Quote:
Originally Posted by Morrigoon
The advantage of being a monotheistic independent thinker is I can cherry pick information from the existing texts without having to reconcile what seems right with that which doesn't.
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You get my Award For Honesty with this one. Lots of Christians I know cherry-pick and insist that they are actually finding the "true meaning" of scripture.
As an atheist, I think it is fun, stimulating and wise to browse the (purportedly) holy texts of history and give consideration to those ideas that seem useful, both in and out of their original contexts. So, I honestly applaud your willingness not to be bound to any sect or ideology, and to gleefully roll your own.
I know that you asked GD and not me, but I'll briefly say that my own embrace of no-god-ness felt like a release from prison. I don't have time to go into it now, as I'll soon be running late for work, but the benefits went well beyond simply feeling "right." In my own case, it helped me get rid of some nagging double-think, helped me drop some prejudices, and re-ordered my priorities a bit, but on the whole, I'm very much the same person as before. I feel more clear-headed on some topics, but I don't know everything. (including whether or not there is a massively powerful intellect hiding behind the cosmic curtain.) In fact, I now know that I know almost nothing at all.
More later if it seems appropriate.
(P.S. - You may find that what secularists call atheism, most people of faith call agnosticism. What most people of faith call atheism, most atheists reject. - In other words, atheists do not believe there is a god or gods, but most do not claim to
know there isn't. To many, atheism and agnosticism are not even two different things, maybe only a matter of degree. More later if it seems appropriate. DP)