When I was in the U, lots of people thought that the "freethinkers" (they didn't know what the word "agnostic" meant) have heaps of time on their hands because we don't go to church and have cell groups, hence the immediate reshuffling of the workload.
While I was still studying, I used to get approached by the wannabe-evangelists all the time. I don't usually go easy on them, depending on fanatic they turn out to be.
We the non-aligned, retain the right to be as neutral as we please, and if anyone approaches me with a religious agenda they're going to get a bloody earful.
My social circle is made out of a. the hyperreligious b. the indifferently religious c. the irreverent d. the vehemently atheistic e. plants.
It makes for very little connection where religious views are concerned, so I rarely discuss the issue now. But yeah, well, there's always the human decency aspect. You don't want to be rude to people even if they're mentally deficient.
I just want to have the guts one day to just take the pamphlet thrust upon me and rip it into fours and say "Look, what's your stand on rape? Because that's what you're doing to my MIND." And leave.
Given my history and track record, I'll probably fail very much at ripping the pamphlet. Sigh.
*waves hands* I'm d)! I can intellectually entertain the Plato's cave hypothesis that there might be a god out there beyond the realm of the senses. Could even give the hypothesis drinks and a nice sit-down chat of an evening.
But in my heart, no, no, no. I don't feel that god is real -and that's where it counts, no?
Most of these people call themselves agnostic, but they don't harbor much suspicion that God is real. They tell me they reject atheism not out of piety but out of politeness. As one said, "Atheism is like telling somebody, 'The very thing you hinge your life on, I totally dismiss.'" This is the type of statement she would never want to make.
Yep. I sure do. It's my only link with the outside world.
I think a large part of why I'm convinced agnostic and not atheist is not that I'm worried about pissing people off or dismissing their lifestyles, because you actually piss more people off if you're a hardcore agnostic. I just am not that impressed with the ability of the human mind to understand things.
Yup. I have problems with both camps; aggressive atheists don't know what they're destroying and the superficially religious don't allow themselves doubt.
The theologicals have always impressed me; rabbis, seminary students, even the armchair philosopher. I dismiss the faithful who've marched out of a feel-good Kumbaya revival (as a kid, I was dragged to a revival and it scared the crap out of me - they didn't believe in a god who had proven himself but because the speakers were motivational crowd-workers - the charismatic cult.)
I can't abide the atheist who feels entitled and emboldened by being rude; yet, for all their talk, they are more concered with God than the religious. I'd add more but class in five. BLEGH. I've said enough.
Comments 6
While I was still studying, I used to get approached by the wannabe-evangelists all the time. I don't usually go easy on them, depending on fanatic they turn out to be.
We the non-aligned, retain the right to be as neutral as we please, and if anyone approaches me with a religious agenda they're going to get a bloody earful.
Reply
My social circle is made out of a. the hyperreligious b. the indifferently religious c. the irreverent d. the vehemently atheistic e. plants.
It makes for very little connection where religious views are concerned, so I rarely discuss the issue now. But yeah, well, there's always the human decency aspect. You don't want to be rude to people even if they're mentally deficient.
I just want to have the guts one day to just take the pamphlet thrust upon me and rip it into fours and say "Look, what's your stand on rape? Because that's what you're doing to my MIND." And leave.
Given my history and track record, I'll probably fail very much at ripping the pamphlet. Sigh.
Reply
But in my heart, no, no, no. I don't feel that god is real -and that's where it counts, no?
Also, this is of relavance: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/atheism_pr.html
Most of these people call themselves agnostic, but they don't harbor much suspicion that God is real. They tell me they reject atheism not out of piety but out of politeness. As one said, "Atheism is like telling somebody, 'The very thing you hinge your life on, I totally dismiss.'" This is the type of statement she would never want to make.
Reply
Reply
I think a large part of why I'm convinced agnostic and not atheist is not that I'm worried about pissing people off or dismissing their lifestyles, because you actually piss more people off if you're a hardcore agnostic. I just am not that impressed with the ability of the human mind to understand things.
Reply
The theologicals have always impressed me; rabbis, seminary students, even the armchair philosopher. I dismiss the faithful who've marched out of a feel-good Kumbaya revival (as a kid, I was dragged to a revival and it scared the crap out of me - they didn't believe in a god who had proven himself but because the speakers were motivational crowd-workers - the charismatic cult.)
I can't abide the atheist who feels entitled and emboldened by being rude; yet, for all their talk, they are more concered with God than the religious. I'd add more but class in five. BLEGH. I've said enough.
Reply
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