it started at a retreat i went to with my religious class for a few days in the mountains. i was just in the class to keep my mom happy. on the first day, someone asked me how much i believed and i said maybe a 3 or 4 out of 10. on maybe the second day, we had adoration which i had never heard of before, but the eucharist was in a monstrance and they said jesus is present. we all sat in silence for an hour and then that was it. i didnt immediately feel different or realize what had changed, but soon after i thought to myself how my belief felt like a 9 or 10 now, and its been that way ever since. this combined with a miracle i had has solidified my beliefs.
Thanks for the reply. I do wonder about the miracle though it might be pretty personal.
i dont mind talking about it. i dont think ive ever told anyone before but i think it is a good story to share. im not sure how graphic i can be on here so ill be kinda vague but u can message me if u want the details.
i have had depression since i was ~12, and it was extremely bad when i was 13-16. when i was 13, i tried to commit unalive in the shower. as i was trying, it was not working at all. i kept trying for what felt like forever, probably like 30 minutes but there was nothing at all. it was impossíble, there should have been at least some amount of damage.
i didnt know this until a few years later when my mom and i ended up talking about the incident, but somehow at the time my mom knew something was wrong and during the shower she was praying intensely outside the bathroom door until i came out fine. i dont know how else to explain it other than her prayers along with gods protection that im still alive today. there is no other way answer how there was q absolutely nothing that happened to me.
That’s a heavy thing to experience. Thanks for sharing. I could see why these experiences would lead you to return, in any case it’s a good thing that you are still here.
