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Post by Shodan on Jun 2, 2005 2:13:57 GMT -5
New question for you seculars, since this one created some turmoil. Were you ever a Christian? How about any other religion? What keeps you in non-theism? Not Christian as such, but Deist in a very vague sort of way with heavy undertones of Christianity as that is what I knew most about. How old were you when you seriously started to doubt Christianity (if that was what you grew up in)? I was a Deist when I was very young, but that had nothing to do with my upbringing, unless you count my parent's decision to let me choose my own way in life. By about 12 I still had the idea that God existed, but had no real reason to believe that. By the time I was 14, I was an atheist but a very poor one, then by 16 heavily agnostic with atheist undertones. Note to Shodan: Thanks for starting this thread! That is quite alright. Too often I see christians who have the wrong idea about secularists, claiming such things as that they live their lives only for themselves, have no morals, or even worship themselves.
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Post by JCsAngelPen on Jun 3, 2005 15:27:03 GMT -5
what's your point in living? To gain the knowledge that I can and to make use of it ina way that I will hopefully leave some small impact on the world, to enjoy myself without harming others, to be there for those I care about, and to help raise my sister is such a way that the world is a little bit easier for her. that's exactly what I hoped...non-christians would hold as their goal in life...
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Post by Skylarking on Jun 3, 2005 19:01:47 GMT -5
I doubted God all of my Christian life, but not heavily until I was 14-15 ish. I'm not a super strong athiest though. One night a few weeks ago I found myself on my knees starting to pray without even realizing it. That was super weird. I guess I'm agnostic now, though I'd really like to be more of an athiest.
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Post by Soulfire79 on Jun 3, 2005 21:43:41 GMT -5
I doubted God all of my Christian life, but not heavily until I was 14-15 ish. I'm not a super strong athiest though. One night a few weeks ago I found myself on my knees starting to pray without even realizing it. That was super weird. I guess I'm agnostic now, though I'd really like to be more of an athiest. *confused look* Why would you rather be more of an atheist than an agnostic??
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Post by Skylarking on Jun 3, 2005 23:52:36 GMT -5
Just the mood I'm in now. I'm sick of religion, and I find it inconceivable that there is anything out there, but how could I ever know for sure? I hate uncertainty, so I'm believing that there's nothing to believe in. Ah, atheism...
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Post by Shodan on Jun 4, 2005 2:00:06 GMT -5
Sometimes agnosticism is a bit of a burden.
Often it is as simple as saying "I do not know for certain, and I admit I might be wrong", which is a reasonable view (otherwise I would not hold it), but at other times it feels like simply fence sitting. As if you have not found the knowledge needed to make a choice, but rather than keep looking you plant yourself where you are. And no matter how much you have looked, there is still that feeling as if to say "how dare you stop, there still might be that one gleaming nugget of truth out there".
And then the real kicker is with such ideas as "we ultimately cannot know anything about the supernatural/god/etc, if it even exists, because it exists outside of our realm of understanding." Of course, that itself is a statement that claims to know something about the supernatural/god/whatever. Paradox wins.
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Post by |9/\/y on Jun 5, 2005 22:09:34 GMT -5
that seems very confusing.
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Post by Skylarking on Jun 6, 2005 21:40:01 GMT -5
It's really not that hard to follow.
Okay general heathens, do you ever attend Christian, or any other worship services? If so, why? How do you feel when you're there?
To the agnostics, is there any certain religion that catches your fancy over others? Why?
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Post by hoarpumpkin on Jun 6, 2005 21:56:00 GMT -5
that seems very confusing. not surprising, since you're christian. thinking doesn't seem to be a longsuit among most. 1. No, I don't attend services. 2. not that I know of; I've sort of got my own beliefs. I think they're similar to several different non-mainstream religions that aren't very organized, if at all. To leave some impact on the world, somehow. Will that be through raising a child? Scientific work? Something else? I don't know. 13/14. I was catholic in name only. I've been baptised and had first holy communion and such (never confirmed), but I almost never went to church even as a very young child and didn't know a whole lot about it. I started CCD when I was in second grade but didn't pay much attention... I really hated it and my mom pulled me out a year or so later. Then around the above age I actually started thinking about religion and what I called myself, and realized I didn't believe that at all. I went through a stage where wicca was cool, then atheism, and then I realized agnosticm is truth and am slowly developing my own beliefs based on experiences.
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Post by Phobic of Tragedy on Jun 6, 2005 22:10:33 GMT -5
Okay general heathens, do you ever attend Christian, or any other worship services? If so, why? How do you feel when you're there? I've attended a few services with Jesse and one Catholic service with my aunt. Mostly just because I didn't want to have to argue about it, as both Jesse and my aunt are the kind of peope who will bug you with "Well, why not"s until you snap. >.> Jesse's church was alright, but people were almost too nice, which always makes me nervous, and I was just generally uncomfortable and anxious. At my aunt's church, I slept, until she smacked me to wake me up, and then I thought about how ridiculous some of the ideas the priest was preaching were. It didn't bother me too much, just kind of bored me.
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Post by Skylarking on Jun 6, 2005 22:44:19 GMT -5
I've pretty much gained my own beliefs too. I tend to follow LeVay's laws, except for the part about magick, because I'm not into that. I don't consider myself a Satanist though, and I don't know that I ever will. I go to Christian church quite a bit. Services, youth groups, workshops, camps. Why? Because I get invited to them and don't know how to say no. When I was a Christian I'd cry pretty much every time I went to church, but I don't as much anymore. Still don't know why I cried/cry in church.
So Laila, is Jesse a Christian?
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Post by Phobic of Tragedy on Jun 6, 2005 23:00:56 GMT -5
More or less yes. He's non-denominational and he's a "realist". So it's kind of a "whatever happens happens, don't matter as long as you believe Christ will save you" type thing. I guess...basically they don't really believe in punishment for sin, more than consequences for actions. It's kind of interesting. They basically blow off the whole "principles of morality" part, and skip right to the "do you believe?" part.
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Post by Shodan on Jun 7, 2005 7:30:28 GMT -5
that seems very confusing. It is not really as bad as it sounds, due to the analytical and reflective nature of your average agnostic. Such questions and realisations might destroy the faith of your average fundamentalist christian, but it is just run of the mill for agnostics to face them, and if they don't overcome them, they do not remain agnostic for very long. Okay general heathens, do you ever attend Christian, or any other worship services? If so, why? How do you feel when you're there? Only things like church weddings, baptisms and the like. When there, I do not feel anything particularly noteworthy. A little amazed that people still cling to what I often see as nothing more than mythology, but not necessarily in a bad way. To the agnostics, is there any certain religion that catches your fancy over others? Why? Depends on what you mean by fancy. If you mean interested in practicing, then a mix of Secular Humanism and LaVey Satanism would go well with my own philosophy, even though their status as a religion is debateable. I am also interested in learning more about Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and other eastern religions from more than just the history/mythology view that I look at most religions from, it is just something I have not gotten around to.
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Post by Dancing with Suicide on Jun 7, 2005 19:53:16 GMT -5
ahhh...
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