Are Most Folks Here Agnostics and Atheists? (page 7)

Grog

Hmm.. I'd have to say that I'm becoming more and more agnostic as I start explore my spirituality more. It just seems to me that its hard to be a part of any "big" religion without being exclusivist to some degree or another. I'd have to say that the spirituality that I am closest with would be the belif that god exists everywhere in all of us.. not sure what you call that though.

Nate Merit

Hi again Brenda

Yes, universes. There may well be others. No way to know yet. Maybe there will never be a way to know scientifically.

Which leaves room for Mystery!

Nate

tetrapod.sapien

i'm a reductionist and a materialist. an athiest, that wavers between weak atheism on good days, and strong atheism on bad days.

i have tried buddhist zazen medidation recently, and have really really enjoyed it. i am aware of the scientific studies of buddhists brains while medditating. i don't chalk my experiences up to anything other than that. however, i will say that the meditation really helped me feel better about myself, and at peace with my surroundings. i plan on continuing, because i think meditation is a physically healthy thing to do. there is a buddhist temple down the street from where i live, i am going to drop in there this weekend, and just say hi. i'll let them know i'm an atheist, but somehow i do not think that would be an issue for them.

i still test for the supernatural sometimes, as a skeptic. i have tried satanism, with no results, of course. but i did get to know the concept of satan a little better. he is bright and colorful, and first and foremost a free thinker. i identifiy with this myth because of where i am coming from.

i have been on haunted house tours. everyone else freaked out except for me. group psychololgy at it's finest.

i have tested ouija boards, and like all skeptics before me, totally debunked them.

this is all fairly recent stuff. so i may be an atheist, but i do play around. i mean, after all, who do i answer to?

i just want to say that i think the people on this board are awesome. sure i may argue with you xians sometimes. but we're all coming from the same place, and so that's cool.

TS

Nate Merit

Hi Nate,

Ever see that poster of the Pleiadian beamship over a tree with the words "I Want To Believe" under it? A small part of me resonates with that sentiment in regards to "God". If it weren't for that, I'd be a full blown atheist. I don't believe there's any evidence for a personal god. Most of our reality (if not all of it), can be explained without the supernatural. Even from a young age, I didn't really find myself moved to believe in anything supernatural [ edit: by that I mean like demons, angels, Big J ]. I guess alot of that has to do with growing up in a religiously divided household. At the same time though, I'm still drawn to the possibility of a god or a "greater reality". Rationally, I acknowledge our own limitations in perceiving material reality, and the degree of subjectivity involved just with that. We simply may not have the tools (and maybe never will) to detect "god" or any non-material aspect of "reality". Its enough of a question, to make me reserve judgment and move over to the edge of agnosticism. Beyond that, I only have this bit of a feeling, a desire. But thats enough to make me want to explore.

Nate here. I agree. There will never be scientific proof of the existence of God. I am convinced there is no God, not in a personal story-book fantasy way that fundamentalists go on about. I agree with your skepticism and your openness. However, I would encourage you to take up the practice of meditation sans any accompanying dogma.

There are CD's available that synchronise with your brain waves using binaural signals. These signals casue your brain to relax into deep meditative states that would take you years to acheive unaided. If you're interested, let me know via PM.

Nate

Nate Merit

GetBusyLiving. No need to explain. I get it on an intuitive level. What you have is your own koan. I like it.

Thanks for posting.

Nate

Nate Merit

Hi Grog

I'm a big fan of Bill Murray! Love your icon.

"Hmm.. I'd have to say that I'm becoming more and more agnostic as I start explore my spirituality more. It just seems to me that its hard to be a part of any "big" religion without being exclusivist to some degree or another. I'd have to say that the spirituality that I am closest with would be the belif that god exists everywhere in all of us.. not sure what you call that though."

I can relate. I've been meditaing 60-90 minutes a day for over 32 years and as my mystical experience strengthens and deepens, the more skeptical I become. Your own viewpoint could be called pantheism.

By all means keep your spirituality personal. Joing groups is a quick way to the nuthouse. Pat Robertson being an excellent example of the megalomania that can result.

Thanks for posting, Grog!
Nate

Nate Merit

Make that 32 years on the meditation. Typo.

Nate

Nate Merit

Hey Tetrapod Sapian!

Great new icon.

You have just described Zen very well. I'm really pleased you have taken up Zazen. I've been at it fior 32 years, 60-90 minutes a day. More on retreats.

Keep it devoid of doctrines and dogmas and you're all set dude!

Thank you for posting and letting me know.

Nathan

jaffacake

Nate merit,

These days I describe myself as Christian, but my 'worldview' is far closer to yours than to fundamentalist Christians. I have faith and I have doubts, and I keep adjusting my beliefs as I seek and learn. As I get older I hope I get wiser and find the stuff I intuitively believed in as a young man increasingly confirmed by science, and by the most scholarly interpretations of scriptures.

If God were the Jehovah described by JWs or even the God so called Bible-based Christians portray, then I would reject God with my whole being. I would sooner be athiest than believe in such a God. The God I believe in is the one I recognise, through Christ, revealed through proper understanding of the Bible. A million miles from JW teaching.

I love science and recognise its wonderful strengths but also its limitations. Neither science nor religion can ever answer all human questions. I learned this truth from science and from the Bible. Often I find religious and scientific teachings very compatible (that is if I exclude the modern fundie religions like JWs).

I believe in a Christianity that has more in common with science and some other world religions than it does with JWs & other fundamentalists, whom I believe have completely misunderstood nearly all of scripture. I used to put most of my faith in agnosticim or even atheism, but my faith in these things has diminished recently as I see the incredible harmony between several world religions, Biblical enlightenment, and scientific progress.

rmt1

My sense of divinity/spirituality, when it occurs, is in conjunction with numinous landscape and geography, numinous trance music like Dead Can Dance, and the tickle of eureka (Present perfect "I have discovered"), the dopamine of learning unknown knowledge, and anagnorisis, the dopamine of re-learning known knowledge.

Are Most Folks Here Agnostics and Atheists?

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