Any atheists/pagans/wiccans out there? :)

Bentley2718

I am not Christian, and I LOVE Christmas. Great time to celebrate and be with the ones we love.

Also, for those of you who are confused:

Atheists believe that there is no higher power guiding the universe. Furthermore, they believe no higher power exists to intervene in the affairs of the world including man, whether individually or as a group.

Agnostics believe that here is insufficient evidence for the existence of a higher power, but, unlike atheists, there is also insufficient evidence for the NON-existence of a higher power. Essentially, agnostics are the skeptics of the pool.

It is critical to remember that atheists and agnostics are not inherently without moral fiber because of a lack of faith. Goodness of heart comes from having empathy and the will to act on that empathy which can come from someone of faith or someone of no faith.

I just said that. Agnostics are fence sitters. Lol

I'm not fence sitting, I'm quite clear, I don't believe in god personally, but it is a matter of BELIEF (i.e. the estimation that something is true or false), not a matter of empirical evidence (i.e. the existence of god/gods/etc. cannot be tested by observation), hence, I am agnostic. Perhaps a little analogy of sorts will be useful. I can empirically verify that a book, generally known as "The Bible" exists, I can go into many bookstores, hotel rooms, and other locations and find a copy. I can open it, and read it, so I know "The Bible" exists. Is "The Bible" the word of god? Personally I do not believe it to be, but if someone else wants to believe that it is, I have no real evidence to the contrary.

brittanyjeanxo

Also curious, was anyone raised to be Christian/Satanist/Wiccan/Pastatfarian whatever and is no longer? How did your family react?

For me, I was raised to basically believe whatever I wanted. As I got older I understood from my mother to mean "anything except" insert list. lol if I told her I was WIccan she'd call a priest. Which is interesting, because she claims to hate Christians

stephabef

Grew up with a Jewish mother and a Catholic father... very odd environment.

Though I identify with Jewish culture/history, I am not religious and would consider myself agnostic. Sometimes spiritual, but I believe in the science of energy more than anything else.

ElizabethRoad

Atheist here as well! And thanks for explaining to the people who are unfamiliar!! It seems every time I say I'm an atheist someone will ask me how I can believe in the devil and not god. Huh??... I didn't say I was a Satan worshiper!!! Apparently a lot of people think atheists believe in the devil!! LOL

This girl I used to work with told me in all seriousness, "My father is an atheist. That means he doesn't believe in god, but he does believe in the devil." I didn't even know what to say to that.

Bentley2718

I believe in Santa Claus... Maybe that makes me agnostic and not atheist!! I also think the pastafarians have a lovely official chart about pirates and global warming which makes a pretty good argument for that!

Actually I think the graph showing the correlation between global warming and events of piracy is a better example of the rather obvious point that correlation does not imply causation, but what do I know, I'm just a statistician.

Contrarian

Hedonist.

brianz72

Just wondering. Since this is allowed now, I thought I'd ask how many people out there are like me. I don't believe in any one "God" and certainly don't subscribe to any code written in a book. Not to say any members of any particular group are silly, just my personal beliefs.

I am an atheist! To put it mildly. In fact I think I've outgrown atheism and become an antitheist. I think religion is a neurotoxin, and belief in god(s) is bad for the individual and even worse for a society.

brittanyjeanxo

Grew up with a Jewish mother and a Catholic father... very odd environment.

Though I identify with Jewish culture/history, I am not religious and would consider myself agnostic. Sometimes spiritual, but I believe in the science of energy more than anything else.

Question about that. Now, being non-religious yourself, but having a mother that is Jewish, that does make you Jewish in the traditional sense, yes? From what I understand it is "passed" from the mother's side. Am I completely wrong here? lol

GoCanada

Also curious, was anyone raised to be Christian/Satanist/Wiccan/Pastatfarian whatever and is no longer? How did your family react?

For me, I was raised to basically believe whatever I wanted. As I got older I understood from my mother to mean "anything except" insert list. lol if I told her I was WIccan she'd call a priest. Which is interesting, because she claims to hate Christians

Does it count if they *tried* to raise us Christian? Haha. I was always adamant about not believing in god and it drove my mom nuts. I used to argue with her about it all the time, thankfully some maturity now prevents me from doing this as it goes absolutely nowhere. But I'm pretty sure she did tell me I was going to hell because I don't believe... even though I live a more accepting lifestyle and treat others extremely well... characteristics I've found to be lacking with the religious people I've met.

brittanyjeanxo

Just wondering. Since this is allowed now, I thought I'd ask how many people out there are like me. I don't believe in any one "God" and certainly don't subscribe to any code written in a book. Not to say any members of any particular group are silly, just my personal beliefs.

I am an atheist! To put it mildly. In fact I think I've outgrown atheism and become an antitheist. I think religion is a neurotoxin, and belief in god(s) is bad for the individual and even worse for a society.

I don't think the belief is, so much as followers are.

MichelleRenee13

Atheist

CoraGregoryCPA

LOL.. so this "allowed" statement is "hearsay".. which means you don't know for sure.. I won't report by any means.. because we are adults.. whatever happens will happen.. but I hope you don't get kicked off of MFP because of "hearysay". That was funny.

Where or how is this allowed? Did you get an update of the rules or something?

Just wondering. Since this is allowed now, I thought I'd ask how many people out there are like me. I don't believe in any one "God" and certainly don't subscribe to any code written in a book. Not to say any members of any particular group are silly, just my personal beliefs.

Wait....are we allowed to talk religion now?

Apparently we are!

I shall explain without breaking the rules, but there was a thread about religion (that I thought was about a song lol) that I *thought* was against the rules. I kindly explained where to go to be with other people of the same belief, and a moderator informed me that it is no longer against the rules. So I started this thread

Elizabeth_C34

Also curious, was anyone raised to be Christian/Satanist/Wiccan/Pastatfarian whatever and is no longer? How did your family react?

For me, I was raised to basically believe whatever I wanted. As I got older I understood from my mother to mean "anything except" insert list. lol if I told her I was WIccan she'd call a priest. Which is interesting, because she claims to hate Christians

Does it count if they *tried* to raise us Christian? Haha. I was always adamant about not believing in god and it drove my mom nuts. I used to argue with her about it all the time, thankfully some maturity now prevents me from doing this as it goes absolutely nowhere. But I'm pretty sure she did tell me I was going to hell because I don't believe... even though I live a more accepting lifestyle and treat others extremely well that I've found not to be the case with the religious people I've met.

That very much depends on the person. I know some wonderful very giving Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists and some real turdmonkey atheists. It's important not to over generalize when it comes to people.

_binary_jester_

I am not Christian, and I LOVE Christmas. Great time to celebrate and be with the ones we love.

Also, for those of you who are confused:

Atheists believe that there is no higher power guiding the universe. Furthermore, they believe no higher power exists to intervene in the affairs of the world including man, whether individually or as a group.

Agnostics believe that here is insufficient evidence for the existence of a higher power, but, unlike atheists, there is also insufficient evidence for the NON-existence of a higher power. Essentially, agnostics are the skeptics of the pool.

It is critical to remember that atheists and agnostics are not inherently without moral fiber because of a lack of faith. Goodness of heart comes from having empathy and the will to act on that empathy which can come from someone of faith or someone of no faith.

I just said that. Agnostics are fence sitters. Lol

I'm not fence sitting, I'm quite clear, I don't believe in god personally, but it is a matter of BELIEF (i.e. the estimation that something is true or false), not a matter of empirical evidence (i.e. the existence of god/gods/etc. cannot be tested by observation), hence, I am agnostic. Perhaps a little analogy of sorts will be useful. I can empirically verify that a book, generally known as "The Bible" exists, I can go into many bookstores, hotel rooms, and other locations and find a copy. I can open it, and read it, so I know "The Bible" exists. Is "The Bible" the word of god? Personally I do not believe it to be, but if someone else wants to believe that it is, I have no real evidence to the contrary.

I didn't mean to imply agnostics were indecisive. I meant they were neutral.
I was being snarky and not very good apparently.

brittanyjeanxo

Also curious, was anyone raised to be Christian/Satanist/Wiccan/Pastatfarian whatever and is no longer? How did your family react?

For me, I was raised to basically believe whatever I wanted. As I got older I understood from my mother to mean "anything except" insert list. lol if I told her I was WIccan she'd call a priest. Which is interesting, because she claims to hate Christians

Does it count if they *tried* to raise us Christian? Haha. I was always adamant about not believing in god and it drove my mom nuts. I used to argue with her about it all the time, thankfully some maturity now prevents me from doing this as it goes absolutely nowhere. But I'm pretty sure she did tell me I was going to hell because I don't believe... even though I live a more accepting lifestyle and treat others extremely well... characteristics I've found to be lacking with the religious people I've met.

I feel like you're going wherever you believe you're going. I never got the "going to hell" because you don't believe in a certain thing...thing. Its like, how can you think there is only one way, and it's your way, and it's the complete only right way? Just don't get it.

GoCanada

Also curious, was anyone raised to be Christian/Satanist/Wiccan/Pastatfarian whatever and is no longer? How did your family react?

For me, I was raised to basically believe whatever I wanted. As I got older I understood from my mother to mean "anything except" insert list. lol if I told her I was WIccan she'd call a priest. Which is interesting, because she claims to hate Christians

Does it count if they *tried* to raise us Christian? Haha. I was always adamant about not believing in god and it drove my mom nuts. I used to argue with her about it all the time, thankfully some maturity now prevents me from doing this as it goes absolutely nowhere. But I'm pretty sure she did tell me I was going to hell because I don't believe... even though I live a more accepting lifestyle and treat others extremely well that I've found not to be the case with the religious people I've met.

That very much depends on the person. I know some wonderful very giving Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists and some real turdmonkey atheists. It's important not to over generalize when it comes to people.

I didn't state ALL religious people, I was clear to state the people I have met.

skinnnybride

<---Agnostic

Bentley2718

Also curious, was anyone raised to be Christian/Satanist/Wiccan/Pastatfarian whatever and is no longer? How did your family react?

For me, I was raised to basically believe whatever I wanted. As I got older I understood from my mother to mean "anything except" insert list. lol if I told her I was WIccan she'd call a priest. Which is interesting, because she claims to hate Christians

I wasn't raised anything in particular, but my mother is American Indian. Once when I was in my 20s my mother questioned why I didn't adhere to any of the traditional beliefs of her tribe. Maybe because you didn't raise me with any of them dear mother. She's a little odd sometimes. On the up side, I now have the amusing claim of being the only person I've ever met who was accosted by their parents for NOT being pagan.

Shannon_Nicole83

Agnostic

Bentley2718

I am not Christian, and I LOVE Christmas. Great time to celebrate and be with the ones we love.

Also, for those of you who are confused:

Atheists believe that there is no higher power guiding the universe. Furthermore, they believe no higher power exists to intervene in the affairs of the world including man, whether individually or as a group.

Agnostics believe that here is insufficient evidence for the existence of a higher power, but, unlike atheists, there is also insufficient evidence for the NON-existence of a higher power. Essentially, agnostics are the skeptics of the pool.

It is critical to remember that atheists and agnostics are not inherently without moral fiber because of a lack of faith. Goodness of heart comes from having empathy and the will to act on that empathy which can come from someone of faith or someone of no faith.

I just said that. Agnostics are fence sitters. Lol

I'm not fence sitting, I'm quite clear, I don't believe in god personally, but it is a matter of BELIEF (i.e. the estimation that something is true or false), not a matter of empirical evidence (i.e. the existence of god/gods/etc. cannot be tested by observation), hence, I am agnostic. Perhaps a little analogy of sorts will be useful. I can empirically verify that a book, generally known as "The Bible" exists, I can go into many bookstores, hotel rooms, and other locations and find a copy. I can open it, and read it, so I know "The Bible" exists. Is "The Bible" the word of god? Personally I do not believe it to be, but if someone else wants to believe that it is, I have no real evidence to the contrary.

I didn't mean to imply agnostics were indecisive. I meant they were neutral.
I was being snarky and not very good apparently.

Snarkiness doesn't always translate well. Plus, I may be a little defensive about the whole fence sitting accusation, I've gotten it a lot in other areas of my life...