Anyone non-religious here? Please be nice!

[mom'sfolly]

I miss the comfort of knowing I will be reunited with my loved ones in an afterlife. I wish I could believe that I will see my grandparents and dad again, but I don't have that surety. I think fear of death and the unknown is definitely one of the driving forces for religion. It is the one of the things that religion focuses on, what will happen after you die. I don't really want to be part of a never ending cycle of rebirth, or end up in the Celestial Kingdom with my sweetie forever, but it would be nice to see those folks again.

 

[maryk117]

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Yeah Deb, I find myself still praying to God. Mostly in times of stress. Not actual prayers, just more like "oh thank God" for one reason or another, or please let this (or that situation) work out o.k. I think it is a habit, something ingrained since we could talk. I do think prayers, be they religious or not, are more meditation. A way to help us sort things out. Just MHO.

 

[SarahFair]

Jumping in kinda late here and did not read the whole thread...

I am not religious but I believe God created man and many many other things.
On another forum I frequent there is a Spiritual sections. This forum is a local one and being located in the Bible Belt they are die hard christians. Now there are a few that do not believe in anything and thats cool.. Whatever floats their boat.
I sometimes (when asked) like to share my views. Here is a rather long series of questions someone asked me not long ago.
Anyone else believe this?

Heres some of the questions that reveal what I believe:
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1) Can we assume that there IS indeed a "god" or at least a "higher power"?

Yes, and I believe it is the same as the christain God



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2) If so, then did that god create? Did he create you?

Yes



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3) If he created, then does he require anything of his creation?

To learn from this Earth the good and evil to help us become well balanced souls



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4) If he requires nothing of you....then for what purpose do you "think" he created?

DNA (does not apply..)


That's it huh? Just DNA?


I assume you mean something to the effect of, "just for giggles"?

If that's the case...or if you really mean he wanted to just create DNA...

Then...

1) Does/Did Jesus exist?

2) Was Jesus God's son?

2) Did God send him to die for us?

If the answer to those is "yes" then:

Why would he do that if he just created us for giggles?

I ment for DNA to stand for "does not apply".. I went back and changed it when realized that it could stand for actual DNA

1) I think Jesus was an advanced soul sent here to set morals.
2) We are all Gods children
3) I do not know, I have not personally talked to God nor Jesus about it

"...and I'm curious...can you expound on this a little for me? It sounds good. But I'm not sure what it really means.

Can you maybe tell me what a well balance soul is, or looks like to you?"

Well here is where what I believe differs a little from what Christains do. I believe we live more than one life (and no, I do not believe we come back as an ant or elephant, always human). In each life we live we have a "life path" where there is an over all lesson.
In some lives we may be rich, in some poor some healthy some sick, etc. We may come back as Black, White, Red, Yellow and live in different countries.
In some lives we may have to over come HUGE obstacles such as addiction or depression. In some lives we may do more good and in some lives we may do more evil. I also believe in some lives we are suppose to go down different religious paths. Maybe the "bible thumpers" here are suppose to be "bible thumpers" so they can learn more about God.
This is so we can become a well balanced soul. Have you ever met lets say for example a person who just seems more immature their whole lives and then know a person who seems wiser than their age?
I have and I believe it is because one is a more experienced soul and another has not yet experienced as many lives yet.
I do not understand how we are suppose to learn everything in the one short life we have here on earth.

10-4 on the DNA.

Is the Bible your "holy book" or is your relationship with the Christian God based soley on personal relationship....or do you feel that you can even have a relationship with that God?
My relationship with God is personal and I feel like I dont need a book to guide me to him.
I feel like the "good book" is just that, a good book that sets the standards for many people..
Maybe I have already lived my devout christain life and that is why I feel so secure with God.





...and where did that belief come from? It's not unlike what I feel many people have. So I'm curious exactly how you developed it because it, honestly, seems pretty detailed in nature.

In all honestly I always felt, ever since I was a little girl, that something in the belief system around me just was not right. This, with a little reading here and there, a few discussions with a few people, have lead me to where I am today.


So, Sarah, I assume by this quote that you think we do, at some point, go to heaven?

Is there something, some event, that marks the end of the time that we rotate from life to life?

I think we are "born" in heaven, I think we "rest" in heaven, I think we "live" in heaven. Earth is like a school. I dont know if we have a "graduation" or not but after we are done here on earth I believe we go on to help the souls that still come back.




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No doubt, I was meant to be a cowboy in the early days of the west....no doubt about it. Do I think that's because I WAS a cowboy at that time? No, I don't. I think it's because my desire is to live a simpler life on a farm. I believe God put that desire in me and it will happen some day.

I believe also that once you get to heaven you can create your own world, you can live in whatever time you would like


What if what's in Heaven is better than anything here....better than any time or any place that we would "wish" to be set in?

Is God worthy of worship (that's a new line of questions BTW)?

I have no memory of heaven so I can not honestly tell you what it is like

Depends on what you mean by worship..
I think he is but I dont think he wants us licking his feet or anything


So...if I choose to live as a cowboy in Wyoming in the 1800's sleeping under the stars and riding a horse all day...and my wife and kids are with me....I promise you my wife isn't going to think that's all that great. My son? Maybe. My daughters? Not so much.

How does that work? They are with me, right? Is it the whole "time-space" thing where we can "be" multiple places and feel multiple things all at once?

Like I said before...
Your wife in this life is a part of your "family group". She is most likely not your "companion soul mate" on the other side. It is very very very very rate that your soul mate is your partner in life on earth.


That's sort of a depressing thought isn't it?

For me it is not. I know I am with this person because I am suppose to learn from them. We can not learn something new if we keep entering the world with the same soul over and over again




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I'm still very curious where this all comes from exactly. I know you said you just "felt" it form the time you were a little girl. But you're posting some VERY specific information.

I did not just wake up one day and say 'Oh!' lol
This has been my course of study for 5-6 years.



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The general feel of it, I think you would find is common among quite a few people. But I think you'd be hard pressed to find single person who believes all of these specifics. How do you deal with that?

How do I deal with someone not believing the same exact thing as I? Well, no one in my immediate world really knows what I believe because I am not here to try and persuade people into it. If they ask I will tell, but being raised the way I was (in a christain environtment) I guess people just assume things of me.. And I am perfectly fine with that. My heart is happy with my beliefes. I can feel it inside me and that is what matters!
But I know I am not the only one in the world that believes this. I have had many many discussions with other people about it




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I mean, I realize that there is large scale disagreement among Christians on lots of issues. But among protestant groups there is at least wide agreement that there is one true God, Jesus was his son who was sent to die for our sins, etc and that there is a heaven and it is our eternal destination once THIS body dies and only this body. Follow me?

Sure, heaven is our eternal home but do you never take a "vacation" from your house and then return home?

 

[maryk117]

mom'sfolly :

I miss the comfort of knowing I will be reunited with my loved ones in an afterlife. I wish I could believe that I will see my grandparents and dad again, but I don't have that surety. I think fear of death and the unknown is definitely one of the driving forces for religion. It is the one of the things that religion focuses on, what will happen after you die. I don't really want to be part of a never ending cycle of rebirth, or end up in the Celestial Kingdom with my sweetie forever, but it would be nice to see those folks again.

I doubt the existence of Heaven or Hell. I'm not really a hard case or bitter, but I believe when you die you are dead. That's it, it's done. You won't get to see anyone again except in your memory. I think that is why we should love the ones we're with every chance we get. My Dad and Grandparents are gone also and I think of them fondly and remember the time we had together, but I will never actually "see" them again. It's not about being a good Christian, Jew, Muslim, Wiccan, Atheist...It's about treating others right and being thankful for what you have. I don't believe in reincarnation either, you have one very short life (no matter how long you live) and you should try to make the most of it. I do believe in spirit/wisdom and learning from those that have gone before us.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

The God Virus by Darrel Ray Ed.D is available at amazon.com and other book stores. I'm really finding it interesting. Let me know if anyone else decides to read it~!

 

[KDbeads]

I'm reading the intro...
http://www.thegodvirus.net/images/The GodVirus_Intro_1_2.pdf

I like this book!! The parallels are amazing. I now have on my paperbackswap wish list!

 

[deb1]

Sarah's Fair, that was interesting.

Was the poster asking honest questions or were they trying to convert you? I have known some people that ask others a series of leading religious questions in an attempt to eventually convert the other person.

If there is a God-and I live myself open to the possibility- I don't think that It has a gender. Nor do I think that It wants or needs worship. Whether we go to heaven or are born again, I don't know. It seems to me that something must happen, but if our consciousness' are just snuffed out, I won't be any the worse for it. LOL

I certainly don't believe that a true higher being would want us to blindly follow It or grovel at Its feet. The idea that we are nothing without God or faith, just worthless dirt, doesn't make any sense to me either. Sorry, I find that offensive. If there is a creator, IT would find the idea that his/her creation is somehow flawed offensive also.

I am beginning to find a lot of peace in saying, "I don't know."

 

[SarahFair]

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No he was asking honest questions. Just wondering how other people thought and functioned
I call God a he.. I guess it just makes him seem more real and alive

I dont understand why people think the only reason God put us on this Earth is to see whos worthy enough to bow at his feet 24/7 once we are in heaven and the rest are just cast into hell..
Just doesnt feel right.

 

[fowltemptress]

mom'sfolly :

I miss the comfort of knowing I will be reunited with my loved ones in an afterlife.

That one has always interested me. It always seemed to me that there was less comfort and more fear in the possibility of me and my loved ones finding ourselves in Hell. Not because we're bad people, mind you, but there are so many ways to tick off god it just seems the odds are in favor of that outcome.


Here's a question, and I hope it doesn't seem too odd, but why does everyone assume a creator has to be benevolent, perfect, etc? It seems to me that, just as people can be born to abusive parents, it's not beyond the bounds of reason to think we could have been created by something not exactly worthy of adulation. I know there are people who say their god doesn't lie and that it's in the bible, but if I were a lying god, that's exactly what I would have put in the bible . . . that I am a good god who only speaks truth. It doesn't really negate the fact that existing is pretty darn cool, just like growing up with horrid parents wouldn't make your life any less significant, but it is something to think about.



P.S. For the record, I'd like to think that if I ever found myself in the god position, my level of honesty would be forgotten by my followers in the confusion resulting from my turning everyone into various forms of giant birds.​

 

[mom'sfolly]

I think that many of the gods the world has seen are neither benevolent nor perfect. Many gods in fact had it in for humans, or had to be worshiped very precisely to prevent the wrath of god falling on you. The Roman and Greek gods were very like people, but with powers beyond humanity, they cheated, slept around, competed with other gods and humanity, were capricious and at time downright evil. Even the the god of the old testatment is fairly capricious (why was Abel favored and not Cain, and the whole trials of Job thing).

So no I don't think god has to be good, kind and benevolent. If there is a god.

I used to have nightmares about my family being separated in the afterlife, or by the Rapture. I'm wonderfully glad to have dumped that belief. But it would be nice to see everyone again. I'm also delighted to have dumped the belief that any pain and suffering I feel in life; illness, hardship, emotional pain etc, is not caused because I have sinned or haven't believed hard enough. As a teen-aged believer in a church that preached that any physical pain, illness or emotional trauma was the result of sin, I thought that I must have been truly evil because once a month my period had me vomiting, shaking, and in extreme pain. This teaching, actually, was another hole in the wall of my faith.