Thread: Open Question: Atheists are you more accepting of peaceful religions?

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Open Question: Atheists are you more accepting of peaceful religions?

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We should all be , multi faith approach would useful in today's society rather then the deafening silence we have now with our societies emploding around us

This is a demented question. I'm an atheist and I oppose all religion. There is absolutely no viable, decent argument that can be made to claim that religions like Buddhism and so on are more 'peaceful' than are Christianity, etc. The majority of religions preach good things; tolerance, peace, self-improvement, etc. They can be used (all of them) to justify bad things. Yes, some religions are violent at their core like Hapa and Islam, but these are rare. Deism isn't even a 'religion' perse, it contains no dogma, so this person is obviously a moron.

Why does a 'religion' have to be 'peaceful' to be 'acceptible'?

Life is anything but peaceful, and while human beings strive to protect themselves by changing the environment around them, most of life is raw, bloody, cannabalistic and devoid of conscience.

Religions try (usually unsuccessfully) to answer the 'Why' questions. Science answers the 'What' ones.

Why is 'life' so organised that animals eat one another, is not a question that science answers. Religions help people cope with the horror of it all.

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This is a demented question. I'm an atheist and I oppose all religion. There is absolutely no viable, decent argument that can be made to claim that religions like Buddhism and so on are more 'peaceful' than are Christianity, etc. The majority of religions preach good things; tolerance, peace, self-improvement, etc. They can be used (all of them) to justify bad things. Yes, some religions are violent at their core like Hapa and Islam, but these are rare. Deism isn't even a 'religion' perse, it contains no dogma, so this person is obviously a moron.

I separate myself from all religions but I have my own well-defined spirituality.

Out of curiosity, do you consider yourself to be a spiritual person in any way? You don't have to answer, of course. It's a personal question, I know.

peaceful religions?
That's an oxymoron because human beings and animals are not peaceful!

Tera, how do you define spirituality?

Why is 'life' so organised that animals eat one another, is not a question that science answers.

It answers it for me.

Quote from dad_savage

Tera, how do you define spirituality?



It answers it for me.

My spiritual beliefs, in brief, consist of:

Love being the highest, purest, most constructive power/form of energy in the cosmos. I try very hard to allow it to be a guiding force in my relationship to humanity, environment, and self.

Unity. I try very hard to build and nurture bonds with others, self, and environment. I think a union is stronger than a person who stands alone.

Sharing. I think that when people share what's inside of them (thoughts, feelings, talents, skills, things that they enjoy, triumphs) with others our differences and similarities are celebrated and enjoyed. (Which brings people closer together.)

Altruism. Giving without expectation of return.

Honesty.

Integrity. Doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do.

Gratitude. Remembering (daily) to look for reasons to be grateful, and genuinely expressing that gratitude whenever possible.

Humility. Knowing that my will isn't always going to steer me in proper directions, and being humble enough to ask for guidance and/or help.

Growth. Spiritual growth, in my opinion, honors progress and recognizes the folly of striving for absolute perfection.

I didn't always believe in the concept of a higher power, Dad. I wanted to believe, but was not entirely convinced. Religions were the source of my confusion and rejection of the idea. It wasn't until a few years ago that I developed true faith in a power greater than myself. The way I was reached was not through people knocking on my door with Bibles in hand. It wasn't by watching the 700 Club on TV. It wasn't from attending church and it wasn't the threat of "you'll go to hell if you don't" or any of that. Faith, in my opinion, cannot result from fear or force. My faith wasn't given to me, either. It was constructed from the inside and is visible now on the outside in deed rather than just in words. It is not Biblical, per se, though some of my beliefs are not unlike some of the beliefs of many sorts of religions. I have taken what speaks to my heart, mind, and principles, and have decidedly rejected the rest. I think we have the blueprints for faith and spiritual principles inside of us. It is a sick person, a defective person, not an evil person, who does not have this blueprint inside, imo. With that in mind, I have empathy for those who are lacking....because I could have been that person. I know that I am blessed, though I know not why that is.

Interestingly, the more I study the universe (astronomy, physics) the more convinced I am that there is a power at work here that we cannot fully comprehend or define. The evidence is all around as well as inside, of us.

There is more I could say here...a lot more. I will leave it at this for now.

I'm sorry Tera, I didn't ask you what your spiritual beliefs are I asked you to define spirituality so that I could tell you whether or not I possessed any. I, personally, did not really expect a definition as I think the term spirituality is something of an empty buzz-word; atheists tend to use it as a kind of mitigating factor 'I'm not religious but I'm very spiritual,' I'm not religious; I don't believe in any superstitions, I am a rationalist, I understand the term spiritual to encompass certain things; the sacred, the soul, certain phenomena. I can be in awe of a thing, but I do not hold things sacred. I do not believe in 'the soul' as in, a thing apart from the body and I discount the existence of any supernatural phenomena.