Originally Posted by Chiomara (Post 1802388)

Officially, I'm agnostic though many aspects of Gnosticism (the entire concept of archons is extremely fascinating) and Hinduism resonate and make sense to me. I definitely do not believe in a single all-powerful sentient god. I think that, if gods and deities do actually exist, they're just sort of like thoughtforms that bubbled out of the collective unconscious/primordial goop that grew and split off infinitely into various different beings who spawned their own legions of beings beneath them, etc etc. Which I actually don't think is all that far-fetched.

I think that we're essentially just the universe experiencing itself (or experiencing duality I guess, rather). But, then, I also don't necessarily think that we're all basically the same being-- I mean, yes I think we're all microcosms of the universe in a sense and that we all sort of stem from the same source (I visualize it as an inter-dimensional webbed fractal woven into everything) but I don't think it's as simple as new-age gurus like to explain it--it bugs me a little how new-age circles will adopt, distort and water down other cultures' belief systems (and often use certain terms incorrectly) and use it to sell terrible books..

OK that paragraph turned out to be an incoherent runaway train so I'll leave it at that.

Oh and despite having no logical reason to, I'm a staunch believer in reincarnation, always have been. (I don't quite agree with the buddhist view of it though. OH speaking of which!! I think it was Jung-- either Jung or Stanislav Grof who noted that many of their schizophrenic patients described horrible visions and hallucinations that almost exactly matched depictions of certain Buddhist hell realms.

I highly recommend Jung's The Red Book for anyone that's into weird esoteric stuff.

I've also had some .. maybe, possibly psychic episodes (though yes I know anything can be written off as coincidence) and paranormal encounters which kind of reinforced my kookier beliefs. :/

Originally Posted by GuD (Post 1802410)

Spectral high five.

Aliens only. No humans allowed.

Originally Posted by Mr. Charlie (Post 1802342)

Only watched the first few minutes of that (might watch the rest later) but genuine religion does not produce violence. Quite the opposite. It produces tolerance, empathy and compassion.

Originally Posted by Pet_Sounds (Post 1802377)

This was great, thanks for sharing. Dawkins can be a downright prick, but he makes some good points.

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 1803324)

Which position?

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls (Post 1803307)

Im not gonna go off on a tyrade about it but any system/religion/ideaology that tells you what to think instead of teaching you how to think is the enemy of progression and worth criticizing. (Im sure im paraphrasing Dawkins with this but i cant give you a direct quote).

Originally Posted by Pet_Sounds (Post 1803316)

However, it's important to remember that there is a fine line between the two and that the former can be disguised as the latter.

Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 1803313)

I read a Sam Harris book back in the day, but that's pretty much the extent of my Serious Atheist Research. I like arguing that **** on occasion, but **** me I don't understand why so many atheists care so much about this ****. God doesn't exist, fantastic, stupendous, moving on.

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls (Post 1803350)

This one:





Agreed, I think that's a valid point, but I don't think science does that in anyway.



I don't disagree and I don't push my opinions on anyone or go out of my way to convince religious people to stop believing. However, as I stated above, I think religion is one of the greatest contributors of human stagnation, and as someone who gives a damn about the long term progression of humans, it's logical for me to criticize faith without evidence. It's very much the same reason I care about the health of the planet and criticize those who only care about temporary solutions. I genuinely care about the well being of humans 10-20-100 generations from now. Progress matters.

Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 1803354)

Don't get me wrong, I agree and understand why people want to challenge religious ideas and why they should be challenged, but too many atheists just like arguing on the internet with countless random theist ****wits for the sake of arguing with countless random theist ****wits, and then they declare victory over the Armies of Dog to their echo chamber friends. It's really, really ****ing boring.

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 1803434)

Christianity is a shield to put ones own homophobia and misogyny behind for example

An average rural southerner is going to be pro-life regardless of Christianity