what religion?

brinard · Post by **brinard** » 29 Mar 2006 17:57

hah. i read the first post, and thats like me.

i never got babtised. i hated being forced to go to church. so i didnt go. man it was sweet. sleepin in, f*ing around. but no, i wasnt forced to go after i said no. i was about 12-13 when all that went down, and ended up leaving home at 17 to get away.

sniikeri · Post by **sniikeri** » 30 Mar 2006 10:37

Moxie wrote:Atheism... is interesting to hear people talk about lately. I've encountered a few Agnostics who are ex-Atheists.

I've noticed this too. I've even encountered some Atheists that have started to believe in God: it's funny because those who are the most against the God and those who are the most "on God's side" act that similar, that at some point they are totally opposite than where they started.

I think this happens to both directions - some very religious people somehow leave all that and become as Atheist as one can get.

Iron Clad Ben · Post by **Iron Clad Ben** » 31 Mar 2006 00:05

I was actually agnostic for quite a while. A few years after being confirmed (yes Jews can be confirmed, too). All through my teens. I didn't like the idea of people who outright rejected the idea of god. I thought they were just being self-righteous and judgemental. I needed time to make up my mind. Ironically, I later became an athiest. I don't hate God (because I don't believe in God QED) and I don't hate religion. I definitely think there are some bad people in some religions who are using their religion as a vehicle to do bad things, but I can't hold that against religion. But there are plenty of bad people who aren't religous. What I'm getting at is that being a "good" person vs. being a "bad" person is independent of religion.

I'm going to stop now... this really wasn't going anywhere, just wanted to give a litte more background on my POV.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 31 Mar 2006 18:58

I don't hate god or religion. But the only reason I don't hate God is because I don't think he exists. If God did exist as he's protrayed in the Bible and was a physical being I think probably I would hate him. Somebody who says he loves everybody but allows the majority of people around the world to live in poverty and highly favours the rich in such a way is not really a person I could support. I guess that said the bible does say that "it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle" (although apparantly that's a bit of a mistranlation as "the eye of a needle" was actually the name of a particular very narrow gate that was hard to get camels to walk through. If that's true I would presume that basically everybody who lives in the western world regardless of their religion is going to hell - which would probably be justice.

I guess regarding religion - when I say I don't hate religion - I do hate a lot of religious people and a lot of things that happen in the name of religion. Things like people who try to enforce their religious views on other people with things like lobbying for laws against abortion and same sex marriages etc. When you read the bible and if you know the history of christianity (and Islam for that matter) than there are plenty of examples of people persecuting those religions and pushing other religious beliefs onto them - so I find really disgusting that people who follow a belief that struggled against oppresion for such a long time turn around and essentially does the same thing to other people.

I really think it comes down to the problem with belief. I think probably my strongest belief is that everything I "know" and "believe" could be wrong and as such I always try to allow people the right to have their own beliefs - especially when having those beliefs and acting on them doesn't significantly effect me. I'll definitely express my beliefs as strongly as I have them but for example I won't physically stop people from saying something that I'm opposed to (although how they say it is perhaps another issue) and I won't stop somebody doing something I'm opposed to (unless it harms other people etc.).

If particular people have religious beliefs that say abortion is a sin and homosexuality is a sin and condoms are a sin then that's ok - they certainly aren't forced to be involved with any of those things - but stopping other people from using or doing those things who don't hold the same beliefs is morally and ethically wrong in my opinion.

Torn · Post by **Torn** » 01 Apr 2006 06:20

Very good post Jeremy all I could say to that is "dito" ...

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 12 Apr 2006 12:08

atheist: One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

agnostic: 1. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. 2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.

Slowsis · Post by **Slowsis** » 12 Apr 2006 15:23

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic

Its actually goo to have your definitions straight. I have heard so many different meanings of the word agnostic.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 18 Apr 2006 15:53

shredzilla wrote:agnostic:... 2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.

=me

Seath · Post by **Seath** » 18 Apr 2006 16:04

I dont know if that's an accurate definition of an agnostic, isn't agnostic someone who accepts that there is no way to know if there is a "god" ??

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 18 Apr 2006 16:22

Yeah, there's two definitions. Zeke was stating the second one, yours is the first.

Seath · Post by **Seath** » 18 Apr 2006 16:36

ah, that explains the 2 I suppose.

sampotter · Post by **sampotter** » 18 Apr 2006 20:13

You could also read the very explicit definitions provided by Adam.

Xain · Post by **Xain** » 18 Apr 2006 20:48

I'm Agnostic. Who am I to say that there is something or a lack there of.

I can't know how the world was created, because I wasn't there. And I can't know where I go when I die, because I'm still alive. What I do know is that I'm not a big fan of organized religion, and that our actions of today effect the people of tomorrow. I feel it's my duty as a human to make life better for them, or at least to try not to make it worse.

Will my soul be reincarnated into one of those people? Who knows. But weather or not my life continues after I die, I still want to have been a good person. And an amazing shredder.

carl winslow · Post by **carl winslow** » 18 Apr 2006 21:49

i notice a lot of people say they dont like "organized" religion. Does that mean that you do like unorganized religion?
whats the difference?

sampotter · Post by **sampotter** » 18 Apr 2006 23:13

I personally feel that your spiritual health should be dictated by how you perceive the world and how you grow and relate to it - not by your membership to a gathering of people.

I'm not sure what people mean by "disorganized religion." It seems that most religions congregate to at least some degree.

joplick · Post by **joplick** » 19 Apr 2006 01:26

ex·is·ten·tial·ism n.
A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.

Hakker · Post by **Hakker** » 30 Apr 2006 07:32

I am thinking of becoming a member of the Church of the FSM

Hakker · Post by **Hakker** » 30 Apr 2006 07:34

But untill that day I am an agnostic

shred villain · Post by **shred villain** » 09 May 2006 15:29

mormon. PLEASE NO SOUTH PARK JOKES!

shred villain · Post by **shred villain** » 09 May 2006 15:35

JoFa wrote: (the younger kids get free candy every week and sing silly songs for like an hour).

ha. yeah my little brother gets to do that every sunday.(he hasnt been babtized yet)