Hey, so I believe in a higher power but I’m not on board with any particular religion. Anyone else think it’s cool to just fly solo as a good human, no religion attached?
Anyone else think it’s cool to just fly solo as a good human, no religion attached?
Religion does not have a monopoly on morality, despite what many preach. Be kind, and believe what you want.
It might be useful to consider Leibnitz’s take on the Euthyphro Dilemma
“is good and just because God wills it or whether God wills it because it is good and just”.
Considering that, it is clear that morals cannot come from religion
Sounds kinda like deists. Most of the founding fathers were, plus a lot of enlightenment thinkers. So you’re in good company.
I would say it’s cooler to be a good person for the sake of it rather than being a good person because you fear hell or desire some sort of reward (eternity in heaven).
Yeah, I mean what if heaven and hell do not exist?
It’s better if they don’t exist. Just believe that you are energy that can’t be destroyed. That way, you’ll live forever, like molecules or whatever. I try to think of it that way? Just cruising around the globe or visiting other galaxies? Onward to the next adventure? (Sorry drunkish)
I still believe that everything has its creator, and creator has its own creator.
Well, then they don’t exist.
What you are describing sounds like Deism, which is a philosophy that most of the framers of the US Constitution shared
Deism is a great reference. It’s awesome tho think that some leaders and thinkers from the past also shared similar ideas. The idea of a higher power that doesn’t meddle in the day-to-day but set the universe in motion definitely resonates with my thoughts. It’s like being part of a grand design, but having the freedom to navigate it in our own unique ways. It’s always enlightening to link personal beliefs with historical philosophies. Makes you feel part of a bigger conversation, doesn’t it?
I personally start with the idea that I’m part of something much, much bigger than myself; that’s the basis of my concept of a “higher power”. Like the Ancient One told Doctor Strange, “It’s not about you.”
I was raised Mormon, and after breaking free I have a strong distaste for organized religion. You know how people like to say that if they had a time machine, they’d go back and kill Hitler? I would take out Abraham. The Abrahamic Covenant made religion all about one man’s ego; the cult he formed has splintered and spread over so much of our planet.
Gathering with like minded folk to exchange ideas about life, the universe, everything was once an organic, grass roots sorta thing (or so it seems). Religion is manufactured as a system of control.
Celebrate making your journey your own! I hope you find people who have the courage to make their own path as well; it is a huge comfort to at least just speak freely with like minded folk.
Man, that’s some deep stuff you’re sharing. The whole ‘tiny part of something huge’ vibe really puts things in a new light, doesn’t it? Kinda like realizing you’re just one pixel in a giant picture.
Reading about your journey away from Mormonism and your take on organized religion is super interesting. It’s wild to think how one person’s ideas can snowball into something that affects so many. And your point about the Abrahamic Covenant? it’s really a mind-bender!
Totally agree on the whole making-your-own-path thing. It’s awesome to bump into others carving out their own routes too. It’s like a big, messy, beautiful DIY project where everyone’s figuring it out as they go along.
I very much doubt you’ll find anyone here who discourages you from stepping away from organized religion.
I’m a former Christian pastor on a hiatus from church life, but in no way done with being a Christian in my private life.
I believe the Bible boils religion down to three basic life roles for every individual person to follow: priest, steward, and keeper.
- As a priest, every person is meant to determine how they ought best to live.
- As steward they are to take care of the world around them in accordance with their beliefs.
- As their “brother’s keeper” they should work to ensure everyone else is free from coercion to believe and live how they think is best.
When people function in all three roles they are revealing the “image of God”.
Live your best life and help others do the same to the best of your ability. Or, as James the brother of Jesus, said, true religion is this: “to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
I was raised in a very religious family. It’s very hard to break free but I have decided to go on my own path.
I trust you’ll find it a healing process. Most importantly, be patient with yourself.
What do you mean by healing process?
According to my perspective, having autonomy is core to being human and most religious structures actively work to squash autonomy and force conformity. I think that is harmful for everyone.
For me, it’s taken time to even recognize how hurt I was and I’m still going through a healing process.
I wish you well
Thank you, the same to you as well.
There is significant propability by just beeing here that you were hurt in the past and you didn’t heal properly. First step before acknowledging the pain is to go to a safe place, where there are no toxic people and where your basic needs are met. Hurt people are like magnet for toxic people, and hurt people are comforted by familiarity of toxicity.
I am just guessing here.
I don’t see anything wrong with having faith in a higher power. Plenty of higher powers exist. Like the sun, quasars, super massive black holes, etc.
Whatever floats your boat, mate. Having a religion is not a bad thing per se. It’s only bad if you try to use it to control other peoples’ lives.
Thanks mate! I’ve been studying Islam, Christianity (my family is religious but tolerates different beliefs, so I have a mix of both worlds), as well as Buddhism. However, none of these religions really grabbed my attention.
Metaphysics is a blind man in a dark room, looking for a black cat that isn’t there. Religion is the blind man shouting “I found it!”
Got it
My thoughts are that your question is not so much about belief as about tribe. Since you seem to care about your group identity, why not support a sports team instead? It creates fewer problems than religion.
Organized religion is corruptible to the point of uselessness.
join us, or not
I feel pretty neutral about it. It seems like a pretty harmless approach to faith.
Yes. Had religion shoved down my throat as a kid. Learned early on being a religious believer meant nothing, people are shitty no matter what.
Had to decide who I wanted to be, what rules to live by. Realized I don’t enjoy hurting people, try to learn from mistakes, random acts of kindness, to always try for the evolved, educated non violent option. That’s enough for me. If there’s a god who has a problem with that, oh well.
I’m a strong atheist, which means I have a positive belief that no gods exist, just for the record. The way I would put it is that I have never heard of nor have been able to come up with a god concept that I believe is an actual being.
I prefer to use the term “god concept” rather than god to make it clear that we’re talking about a specific idea of a god rather than an actual being. So Odin is a god concept, as is Minerva. Multiple god concepts exist in the bible, including the original regional father-deity El, El’s wife Ashera, their children including Yahweh, and so on. When the Israelites started to move from polytheism to henotheism (many gods exist but you should only worship one), and then to “monotheism” (in scare quotes because there are enough different god concepts as well as divine beings who would be counted as gods in any other pantheon).
In any case, I don’t think having a god concept which you believe refers to an actual being in itself is an indication of anything, good or bad. In my opinion, there’s a feedback loop between the disposition of people and their religions. The problems come in when the religions around the god concepts become extreme. The Amish have a fairly strong god concept, and while I’m not Amish (thank god), I don’t think they do harm unless you think of their actions within their community. 90% of UUs are great people. Sponoza’s Watchmaker would suggest we have to study ourselves to discover what constitutes good. And so on.
So I’d say that your belief is absolutely fine, but you also might be interested in the neurophysiological, social, and anthropological bases of humans so often having god concepts.
That’s basically agnosticism. And it’s pretty common among intellectuals, historically speaking at least
It’s an Agnostic Theist (Don’t claim the knowledge but have the belief).
Rather than an Agnostic Atheist (Don’t claim the knowledge but don’t have the belief)
Gnostic Theist (Claim the knowledge and have the belief)
And
Gnostic Atheist (Claim the knowledge but don’t have the belief)
Are the other two
That’s interesting, do you have some reading/listening recommendations about it? I would love that. (Trying to figure shit out)
