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A Life Without Religion


Guyver

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I don't have a religion. I'm just trying to live the best I can. Using some stoicism to help. 

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5 hours ago, Guyver said:

Maybe this world needs a religion like mine that actually works.  You never need apologize or repent for happy hour in my religion, as long as you were at home.  In public, you need to drive….no drinking.

It sounds a lot like atheism. 

With all due respect , quite a few of your posts do. I mean that as a compliment BTW. 

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Well, atheism is 'without theism' :D 

There's nothing inherently wrong with religion, just like there's nothing inherently wrong with believing in Santa. If you wish to view life through that lens, that's your prerogative. The issue with religion is that it has been used to rationalize some of the most awful deeds of humankind. Or hell, maybe the earth would be insanely overpopulated if herds of humans weren't culled somehow. I know that's a pretty ****ed way of thinking about it...

I guess I just don't have that 'God will take care of it' attitude hanging over me. To me, our fate lies in Mother Nature and the mercy of the cosmos. You and I are no more important than that dead squirrel on the side of the road. Religion was used, in a way, to make us feel special. It was good for our egos. You're not special and neither am I. We'll all die one day and will quickly be forgotten

Edited by HandsomeGorilla
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10 hours ago, ouija ouija said:

* is confused * :unsure:

It was just an off topic question.  I was curious if anyone besides myself was familiar with that song.  I was attempting to argue that it is one of the greatest love songs and one hit wonders of all time.  I was just curious to see if anyone else out here agreed with me.  My wife disagreed, taking some issue because the object of the man’s love was underage. My counter was that he may have been underage when the song was written as well.

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10 hours ago, psyche101 said:

It sounds a lot like atheism. 

With all due respect , quite a few of your posts do. I mean that as a compliment BTW. 

I don’t take any offense.  It doesn’t bother me if I sound like an atheist.  In many ways, I am like an atheist.  I was religious for a long time, but as I began to examine my religion/faith, I found it lacking.  About 8 years ago now, I made the decision to abandon all religious beliefs and start over.  I was and still am only interested in believing things I know to be truthful.  I don’t want to be the type of person who believes something just because other people do, or because it’s part of religion.

When a person decides that truth is the standard for beliefs, it quickly becomes apparent the deciding what is actually truthful, as opposed to a thing being truthful only in the mind of a person who considers it to be, is not easy to do.  And maybe that’s what religion/faith/beliefs are largely about.  For many believers, truth is not necessarily a component to beliefs.  A person may believe something to be true simply because it’s written in the Bible, or their parents believe it, or the pastor/preacher/priest said is it.  I’m not ok with believing like that any longer.

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10 hours ago, Xeno-Fish said:

I don't have a religion. I'm just trying to live the best I can. Using some stoicism to help. 

That might be better than religion in many ways, IMO.

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27 minutes ago, Guyver said:

That might be better than religion in many ways, IMO.

Less 'moving parts'. I feel a life philosophy is better than a religion.

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2 hours ago, Guyver said:

I don’t take any offense.  It doesn’t bother me if I sound like an atheist.  In many ways, I am like an atheist.  I was religious for a long time, but as I began to examine my religion/faith, I found it lacking.  About 8 years ago now, I made the decision to abandon all religious beliefs and start over.  I was and still am only interested in believing things I know to be truthful.  I don’t want to be the type of person who believes something just because other people do, or because it’s part of religion.

Lol I hope not. Atheism isn't a bad thing. It's just the opposite of theism. :)

My kids going to school set me on very much the same path. Learning it all again when older seems so much more interesting and meaningful..

2 hours ago, Guyver said:

When a person decides that truth is the standard for beliefs, it quickly becomes apparent the deciding what is actually truthful, as opposed to a thing being truthful only in the mind of a person who considers it to be, is not easy to do.  And maybe that’s what religion/faith/beliefs are largely about.  For many believers, truth is not necessarily a component to beliefs.  A person may believe something to be true simply because it’s written in the Bible, or their parents believe it, or the pastor/preacher/priest said is it.  I’m not ok with believing like that any longer.

That's almost exactly what led me to an epiphany that prompted me to embrace atheism. I've had a lot of the thoughts you express. 

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18 hours ago, Guyver said:

I’m not sure why more dudes don’t bring in goddess worship.  Ooops….they do.  They just don’t go making a thing about it.

Well, if the man is married or in love the only goddess will be his lady. :wub:

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6 hours ago, Xeno-Fish said:

Less 'moving parts'. I feel a life philosophy is better than a religion.

I like the sound of that.  A life philosophy.  That works for me.  

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4 hours ago, Sherapy said:

Well, if the man is married or in love the only goddess will be his lady. :wub:

Love is not without its problems.  But I guess the same could be said for anything else.  

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Well, I got to practice my life philosophy today, didn’t hear from God today and never saw the devil, so I just did my own thing,  I guess I believe in a philosophy of taking pleasure in moments and making those my life highlights for the day.  For example, this afternoon as I was playing golf with my buddies, on the 6th hole hitting over water, I made a good shot.  I made many good shots today, I was really playing well.  That was so good for me.  It was like religion, the way that made me feel.  Anyway, walking down the fairway I observed two birds.  Upon further observation, they were hawks and one had a baby snake in its talons.  It flew back to a grove of trees and was obviously going to eat it.  Then, this other hawk of the same species, made a high loop then came straight after that first one at full speed.  The way it moved it’s body was amazing to me.  I got to see it bring its wings all the way into its body so tight it literally looked like a triangle.  It came in like that all the way full speed until it hit those trees.  That information went into my brain, but since I was playing golf, I could not think about it.  Later, after coming home and having two whiskeys and a smoke, I began to think about it.  I surmise this may have been a breeding pair, and one of the two wanted a bite of that snake before it got fed to the kids.  That’s kinda my religion.

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It’s hard to think of angels or demons when you watch a hawk eat a snake.  It’s just to real.  I’m just saying, IMO.

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15 minutes ago, Guyver said:

It’s hard to think of angels or demons when you watch a hawk eat a snake.  It’s just to real.  I’m just saying, IMO.

Charles Darwin:

I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice.

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On 5/25/2021 at 1:47 PM, Guyver said:

BTW, this is totally off topic, please forgive me, but is anyone out there familiar with a tune called “Into the Night” by Benny Mardones?  

Oh yeah, that one.  The song with the creepiest and most sexually uncomfortable Music Video in human history?  She's just 16 years old, leave her alone, you perv.

This one really hasn't "dated" well.  Why oh why did nobody call the FBI?  (I am adding my own lyrics here).

Edited by Alchopwn
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3 hours ago, Guyver said:

Well, I got to practice my life philosophy today, didn’t hear from God today and never saw the devil, so I just did my own thing,  I guess I believe in a philosophy of taking pleasure in moments and making those my life highlights for the day.  For example, this afternoon as I was playing golf with my buddies, on the 6th hole hitting over water, I made a good shot.  I made many good shots today, I was really playing well.  That was so good for me.  It was like religion, the way that made me feel.  Anyway, walking down the fairway I observed two birds.  Upon further observation, they were hawks and one had a baby snake in its talons.  It flew back to a grove of trees and was obviously going to eat it.  Then, this other hawk of the same species, made a high loop then came straight after that first one at full speed.  The way it moved it’s body was amazing to me.  I got to see it bring its wings all the way into its body so tight it literally looked like a triangle.  It came in like that all the way full speed until it hit those trees.  That information went into my brain, but since I was playing golf, I could not think about it.  Later, after coming home and having two whiskeys and a smoke, I began to think about it.  I surmise this may have been a breeding pair, and one of the two wanted a bite of that snake before it got fed to the kids.  That’s kinda my religion.

In the absence of a fully abstracted deity, humanity has always looked to nature for philosophical inspiration, especially about the nature of the divine.  After all, what else is there?  The aim of philosophy is trying to make sense of the world and one's place in it, after all.

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4 hours ago, Alchopwn said:

Oh yeah, that one.  The song with the creepiest and most sexually uncomfortable Music Video in human history?  She's just 16 years old, leave her alone, you perv.

This one really hasn't "dated" well.  Why oh why did nobody call the FBI?  (I am adding my own lyrics here).

Man, that music video is ****ed.

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7 hours ago, Alchopwn said:

Oh yeah, that one.  The song with the creepiest and most sexually uncomfortable Music Video in human history?  She's just 16 years old, leave her alone, you perv.

This one really hasn't "dated" well.  Why oh why did nobody call the FBI?  (I am adding my own lyrics here).

Thanks.  I’m sorry to hear that.  I never saw the music video that I recall, but I do love the song.  As an artist and musician myself, I try not to be too judgy on the lyrics, though I understand that lyrics can be offensive.  In this case, in today’s world…sure, she’s only 16 years old.  But, what if Benny were only 17 or 18 himself when he first wrote the lyrics?  That would be OK.  When I was 17 going on 18, a beautiful girl who was only 16 liked me and I could have fallen for her easy.  
 

Additionally, there are many famous people who were married at young ages in the past, only a hundred years ago it was common.  There was Jerry Lee Lewis, who basically lost almost everything over it, and didn’t I hear scholars assert that Mary the mother of Jesus was only 14 when she was married to a man in his forties?

In any event, the guys vocals just crush, and I love the chorus.  So, I guess I may be one who goes against the flow on this one.

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7 hours ago, Alchopwn said:

In the absence of a fully abstracted deity, humanity has always looked to nature for philosophical inspiration, especially about the nature of the divine.  After all, what else is there?  The aim of philosophy is trying to make sense of the world and one's place in it, after all.

Well said.

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Good times, bad times…..that’s what life is.  Yesterday, I had such a good day filled with fun stuff….last night just before going to bed, I noticed my water heater was leaking.  That’s a signal that she’s about to blow!  So now I get to spend my day cussing and fussing as I go about the boring and difficult task of replacing a water heater.  Sigh.  But, in the end….if I get that thing switched out today and save a thousand dollars doing it myself, I’ll consider it a win and a good day.  

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I’m thinking it’s no longer clear what the word ‘religion’ means  in its colloquial usage in the year 2021. 
 

I think I can apply the terms ‘religious’ and ‘non-religious’ to myself. I am a follower of Advaita Vedanta Hindu philosophy and Theosophical/Spiritual stuff. I have no affiliation with any organization.

I think we need to just ask people what they believe and not ask if they have a life with/without religion.

Edited by papageorge1
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What's interesting to me is that it's possible that those who think they're living with religion actually are not and that those who think they're living without religion actually are.

 

 

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1 hour ago, papageorge1 said:

I’m thinking it’s no longer clear what the word ‘religion’ means  in its colloquial usage in the year 2021. 
 

I think I can apply the terms ‘religious’ and ‘non-religious’ to myself. I am a follower of Advaita Vedanta Hindu philosophy and Theosophical/Spiritual stuff. I have no affiliation with any organization.

I think we need to just ask people what they believe and not ask if they have a life with/without religion.

I think religion is pretty clear as a word.  I noticed you don’t call yourself religious but instead prefer philosophy and theosophical/spiritual stuff.  What do you believe?  What are the primary tenents of your belief system?

Edited by Guyver
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4 minutes ago, Guyver said:

I think religion is pretty clear as a word.  I noticed you don’t call yourself religious but instead prefer philosophy and theosophical/spiritual stuff.  What do you believe?  What are the primary tenents of your belief system?

Can you give us the definition then. According to Webster's dictionary it has 4 meanings.

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