1) My lack of belief in God is something I've been heading towards for a long time. At this point I think it would take some kind of intense personal revelation to make me believe. The post was more about my reaction to it than the atheism itself. A lot of people find the idea of no one in control, and that that this short unfair and painful life is all there is, to be depressing. I've realised that I don't view life that way anymore.
2) I believe this world is a really screwed up place. If God existed I'd be pretty pissed off at him right now for not intervening. And if he doesn't care enough to then he's not 'my' God anyway.
3) Part of the inspiration for this post was a post I read while blog-surfing about the ultra-religious practice of viewing everything that happens in the world as being rlated to one's relationship with God. For example my grandmother dying was a punishment for my lack of faith in God, or because I didn't pray for God to cure her, the tsunami was a warning for humanity to up their levels of faith, that sort of thing. This view in particular makes me really angry.
4) There isn't a fundamental moral code, quite the opposite. I personally believe that abortion is sometimes justified (dependent on lots of factors I don't feel like going into). That doesn't mean I don't understand why some people are opposed to it, or that they are wrong for feeling that way. If some things fall into the 'natural order' and some things are subject to personal morality, where is the line drawn? If everything falls under a 'natural order' of some kind then why do some otherwise good, faithful, caring etc people feel the opposite about some of these points? Throwing your hands up in the air and letting God decide seems.. cowardly, somehow. More on that in a moment.
5) Religion is simultaneously entirely about comfort and not about it at all. Despite the difficulty of adhering to strict religions I find it impossible to believe that you find no reward in it. The sense of communion with God, the satisfaction of knowing that He approves of what you are doing, the community, that sort of thing. To me giving up ones self entirely to religion seems surprisingly easy. It means that there are answers out there if only you care to look hard enough. Most moral decisions you have to make can be answered within your faith, and if you find yourself in a difficult position where all the possible actions you can take appear to be harmful in some way to someone, doing what your religion tells you to is a way out that absolves you from much of the guilt associated with the decision.
6) Life for me has never been about my own comfort, but about my responsibilities =p Just because I follow my own moral compass doesn't mean that I don't adhere to it as rigorously as you adhere to your faith. I simply find faith in God to be incompatible with my belief of personal responsiblity.
7)I don't know who it was who said that religion in general makes good people better and bad people worse, but it seems somewhat true to me. Religion can't change a person's fundamental nature. Look hard enough in the holy texts and you can find justification for just about any behaviour you feel like engaging in.
8) Back to personal responsiblity.. that's what this is really about for me. I am not the way God made me. I am not just a product of my genes. There is absolutely nothing and no one who can take responsibility for me except me, and if other people want to take responsibility for some of the factors that may or may not have affected my decision then that's their call. I find any other worldview to be intensely depressing because it means that my decisions are not fully my own. Free will isn't something I've been granted, it's something I have.
Sorry for the length of this and the sometimes rant-like nature of it =p
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-03-22 12:40 am (UTC)1) My lack of belief in God is something I've been heading towards for a long time. At this point I think it would take some kind of intense personal revelation to make me believe. The post was more about my reaction to it than the atheism itself. A lot of people find the idea of no one in control, and that that this short unfair and painful life is all there is, to be depressing. I've realised that I don't view life that way anymore.
2) I believe this world is a really screwed up place. If God existed I'd be pretty pissed off at him right now for not intervening. And if he doesn't care enough to then he's not 'my' God anyway.
3) Part of the inspiration for this post was a post I read while blog-surfing about the ultra-religious practice of viewing everything that happens in the world as being rlated to one's relationship with God. For example my grandmother dying was a punishment for my lack of faith in God, or because I didn't pray for God to cure her, the tsunami was a warning for humanity to up their levels of faith, that sort of thing. This view in particular makes me really angry.
4) There isn't a fundamental moral code, quite the opposite. I personally believe that abortion is sometimes justified (dependent on lots of factors I don't feel like going into). That doesn't mean I don't understand why some people are opposed to it, or that they are wrong for feeling that way. If some things fall into the 'natural order' and some things are subject to personal morality, where is the line drawn? If everything falls under a 'natural order' of some kind then why do some otherwise good, faithful, caring etc people feel the opposite about some of these points? Throwing your hands up in the air and letting God decide seems.. cowardly, somehow. More on that in a moment.
5) Religion is simultaneously entirely about comfort and not about it at all. Despite the difficulty of adhering to strict religions I find it impossible to believe that you find no reward in it. The sense of communion with God, the satisfaction of knowing that He approves of what you are doing, the community, that sort of thing.
To me giving up ones self entirely to religion seems surprisingly easy. It means that there are answers out there if only you care to look hard enough. Most moral decisions you have to make can be answered within your faith, and if you find yourself in a difficult position where all the possible actions you can take appear to be harmful in some way to someone, doing what your religion tells you to is a way out that absolves you from much of the guilt associated with the decision.
6) Life for me has never been about my own comfort, but about my responsibilities =p Just because I follow my own moral compass doesn't mean that I don't adhere to it as rigorously as you adhere to your faith. I simply find faith in God to be incompatible with my belief of personal responsiblity.
7)I don't know who it was who said that religion in general makes good people better and bad people worse, but it seems somewhat true to me. Religion can't change a person's fundamental nature. Look hard enough in the holy texts and you can find justification for just about any behaviour you feel like engaging in.
8) Back to personal responsiblity.. that's what this is really about for me. I am not the way God made me. I am not just a product of my genes. There is absolutely nothing and no one who can take responsibility for me except me, and if other people want to take responsibility for some of the factors that may or may not have affected my decision then that's their call. I find any other worldview to be intensely depressing because it means that my decisions are not fully my own. Free will isn't something I've been granted, it's something I have.
Sorry for the length of this and the sometimes rant-like nature of it =p