Question: What is your religious path/idea/choice do you believe in (a) God? Or do you believe in a different entity or deity? explain, if you will.
I am an atheist because nothing in my experience, research, observation or original thought gives me any reason to believe otherwise.
I do not need to create a giant security camera in the sky in order to comport myself according to a determinate ethical calculus. In other words, my sense of morality comes from careful and reasoned analysis of humans, ideas, and the world - not from an arbitrary set of commandments whose only qualifications are a) posterity and b) a convenient symmetry with many of my moral intuitions.
I would not say that I am totally a-spiritual. I have had spiritual experiences in nature - on vision quests, for instance - and I've experienced moments of clarity and enlightenment which sprang into my head as if from a higher being. But I'm a great believer in the immense and uncharted power of the human mind, so while I find that nature is a great way to access a wealth of knowledge and get in touch with other ways of knowing, I find neither truth nor utility in ascribing these experiences to any omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent entity. Rather, I consider spirituality to be an internal process catalyzed by external events and environments.
I guess you could say that I am a rational hippy.
An important distinction is that I am an atheist, not an anti-theist. I disbelieve only because I have been presented with an insufficient case for religion, not out of any determination to reject a theistic model of the universe. In theory, I am open to conversion - although the burden of proof for any Western religion is insanely high. I have no problem with people believing whatever the hell they want, as long as their beliefs don't demand violations of the natural rights of others. However, I have a number of problems with organized religion. Here are some, in no particular order:
1. Exclusivity: it's often not enough to simply live a good life - in many Western forms, worship at their altars is a necessary condition for salvation. Everyone says "we're right, everyone else is wrong" and all we get is a muddled and vitriolic dialogue.
2. Subversion: religion has a terrible track record for social systems, ideas, and practices which are good for society (or at least, aren't objectively bad) but don't support the ideology. Science, freedom of speech, science, gender equality, legal accountability, science, the list goes on...
3. Propagation of unhealthy practices: this is like the converse of #2 - organized religion is responsible primarily for its own survival, so it has a natural incentive only to promote that which fuels itself. We think that the religious cult and the Cool-Aid are tragically serendipitous - I think that the cult of organized religion makes the Cool-Aid inevitable.
I do not need to create a giant security camera in the sky in order to comport myself according to a determinate ethical calculus. In other words, my sense of morality comes from careful and reasoned analysis of humans, ideas, and the world - not from an arbitrary set of commandments whose only qualifications are a) posterity and b) a convenient symmetry with many of my moral intuitions.
I would not say that I am totally a-spiritual. I have had spiritual experiences in nature - on vision quests, for instance - and I've experienced moments of clarity and enlightenment which sprang into my head as if from a higher being. But I'm a great believer in the immense and uncharted power of the human mind, so while I find that nature is a great way to access a wealth of knowledge and get in touch with other ways of knowing, I find neither truth nor utility in ascribing these experiences to any omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent entity. Rather, I consider spirituality to be an internal process catalyzed by external events and environments.
I guess you could say that I am a rational hippy.
An important distinction is that I am an atheist, not an anti-theist. I disbelieve only because I have been presented with an insufficient case for religion, not out of any determination to reject a theistic model of the universe. In theory, I am open to conversion - although the burden of proof for any Western religion is insanely high. I have no problem with people believing whatever the hell they want, as long as their beliefs don't demand violations of the natural rights of others. However, I have a number of problems with organized religion. Here are some, in no particular order:
1. Exclusivity: it's often not enough to simply live a good life - in many Western forms, worship at their altars is a necessary condition for salvation. Everyone says "we're right, everyone else is wrong" and all we get is a muddled and vitriolic dialogue.
2. Subversion: religion has a terrible track record for social systems, ideas, and practices which are good for society (or at least, aren't objectively bad) but don't support the ideology. Science, freedom of speech, science, gender equality, legal accountability, science, the list goes on...
3. Propagation of unhealthy practices: this is like the converse of #2 - organized religion is responsible primarily for its own survival, so it has a natural incentive only to promote that which fuels itself. We think that the religious cult and the Cool-Aid are tragically serendipitous - I think that the cult of organized religion makes the Cool-Aid inevitable.
It's probably clear that I have a lot to say on this topic. On the other hand, I'm tired of writing this. Thanks for the question, and pay extra attention in those English, grammar, and composition classes.
This was reposted from Formspring. Surprise me with more questions like this.
