Inspired by another thread: God dun me wrong.

[xSilverPhinx]

Wow Tristan, that's quite a post. Definitely a different persepctive from mine, which makes it interesting. Two questions: do you still believe in this god?

And have you looked at other non Christian "spiritual" (however you want to define it) philosophies as well?

[Tristan Jay]

Wow Tristan, that's quite a post. Definitely a different persepctive from mine, which makes it interesting. Two questions: do you still believe in this god?

And have you looked at other non Christian "spiritual" (however you want to define it) philosophies as well?

I find it hard to shake the believe in something powerful and intelligent behind the creation of all things that surround us.  I don't want to hate it, or more importantly have unreasonable expectations of it.  I can't dispell a certain disliking, though.  But I can't go along with what any religion says about it anymore, I feel like they have forfeited all claims to having anything meaningful or worthwhile to say.  God, whatever it really is, certainly seems pretty detached from our lives here on Earth; I don't sense help from it, I don't sense it's involvement in the unfolding of circumstances in subtle ways, and I think we need to take responsibility and credit for what we do (it burns me when we should receive all the blame for our faults and yet give credit to something outside of ourselves for great accomplishments that we worked hard for).  I mean, maybe it's all supposed to be a system to facilitate something on a higher dimensional plane, and our presence isn't really noticed or regarded as significant (but we've emerged as a consequence of the way the system was designed, I don't know).

I'm trying not to get carried away!  In answer to your other question, I'm casually interested in Buddism, but I haven't looked too deeply into it.  It always strikes me as unpretentious and peaceful.  Eh, right now I reading and writing my way toward answers, as the universe reveals whatever it's going to about itself.  This forum is one place I wanted to explore thoughts, safely away from inside-the-box religious doctrinal thinking.  I have a journal which I'm working and writing my way through questions as well.

Post script: I like your signatures, too, and I only read them after I had already posted the text above.  Interesting indictment of religion's spiritual-political relationship with humanity in general.

[xSilverPhinx]

Wow Tristan, that's quite a post. Definitely a different persepctive from mine, which makes it interesting. Two questions: do you still believe in this god?

And have you looked at other non Christian "spiritual" (however you want to define it) philosophies as well?

I find it hard to shake the believe in something powerful and intelligent behind the creation of all things that surround us.  I don't want to hate it, or more importantly have unreasonable expectations of it.  I can't dispell a certain disliking, though.  But I can't go along with what any religion says about it anymore, I feel like they have forfeited all claims to having anything meaningful or worthwhile to say.  God, whatever it really is, certainly seems pretty detached from our lives here on Earth; I don't sense help from it, I don't sense it's involvement in the unfolding of circumstances in subtle ways, and I think we need to take responsibility and credit for what we do (it burns me when we should receive all the blame for our faults and yet give credit to something outside of ourselves for great accomplishments that we worked hard for).  I mean, maybe it's all supposed to be a system to facilitate something on a higher dimensional plane, and our presence isn't really noticed or regarded as significant (but we've emerged as a consequence of the way the system was designed, I don't know).

I'm trying not to get carried away!  In answer to your other question, I'm casually interested in Buddism, but I haven't looked too deeply into it.  It always strikes me as unpretentious and peaceful.  Eh, right now I reading and writing my way toward answers, as the universe reveals whatever it's going to about itself.  This forum is one place I wanted to explore thoughts, safely away from inside-the-box religious doctrinal thinking.  I have a journal which I'm working and writing my way through questions as well.

Post script: I like your signatures, too, and I only read them after I had already posted the text above.  Interesting indictment of religion's spiritual-political relationship with humanity in general.

Seneca's quote is one of my favourites, it sums up things very well IMO. It's much easier to see when you're outside the box of religious cultish thinking.  

The other day it just struck me just how similar the Abrahamic god is to the Prince as described by Machiavelli. According to him, morals need not even apply to the ruler figure, because they make an inefficient ruler. The personal god of politicians and warlords, I would guess.

I like Epicurus' Riddle as well:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.

Add how can free will be compatible in that universe and you've got a real mess.

Speaking of mess, that's one reason why I can't see myself believing in a personal god. Projecting my own expectations onto an indifferent universe makes no sense to me. And I've entertained the thought of what it might be like to believe in a personal god quite a few times.

I don't know that much about other spiritual philosophies, because I feel that what's right in front of me is extraordinary enough without having to resort to some other realm of imagination, even if I don't have access to it in its entirety. Reality is way more than the senses can process. I like the idea of pantheism, but see no reason to worship or build churches to the fundamental aspects of nature that grant us our existence. I'd even risk saying that I can truly know things, with no faith having to be involved, and that means more than any theistic religion can offer. They look small in comparison.

Anyways, I sincerely hope you find something that you feel fits you better, a religion/philosophy/ ideology that gets you nowhere is pointless.

[Tank]

Honestly, Tristian Jay, atheists aren't looking for any answer.   They just want to live their lives without any religion being involved. 

I'm not sure that's true as atheists are so variable, some could well be looking for an answer, just nota theistic/deistic one.

[Sweetdeath]

Honestly, Tristian Jay, atheists aren't looking for any answer.   They just want to live their lives without any religion being involved. 

I'm not sure that's true as atheists are so variable, some could well be looking for an answer, just nota theistic/deistic one.

Really? Maybe it's just me. I don't need an answer or divine meaning to continue living my life.  I just want to be with my gf,buy toys and videogames, and mame lots of meaningful friendships.

[Crow]

Honestly, Tristian Jay, atheists aren't looking for any answer.   They just want to live their lives without any religion being involved. 

I'm not sure that's true as atheists are so variable, some could well be looking for an answer, just nota theistic/deistic one.

Really? Maybe it's just me. I don't need an answer or divine meaning to continue living my life.  I just want to be with my gf,buy toys and videogames, and mame lots of meaningful friendships.

Yeah I think there are a lot of atheists that are looking for answers of some kind, they may not be the same thing a theist may be looking for though. Science is a good example of people asking questions and looking for the best possible answers with the evidence that is available.

[Tank]

While not 'looking' for anything in a spiritual sense I keep a keen eye on scientific progress to see what is being discovered and what the current interpretations of what has been discovered tell us about the universe we inhabit.

[OldGit]

I don't need an answer or divine meaning to continue living my life.  I just want to be with my gf,buy toys and videogames, and make lots of meaningful friendships.

Agreed.  I get a lot of satisfaction from my volunteer work with the disabled, and have made a lot of real friends among them.  But I have no need to think in terms of spirituality.  These people need helping; I give some help, both sides get satisfaction.  It's simply the way humans operate.

Does that sound cold?  It's not.  You should have seen me at the BBQ last Thursday, helping with the wheelchair dancing; we had a whale of a good time and I came home really happy.  Just, I don't look for anything mysterious in it.

[Sweetdeath]

Awww, that sounds great, Old git!

I admire anyone who helps folks for the sake of helping.   I usually end up in situations where elderly need assisting, yet no one will stop to help. I love stepping in.  Makes me feel like a super hero; "no need to fear, Sweetdeath is here!"

[Awolf26]

"no need to fear, Sweetdeath is here!"

If you are helping elderly people who may be struggling, this catch phrase may need some tweeking. hahaha 

[Sweetdeath]

Hmmm, I think you may be right, Awolf! 

[xSilverPhinx]

"no need to fear, Sweetdeath is here!"

If you are helping elderly people who may be struggling, this catch phrase may need some tweeking. hahaha 

LOL!

[Sandra Craft]

Really? Maybe it's just me. I don't need an answer or divine meaning to continue living my life.  I just want to be with my gf,buy toys and videogames, and mame lots of meaningful friendships.

I just have to ask: is that "mame" in the Auntie sense?  If so, I'm getting a real weird mental image off that.

As for me, the only thing I'm looking is a perfect baked potato with sour cream and chives.  That would really hit the spot.  And on the serious side, I've known 2 atheists who were angry at god -- they both went back to being theists after awhile.  My take was that they were simply theists who finally realized that god wasn't Santa Claus, got mad about it and then got over it but since "atheists are angry at god" is a common belief among some theists they innocently mistook their little mad phase as atheism.

[DeterminedJuliet]

I'm definitely happier now that I'm an atheist than when I was theistic.

I struggled a lot with the inconsistencies between religion/the real world. 

Now, no struggle! I don't have to worry about conforming into some kind of "never-really-put-your-finger-on-it" morality and I can focus on a personal, real world, practical sense of ethics. And if I shag up, I don't get to say "Oops! Oh, well. God will forgive me!" I have to try and do better. Because what I do matters. Being an atheist has made me a happier and better person.

[Sweetdeath]

Really? Maybe it's just me. I don't need an answer or divine meaning to continue living my life.  I just want to be with my gf,buy toys and videogames, and mame lots of meaningful friendships.

I just have to ask: is that "mame" in the Auntie sense?  If so, I'm getting a real weird mental image off that.

As for me, the only thing I'm looking is a perfect baked potato with sour cream and chives.  That would really hit the spot.  And on the serious side, I've known 2 atheists who were angry at god -- they both went back to being theists after awhile.  My take was that they were simply theists who finally realized that god wasn't Santa Claus, got mad about it and then got over it but since "atheists are angry at god" is a common belief among some theists they innocently mistook their little mad phase as atheism.

Whoops!  That's actually a stupid typo.  I make them a lot on my android keyboard.  It's suppose to be "make."