I can no longer believe or trust anyone with a faith in any relgion.

a reply to: nonspecific
So, maybe you back-tracked a little; can't say that I blame you


In fairness, I read the OP, and the subsequent responses from other posters. Only glanced at yours.

But once I realized I was categorized in the intellectually irrelevant pigeon hole, I sort of took offense. I was raised to believe nobody is better than me. Blame my parents. And my granddaddy, who was the primary culprit.

I don't want to be disruptive to your discussion, and I know I will.

Surround yourself with atheists and enjoy your life. Although Christian, I have atheists friends too. At one point, I even married one! He would even keep me company at church sometimes, because he like being around me.

Adios, sir.

originally posted by: angeldoll
a reply to: nonspecific
So, maybe you back-tracked a little; can't say that I blame you

In fairness, I read the OP, and the subsequent responses from other posters. Only glanced at yours.

But once I realized I was categorized in the intellectually irrelevant pigeon hole, I sort of took offense. I was raised to believe nobody is better than me. Blame my parents. And my granddaddy, who was the primary culprit.

I don't want to be disruptive to your discussion, and I know I will.

Surround yourself with atheists and enjoy your life. Although Christian, I have atheists friends too. At one point, I even married one! He would even keep me company at church sometimes, because he like being around me.

Adios, sir.

You have no reason to leave?

My intention was not to make a definative statement and gain the support of others who feel similar but to be open, admit to something I feel uncomfortable with and see if there is anything I can do to change how I feel.

I must admit though that your attitude towards my statements could be seen no better than mine in your dismissal of my opinions because they differ from your own.

If you choose to stick around maybe we could both learn from this?

a reply to: nonspecific

We seem to be on very different pages, so perhaps a good question is; Do you feel that agreement and understanding go hand in hand? For me, agreement or acceptance of an idea is not relevant to its exploration. In fact, I believe it's critical to have such an ability, though it isn't necessarily common.

My own exploration led me to explore these things through my own experience rather than trying to live vicariously through a text or a building.

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block is that the vast majority of Christians do not actually practice their faith? Attempting to understand, say, the microprocessor, by speaking to a veterinarian would lead to little more than frustration and confusion. Especially if that vet was claiming to be a microprocessor expert as a sort of fashion choice.

a reply to: Serdgiam

I am not sure I understand your comments here, as you say we may be on very different pages on this.

I do not know how to respond to your comments but do not wish to appear rude.

a reply to: nonspecific

I totally see your point with this thread, but the post I'm responding to is this:

As I kind of said earlier how would you feel if a mechanic was fixing your brakes whilst talking about evil reptilian overlords and the NWO ruling the masses from the dark side of the moon?

I guess my approach is that I live life with my opinions of people on a sliding scale of relatively based on their actions compared to their beliefs.

This means that on one hand you can get to a state like you are suggesting where someone who lets their beliefs effect their actions despite rational thought, like a fundamentalist who would rather let their child die than take proven medicine from a scientist. These are the people I am wary of…

The other hand is that some people can use their beliefs as an allegory to achieve amazing things in harmony with rational thought. These people I can disagree with, but enjoy their unique perspective and achievements…

I think the link here is creativity and intent.

If we take your mechanic, he may very well be a mechanical genius, yet completely mad. So I may very well be totally happy to engage him as my mechanic, and try to learn how his madness relates to his genius.

I agree that believing in religion is quite mad... but aren't we all a little crazy?

If an individual can achieve amazing things by using their beliefs as a creative path for their analogy to life, then who am I to judge?

I’d rather sample all the fruits of life, which means suspending my own perceptions sometimes, and empathetically relating to those around me.

Just my 2 cents... ;-)

originally posted by: puzzlesphere
a reply to: nonspecific

I totally see your point with this thread, but the post I'm responding to is this:

As I kind of said earlier how would you feel if a mechanic was fixing your brakes whilst talking about evil reptilian overlords and the NWO ruling the masses from the dark side of the moon?

I guess my approach is that I live life with my opinions of people on a sliding scale of relatively based on their actions compared to their beliefs.

This means that on one hand you can get to a state like you are suggesting where someone who lets their beliefs effect their actions despite rational thought, like a fundamentalist who would rather let their child die than take proven medicine from a scientist. These are the people I am wary of…

The other hand is that some people can use their beliefs as an allegory to achieve amazing things in harmony with rational thought. These people I can disagree with, but enjoy their unique perspective and achievements…

I think the link here is creativity and intent.

If we take your mechanic, he may very well be a mechanical genius, yet completely mad. So I may very well be totally happy to engage him as my mechanic, and try to learn how his madness relates to his genius.

I agree that believing in religion is quite mad... but aren't we all a little crazy?

If an individual can achieve amazing things by using their beliefs as a creative path for their analogy to life, then who am I to judge?

I’d rather sample all the fruits of life, which means suspending my own perceptions sometimes, and empathetically relating to those around me.

Just my 2 cents... ;-)

Thank you for your input.

You kind of nailed it but I still do not understand it

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: LongishLongo

originally posted by: ProfessorChaos
How can you think these people are "brilliant" and have "amazing insight" if you distrust them out of hand because of their religion?

how can you not? Im an atheist, but ive met some really smart religious people. Some of them, which i look at as only following religion cause it was passed down traditionally. Some people cant break out of that sort of brainwashing, but ive met some with really brilliant outlook on certain things.

So does you athiest viewpoint make you question there reasoning or are you able to put it aside?

As I said this is what I currently strugle with.

no, im not able to put it aside. And as bad as it sounds, the older i get, the more i question people that i meet on what their religious views are. just for this very reason.