Atheism As A REJECTION OF--Not Disbelief In--An Evil God (power, church, quote)
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You miss the most important aspect of the anonymity in the forum. We ONLY have the posts and their CONTENT to form our impressions of one another. That comes as close to MLK's injunction as possible. Responding to the expressed character is the best way to develop true respect and fondness, even deep caring, for one another. Of course, this feature is diminished in the presence of deception and outright falsifications. But such things eventually reveal themselves over time.
An example ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iwasmadenew
Many anti-theists come to R&S specifically to ridicule religious and spiritual beliefs. They seek to shut down any discussion of R&S. They’re emotionally driven to do whatever they can to disrupt genuine discussion religious and spiritual beliefs, and to make R&S an unfriendly place for people to discuss these topics or their experiences. That’s their primary reason for being here.
Many anti-theists come to R&S specifically to ridicule religious and spiritual beliefs. They seek to shut down any discussion of R&S. They’re emotionally driven to do whatever they can to disrupt genuine discussion religious and spiritual beliefs, and to make R&S an unfriendly place for people to discuss these topics or their experiences. That’s their primary reason for being here.
You already said that to me in this thread. My response is the same:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pleroo
The danger is that if you assume that is where someone is coming from (even if it's true!), you may very well react emotionally and dismiss their valid points.
This reminded me -
ADDED afterwards: And all the below happened before I had ever owned or opened a Bible...no real concept
of Jesus and the gang.
After a party of some drinking Sat night - 10:30am on the following Sunday...
I suddenly had a Divine Visit in my bedroom - started in the right hand ceiling corner
and spread like charged air sweeping the entire room...stunned, breathless, alert like a deer in headlights,
the barometric pressure changed with a tingling;
my mind obviously changed, by Grace, to perceive this 'supernatural event'.
For 5 solid hours I couldn't look at a tree, a red ashtray or the Colorado mountains and the air in between
without all of it breathing and alive and conscious. (Not my first time --haha and with no drugs starting at 8 yrs old.)
From the mountains it seemed like a wave coming
towards me yet, already around me. (A month later, flipping channels, stopping on a Christian station..
I thought, "Oh, ok. I could call this the Holy Spirit and be more relatable to certain people, at least Christians...").
I realized the next day, I had not had a Visit from, say, 'the Other Side or from the spiritual world' or
was taken to an altered state for 15 years...and not any those lasted 5 hours - then, changing my vision and awareness
for another 2 yrs..and changing my life (positively) from that point on. (Oct 2005)
But, there is no frustration, LearnMe. Probably like an NDEr that sees and gains knowledge extraordinaire
has no 'need' for anyone to know about it or believe them...who the heck cares...you know it
was an individual blessing meant for 'you'.
Anyone that doesn't have a similar exp - obviously doesn't need it! I must've.
When they need it or are more open to it - maybe they will...luckily even caring about is above my pay grade. Not my concern. Outta my hands.
I see no 'sadness' as many do in anyone's situation cuz they are in the perfect place for them; learning, growing opening to their own necessary understandings in their own time.
I think frustration goes hand in hand with the ego's need to change things externally and to judge...
I have
given that burden away as instructed and cast my cares.
Ah, the Freedom! This was directed to you, LearnMe - maybe I should have sent you a message...oh well.
Most won't relate anyway and pass it by.
yes, that is true. I guess its about intentions. We deploy valid truths like weapons also.
so how can we determine a persons intentions?
That is a valid point.
I think people aren't even sure of their own intentions at times. What say you? Do you try to determine their intentions? And how do you do that? I guess I look at a person's posts over time and eventually make a determination for myself in that way.
Actually, it is probably because you are so sincere, considerate, insightful, and polite, Pleroo. Quite special!
Pretty sure LM was tweaking me, Mystic. But I appreciate you saying those things. It's a little easier to be some of those things on a forum, some of the time, since I can censor myself and my own motives before posting.
As I sign off now I would also like to add that I've read many a comment in this forum posted by people claiming spirituality who emphatically emphasize they don't care what others think. That what atheists think has no value to them whatsoever. What's the difference? Again whatever, but not everyone who comments in this forum is focused on making those sorts of comments. Nobody changes their mind about anything anyway regardless the nature of the exchange. I don't lose sleep over any of it in any case. That I can assure you. Or get heartburn. Always amazing to me how much heartburn is expressed about one thing or another in this forum by some people.
...
This is actually one of your more provocative (and I mean that in a good sense) posts.
If one is really open to spirituality, in my view one does not quickly close doors. For me, the first step -- beyond converting from being a methodist to being a catholic -- was my discovery of the Jefferson Bible and Jefferson's reasons for producing it. I think it was the first time that I fully realized that cherry picking is a good thing because it means a person is actually thinking about religion.
But I also like light reading about history and visiting historical places. So as I read about various cultures I read quite a bit about Mormonism, I read about half of the Koran, I visited numerous Hindu temples in Southeast Asia. I've even done a little reading about voodoo. And then there are things like tarot, numerology, psychics, and the like, which I try to be at least a little open-minded about. However, there also comes a time when -- as one considers various aspects of what could be called "spirituality" -- when one has to say that they are sort of closing the book on some belief systems. The reason I say "sort of" is that...well, let me explain it this way: having come from the "hometown" of Mormonism, read about Mormonism, visited many Mormon historical sites and museums, it isn't a belief system that I can identify with. There are aspects of Mormonism that I admire. It's just not something that I can attach myself to. Same for Islam. Same for the old testament. Same for Hinduism. Same for voodoo and numerology. For me, finally I settled on Theravada Buddhism as a belief system from which to continue to be open to various beliefs. Siddhartha is, for me, the wisest of teachers. But he was/is still not the only teacher. Wisdom is wisdom, regardless of where it is found. If I see wisdom in something related to Islam, so be it. If I see wisdom in something related to Hinduism, so be it.
There are posters here who think that I hate christianity. Not true. While I totally reject the old testament, I can admire much (but not all) of what is in the new testament and many, many of the teachings of Jesus...when they relate to certain principles. What I hate about some christians is their belief that their's is the only belief system of value, and that some of them push that system onto others, who are just as intelligent as they are, and often times far more intelligent.
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- 10:30am on the following Sunday...
I must've.
learning, growing opening to their own necessary understandings in their own time.
Thanks for sharing, Miss H
