Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[Shay1327]

Quote:
I could not have said it any better. I have always felt this way and am raising my daughters to believe in God but not necessarily religion. I have a better more satisfying relationship with my creator praying at home. I have always felt a stronger spiritual connection when I am gardening with my hands in the soil or out hiking. I don't need to go to church each week, give tithe's, and all that. I do believe we should use our moral compasses to do what is right. If someone needs help, help them - don't do it because your church says so.

This is a really awesome thread!

"Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today"
Imagine

 

[Hen_House_Rocks!]

I'm an agnostic, too. Thanks for starting this thread! I hate when people assume no religion = immorality. I take great inspiration from Desiderata. It sits on my desk in a frame and I read it whenever I'm having a rough time and take inspiration from it. Also as a reminder on good days, too! I really want to get the first two lines tattooed on my body somewhere.

Desiderata

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.


With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

 

[AngieChick]

Quote:
Yup..when we are gone, we're gone...thats it....kaput...

This. My Mom had such a hard time with this part of it. She just kept asking "Don't you WANT to believe that after we die we all end up together???" Well, sure, but just because I want to believe something doesn't make it true. That's about where she got frustrated with me and told me that I need to "think less and feel more!"

I adore my Mom, and really try to avoid conversations about religion with her for just this reason. The human brain has some real issues with conceiving of the notion that it may just cease to exist. It seems to be hardwired. I'd say the thought gives me trouble as well, thinking about it can be like getting to a door and one hand trying to open it while the other tries to swat that hand away. But, my thoughts are little firings in my brain. No brain/death = no thoughts = my not existing . It may seem depressing or scary, I admit that it is to me as well. But, there it is.

We are interesting animals, humans.

 

[ConchRepublic]

I'm more of an Apathetic. I live for the day and how I think I should act. If there is no high power, all is good. If there is a higher power, well that's just icing on the cake.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Yup..when we are gone, we're gone...thats it....kaput...

This. My Mom had such a hard time with this part of it. She just kept asking "Don't you WANT to believe that after we die we all end up together???" Well, sure, but just because I want to believe something doesn't make it true. That's about where she got frustrated with me and told me that I need to "think less and feel more!"

I adore my Mom, and really try to avoid conversations about religion with her for just this reason. The human brain has some real issues with conceiving of the notion that it may just cease to exist. It seems to be hardwired. I'd say the thought gives me trouble as well, thinking about it can be like getting to a door and one hand trying to open it while the other tries to swat that hand away. But, my thoughts are little firings in my brain. No brain/death = no thoughts = my not existing . It may seem depressing or scary, I admit that it is to me as well. But, there it is.




We are interesting animals, humans.

Yup..thats what i believe too... When your # is up..its up...
So enjoy EVERY day!!

 

[AngieChick]

Quote:
Yes! Enjoy the birds chirping, the feel of dirt between your toes, and the smell of rain. It's all precious and we are among the creatures that are fleeting. We also need to think about ourselves as campers on earth, lets make sure to leave the site a little better when we leave than when we arrived

 

[RThomas]

Some interesting info. "Not Religious" is the fastest growing religious group in the U.S. Almost all major religions in the U.S. are on the decline. Interesting numbers:

Estimated % of population 2008 Change
Catholic 25.1% -1.1%

Baptist 15.8% -3.5%

No religion 15.0% + 6.8%

Christian, generic 14.2% -0.6%

Mainline Protestant 12.9% -5.8%

 

[farmerlor]

Quote:
I have a theory too that a lot of people just mindlessly put Christian into the little box when asked because they have some vague memory of Mommy and Daddy making them go to church once or twice or they know they were baptized so they HAVE to be Christian. I think if a lot of those people actually examined their beliefs they'd find they really didn't fit into the Christian mold at all.

 

[deb1]

Hen House rocks, I have never read Desiderata before. Thanks for posting that.

 

[CityChicker]

Thank you for starting this thread! I am always reluctant to talk about religion because people seem to get so upset by it. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why people cannot have an open and even spirited debate about religion without losing their minds and hating each other forever, LOL. At this point in my life, I would say I am an Agnostic Christian. I don't know how else to describe it. A few years ago, I would have said Agnostic/Atheist, but feel that would be dishonest since when I thought I was dying, I was praying to God. Granted, I think when you are in a really scary situation, you go back to what is familiar and for me, that was Christianity. In the last couple years because of this, I have gone back to referring to myself as "Christian" but I use that term very loosely.

I was raised very conservative Christian, but always questioned some of the core ideas from a very young age. I did do my own research and Bible study and all it did was take me further away from belief in God. There is a saying that I have heard a lot of Atheists use and that is that there is no quicker path to Atheism than reading the Bible. For me, that was definitely true. I found it very difficult to believe that much of what I was reading was written by (or inspired by) any sort of divine being. It seemed far more likely that it was written by humans with their own biases. That combined with a lot of other things that I could not accept about some organized religions, led me eventually to being Agnostic and then Atheist.

I certainly can't say that I have it all figured out though. I do find myself still identifying as Christian even if I don't buy into a lot of what I have deemed to have been created by man. I still pray, even though I don't philosophically believe that prayer works. Even if, for example, I prayed when I thought I wasn't going to live and I did indeed pull through, I can't say that I think God answered my prayers. If I accept that, I also have to accept that God doesn't answer the prayers of all the thousands of children that die every day. I can't accept that. I would feel very arrogant if I did accept that. It is also very hard for me to see how religion is sometimes used to oppress. I highly recommend the book Letter to a Christian Nation. It really was an eye-opener for me. One of the hardest things for me though is that so many of us use religion as an excuse to suspend reality. It is just like how people for centuries refused to believe that the Earth was not flat. We can't be so blinded that we don't accept the reality of the world.

It frustrates me when I see otherwise intelligent people resort to one of the cliche catch phrases to discount reality. I was once one of those people, so I cannot judge. Before I knew anything about evolution, I would get angry when I saw things like the Darwin fishes on cars. Of course, I thought I knew exactly what evolution was and I thought that my discounting it with the typical "catch phrases" like "Why are there still Apes"? was perfectly logical when really it was completely nonsensical and showed that I had no idea what evolution even was. Anyway, that is just one example among many. This combined with what I found when I delved deeper into religion (and science too) is what really made me begin to doubt that we "have it right" with regards to mainstream Christianity (which I only mention because that is my background). Anyway, I have gone back to identifying as Christian for multiple reasons (some of which probably are not "good" reasons), but, I use that term loosely and not to mean that I literally accept all the teachings of the Bible nor agree with much of what I see from other Christians (mostly the oppression of others).

I really just don't know though. Something tells me there is more to the world that we simply cannot understand. Studying a lot of these issues in college has changed my views on a lot of things, but also helped me to accept other things more readily. I definitely feel more "okay" about being a Christian and still seriously questioning it because some of the greatest minds in history have done the same thing. It is also even harder for me to look at something like a single cell and believe there is not a God, even understanding and accepting evolution. I guess for now, I remain an Agnostic with Christian tendencies (yes, because I was raised in that religion). LOL