Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[EweSheep]

Or the Sun and planets and stars revolved around the Earth. Poor Galileo!

 

[OrpingtonManor]

Here in my area of the country, there are areas where religion is expected, and not to be questioned. However, it's very sporadic. Much of the area is quite open to thinking, believing, and discussing different views. When we do get to discussing, it doesn't tend to be heated, but rather, more that everyone is relieved to find there are others who also have found a different path. (much like this thread)

 

[curliet]

deb1 wrote:
"Cause I like to ask questions....What about being nonreligious are you greatful for? "



I llike that I don't have to buy into the guilt, and I don't have to worry that I am not living up to someone else's standards and beliefs. Ironically, my own standards and beliefs may be remarkably similiar to theirs, but I'm not bound to never question those.

 

[EweSheep]

Good one, Curliet!

 

[Robin'sBrood]

I haven't read this thread but I guess I can post here since I am NOT RELIGIOUS. I am a Christian, but my faith is based on just that, faith alone, and not religion. http://www.notreligion.com/

 

[Kelly G]

My husband and I got this movie & just loved it...it made so much sense. Someone above posted te term "willful ignorance." This movie questions everything - many good questions are answered with "willful ignorance."

Has anyone else seen it?

http://www.amazon.com/Religulous-Bi...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1269698984&sr=8-1

 

[deb1]

Robin'sBrood :

I haven't read this thread but I guess I can post here since I am NOT RELIGIOUS. I am a Christian, but my faith is based on just that, faith alone, and not religion. http://www.notreligion.com/

Sure. You could post even if you did consider yourself religious also as long as you don't seek to make converts.

Faith alone is one of the corner stones of the reformation, so that doesn't make you nonreligious, just Protestant. LOL

This could be an interesting topic. What constitutes a religion?

According to this on line definition most forms of Paganism are religions even though some of its members practice alone and work out their own spirituality. As Christianity has a very definite founder and even a holy book, I would think that it was a religion whether its adherents attend church or not.

Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.

A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.


http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/religion

Just for the record, being part of a religion is not bad if that makes you happy. I am leaning toward Wicca and I consider that a religion.​

 

[Wifezilla]

Have any of you experienced discrimination for being nonreligious?

Yup. I have also had people try to pretend to be my friend for the purpose of conversion. They are so creepy though I can always tell what's really going on

Has anyone else seen it?

I WANT to see it, but I hate Bill with a seething passion. While this is one area I think we could agree on the thought of him benefitting financial from me seeing it is something I can't get past!

This sums up my gratitude pretty well...

FREEDOM from fear and oppression.. No one snooping around in my own personal psychological business.

Plus I don't have to go around feeling guilty about things I am not responsible for. That used to take up a LOT of my time as a kid!​

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Quote:
We don't need a 'what'. We need a 'who'. Many 'religious' societies are not 'civilized'. As a parent, I will teach my son right from wrong, and I do not need the bible or any equivalent to do so.

Quote:
I can't say I ever was a believer or ever possessed faith. I don't remember believing in God anymore than I remember believing in the tooth fairy. But there wasn't only one event that led to me leaving the church. It was the underlying theme of hypocrisy. It was the stance that only religion can teach morality combined with church leaders who were liars, thieves, cheats, wife beaters, child molesters, etc... I know not all churches are like the one I grew up with, and I'm sure most of them are filled with good people. But you have to have a level of trust in the church to be a member, and once that trust is lost, well, I still haven't found a way to get it back. People speak of the fellowship they get from the church, and I'm happy for them. But I've found my fellowships elsewhere, along different paths, and I no longer feel comfortable in church.

There is no god-shaped void in my life, no emptiness that only the church can fill, no underlying need for faith.

I've read the bible. I find parts of it to be beautiful, moving poetry with a good message for life. I find other parts to be horrific and abominable. In this, I find it no different from any other work of fiction in how it affects my life. Quoting the bible at me has much the same effect as quoting Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Hamlet. Odds are in all the cases I am more familiar with the work in question than the person quoting at me and can quote back at them far more effectively.

I've been accused of being angry at god or the church. I think that's a cop-out. I'm pretty much apathetic about god, and would happily ignore the church if it would ignore me. I've been accused of being angry at Christians. That has a little more truth to it, but I'm only angry at a particular (and thankfully small!) sub-group of so-called Christians, those who persist in evangelizing/proselytizing/witnessing at me, who shove their literature at me, who tell me I'm a bad person for not believing as they do, who discriminate against me, who tell me that I'm a bad parent who should lose custody of my kid because I don't take him to church, or those who flat out say that the world would be better off if non-believers like me were all rounded up and killed. The folks who insist that I must have a god-shaped void in my life and can't possibly really be happy/moral without their brand of faith are also irritating. The person who claimed I can't really love my son if I'm an atheist because without god no one can know what love is also ticked me off just a tad. Folks who pray for me to see the error of my heathen ways and return to the light are a minor annoyance. But on the whole, the ones that truly anger me are those that try to force their beliefs upon others by having textbooks rewritten and laws passed to discriminate against those who offend their religious beliefs, especially when those same people scream loudly about their freedoms being violated whenever they are stopped from beating other people over the head with their holy texts.

I have many friends of many different faiths, and people are people. I think everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want, and I've kicked a militant atheist out of my home for harassing a Christian friend of mine for praying quietly before eating and I've thrown a 'funny' atheist out of my home for slipping ham into a Jewish friend's food (literally, he slid about 10'). I don't like being preached at and those who hand me tracts and texts generally get to witness my l33t origami skills.

My basic philosophy is live and let live. If being Christian makes you happy, yay! If being Jewish makes you happy, yay! Ditto for every other brand of faith out there. Just please understand that other people can be happy and live good lives following other paths. Part of freedom of religion is freedom from religion. Just as (general) you, a generic Christian, wouldn't have freedom of religion if you were forced to swear on the Koran before taking part in your required civic duties, I don't have freedom of religion if forced to swear on the bible to perform my required civic duties. Just as (general) you, a generic Christian, wouldn't have freedom of religion if forced to make an oath to the great earth mother every morning, I don't have freedom of religion if forced to make an oath to god every morning. No one, least of all me, will stop you from praying. We are just pointing out you don't have the right to make us pray with you.

I have stayed away from the funeral of a dear friend because of the proselytizing I would have had to endure had I attended. I wanted to mourn my friend, not get a lecture on why I am going to hell.


Ultimately, the way I see it is religion is like cuisine. I personally don't care for a lot of Scandinavian cooking, dislike onions, and can't go a week without some red meat. But what's it to me if your favorite dish is lefse smothered in onions and you are a vegetarian? You worry about what you eat, I'll worry about what I eat, and if it's necessary we eat from the same bowl I'll happily pick out the onions if you are willing to have a more Irish dish instead.

 

[deb1]

Prettiest Frog, I agree with your overall philosophy.

If a person finds contentment and meaning in their religion then why would I begrudge them that?