Paul Smeenus

I hate that song

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Gentle Giant Catalog Review

The entire Ditty Bops catalog reviewed

DeadChannel

But.... but..... crockoduck.

RoxyRollah

He's back at his fighting weight.

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Chula Vista

By people in positions of (or wanting to be in positions of) power or greed. Lots of regular everyday folks use religion and their faith as a way to enrich their lives. Good for them. Whatever works to make you a happier person at the end of the day.

And ya, the whole Noah's ark thing is pure plagiarism of the Gilgamesh flood story.

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“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

Lovedump2k15

I believe in divine inspiration. How else could oven fresh chocolate chip cookies exist?

Oh, and I love all of you!

EPOCH6

Over the years I've sort of backed off from giving modern Western wall-calendar Christianity a hard time, the sort of Christianity where you put a decorative cross up in your bathroom or kitchen, an angel up on your Christmas tree for a week or two a year, and occasionally go to church for a special event or if a friend invites you etc. I used to be pretty eager to argue with religious folks when given the chance, in our teens I think we're pretty hungry for self-confirmation, seeking opportunities to prove to ourselves that we're thinking straight.

Since then my mother (who was previously irreligious, along with all of my immediate family) became an evangelical Christian after a stint in the 12-Step Program (a psychological / lifestyle rehabilitation program for alcoholics). It was really frustrating for me at first to see my mother's beliefs pull a 180 at the age of 40-something but it has been probably about 7 or 8 years now and her psychological state, financial stability, and overall health have improved so much, very much a direct result of her involvement in vaguely religious communities.

Over that time I've come to realize how non-invasive that sort of religion (or spirituality or whatever the suitable term) really is in the grand scheme of things, yet it had such a positive net effect in her own life, giving her goals to strive for, hope for the future, and motivation to help other people and improve her own situation. I don't care if she's right or wrong about the origins of universe or the existence of innate morality or free will or souls or the afterlife or whatever, I care that she's in a comfortable and stable state of living, and passive spirituality is a lot more stable than hopeless alcoholism (and I'm not using that as a general dichotomy for others, just that those were her particular options at the time).

If we're going to be concerned about religion's effects on society at large, let's make sure our concern is directed at the right camps, not Hallmark Card Christianity.

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Chula Vista

^^^^^

Bingo.

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“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

The Batlord

^^^

This. I have to live in a world created by religious folks, so even moderate religion can affect myself and countless others, but on an individual level I could care less. If your religion brings out the best in you, while not ****ing with me, then I won't begrudge you your beliefs, even if I find them to be irrational.

If I'm right as an atheist, and there is no life after death, then I'm not going to get brownie points at the very end just because I was right. I'll just be dead. If going to church every Sunday and praying before every meal gets you through the rest of your life relatively happy and fulfilled, then who am I to take away your comfort and healthy psychological state.

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Xurtio

I just don't believe in God, I don't need reasons. I was raised a Christian and gradually moved on to neutral agnosticism, and finally to atheism (agnostic atheism to be specific). An education in science probably played a role. The reason I wanted to believe, I think, is because of the security blanket it provided (it's all part of some omnipotent being's plan and I could ask for help through prayer).

But that all just kind of faded away over time. I didn't need to rationalize it, I just lost interest in it. And I don't chide people just for being religious. If they try to make their morals laws or use it to justify violence and other hate crimes, then we have a problem. But if you're a "noninvasive" practitioner (to use Epoch's term) then whatevah.

This is why I think spirituality is important, even for us atheists. By spirituality, I mean things like finding your place in society, establishing a moral code that truly satisfies you, finding meaning for yourself in life, etc.

Knowing that there is no objective meaning to life can be liberating at first, but it can also lead to idle, meandering actions that have a chance of being destructive to yourself or others.

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H̓̇̅̉yͤ͏mͬ͂ͧn͑̽̽̌ͪ̑͐͟o̴͊̈́͑̇m͛͌̓ͦ̑aͫ̽ͤ̇n̅̎͐̒ͫ͐c̆ͯͫ̋ ̔̃́eͯ͒rͬͬ̄҉

The Batlord

Agreed. Believing in God or a higher power doesn't automatically give your life meaning, but it may encourage you to seek out meaning more than if you just embrace nihilism. Your original motivation may be irrational, but if it leads you to fulfillment then it's still served a legitimate purpose.

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