by dezpbem 37 Replies latest jw friends
toby,
i think that's an excellent call on your part. for all we can tell, scientific methodology is the best tool homo sapiens have ever had for discovering the nature of nature.
some people think this worldview is cold and narrow. but quite the contrary. it is actually filled with awe and wonder, thanks to the realistic explanations.
as richard dawkins says: "it's fine to have an open mind, just not so open that your brain falls out."
TS
I didn't want to be a part of any religion ever again, but, once I left them alone, I did start to feel like maybe the catholics had it right all along.
That would've stuck if I weren't in the same religion as Tetra.
When I left I didn't want to allow my bad experiences with them to cause me to prejudge all other religions the way they brainwashed me to. I'm not part of any religion but i've read about many. can't say I am religious and can't say i'm not. Can't say I believe in god and can't say I don't. I don't believe in belief!
Smiles_Smiles said
. So I read allot of mystical stuff and eastern philosophy/religious stuff.
Ditto here. The eastern religions are vast. You could be an atheist and have a place in it since they don't believe in a creator god in many. They're philosophically deep. Not to mention you don't sit around listening to boring speeches while pretending it's spiritual. But i'm not involved in them.
Some like exjwms stay away from religions and should if they dislike them. And others like tetra and lonelysheep have created B.O.A.L. ( "bite out of the ass of life" religion),lol.
Still others go to other christian religions. And others become atheist. Anyone else?
Very definitely none at all!
Some writers on this board have claimed that "people need religion."
All I can say is - I sure as anything you like don't (A conclusion that I have formed after both my own experiences while a JW, and my own observations of those in other religions).
Jack
Hey Dez - if u r ever bored and want a mystical brain strip tease check out the movie "What the bleep". It just might turn u on for a minute.
I've been going off and on to Catholic Mass. They have XLT (Youth night) With singing praise songs. Honestly? That was about the only thing I REALLY liked about the KH was singing. My roommate is Catholic so I go every now and then just for some kind of spirituality. Anyway...there's guilt in Catholicism and lord knows I'm not stranger to that.
Joking aside though...I've looked into Wicca. The spellcasting doesn't really appeal to me, but I'm ALL for "Do what you will, but harm none." I guess if you go by mainstream Christianity it means I've converted to Satanism...but in any organization where God/Jesus isn't the part of the big deal, it's satanic in nature.
I'm all for this, which is a paganistic/wiccan viewpoint...We're on a wheel, all of us...and in the center is God/Allah/Vishnu/Bob/Whatever...and the religions of the world are simply spokes to get to the center of the wheel...what does it matter what spoke you're on if you eventually reach 'God'?
And for those atheists out there that would I guess disagree...I feel that it takes the most faith of all to be an aethist. And I mean that will all respect.
I don't know what label to pin on my lapel at this stage.
I consider myself Christian - that is, I live to the morals of the Bible as basically taught by Christ in the NT. But I have come to accept others no matter what they believe or how they choose to live morally. The shroud of judgement has fallen from my shoulders and I think I am a better man for that.
I believe in a creator - I think [although some here could pen pages in an effort to disprove this statement] that the evidence speaks for one who designed life and the universe.
My mind has opened though to allow consideration of many points of view. And that man-organized groups professing to worship God in some sort of exclusive relationship has very little merit. Although I do see the benefits of Christian [or other] social structure with those like minded, at this point I think it optional.
Wifey has attended a few church meetings since we left - I go by the signs and half-commit to attending 'soon' - but have not done so yet. My religion has become partly about making sure others have a choice when it comes to the witness faith. Not an active guerilla against JW, but I let no opportunity to make my views known pass.
I also live and let live for the most part now.
Jeff
forsharry,
i think that free-thinking in general is what many mystics regard as "The Left Hand Path", as opposed to "The Right Hand Path" of theism and self-sacrifice for a greater good. and to a degree, atheists often fall in this category (Left Hand, very loosely).
but you're right. i totally disagree with you regarding faith and atheism. and it's not just due to my aversion to the word "faith". it's mostly because, philosophically, it just is not true.
the large majority of atheists do not assert anything positive. this means that they do not say: "there is no god". rather, they simply have a lack of belief in any gods until evidence presents itself for the existence of a god. so it's not really faith at all, since there is nothing philosophically positive about it at all.
for example:
both atheists and theists agree that there is a universe, and that we are part of it.
that is where the large majority of atheists STOP.
the theists however, continue on a further step and assert that there is a god. this is a positive assertion about the universe that has no evidence to back it up. THIS is faith. not a lack of belief. the atheist rejects this extra step, this extra assertion about the universe.
it really boils down to probablity for atheists. it's often what makes them an atheist, instead of an agnostic. if you apply parsimony, or even Occam's Razor to the issue of God's existence, then you see very quickly that it is more likely that god does not exist.
this is not faith. this is math.
i hope this helps. i am willing to debate the subject ad infinitum. but if you have any questions, i would be happy to answer where i can.
Regards,
TS
Smiles sayeth
Hey Dez - if u r ever bored and want a mystical brain strip tease check out the movie "What the bleep".
Funny...I have that on order right now.
It just might turn u on for a minute.Only a minute? You spiritual minute-woman you, hehe.
It turned me on for quite a while. I even went to their seminar.
But one never knows how much to expect from a man. Most r at least good for 'a minute'.
Oops! Did I say that out loud?
