Sometimes I wish I believed.
I don't. I thought I was a believer for a long time. Once I realized I wasn't, my worldview became internally consistent, and I prefer it that way. I was never happy having to handwave my own brain.
(But hey, as an interesting historical aside, did we all know that the Roman government in the early years of Christianity considered Christians to be atheists? True story! All we've done in modern times is lower the threshhold for # of gods needed to qualify for believer status.)
I don't. I thought I was a believer for a long time. Once I realized I wasn't, my worldview became internally consistent, and I prefer it that way. I was never happy having to handwave my own brain
My family was not religious because when my grandfather was going through his bouts of mental illness, he heard God and preached, and tried to baptize people in long island sound. So pretty much, I was raised in a house that did not mention god because of the bad things it had meant to them. Which is probably why I longed.
Relatedly, I had a friend who was raised an atheist by a scientist mom, and when we were in college, her mom found religion! It was a very weird ecperience for her, because she felt her entire belief system was betrayed.
I always envied the people who truly believed.
I have also envied believing. I asked a former believer friend of mine if she ever missed it and she said sometimes, she did. It made a lot of things easier but in the end, she'd rather not believe because what she believed in wanted to much of her "her-ness" to truly believe.
I sometimes envy people their faith, that certainty or belief that there is something after life.
Somehow, this link seems apropos of the religion conversation. [link]
It's so much easier for me to be agnostic. But I am really comfortable with not knowing and ambiguity, so that is where I naturally end up. It is obviously not for everybody, or even most people.
That's pretty much where I am. I've read the Bible, I've been to church and it just doesn't ring true to me. I believe there is a lot we just don't know about the Universe (or Multiverse), and I'm very comfortable with that. By strict definition I believe I'm an atheist, but I think agnostic is more in line with common usage. It seems to me that atheist is considered a definite belief that god doesn't exist rather than just not believing.
I sometimes envy people their faith, that certainty or belief that there is something after life.
Though that's not necessarily an essential part of faith; I know one practicing Buddhist (not Zen, but I forget which sect) who describes herself as an atheist.
My own (very devout practicing Catholic) mother has told me that she feels both reasonably confident of some kind of afterlife and not at all concerned about it; she's sure of God in this life, and even if this is all she gets that's enough of a gift for her.
Somehow, this link seems apropos of the religion conversation. [link]
::facepalm:: Oh, state. Why so wacky?
I will note, as I think I have before on the board, that Asheville is a weird mix of hippies and freaks, retirees, and rednecks.
