Do you believe?

[doombug]

hahaha! That one is actually funny.

 

[doombug]

That's a God-awful video, grating to listen to. I don't recommend anyone watch it.

I'm Agnostic. I don't believe the nature of God is knowable, however, I regularly feel spiritual as if there is a subconscious level of communication going on with some unknown group entity (along the lines of the Force in Star Wars). I do not believe in God as described by most mainstream religions, a God with a loving relationship, with rules, with consequences for not acting in a certain fashion. Better said, I see no evidence for it.

There could be an entity that exists above us in a manner where we might interact on some plane of existence after physical death. There could be also be a continuation of consciousness after physical death, a spiritual existence in another plane, but there is no evidence for that, just my hope for such a thing. The people who have bought into the Bible or Quran whether they realize it or not, have thrown the dice hoping that their belief system is going to gain them something in the hereafter. Could be, but maybe they just threw craps and have wasted their entire lives conforming to a belief system that means nothing and they won't know until they've passed over the threshold.

Good post MA. You have a reasonable point of view in my opinion but from what I know about religions is many truly spiritual people, even Christians, are in it because they get something from religion present day. They aren't waiting for a pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow. While I don't practice any religion in particular I do see certain benefits to religion one could find useful on a daily basis.

 

[Minor Axis]

Good post MA. You have a reasonable point of view in my opinion but from what I know about religions is many truly spiritual people, even Christians, are in it because they get something from religion present day. They aren't waiting for a pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow. While I don't practice any religion in particular I do see certain benefits to religion one could find useful on a daily basis.

I am shocked, a reasonable reply. Thank you. There are two different things going on here. One is finding a good code to live by. Is a deity really necessary to accomplish this? After all it has to be our standards, not a standard imposed upon us. The other is conforming to the demands of a deity in the hope of reward and avoidance of punishment. This is not real morality. Morality only reveals it's true nature when you don't have punishment hanging over you.

 

[Panacea]

That's a God-awful video, grating to listen to. I don't recommend anyone watch it.

I'm Agnostic. I don't believe the nature of God is knowable, however, I regularly feel spiritual as if there is a subconscious level of communication going on with some unknown group entity (along the lines of the Force in Star Wars). I do not believe in God as described by most mainstream religions, a God with a loving relationship, with rules, with consequences for not acting in a certain fashion. Better said, I see no evidence for it.

There could be an entity that exists above us in a manner where we might interact on some plane of existence after physical death. There could be also be a continuation of consciousness after physical death, a spiritual existence in another plane, but there is no evidence for that, just my hope for such a thing. The people who have bought into the Bible or Quran whether they realize it or not, have thrown the dice hoping that their belief system is going to gain them something in the hereafter. Could be, but maybe they just threw craps and have wasted their entire lives conforming to a belief system that means nothing and they won't know until they've passed over the threshold.

His face was enough for me to avoid the video. I dare not watch it.
It's interesting, I've never felt any spiritual connection in my life. Sort of that "I pray to god but the sky is empty" thing. I've also never worried much about what happens to me after my death. Otherwise, I think this is an honest outlook. Aside from what people perceive as genuine interaction with a god, I think a fair portion of theism is wishful thinking for reward after death. Certainly seems like human nature.

Part of what I think would be cool about attending a church like BR describes is potentially hearing people share what their spiritual connections are and how they define them. Maybe one person's experience of god is my day to day experience and they simply define it differently.

 

[BornReady]

I've always gotten alot of laughs from Carlin and Lewis Black. When it comes to their material on religion I still laugh because ,to me, it is only a joke. Yeah, it is disrespectful but it is politically correct to disrespect Christianity so they can get away with it.

I'm glad you have a sense of humor about it. I think you're right. It does seem politically correct to make jokes about Christianity. I think that is because they are the majority by far, at least in the US. For awhile it was politically correct to make jokes about white males but not women or blacks. Now it's becoming more acceptable to make jokes about them too. That's a good sign. It shows the balance of power is leveling.

Lewis Black makes jokes about the Jews too. But he can get away with that because he is a Jew. Kind of like a fat comedian can get away with fat jokes.

 

[BornReady]

His face was enough for me to avoid the video. I dare not watch it.

Yeah, me too. They say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. But it sounds like I made the right call after hearing what everyone thought of it.

Part of what I think would be cool about attending a church like BR describes is potentially hearing people share what their spiritual connections are and how they define them. Maybe one person's experience of god is my day to day experience and they simply define it differently.

Exactly. The pagan group held a Solstice service last winter solstice. I'm in the humanist group and normally don't go to the pagan group events. But I decided to go and enjoyed it. They basically were stopping to reflect on the past year and rekindle their inner light for the year to come. I don't think of it that way but it is essentially something I do at the end of each year too. Their way of looking at the solstice was interesting. I've always called it the shortest day of the year. Not once did they refer to it that way. It is the longest night of the year. The service was held at night with all the lights out and only candles were burning.

 

[doombug]

I am shocked, a reasonable reply. Thank you. There are two different things going on here. One is finding a good code to live by. Is a deity really necessary to accomplish this? After all it has to be our standards, not a standard imposed upon us. The other is conforming to the demands of a deity in the hope of reward and avoidance of punishment. This is not real morality. Morality only reveals it's true nature when you don't have punishment hanging over you.

It does seem the punishment/reward aspect about religion sticks out. I think it is has been taught way too much. I view religion or any way of believing/not believing in God differently. After looking at different philosophies I see benefits to all of them really and that is just my opinion.