There is no word for what I am

[foogod]

So I was thinking, just lately, about metaphysical things. Or, really, to be specific, I was thinking about religion. You see, I was asked, as happens from time to time, to identify my religion. You know, the sort of question where normal people get to answer "Protestant", or "Muslim", or "Pastafarian", or whatever. The sort of thing that

Comments

[doktor_weasel]

I don't think you're alone in your beliefs. They sound pretty much like what I think too. Especially the bit about God's existence or lack thereof is irrelevant to the way we should behave, as well as the unworthiness of any God who would punish good people for simply not believing the "right" thing. I try to be good to other people, because they are people like me, and it's what I'd want for myself, not because of fear of divine punishment. Plus we're all in the world together and for society to exist and thrive, there has to be some basic minimum of decency.

I never really thought about the point of a label implying the way we act. In that case maybe the term you're looking for is Humanist? Although I haven't looked too deeply into the philosophy to see if there are some basic assumptions that go with it that are incompatible.

[foogod]

I suppose "humanist" is probably a reasonably close approximation.. I'd never really looked into that term before (and oddly, it didn't come up in any of my searching).

Though before I adopt something like that, I think I'll need to do some research to decide whether it's the sort of people I really want to be associated with :)

[amanda_nye]

Ya, I have trouble on that one, too. It doesn't really bother me, though I ponder it on occasion. "Other," "spiritual," "none of the above," or "it's complicated" works for me. "Ethical amoral" could apply, I suppose. Maybe you're an ethical agnostic?

I found the more time passes, the less it bothers me

[luna_torquill]

It gives a lot of people problems. I do have a spiritual belief, but I am not religious (I have no desire to have an organized system of worship, even if I could figure out what I'd be worshipping, and in fact I have something of an aversion to religion as an institution). So when the text-input for "religion" crops up, what do I put in?

(My default, "animist", says just as little to anyone about the "how you live your life" question as any of the ones you mentioned, but at least I have an "ism" I can stand behind... I think "humanist" actually may shed a lot more light on that practical aspect.)