Entry 813, on 2008-07-14 at 20:48:27 (Rating 3, Religion)
For many years now I have been telling everyone that I am an atheist but I won't be doing that any more. No, I haven't found Jesus - or Mohammed, Jehovah, Vishnu, or anyone else. In fact I am more convinced than ever that there is no god. I don't want to call myself an atheist any more for two reasons. First, I don't want to define myself in a negative way, or as someone who doesn't conform to something someone else believes. And second, I don't like labels of any sort because they are too limiting.
I would prefer to define my philosophical approach to life based on what I am, not what I'm not. But what would I choose? I was thinking of humanist and that's fairly accurate, but I don't really like restricting myself by using a label like that at all.
I know several Christians who say they like a lot of Jesus' message but there are other philosophies and theological beliefs which also have a lot of good in them so why not avoid the label "Christian" and just accept the good parts of the Christian as well as other philosophies?
The other issue this avoids is when your lack of belief in something is compared to someone else's lack of belief. So one atheist group which did evil things, such as the Stalin regime, shouldn't be used as evidence that other atheists are bad. Stalin did those things because of what he did believe and not what he didn't.
So I believe we should follow the most rational course, reject superstition, that we only have ourselves to blame for the bad things and to accept credit for the good, and that morality comes from our own sense of right, not arbitrary rules enforced by a supernatural entity. If that makes me an atheist or a humanist or whatever I don't care, but I just won't simplify things so much and use those labels again.
Wow, this is a profound statement from you OJB. Maybe you are defining yourself as a Christian in practise, but not in name!! Fact is, all people, inclusing Christians, take a step back from time to time and ask of themselves if they are believing in the truth. This is natural because we are human and physical proof of what we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands is few and far between.
I believe what we practise as humans defines us, not what we say we believe in. As you know I am a practising Catholic, and while I believe in the catecism, actions apeak louder than words, and therefore I believe a non-Christian who behaves as a Christian has more chance of making it to the next life than a Christian that rejects Jesus's teachings. You may not believe in the 'next life' but that is neither here nor there. If I believe there is something beyond this life, I believe it is for those who live the good life, despite their belief system persuasion.
PS My wife is Buddhist, and I am in no mood to persuade a conversion!!
Comment 2 by OJB on 2008-07-16 at 23:33:25:
So all people take a step back and ask if their beliefs are true do they? And where did this brilliant social or theological insight come from? I'd be interested to know. I have debated with a few people who show no signs of any self-questioning at all!
i don't know what you mean by behaving like a Christian and I don't think any Christians really would either since a large proportion of them seem to think the ones who believe in a slightly different form of the mythology than they do are just as evil as us heathens!
And if being a good person is what is necessary to get to this next life why not just be good and forget about Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, or any other mythological basis for what this good might be?
Comment 3 by SBFL on 2008-07-16 at 23:47:12:
First Paragraph: get a grip mate, maybe not every single individual in the worlds 6.4 billion poputation but I think you know where I'm coming from.
Re the rest: sorry you missed the point. I had thought better of you. As I said already, actions peak louder than words....yet you still focus on your interpretation of myth...sad.
Comment 4 by SBFL on 2008-07-17 at 00:08:55:
Yeah, after I re-read your comment of 23:33 I think you have really gone to an extreme somewhat. Typical. You haven't changed your tune at all, have you? So much for the "I'm not an atheist" tag title. well I don't expect you to change but it seems you may have been reaching out for a compromise or middle-ground understanding. How wrong (and foolish) I was. You are so obviously so deep-set on philosophy that reality about human behaviour takes second fiddle for you.
Just stick with your pipe-dream idealism mate, while the rest of us plebs look and deal with real life problems and questions..and while you may think some of us are misguided, a least we have the diredtion.
Comment 5 by OJB on 2008-07-17 at 10:24:31:
I don't doubt that religion has some benefit to society and to the individuals who practice it. What I am debating are two points: 1. is it true (obviously not), and 2. is it good on balance (do the good points outweigh the bad). I'm uncertain about point 2.
As far as having a direction is concerned, I would rather have no direction than one which originated form an untrue myth and has been propagated by various members of a corrupt power structure for the last 2000 years.
Comment 6 by Andrew on 2008-07-18 at 09:22:32:
Bah... there is nothing wrong with being an atheist. I see you are being "harassed" with something along the "closed mind" line of thinking. I have no idea how there is middle-ground with believing in the supernatural.
Of course not believing in myth/supernatural/sin etc. doesn't mean you are somehow inhuman.
Comment 7 by OJB on 2008-07-18 at 13:42:17:
I haven't decided to drop the label because of harassment. I just think by using it we are making theism sound more important than it really is. What other label makes a belief so important that it defines itself by absence of that belief?
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