Losing My Religion
Sep. 20th, 2006 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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stephantom, I think I started this meme about a month ago and never got around to finishing it.
What's your religion? Atheist.
Are your parents the same religion as you? My dad is, I think. My mom was more agnostic.
Do people disapprove of your beliefs? Um, yeah. Quite vehemently. I've had gang-rapists and murderers tell me they'll put in a good word for me when they get to heaven, so that maybe God won't leave me to burn in hell forever.
Do people often have the wrong idea about your religion? Yeah. I think so, anyway. I think a lot of people believe atheists have no morals, because they don't believe God will punish them if they do something wrong. That always makes me wonder whether those same people obey the law even when they know they can't possibly go to jail.
A lot of people also seem to believe that being an atheist means you have nothing but contempt for believers, or think you're somehow smarter or better than them. Um, no. Not in my case, anyway. It would take a bit more arrogance than I possess to think that I'm smarter or better than just about everyone who has ever lived.
Are most of your friends the same religion? AFAIK, none of them are.
Would you date someone who had a different religion then you? Sure. Even marry 'em ;)
Are you a member of a religious club/school? No. Though I did regularly volunteer at St. Brigid's Soup Kitchen in Ottawa (pre-lunch prayer was optional, but I attended) and sang in St. Mary's Cathedral choir in Kingston for a year. Every Thursday and Sunday, Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis and all that jazz.
Do you pray daily? No.
Is religion a big part of your life? No. Though I am pretty curious about it.
Did you ever make up your own religion? Um... not my own religion, but I have a set of ethical beliefs that come from all sorts of religions and teachings and experiences.
Do you believe in...
Ghosts? Not really, but I wouldn't be surprised if they existed. I don't believe our understanding of science is complete enough to rule them out just because we don't have solid scientific proof that they exist.
Fairies/Faeries? No. But see above.
Heaven/Hell? Heaven: see above. Hell: hell, no.
Karma? See: ghosts.
God? Probably not. But again, see above. If there is a God, I think of him/her more as a Creator, or as a benevolent spirit, rather than a white-bearded man who watches us and judges us.
The paranormal? See: ghosts.
Mermaids? No. I do believe in seals and narwhals, though ;)
Out-of-body experiences? See: ghosts.
Souls? Ditto.
Curses? No.
Magick? No. See: ghosts.
Fasting? Believe it happens? Yes ;) Believe there's a purpose to it? Yes, in terms of discipline or sacrifice or gaining some sort of insight/understanding/clarity. In terms of anything religious, no, not really.
Satan? To quotestephantom: No, not really. Darkness of the human spirit/nature? Yes.
Yin/Yang? Don't know enough about it other than it's a pretty design and a belief that everything has its opposite and is in balance with that opposite. Don't even know if that's right or just something I read on a cereal box once.
The Buddha? Yes, as a wise man with a lot of very good ideas. Not really in spiritual terms.
People being possessed? Absolutely, if we're talking possessed by greed, or rage, or stupidity.
Jesus? See Buddha.
The DaVinci Code? Haven't read the book, haven't seen the movie, and I probably should do both. So that I can at least converse about it intelligently.
The Bible? It's a book filled with wisdom and beauty and justice and love. It's also filled with ugliness and injustice and prejudice and hatred. And so many contradictions and variations in translations that I have difficulty believing anyone could possibly say with a straight face that it all comes directly from the mouth of God.
But as for believing that a lot of it was inspired by God, or that a lot of it gives us clear lessons on how to live a good and moral life? I may not totally agree, but it seems reasonable to me.
A Goddess? See above re. God.
A God other then the Christian/Catholic God? Ditto.
Humans evolving from apes? Not all of us, that's for sure.
God creating the universe? No, but see: God.
The Big Bang theory? Ditto.
Life on other planets? Probably, yeah.
Dinosaurs? Yeah.
(Incidentally, it makes me giggle to write See: ghosts over and over. I am a simple person with simple pleasures.)
Have you ever...
Done/attempted a divination? Do Ouija boards count?
Cast a spell? No.
Put a curse on someone? No.
Prayed for someone? Yes.
Criticized other's beliefs? Yep. All the time. And my own.
Used God's name in vain? Sure.
Questioned your own beliefs? An unexamined life is not worth living.
Converted to a different religion? From atheist to agnostic and back again doesn't count, I don't think.
Considered converting to a different religion? Yep.
Stopped talking to someone because their beliefs were different? No.
General beliefs:
Are you prolife anti-choice or pro-choice? Pro-choice.
What's your view on abortion? It's the taking of a life and it's horrifying and wrong. In my perfect world, there would be no need for it, because people would be infertile by default and would have to consciously decide to have children in order to get pregnant/impregnate anybody.
Unfortunately my perfect world will never exist, because most people believe that reproduction is a basic human right, and personally I don't believe in non-reproduction enough to want to shove it down anybody's fallopian tubes. Besides, I don't think I could trust anybody to administrate universal infertility, or decide who should get permission to procreate or not.
So as long as people are going to be fertile, and rape and carelessness and accidents happen, I think abortion is a necessary evil.
Are you a feminist? Absolutely.
Do you think sexism is still around? Who answers No to this one?
Should there be women's football? If there's interest (I mean, women who want a professional league), then definitely. I'm assuming this means American football, because there is already women's soccer.
Do you think gays should be able to marry? Absolutely.
Do you think gays should be able to adopt children? Absolutely.
Are you a vegetarian? Nope. Would like to be. Eagerly await the day that soyburgers and tofurkey approximate the real thing.
Are you an environmentalist? I try to be.
Do you recycle plastic, glass and paper? It's pretty easy to do in Ottawa. We have blue box/black box service to our homes and at most public sites.
Do you cut the soda rings before throwing them out? We don't buy things in soda rings. We recyle our beer bottles and the boxes they come in; does that count?
Do you litter? No. Don't let my kids litter either.
stephantom, I think I started this meme about a month ago and never got around to finishing it.What's your religion? Atheist.
Are your parents the same religion as you? My dad is, I think. My mom was more agnostic.
Do people disapprove of your beliefs? Um, yeah. Quite vehemently. I've had gang-rapists and murderers tell me they'll put in a good word for me when they get to heaven, so that maybe God won't leave me to burn in hell forever.
Do people often have the wrong idea about your religion? Yeah. I think so, anyway. I think a lot of people believe atheists have no morals, because they don't believe God will punish them if they do something wrong. That always makes me wonder whether those same people obey the law even when they know they can't possibly go to jail.
A lot of people also seem to believe that being an atheist means you have nothing but contempt for believers, or think you're somehow smarter or better than them. Um, no. Not in my case, anyway. It would take a bit more arrogance than I possess to think that I'm smarter or better than just about everyone who has ever lived.
Are most of your friends the same religion? AFAIK, none of them are.
Would you date someone who had a different religion then you? Sure. Even marry 'em ;)
Are you a member of a religious club/school? No. Though I did regularly volunteer at St. Brigid's Soup Kitchen in Ottawa (pre-lunch prayer was optional, but I attended) and sang in St. Mary's Cathedral choir in Kingston for a year. Every Thursday and Sunday, Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis and all that jazz.
Do you pray daily? No.
Is religion a big part of your life? No. Though I am pretty curious about it.
Did you ever make up your own religion? Um... not my own religion, but I have a set of ethical beliefs that come from all sorts of religions and teachings and experiences.
Do you believe in...
Ghosts? Not really, but I wouldn't be surprised if they existed. I don't believe our understanding of science is complete enough to rule them out just because we don't have solid scientific proof that they exist.
Fairies/Faeries? No. But see above.
Heaven/Hell? Heaven: see above. Hell: hell, no.
Karma? See: ghosts.
God? Probably not. But again, see above. If there is a God, I think of him/her more as a Creator, or as a benevolent spirit, rather than a white-bearded man who watches us and judges us.
The paranormal? See: ghosts.
Mermaids? No. I do believe in seals and narwhals, though ;)
Out-of-body experiences? See: ghosts.
Souls? Ditto.
Curses? No.
Magick? No. See: ghosts.
Fasting? Believe it happens? Yes ;) Believe there's a purpose to it? Yes, in terms of discipline or sacrifice or gaining some sort of insight/understanding/clarity. In terms of anything religious, no, not really.
Satan? To quote
stephantom: No, not really. Darkness of the human spirit/nature? Yes.Yin/Yang? Don't know enough about it other than it's a pretty design and a belief that everything has its opposite and is in balance with that opposite. Don't even know if that's right or just something I read on a cereal box once.
The Buddha? Yes, as a wise man with a lot of very good ideas. Not really in spiritual terms.
People being possessed? Absolutely, if we're talking possessed by greed, or rage, or stupidity.
Jesus? See Buddha.
The DaVinci Code? Haven't read the book, haven't seen the movie, and I probably should do both. So that I can at least converse about it intelligently.
The Bible? It's a book filled with wisdom and beauty and justice and love. It's also filled with ugliness and injustice and prejudice and hatred. And so many contradictions and variations in translations that I have difficulty believing anyone could possibly say with a straight face that it all comes directly from the mouth of God.
But as for believing that a lot of it was inspired by God, or that a lot of it gives us clear lessons on how to live a good and moral life? I may not totally agree, but it seems reasonable to me.
A Goddess? See above re. God.
A God other then the Christian/Catholic God? Ditto.
Humans evolving from apes? Not all of us, that's for sure.
God creating the universe? No, but see: God.
The Big Bang theory? Ditto.
Life on other planets? Probably, yeah.
Dinosaurs? Yeah.
(Incidentally, it makes me giggle to write See: ghosts over and over. I am a simple person with simple pleasures.)
Have you ever...
Done/attempted a divination? Do Ouija boards count?
Cast a spell? No.
Put a curse on someone? No.
Prayed for someone? Yes.
Criticized other's beliefs? Yep. All the time. And my own.
Used God's name in vain? Sure.
Questioned your own beliefs? An unexamined life is not worth living.
Converted to a different religion? From atheist to agnostic and back again doesn't count, I don't think.
Considered converting to a different religion? Yep.
Stopped talking to someone because their beliefs were different? No.
General beliefs:
Are you prolife anti-choice or pro-choice? Pro-choice.
What's your view on abortion? It's the taking of a life and it's horrifying and wrong. In my perfect world, there would be no need for it, because people would be infertile by default and would have to consciously decide to have children in order to get pregnant/impregnate anybody.
Unfortunately my perfect world will never exist, because most people believe that reproduction is a basic human right, and personally I don't believe in non-reproduction enough to want to shove it down anybody's fallopian tubes. Besides, I don't think I could trust anybody to administrate universal infertility, or decide who should get permission to procreate or not.
So as long as people are going to be fertile, and rape and carelessness and accidents happen, I think abortion is a necessary evil.
Are you a feminist? Absolutely.
Do you think sexism is still around? Who answers No to this one?
Should there be women's football? If there's interest (I mean, women who want a professional league), then definitely. I'm assuming this means American football, because there is already women's soccer.
Do you think gays should be able to marry? Absolutely.
Do you think gays should be able to adopt children? Absolutely.
Are you a vegetarian? Nope. Would like to be. Eagerly await the day that soyburgers and tofurkey approximate the real thing.
Are you an environmentalist? I try to be.
Do you recycle plastic, glass and paper? It's pretty easy to do in Ottawa. We have blue box/black box service to our homes and at most public sites.
Do you cut the soda rings before throwing them out? We don't buy things in soda rings. We recyle our beer bottles and the boxes they come in; does that count?
Do you litter? No. Don't let my kids litter either.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-21 02:32 pm (UTC)Hm. That's a really good question.
::ponders::
No good reason, I don't think. Other than some kind of inherent optimism. I mostly (intellectually) think if he/she/it exists, he's more of a dispassionate Creator than anything else, but emotionally if I'm asked to decide whether that Creator is good or bad I guess I see him as good. You know, because of the flowers and music and sunsets and rainbows and babies and kittens and all that.
Of course, that immediately brings to mind Monty Python's All Things Dull and Ugly, because there's a hell of a lot of proof of malevolence out there too. Cancer, poverty, war, disaster, etc. So I have no real proof that he's one or the other. Just a gut feeling.