This is MY atheism.

by nicolaou 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  nicolaou

  I try to share my love with everyone who will respond to it, even my dog deserves my affection! I also love those who cannot respond, the starving and unfortunate and my love moves me to offer some small assistance. This is the love that moves me to try and improve life now instead of waiting for another life to come.

  I have become aware that truly knowing myself and understanding my fellowman is a journey I may never complete but that is the way I will find peace and happiness. Not for me the fruitless endeavour of trying to learn the mind of god.

  My prayers will never be answered. I find answers for myself through my own efforts and, by understanding how little I know, I feel no shame in asking for help from those who are older, wiser and more educated than myself. I've learned to value the incredible power of doubt. It does not blow me about like a 'wave of the sea' but gives me the direction and purpose I need to find an answer.

  I know there is more value and happiness to be had gathering my family together for a meal than for a sermon. More good is done dropping money into a charity box than a collection plate. We need schools not churches, hospitals not kingdom halls, rest homes not synagogues, playgrounds not mosques.

  My atheism does not condemn the religious person but nor will it tolerate his ignorance when it affects me or those I care about. My atheism respects believers but not belief. My atheism is comfortable not to have all the answers, it is okay to say "I don't know".

  My atheism will not hurt you - ever.
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  nvrgnbk

  My atheism will not hurt you - ever.

  Amen
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  sweetstuff

  I try to share my love with everyone who will respond to it, even my dog deserves my affection!
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  nicolaou

  Oh grow up!
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  Scully

  Bravo Nic! Well said!
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  Satanus

  "I have become aware that truly knowing myself and understanding my fellowman is a journey I may never complete but that is the way I will find peace and happiness."
  
  It could be that knowing oneself is the master key of life. Involvements like religions, relationships, jobs, etc and be used for that purpose. Beliefs are much overrated.
  
  S
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  nvrgnbk

  The Affirmations of Humanism:
  A Statement of Principles

  • We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
  • We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation.
  • We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
  • We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
  • We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
  • We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
  • We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
  • We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
  • We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
  • We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
  • We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.
  • We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.
  • We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity.
  • We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.
  • We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.
  • We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
  • We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.
  • We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
  • We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others.
  • We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.
  • We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.
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  Madame Quixote

  Thanks, nvr! I think this one sums it all up:

  We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.
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  eclipse

  Atheism or humanism is all about what really matters -

  family, people & our fellow earthlings - animals..

  excellent post, nicolaou!
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  Narkissos

  Beautiful post nic.

  My atheism is an ocean at sunset
  where the streams from the holy mountains
  die in silvery gratefulness

  The golden clouds mounting
  will shower with laughter
  the carefree gods of tomorrow.