Also just wanted to add that I don't believe in heaven, and believe in rebirth but not in the "native american" sense so to speak (only saying that because someone else mentioned it). I don't think of it as the consciousness that I have now will be re-born into a wolf or a tree or a rock after I die. More so in the scientific sense that once my body has decomposed atom by atom, all of the bits that made me up will be a part of the composition of other things; dirt, soil, a plant, a tree, a chair, etc. etc. Things with no consciousness, and mostly things that aren't alive. Its cyclical. One thing a teacher said to me once that kind of blew my mind at the time was that if we were to think of everything at the atomic level. That everything at their most basic is an atom. And that the universe contains a finite number of atoms that simply change form over time, that theoretically, the exact combination of atoms will be repeated eventually (assuming there is no time limit). Obviously it would take an incomprehensible amount of time to re-create me and this world, but theoretically, this combination will come up again given enough "rolls of the dice", Its a somewhat dubious idea, but it gets you thinking more about your existence as a cycle. Anyway, I'm rambling now, but tl;dr: I'm "spiritual" lol.
Baptized and confirmed and grew up in the church....... haven't been since I was 17 besides a couple funerals and weddings. I'm all for people using religion to lead a better life or as guidance. I'm not down anymore, but to each his own.
Unitarian Universalism isn't religion in the traditional sense of the word. You can believe whatever you want and still be a follower of the church. I'm a fan.
Reformed flavor of Christianity. Much of the populace might call me a "fundamentalist evangelical", but I think that the more prominent ones are the more whacked-out ones and share little of my faith.
I don't know what you mean by that...I meant like Pat Robertson or Todd Akin or anyone pushing anti-gay agenda in the name of "that's Biblical."
...I mean just that, the whacked out ones, like the Zionist Christians. Surly you must know what that means and who "they" are. Or did I say it backwards, is it Christian Zionists?! [video=youtube;vHs-1qmLLfo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHs-1qmLLfo[/video]
I grew up in a totally atheist household. From an early age I was always suspicious of "Christians." This morphed into a dislike and then an utter bewilderment. After a while I started to accept that religion is just another cultural construct and no better or worse than any other system of belief. Now, that's how I view it. Whatever, it's fine. It's like anything else. But it's not how I was raised. So, I'm not religious and it's awesome. People I know are religious and it's awesome. Sweet. Everybody wins. Is there a god? Doesn't make much difference to me one way or another so I make it a point to not care. Maybe, maybe not. Whatever. Chill, bro. If you think it's true, then it's true for you.
I just did a quickie wiki check--I hadn't heard that term before and I don't have two hours. But I would say that this is another point on which Rev's. Fallwell and Robertson and I differ on our views. I subscribe to the view of dispensationalism of Matthew 24:36/Mark 13:32 "(Heaven and earth may disappear, b)ut concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." I don't think that our pushing for a restored Israel accelerates or substantiates God's timeline in redemption. I don't think that you can start counting down the 1000-year reign or watch out for an Anti-Christ just b/c the UN awarded Palestine to a heavily-Jewish population in the 40's.
The Bible should be our constitution. God should be our leader. Holy war against all non-believers should be our path. And death in the name of God should be our goal. Go Blazers
My early life was an odd dichotomy in which I attended only Roman Catholic schools, was baptized, had first communion, confession, and confirmation, attended masses, prayed in class--then went home to a completely irreligious household. I think my French grandmother pressured my parents into putting my brother and I into RC schools and from there I just went with my peers into RC high school. Her husband was a non-practicing Jew and my father a non-practicing Anglican so I think she saw the religious lineage as being at risk. I think I realized I was an atheist when confirmation came up. At least one student in my class opted out of the ceremony and until that point I don't think I understood that not believing/following was an option. Confirmation is a bit of a bullying ceremony wherein you have to promise to the priest that you believe and are going to live a religious life (in front of hundreds of people) whilst your sponsor keeps a firm hand on your shoulder (in my case the only person in the family that seemed to care about it, my grandmother). Basically a shotgun wedding for Catholicism. I regret going through with it. She would've understood eventually.
you can be both. most people who call themselves atheists firmly reject the existence of traditional human gods while at the same time saying it's not possible to know if any type of generic higher power exists or not. sorry to sound like spock but that's just an emotion-based subjective notion. i also quite often get the 'feeling' that there has to be some greater purpose to why anything at all exists, but i know that is likely to be just an evolved or learned chemical/emotional response to certain stimuli. there is no objective evidence that the universe must have an intelligent purpose behind it. there is (currently at least) no reason whatsoever to think it couldn't just be an eternal machine.
Would you think a prayer could be answered if you don't believe it can? Sometimes the fact that prayer isn't working has more to do with the person not believing their prayer could be answered. I respect that you are atheist, as I do with anyone else in here. I believe in God so I am at the other end of the spectrum. I believe that there is a God that sits at a golden thrown. I don't believe he needs us to believe in him or worship him. I choose to worship him because I feel blessed to be in the position I am in a world that is filled with beauty.
It could be that the Universe itself is alive. Not saying it's intelligent, just alive. http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/usem/Origin/notes/09/smolin.html
