Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[CoopCrazy]

Quote:
I agree, it's friendship with an ulterrior motive. While they believe with all their heart they are doing what is best for you the ends do not justify the means. I have a cousin that is very much like that. I love her to death but I tell her how misguided and manipulative her methods are. Her response is "whatever it takes". I love to get into debates with her though and sometimes even make her scratch her head and consider what I'm saying. One of my questions was what do we do when we get to heaven? Her response, spend eternity with God and absolute love. Ok,....... but what do we do? I don't know about you but I get kinda bored easily especially if I'm doing the same thing day in day out. I mean eternity is a long long time. Enough time to do everything and do it all over again. So if you think hell is torment, try being in the same place doing the same things unending. This is where I kind of find reincarnation kind of appealing. Start all over again fresh. Do things all over but its all new again. I guess the big question for me would be, to what end? I just think there is so much more to life, the universe and beyond than can be possibly imagined. So my mantra is take what you've got and live it, give it your best and help someone along the way. Whatever door opens up at the end don't be afraid to walk through it.

Barred Rocker this is an awesome way to view life.. Thank you....

 

[Jena]

Redux,

This is a lovely thread and thank you to you and also to Terri for monitoring it.

It is lovely to see so many people expressing how they feel. I am not a member of an organised religion for many of the reasons others have expressed here and like someone's dad I have been through the phase of questioning more advanced beings at the time of Eric Von Daniken's "Was God a Spaceman" book.

My father was brought up Catholic, and became athiest, and I was not allowed to have anything to do with religion as a child, what I did have was Nature, we lived out in the countryside and I gravitated to a belief in higher power but not in a structured way. Of course as I was forbidden to have any religion as soon as I could I wanted to find out what it was all about, and I explored all religions.

I am still here, still doing the same things and still have no orgainsed religion that answers all of my questions, and finally I am happy with that, my youngest son calls me a hedgewitch, because of my close relationship with nature. I don't take labels, as the roots even of being a hedgewitch are so lost in time now that we can never really trace the reality, but I do like the name.

My own practice of any kind of religion is to strive always to be better as a person, to care about my fellow humanity, in my search through faith I have read all of the holy books from the Vedas to the Koran, and if anything I am closest to Hinduism or North American Indian which I don't know a huge amount about but feel an affinity with from what I have learned, but I do not have the language or the practice of either, so I continue on my solitary way, and I spend long hours communing with a full moon, the stars, and the trees and flowers in my garden, I talk to my chickens and my dog about my dreams, and I love to sit on a mountain top and reflect on humanity and to feel closer to a higher Power. I also like to sit on the grass by a stream and dabble my feet in the water and know what a wonderful earth we live on.

I have had some tough times in the past and I have turned to a God, and asked for strength, and I am still here, I don't know why or how, but I have made it so far. So I am not an athiest, and I have given my son's the same freedom to find their own way as well, not by preventing, as it can be lonely out there with no formal structure to their beliefs, but with freedom, and now I have one son who is a Christian, and one who is converting to Judaism. I respect them and finally they respect me, the eldest was insistant for a long time that I needed to be saved but has now realised that I am safe. My youngest has always understood and accepted that I am strongly individual. I am happy that my sons have found somewhere they are comfortable and they have society and community, I have a community of birds, trees, animals and flowers and any people who care to join me for a while.

I have seen the word respect used in several posts here and to me that is one of the most important words, Respect, Dignity, and Integrity, are the key words in my house.

Thank you so much for all the views expressed here, it makes the world again a little smaller. For all those who have a faith of any kind I am happy for you, and for those still searching then you will find your own way, and for those who feel there is no faith to be had, then that in itself is a kind of faith.

WE all have one thing in common, Humanity.

My only rule is the Witches Creed brought down to its simplest form of "Do what thy Will but harm none" and it is amazing how hard that is in reality, it covers all angles.

I have friend who are excellent people and are also Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Catholic, Ba'Hai, Sikh, Jain, Pagan, and Athiest and many more, we all muddle along together with respect and interest. First we are people.

 

[sourland]

Jena, thank you. I've discovered what I am-most likely a "hedgewitch." Redux, thanks for a grand thread. All who have responded and shared, thanks for your open minded courtesy. Terrielacey, thanks for keeping it on track. And last but not least thanks to my world of Nature where I will spend the rest of this day. Geo.

 

[Lunachick]

Jena,

I loved your post, it's what I would have said, but didn't have the words. The nature part - that's me, and you explained it so well! There were many times when the woods was my church.

 

[meriruka]

I've been wondering while reading this thread what everyone here believes happens to you when you die.

One of the things I rarely talk about is the fact that I believe when I die, I will simply cease to exist.
Everyone who has ever heard me say that out loud is usually horrified and most will ask "What is the point of living?" or "Why bother to live a good life?" or "Why even get out of bed in the morning?" or "That's depressing."

On the contrary, I believe that since I've only got one shot at life it's all the more reason to experience everything I can, reach as many goals as possible and enjoy all of the incredible things this world has to offer. All the more reason to value & respect every life. To take another's life or cause harm is the worst possible thing you can do. Helping others and making the world a better place, taking nothing for granted, are among the best things (I believe) you can do.

So, I get out of bed happy to have another day to watch a chicken hatch, help things grow & thrive, make someone's life a little easier if I get the chance. I'm content that when I die my ashes be mixed with an acorn so someday I'll be part of a mighty oak.........

 

[EweSheep]

I love this thread!

At least I was not one of those "strange" people and thought my world is much smaller. Thanks for folks to come out of the woodwork expressing their true self.

Thaiturkey's topic clearly justify how religion got out of hand or twisted in creating "fearmongers" which it rubs the very grain of our being. Our human brains are so complex but we are able to use it in what our inner self craves for. We would not let up until we find the source that would satisfy our minds, hearts and well beings. Nothing more gratifying to get it fufilled. It is a sugar high for us.

 

[deb1]

Quote:
I don't know what happens when we die. Such an admission would have terrified me at one time in my life. Now it doesn't frighten me at all.

Personally, I think that we go on in some form, whether through reincarnation, combining with a higher power or a place of resting. But I no longer have to know the exact answer to that question.

I used to attend a church that was very extremist. The pastor would harp on and on about how being a good didn't matter. What mattered was that you were saved. Of course, he wasn't saying that Christian were allowed to be evil. His point was that God didn't care how the non Christian acted, that person wasn't going to heaven. So the atheistic version of Mother Theresa was doomed no matter how altruistic that they were. Something in me rebelled against this type of thinking. I simply did not want to worship a God that only cared for one type of person.

 

[SurprisingWoman]

I cannot recommend this film enough for everyone really.

It will make you think:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1027091/

Letting Go Of God by Julia Sweeney

and it's wicked funny. She does an amazing job.

 

[redhen]

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

But, i do think that the energy that makes our body/heart run, stays ...

 

[RThomas]

I'm an atheist. I have been for about 14 years. Any questions

SW, that is a great show by Sweeney. It was being shown on one of the movie channels a few months ago.

meriruka, I agree. I think we get one shot at life and we better darn well live it to the fullest. I don't want to be an old man on my death bed and have nothing but regrets.