I think one of the most popular misconceptions about atheists is that we don't believe in anything, that our lives are void of spirit, belief and or any of the other things that theists think make the world go 'round.
You know what? It's just not true.
Now, I'm not one of the militant atheist-supremacists. In fact, I refer to myself as an atheist simply to clarify that I do not believe in a deity. Outside of that, I'm not married to the title nor do I use it to define myself. It's one of those "for lack of a better word" words.
I do not represent any particular way of thinking, other than my own. And as an "atheist," I can tell you this:
I pray.
I have faith.
I believe in the cosmic consciousness.
I live in gratitude.
I am moved to tears by the beauty that is nature.
I feel the intensity of great love.
So, a believer in deities or a single deity might ask: How is it that you pray? All prayers are to God.
I do not pray to a deity. It's that simple. I pray, just as anyone else would, with the same intention: "Please let so and so happen..." Perhaps I'm praying to the great cosmic mass mind, a way of putting a creative thought into the pool where the good will of other minds are swirling around, creating, manifesting, sustaining. Because I don't have a figurehead on the other end of my prayer does not mean I am without direction. My focus is clear: I am on the other side of my prayer. In some version of my own higher self, I am the one who will lift me up, grant me peace and/or take my prayer and manifest it. I own complete responsibility for my prayer.
There is no such thing in my world as, "Give it to God." This is a concept I don't understand. Sounds like giving up to me, and I feel that if I'm to give up, I would prefer to give up to a higher source of energy as opposed to a word that is interpreted 10 zillion different ways by 10 zillion different people. The word "God" is so unspecific, so vague and seems almost to belittle the enormity and wonder of the infinite -- how could a word be attributed to a thing of such magnitude and mystery?
How can you have faith? Faith is directly related to a belief in something invisible, intangible...
I have faith in exactly that. I believe in the invisible and the intangible. I have absolute faith in the universe, in nature and in the balance of energy. My faith is unshakeable. I just don't have faith in the same power "name" as you.
Cosmic consciousness? Isn't that just another catchphrase for God?
I suppose it is -- if you believe in God. And if you don't, then, it's just the concept of endless energy, all being projected and retracted on a nonstop basis, forever and ever, inwards and outwards, in every angle, etc, etc. That's big enough for me.
Who do you thank when you say you have gratitude?
Does someone have to be thanked when one has gratitude? Can I not just feel gratitude? Can I not issue the words, "Thank you" to the sky, and let the flow of positive energy flow back on me without having to know myself as beneath a higher power? Maybe I'm just grateful to be alive, or that my loved ones are happy. My gratitude feels sincere when I take full responsibility for what I feel, as opposed to thinking there's "someone out there" who's doing me a favor. I, along with all the other praying minds of good will, am creating the vibration that will deliver our good fortune. In my opinion, we are ALL the "mind of God," once again, for lack of a better word.
If you're moved to tears by the beauty of nature, then you are witnessing the presence of God.
No, I'm witnessing the manifestation of energy, and I love every minute of it.
The intensity of love? You feel this and you don't call it "God"?
They -- you know "them" -- say God is Love. They also say God is everything. So, then, God is hate too, and all the other good and bad things, no? See, there's never a clear explanation on this principle, which is why I cannot believe in it.
Now, let's go back to "love."
They say God is love. I say love is love. Whether it's the attached and heartfelt love that humans feel for each other on so many different and worthwhile levels, or it's the detached love that allows the human being to experience oneness with everything. I feel love. I've felt it all my life. Not a day has gone by when I've had any loss for love or it's many manifestations. And yet, I'm still an atheist, so there's a discrepancy here. I don't believe in "God" but I do feel LOVE around the clock.
So, yes, atheists can feel love, gratitude, faith, even spirituality. Like I've said, I'm not one of the militant types who needs to put anyone else down for their beliefs. I'm truly into the "live and let live" idea. While I do love science, I'm not here to shove Darwin or Hawking down anyone's throat. In fact, if God is what you believe in, I'm all for it if it makes you happy, because that's all we can ask for in this life: A little bit of happiness.
And a little bit of tolerance goes a long, long way.
Live and let live! Viva la Whatever!
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Live and let live! Viva la Whatever!"
It is the theists who do not practice this. It is they who insist that we live by their scriptures; that we accept the bankrupt moral principles contained in their unholy text. It is they who insist that one cannot be moral or ethical or virtuous without belief in God. Tolerance does not mean you roll out the mat and say walk all over me. Your brand of tolerance is an unacceptable form of appeasement. Trouble is your brand of tolerance, if allowed to prevail, will consign all of us, yourself included, to an intolerable life. You are a damn fool if you think the most right-wing, fundamentalist members of Christianity will allow you the peace and happiness you seek if you sit by like a lamb. They will surely shear you and then serve you up for a "passover meal" if you and all the rest of us were to choose such passivity. As Edmund Burke famously said, in a different context, “All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men (and women) to do nothing.” Religion if left unchecked and unchallenged by those “militant” atheists whom you seem to dislike will become the source of your greatest unhappiness. Religion and God-belief have repeatedly shown themselves capable of the most heinous acts of evil.
And a little bit of tolerance goes a long, long way."
You may “love science” but from your essay I can only surmise that your grasp of it is sorrowfully and woefully incomplete at best. What you appear to love is not science but something else masquerading as science, pseudoscience. No one is asking you to shove Darwin or Hawking down anyone's throat. In fact, even the so-called militant atheists of whom you refer aren't doing this. Any assumption on your part that they are is a silly misunderstanding on your part of your fellow atheists. This said, you should be advocating for Darwin and Hawking. Unlike the religious apologists, scientists and science have successfully provided us with real truths about the material universe we inhabit. If you love science as you claim then you should be advocating in its favor.
What the hell is "the cosmic consciousness"? Do you honestly believe that the universe is itself a conscious, self-aware entity? If so then you are just as deluded as any theistic believer. What is the evidence for a “cosmic consciousness?”
“I have faith in exactly that. I believe in the invisible and the intangible. I have absolute faith in the universe, in nature and in the balance of energy.”
This is utter gobbledy-gook. This is meaningless tripe. What can it possibly mean to have faith in the universe? You have faith in energy and matter? Faith is not a virtue. Science, which clearly establishes the existence of energy and matter in all its forms within the universe, does not rely upon faith to establish its claims. We know that all the objects in the universe and that energy and matter exist not by faith but by a preponderance of evidence acquired through the rational process of scientific inquiry and investigation. Accepting the existence of these things is not an act of faith.
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If you claim to be an atheist and you don't have a problem with that business of cosmic consciousness...then, you're not an atheist. If you say your an atheist but find no problem with that then your a hypocrite. Yes, a hypocrite to yourself most importantly. Oh, how mean you are for saying that we have emotions and feelings...boo..hoo.hoo!
That's true. There's no escaping human feeling and emotions. But, examine that if we are products of a cosmic mishap which resulted in evolution. Then, we are not of any more importance than the housefly who just didn't evolve that high up on the species list. And, if mankind is of no more importance than the housefly then those same evolutionary emotions are nothing more than man made constructs used as a check and balance system to maintain survival.
How can you say that? I am of importance. I am conscious of beauty, art, music, love...blah, blah, blah. Doesn't work that way.
Thanks for adding your voice here.
What makes churchies and semi-churchies and the quasi-believers so afraid? Won't god or the godlike who-knows-what that lives beyond the horizon protect them from the big, bad atheists?
What sets me off is when they use language meant to recast atheism into something it isn't so it may be made easier for them to assail it. If they feel a need to assail atheism, they should do it honestly and forthrightly for what it is. Lord knows (pardon the expression), religion is eminently assailable without changing a thing.
The idea of giving a name to people who acknowledge the presence of the material world makes no sense at all—but it's typical of religionists' need to line everybody up, assign them to a team, give their team a name, and then throw stones at them.
It only seems inadequate to people who want to impose their own beliefs upon that simple concept.
People who fall under the "atheist" label can include individuals who are also Buddhists, devout followers of Ayn Rand, people such as Dori Hartley who reject the word "god" when describing their beliefs - the list could go on for as many individuals as one might imagine. The only common denominator is "don't believe in any god".
Anything which anyone imposes upon that phrase is the property of the person proposing the elaboration, and is not universal. The phrase itself requires no elaboration or theological justification beyond the simple statement "I don't believe" - but for some reason that seems to drive theists crazy.
Being an atheist doesn’t make me want to suddenly go out and kill kittens. I understand what honesty is, and I cherish it. I understand what love is, and I cherish it. At the end of the day, I have myself to answer to, and I can be a tough critic.
It’s hardly a secret that religion has been used to propagate a number of atrocities throughout history. What might be less known is that belief in the mortality of the soul can be a powerful force for good. After all, if there’s no heaven, shouldn’t we live as though this will be our only chance to experience just a little of what that could be?
And I like your comment too.
No, we shouldn't live our lives as though we are experiencing what Heaven could be. You seem a little confused. In other words, you want to believe that "morality", "good", etc. are entities outside the human construct which merit their own reward...doesn't happen with atheism.
I want you to sit back an imagine...heaven. You already know that it should be a place of absolute perfection. Well, it is! Think of every good thing you have ever experienced, and think of things which are good that you want to experience. Those things will be there for you in Heaven.
If God has the capability to create the good things which you know of right now, don't you want to see what the good things are He has waiting for you. I just bet you do.
From your post it is easy to tell that you are a person full of good emotions...but, those emotions run deeper than you would like to admit. Until death the door is always open.
This is how you know god created man, by the evolution of it's definitions, it's attributes, because if a god did exist why would it's definitions and attributes change at all.
And this is why there is some respect for fundamentals, they're crazy, but at least they're consistent.
God remains Constant. It is man's knowledge which changes man's understanding. Much like yourself. When you were young and looked up in the sky you knew airplanes fly. Now, when you look up at an airplane you know that it's the jet engines which keep it up in the air. They still fly but your understanding has matured. And, you still marvel at them regardless of your understanding.
I can tell you that it seems as though we are living so much more "modern" or advanced from our ancestors...but, it was only yesterday. That's the way life continues one day after another. There's no great jump in life...a day, a month, a thousand years...just one day after another.
As far as god, how understanding can't change for something we cannot prove exists. The airplane we can prove exists, *we* don't define the physics of flight, we've discovered them, so our understanding is informed by that which we can prove *thrust* *lift* etc.
Personally, I have no respect for fundamentalists, they are unable to assimilate new information into their belief systems. Buddhists, 'New Agers' and others are not threatened by science.
The key to buddhists and *some* new agers aren't threatened by science I think, is that they aren't proposing anything thats in direct opposition to current scientific understanding, which I think helps.
While Jefferson loved the core message of Jesus (around the golden rule, peace, love, compassion, charity, empathy, forgiveness, etc.) he rejected what he called "corruptions" in the Bible. In fact, he wrote the following:
"Among the sayings and discourses imputed to Jesus by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence; and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being." – Thomas Jefferson
I agree. So do a growing number of religious scholars and archaeologists whose research has revealed that the Christian Bible, as we know it, is not the literal "Word of God" as is claimed by Fundamentalists who do not understand the true fundamentals of their religion.
Read About Christianity, at http://messenger.cjcmp.org/christianity.html
Sure, appeal to someone who's been dead for 185 years and can't contradict you.
F&F