I was asked this question and my reply took on a life of its own. I though perhaps I’d post it and see what kind of flies it drew.
I don’t believe in any god although there are some definitions of god that I find acceptable and even sometimes useful though overall I find conceptions of God to be more problematic than useful. However, I could also be considered an Agnostic and even a Cosmotheist depending upon how you look at it. And I find Zen/Buddhism, Taoism, and a couple of other ‘religions’ to be laudable practices.
What I don’t believe in is an omnipotent, omniscient, intelligent being... particularly one that interferes in my life, worries about my sex life or other aspects of my behavior and will punish me for disobedience or disbelief. Nor do I believe that my personality will survive my death.
However, everything that we say and do does survive us, which I believe puts a tremendous moral burden upon us and is also a very important type of immortality. I also believe that there is a principle of unity to existence (there are various ways of demonstrating this) and that humans do sometimes have transcendent experiences. These and some other experiences that we all have, as well as certain aspects of science, lead me to believe that the answer (if there is one) is far, far greater than anyone has been able to convey. So, in some respects, I understand and appreciate the religious experience.
But (and I think this is the point) this experience is not something you can write down in a book and hand to other people. This is what I find to be the primary failing in most religions. You cannot force or coerce someone into having a transcendent realization. Threats of everlasting torment or oblivion cannot induce one. Nor do I believe that most theists ever really have one.
Most theists (and I’ll probably catch hell for this) never experience what they call God because religion can’t really teach them how. (I say this because few Theists, in my experience, act or speak in a way that demonstrates such a realization). And often, even if they do experience it, they fall to authority to explain their own, intensely and wholly personal, experience.
Religions, religious texts, religious teachers, and gods only point the way. At the moment of realization one is beyond religion. Unfortunately, most western traditions teach that the path is the destination. And I think that consciously or not they realize that error; which is perhaps why so many are so desperate to convince the rest of us that what they believe is true.
The religious experience is real but one cannot codify it, put it down on paper, or preach it in the streets. It is intrinsically personal and utterly subjective. Religion, defined as “A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader” (AHD) is utterly oxymoronic to the experience.
~Raithere
Yes... perhaps I should clarify:And you also appear to be an atheist. Or are you an agnostic?
I don’t believe in any god although there are some definitions of god that I find acceptable and even sometimes useful though overall I find conceptions of God to be more problematic than useful. However, I could also be considered an Agnostic and even a Cosmotheist depending upon how you look at it. And I find Zen/Buddhism, Taoism, and a couple of other ‘religions’ to be laudable practices.
What I don’t believe in is an omnipotent, omniscient, intelligent being... particularly one that interferes in my life, worries about my sex life or other aspects of my behavior and will punish me for disobedience or disbelief. Nor do I believe that my personality will survive my death.
However, everything that we say and do does survive us, which I believe puts a tremendous moral burden upon us and is also a very important type of immortality. I also believe that there is a principle of unity to existence (there are various ways of demonstrating this) and that humans do sometimes have transcendent experiences. These and some other experiences that we all have, as well as certain aspects of science, lead me to believe that the answer (if there is one) is far, far greater than anyone has been able to convey. So, in some respects, I understand and appreciate the religious experience.
But (and I think this is the point) this experience is not something you can write down in a book and hand to other people. This is what I find to be the primary failing in most religions. You cannot force or coerce someone into having a transcendent realization. Threats of everlasting torment or oblivion cannot induce one. Nor do I believe that most theists ever really have one.
Most theists (and I’ll probably catch hell for this) never experience what they call God because religion can’t really teach them how. (I say this because few Theists, in my experience, act or speak in a way that demonstrates such a realization). And often, even if they do experience it, they fall to authority to explain their own, intensely and wholly personal, experience.
Religions, religious texts, religious teachers, and gods only point the way. At the moment of realization one is beyond religion. Unfortunately, most western traditions teach that the path is the destination. And I think that consciously or not they realize that error; which is perhaps why so many are so desperate to convince the rest of us that what they believe is true.
The religious experience is real but one cannot codify it, put it down on paper, or preach it in the streets. It is intrinsically personal and utterly subjective. Religion, defined as “A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader” (AHD) is utterly oxymoronic to the experience.
~Raithere