Religion

There are 10 posts filed in Religion (this is page 2 of 2).

Atheists Think Differently

lightbulbearthAtheists don’t believe in any god or goddess or combination of either. It’s a bold choice. Like playing without a net when it comes to your beliefs about death and what comes next. Many people ‘get religion’ when death touches their lives. They become afraid and want something to believe in. Something that has power over them, something bigger than themselves, something that can give them possibilities rather than just an end to life.

I think atheists are brave or bold or angry or young or something… to stand out on that ledge and not believe.

Atheist beliefs are more than just not believing in god or following a religion. Atheists can be religious, they can be part of an organized religion. But they have a slightly different outlook because they don’t believe in the gods of the religion. This may seem complex or as if you are not really following the religion at all.

For myself, I would call myself a Witch, however I don’t believe in any gods or goddesses. This does not mean I don’t believe in something. I do believe in reincarnation. I believe there is some law of nature (something I don’t have the knowledge or experience to understand or define) which controls what happens to us after we die. Reincarnation makes sense to me, like recycling.

In this way, I follow the Pagan ways, share most of the Pagan beliefs but I have given them my own slant as a free thinker, not quite an atheist.

This free thinking changes my outlook on everything religions connect with a god or goddess. I don’t pray. But, I don’t think prayers are something wrong. Prayers give words to your deepest thoughts, emotions and needs. I also don’t believe in Adam and Eve. I believe in evolution.

People wonder why I don’t believe in god. It started when I began feeling religions hold god, heaven, devils, hell, etc over people – as a threat and a bribe to make them conform to certain standards. I began to feel I could not respect any god who would use such methods – or any god who needed or expected to be worshipped at all. Why would a god (something all mighty) need to be fawned over? It would seem to be empty praise, remote, automatic and even forced. What would that really be worth.

I started looking at other options, other beliefs. I began to merge my thoughts, feelings and values with what I found others believing.

My strongest connections were to beliefs which gave women power (rather than thinking them the ‘weaker vessel’) and those which focused on man/ humans as being responsible for their own actions rather than letting a god or devil be held to account for everything.

Through reading more about atheism I found the Free Thinkers. That’s where I will be exploring next. I like having the option to change my mind without having to change my whole religion every time.

Humanists, atheists, agnostics, non-theists, skeptics, freethinkers and other non-religious people

This post was originally written and posted to HubPages. I’ve cut and pasted the comments in because they added to the topic.

That Grrl

No one should be quick to pass judgement on another belief system/ religion until they have an understanding of it. Of course, once you begin to understand it that well, parts of it will make good sense and become worthwhile to you.

Niteriter

I think people have a need to worship something bigger than themselves because, deep inside the psyche, they feel inadequate and fearful. I believe that, once individuals have dealt with personal inner fear as it applies to their particular circumstances, the ideas you talk about here fall into place as options for forming a personal life philosophy.

I like your gentle approach to such a potentially contentious topic. We need more people exploring this important part of life with your open and genuinely inquisitive attitude.

cheaptrick

I follow Frizbetarianism.We believe when you die your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there…

The Real question we each need to answer is;Does self awareness survive death?Without it nothing else matters…seems to me…

Dean

That Grrl

It’s always good to hear there are others who think differently. A lot of people seem to carry on with beliefs without questioning anything or really appearing to think at all.

OldWitchcraft

This is a very nice essay. I am, also, an atheistic witch. I apply the term “traditional witch” a lot, but then I have to define that term because it means so many things to so many different people. I hold that, historically, most traditional Western witches were atheists.

The only reason we have to talk about “god” is that so many other people are talking about it and these people are sometimes politicians and people who could have a negative impact on our lives.

johndnathan

Nice hub, Thatgrrl. I’m more of a Pantheist myself, which to the general masses is too close to Atheist for comfort. Oh well. I do believe that when you are not bound by the limitations of a religion that you are free to see the world in a different light.

Do you Believe in God and the Apocalypse?

There is talk about the Apocalypse due to signs in Revelations in the Bible, or prophecies by other people in history. I don’t believe in any of these. Not that I don’t think the planet is in trouble. We are putting a lot of stresses on our ecosystems and our resources. We do need to focus on making things better, fixing what we can and saving what we haven’t already ruined. I think there is still time, as long as the planet isn’t taken past the point of no return we can still make it work.

However, I don’t believe in the predictions for our imminent failure, the end of civilization and the end of everything. I don’t believe in the standard God and I don’t believe in Satan, the devil, etc. Neither am I an atheist. I believe there is something that started the ball rolling, sparked something that began the creation of the universe and everything. However, I really doubt that thing, who or whatever it was, still keeps an eye on us or has much interest in what each of us want as individuals.

I don’t believe in Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and the big, bad snake. If you don’t believe in the creation of the world by God then how (or why) would you believe that that God will end the world. If God wasn’t there in the beginning is he/ she suddenly going to pop into existence now? Not likely. To me it seems that anyone believing or considering the prophecies in the Bible should believe in all of it, including the way the Bible explains the world was begun. How can you put faith in God ending the world if you don’t believe God created the world?

Having said that, don’t sit back and think you’ve been a good person, etc. and now God will save you. We are each responsible for doing what we can for our world. God isn’t going to step in and fix it for us. If you are one of those who believe God created the planet, you are welcome to hold that belief. If not, it’s time you shook some sense into your head about the end of the world and what you can do to prevent it.

hell is Just Another Four Letter Word

The concept of hell and the idea that women could be unclean when they have their period, have sex, or get pregnant and give birth were all reasons why I stopped following/ believing in the standard Christian type religions.

I don’t think I even need to go into detail about the women part. I am a woman. Being so and having the body of a woman and all it’s cycles does not make me unclean. I don’t bite the heads off penis’s or chickens. I’m not into that sort of kinky stuff. Other kinky stuff… but not that.

As for hell. How can anyone have faith in a religion which tells you to worship or face going to hell? No real power would say that. Unless it never really had any power and the only way to enforce and keep it’s power was to debase itself and threaten the very followers who give it their faith, their hope and their life. Doesn’t that seem wrong? Why would you worship something that threatens to take it’s ball and go home like a kid having a tantrum? Shouldn’t a supreme power be confident, mature and more independent than that?

Anyway the hell thing just proved to me that what people call god is not very godly. It seems to me a real power/ god would not bother with us all that much. Which is the case if you look around. We are left to our own to fight our own battles, to protect our own environment and to keep each other.

Only someone who needs praise demands worship. I don’t see a real god being that needy. Rather they would have better things to do.

It’s like giving someone a gift. If you really give from your heart you give cause it pleases you, not because you need to be thanked. I don’t give a present and then stand around expecting anyone to hang around telling me how sweet I am, how great the gift is. I already know those things.