More about me
If anyone is reading this besides me, you might want to know a little bit more about who I am and where this all came from.
I'm a guy in my early thirties. I own a moderately successful business, and consider myself a rational, thinking person.
I believe in the inherent good of mankind. In other words, I believe that people are basically good, and that good people do sometimes do bad things.
I'm an atheist. I don't believe that there is a god. I believe that man created god in his own image, and as time has progressed, man's definition of god has changed, according to his current needs.
But I've got this little conundrum: Of all the people in my life, with only one exception, those people that I respect and admire the most have a powerful belief in God and an amazing faith in their religion. These people walk and talk in a different way from me. They handle life's challenges in a different way, by turning their problems over to some phantom deity who they believe guides them to success.
I find this interesting.
I believe that we should find those people in life who are most like we want to be and emulate them. Do what they do, only better.
And these people aren't the types of people we generally think of when we think of "religious types." These are true believers. They don't just "talk the talk." They walk the walk. I admire their faith.
One of them recently told me that they admire the fact that I openly state that I don't believe in God, but at the same time, respect other people for their faith. That spoke to me.
I can't stand a hypocrite. I'll have nothing to do with them. The religious people in my life are not hypocritical by nature. They may sometimes be by accident. Good people sometimes do bad things.
I don't believe in god because I believe that if there is an all-powerful, loving, benevolent god, then that god would make himself know to us in obvious ways. He would make it easy for us to believe. He wouldn't want us to doubt and he would make it apparent that we don't have to.
I also believe that a benevolent god wouldn't care whether someone worshipped or even acknowledged him. It would be enough for his "grace" to simply be a good person who consistently, honestly tries to improve themselves and the world around them by upholding and promoting values that are in line with that god's values. Worship would not be one of those values. A desire for worship is an egotistical thing, and a benevolent god would not be egotistical.
But here's another question for conflict. New post. More about me later.
I'm a guy in my early thirties. I own a moderately successful business, and consider myself a rational, thinking person.
I believe in the inherent good of mankind. In other words, I believe that people are basically good, and that good people do sometimes do bad things.
I'm an atheist. I don't believe that there is a god. I believe that man created god in his own image, and as time has progressed, man's definition of god has changed, according to his current needs.
But I've got this little conundrum: Of all the people in my life, with only one exception, those people that I respect and admire the most have a powerful belief in God and an amazing faith in their religion. These people walk and talk in a different way from me. They handle life's challenges in a different way, by turning their problems over to some phantom deity who they believe guides them to success.
I find this interesting.
I believe that we should find those people in life who are most like we want to be and emulate them. Do what they do, only better.
And these people aren't the types of people we generally think of when we think of "religious types." These are true believers. They don't just "talk the talk." They walk the walk. I admire their faith.
One of them recently told me that they admire the fact that I openly state that I don't believe in God, but at the same time, respect other people for their faith. That spoke to me.
I can't stand a hypocrite. I'll have nothing to do with them. The religious people in my life are not hypocritical by nature. They may sometimes be by accident. Good people sometimes do bad things.
I don't believe in god because I believe that if there is an all-powerful, loving, benevolent god, then that god would make himself know to us in obvious ways. He would make it easy for us to believe. He wouldn't want us to doubt and he would make it apparent that we don't have to.
I also believe that a benevolent god wouldn't care whether someone worshipped or even acknowledged him. It would be enough for his "grace" to simply be a good person who consistently, honestly tries to improve themselves and the world around them by upholding and promoting values that are in line with that god's values. Worship would not be one of those values. A desire for worship is an egotistical thing, and a benevolent god would not be egotistical.
But here's another question for conflict. New post. More about me later.
posted by Another Geek at 3:54 PM
4 Comments:
True, but there are those who claim to be "Christian" for a social benefit, and those who truly believe and spend their lives trying to live to the standard they have set, according to their interpretation of the bible. If we accept that sin comes from intent, then I would not view the person who fails to live to their standard as a hypocrite, but a human who is not infallible. It's the one that "talks the talk" but makes no real effort to "walk the walk" that I really consider the hypocrite.
Thanks for stopping by!
I would wager that if we lived in a Saudi Arabia, or in India, or in Italy, you would find that the people you respect were all Moslem, Hindu, or Catholic respectively. I suggest that what you find amenable in these people is that they have chosen a way to look at the universe that works for them, and they are acting on those choices. Very rare these days, and usually admirable. This is probably what they find respectable in you, even though your view in antithetical to theirs.
By the way, you said this is true with one exception…what is the exception?
you said,'I don't believe in god because I believe that if there is an all-powerful, loving, benevolent god, then that god would make himself know to us in obvious ways. He would make it easy for us to believe. He wouldn't want us to doubt and he would make it apparent that we don't have to.' My response would be that the order in the universe is proof in an obvious way. The bible says it is simple but the foolish wouldn't find it so. That sounds like it might apply here.
I also believe that a benevolent god wouldn't care whether someone worshipped or even acknowledged him. It would be enough for his "grace" to simply be a good person who consistently, honestly tries to improve themselves and the world around them by upholding and promoting values that are in line with that god's values. Worship would not be one of those values. A desire for worship is an egotistical thing, and a benevolent god would not be egotistical.
Everything you say here can be explained by God giving us FREE WILL! He desires us to love him. That love is expressed by us as worship because we haven't learned a better way to communicate with the BEING that created the universe, and ALL that is in it. We then acknowledge and accept Him and the only message attributed to Him, the bible. Then we admit our shortcomings ask that Great BEING to forgive and help us. Sometimes that is preceded or followed by baptism which symbolizes the death and burial of the "old" self and the rebirth of our "new" self. This new self is one that is aware of the presence of the Great BEING and lives a life in accordance with that belief.
Ethan Hale
thinkingskills.blogspot.com
interesting discussion, I'd be interested in what you think of my life's point of view: joebarlow.blogspot.com
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