Here's how it goes.
Atheism, in a broad sense, is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable. Agnosticism can be defined in various ways, and is sometimes used to indicate doubt or a skeptical approach to questions. In some senses, agnosticism is a stance about the similarities or differences between belief and knowledge, rather than about any specific claim or belief.
These are both from Wikipedia, search them yourself for more details. It's pretty simple, its not that I do not believe in God or any other deity, I just do not choose to practice regularly or contain myself with the time involved with living a 'life of Christ". Some people may find this offensive and if you do, I am sorry for you. I do however recognize the fact that people believe in God, Buddha, Allah, etc., and that's fine with me. I am glad you have a faith in something other than humans. I believe aliens exist. I don't believe that Jesus ever existed. The Bible does not offer any semblance of comfort or fact for me because anyone can write a book, and a damn good one at that! My problem is that pretty much all religion conveys the same same thing: do what is right morally and ethically and live your life to the best of this premise as possible.
That's fine with me, you do your own thing. I know religious people are supposed to educate and enlighten people in the ways of spirituality but for the love of Stan, please do not push it on me. I almost refuse to talk religion with anyone because they can't prove me wrong and I can't prove them right. This is the classic argument recipe and I do not like to argue. I will respect your views on religion if you respect my view son non-religion. I don't want to talk God and Jesus with you, but I will give you the respect of thinking they exist and the respect of having faith and believing in them.
The two religions that bother me the most are Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. I have one Mormon acquaintance who is a friend of my girlfriend and my daughter's godmother. I like her and have no problems with her because she respects my stand point and i respect hers. The reason the typical Mormons and JW's get on my bad side is because they seem like they want to ram their propaganda down your throat. this may or not be the case but if it is, please do not even offer it up to me, i have no interest in it.
In my personal opinion, Jesus was a zombie. He died and was supposedly resurrected. The living dead. Another thing I have a huge problem with is the facts and proof. The bible starts off pretty shady with this guy God no one can see or hear or have a beer with. He creates earth, and so on and so forth. Next thing you know there's Adam and Eve and she fucks up according to the bible and eats an apple. She likes large round objects given to her to consume by a long phallic shaped being that is supposedly a talking snake. That is just the beginning because as you read through the first parts of the bible, the further you go, the harder it is to believe. Parting seas, burning bushes, zombie deities? The list goes on and on and I, personally, cannot buy it, I am sorry.
I have said a lot already but let's just leave it at this: presently, I do not believe in a "God" type religion. No matter what you say or do, you will not be able to change my mind. Unless you bring God or Jesus down here for a good stout amber ale and some decent conversation, I have reason to doubt. I do not challenge anyone to battle me on this because I will just state my opinion on how i think and feel if someone wants to try to change my mind. I am scientific, give me facts and data and prove it to me because faith does not logically make sense or hold water. If I cant see it it does not exist.
I can respect it. Just some food for thought, absent religion, true believers have faith. Everyone has a reason to doubt, that was the intent behind us being given free will. You can choose to believe or not believe. Within that choice, is the embodiment of faith. Choosing to believe, in whatever, despite proof to the contrary or absent any proof at all.
ReplyDeleteI can respect and appreciate your view. I, myself, do believe there is a higher power but do not believe in god. I believe in ghosts and believe that there are things walking among us that we cannot see or hear. Does that mean I am crazy? No. It just means I believe in what I believe in. If you can't see, smell, taste, touch, whatever, then how do you know it exists? (C.R.)
ReplyDeleteWent with Zombie Jesus, huh? Hmm. Meh. I'll give you Undead Jesus, but he definitely wasn't mindless and I don't remember ever reading about him eating brains. I myself have studied many religions and spiritualities (both eastern and western...not so much middle-eastern though). I can say organized religion is a sham as I see it...Engineered by those in power to control the masses. I know what I believe and I'm willing to tell anyone who asks. I talk to my God often and sometimes he even responds. Actually, I'd say he always responds but I don't always see the answer. But I do have faith. And that gets me by until I see the answer. Most times, it slaps me in the face. Sometimes however, God's answers are so subtle that if you aren't looking for them, you'll never see them. So in short, I say seek God but not necessarily through religion. He's seeking you whether you believe or not.And really what have you got to lose? Seems to me like you'd lose out on more by not seeking God.(M.S.)
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