I am an atheist with theistic leanings. If that's not confusing enough, I'll elaborate.
I don't believe in some supreme being(s) which doles out law, punishment and reward. This is a function for control that has been misused for centuries by priest and politician in order to maintain control over the masses. This is fairly self-evident, IMO.
I do believe in, and have seen evidence of, the power of belief to cause some pretty amazing things (both negative and positive) to occur, both in individual lives and in the world at large. The Universe seems to have the particular characteristic of providing evidence for anything a person chooses to believe in, whether theistic or atheistic in nature. This is also fairly self-evident, IMO.
There is no god but man.
On the other hand, I have been entertaining an interesting (at least to me) philosophical conundrum. The Universe seems to be less material than it is mental in nature, as if matter is a manifestation of the mind resulting from lower levels of what I can only call energy. Additionally, the nature of the individual also seems to be entirely mental. I only exist to the extent to which I perceive with my mind that I exist. Where does my mind reside? Is it within the brain? Is it somehow outside of the brain but somehow also tied to it? Certainly certain areas of my brain could be stimulated to revive certain memories, to cause me to smell certain things. But the id, ego and superego, do they also somehow exist there. I seem to exist otherwise entirely as a mental construct. It's as if the brain is a transmitter/receiver. I know guys, all pseudoscience and untested theory on my part. Just some ideas I've been throwing around.
What are gods if not also mental constructs? Do they exist any less than I do simply because we cannot tie them to the material realm?
