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You condemn respect for Christians and seek to subordinate their faith.
When I was 10 years old, we had a dog named Silver. A sealyham - sort of a largish Westie. He had been struck by a car when I was much younger and that had left him blind in one eye. We adapted. He adapted. But whenever he entered an unfamiliar space (the furniture moved, for instance) he would collide with things. I felt bad for him. Like most children my age I believed what I was told was the truth by my parents and the church they took me to. So I prayed as fervently and selflessly as I could manage that God would restore his vision. But, as would happen in any bad movie, his poor vision led Silver to wandering out in front of another car where he suffered another concussion which left him completely blind. Now all dogs go to heaven because all dogs are innocent. Every non-human form of life is innocent of the many sins the Bible spells out. Initially, I was angry. How could God cause my innocent dog to suffer, regardless of his motive or intent? The standard "mysterious ways" line didn't help at all. What did help was the realization that the best explanation was not that god was mysterious or unknowable, but that he simply wasn't there. The existence of the god described by the Bible and by our preacher and the believers I would talk with was simply not possible; not only because it violated all the laws of nature but because absolutely no evidence I could find supported the idea. Every thing I could learn about the world and how it worked refuted the idea of a caring, personal god who had created miraculous humans and a miraculous Earth to be their home and was everpresent, watching over us and, on proper supplication, violating the laws that he himself had set in place - if he felt like it.
As the years went by I simply became more and more convinced that there is a great deal about the working of the universe we do not yet know, but the basics - the principal of uniformitarianism, holds, everywhere and everywhen. Nothing is supernatural. No will directs or inspires the stream of events taking place over the passage of time. Only physics.
What signs or signals should I have caught that might have lured me back to my childhood faith? And how might my life have been different had I done so? I have lots of friends and I'm pretty sure most of them think I'm a nice guy. I buy fully and heartily into the Golden Rule. I believe it to be the sole basis of human civilization. How do you think my complete lack of divine faith hurt me? Will your god throw into a lake of fire because I led a good life but failed to do him obeisance? That is, of course, precisely what scriptures tells us. Why would ANY of you believe, much less WORSHIP such a god? He seems a monster. Would anyone care to correct me?
And that is how people think of their faith--a philosophy for living. Don't fool yourself. There are institutions in Buddhism as well. There are "laws" for following the way of Buddha as well. To say they are not "canon" doesn't make them any less "law" (what one should do to reach the goal/nirvana).I don't think Buddhism is a religion but rather a philosophy for living. There are no gods, no sins no canonical laws. In its inception Buddhism was nothing but a man's search for a way to be free from suffering and it is a human solution not a divine one. All The Buddha ever said was "This worked for me. Try it"
another good post, meri, mich of our religious disagreement stems from the loud crowd that insists the scripture is literally true. exactly 7 24 hour days of creation, suns stopping in the sky and such are metaphors. these stories are "true" at a level beyond the words of their telling.What some don't realize is that the Bible uses so many forms of literature: Fables, Just-so stories, hyperbole, apocalyptic literature, metaphors, allegory, folklore, legends--and more. Those can be a distraction, and often are when one takes their eyes off the lesson(s) being taught. Our ancestors were brilliant at weaving stories around truths and lessons. They would have been proud of Aesop, but probably not so much of modern novelists.
You appear to be one of those who take the Bible literally--so much so that you believe you are superior to God (at least the way our ancestors worked to present the unknown). They would be dismayed that the way they presented God made it impossible for your to worship. They thought differently. They made their points differently. And they used a visual language with only a few thousand words. Interpreting and translating that language into subjective languages with many thousands of words....They worked within their own language, not ours.
Thank you for proving my point.It's not just Christianity I have equal contempt for all god based religions Don't forget religions and gods are not the same things.
And that is how people think of their faith--a philosophy for living. Don't fool yourself. There are institutions in Buddhism as well. There are "laws" for following the way of Buddha as well. To say they are not "canon" doesn't make them any less "law" (what one should do to reach the goal/nirvana).
So how does that make me an atheist?Thank you for proving my point.
The security of my beliefs in no way negates your contempt, mockery and attack of my faith. That's all on you and your failed behaviors.And if you were secure in your faith then there would be no way anyone could subordinate it
You are a militant atheist. You are not enlightened. You are a shining example of all that is wrong in this world.So how does that make me an atheist?
Oh yeah it doesn't.
By definition.
The Bible teaches a way of life.So touting the historical accuracy of the bible is a little ridiculous.
It's a religious text produced with the express purpose of propagating a religion
Are you agnostic about unicorns or wood fairies too?And yet you cannot find any post where I ever indicated anything but agnosticism
The security of my beliefs in no way negates your contempt, mockery and attack of my faith. That's all on you and your failed behaviors.
Yes, they are. Religion is the belief in God. Without God, no religion.Don't forget religions and gods are not the same things.
A rose by any other name is still a ___.There are no "laws" just as there are no "sins" in Buddhism.
Get real. Obviously you can read and most likely you are more than nine years old and you believe that stuff. Real stupid stuff.The security of my beliefs in no way negates your contempt, mockery and attack of my faith. That's all on you and your failed behaviors.
So how does that make me an atheist?
Oh yeah it doesn't.
By definition.
It said, doing its ethical best unto others..You are a shining example of all that is wrong in this world.
the prefix a- usually means "against"
So now you have moved to acceptance. That's progress.So what?
When I was 10 years old, we had a dog named Silver. A sealyham - sort of a largish Westie. He had been struck by a car when I was much younger and that had left him blind in one eye. We adapted. He adapted. But whenever he entered an unfamiliar space (the furniture moved, for instance) he would collide with things. I felt bad for him. Like most children my age I believed what I was told was the truth by my parents and the church they took me to. So I prayed as fervently and selflessly as I could manage that God would restore his vision. But, as would happen in any bad movie, his poor vision led Silver to wandering out in front of another car where he suffered another concussion which left him completely blind. Now all dogs go to heaven because all dogs are innocent. Every non-human form of life is innocent of the many sins the Bible spells out. Initially, I was angry. How could God cause my innocent dog to suffer, regardless of his motive or intent? The standard "mysterious ways" line didn't help at all. What did help was the realization that the best explanation was not that god was mysterious or unknowable, but that he simply wasn't there. The existence of the god described by the Bible and by our preacher and the believers I would talk with was simply not possible; not only because it violated all the laws of nature but because absolutely no evidence I could find supported the idea. Every thing I could learn about the world and how it worked refuted the idea of a caring, personal god who had created miraculous humans and a miraculous Earth to be their home and was everpresent, watching over us and, on proper supplication, violating the laws that he himself had set in place - if he felt like it.
As the years went by I simply became more and more convinced that there is a great deal about the working of the universe we do not yet know, but the basics - the principal of uniformitarianism, holds, everywhere and everywhen. Nothing is supernatural. No will directs or inspires the stream of events taking place over the passage of time. Only physics.
What signs or signals should I have caught that might have lured me back to my childhood faith? And how might my life have been different had I done so? I have lots of friends and I'm pretty sure most of them think I'm a nice guy. I buy fully and heartily into the Golden Rule. I believe it to be the sole basis of human civilization. How do you think my complete lack of divine faith hurt me? Will your god throw into a lake of fire because I led a good life but failed to do him obeisance? That is, of course, precisely what scriptures tells us. Why would ANY of you believe, much less WORSHIP such a god? He seems a monster. Would anyone care to correct me?
