Alternative religions. Anyone follow one?

Oh yeah, I always forget to mention on these threads. Even though I am an agnostic atheist (as has been discussed in this thread), I do still read about Buddhism, meditate and do yoga. As I said I was raised in "alternative religion". It is long and involved and I don't want to say I had a bad experience with it, but I did not have a good experience or feel that it benefited my life (I am well aware of the reasons why). But, during those younger years I read books by Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a Buddhist monk. He has been through trauma and he is very down to earth, compassionate and understanding. So, I did relate to him and found his writing and wisdom to be helpful. I ended up becoming agnostic atheist (or secular humanism). And still like Thich Nhat Hanh. And it turns out that Thich Nhat Hanh also does not believe in God, afterlife, reincarnation...etc. A lot of Buddhists don't. Sometimes Buddhism is a way of life, a philosophy, a type of psychology and not a religion. So I appreciate the writings of a lot of secular Buddhists. And just because I like them, does not mean I agree with everything. We are all still individuals and all still learning.

My silly question to the atheist community is if you don't believe in gods or godesses doe this mean you also don't believe in the concept of extraterrestrials(sp?) influenzing the development of early humans and taken as gods ? Does it also then follow do you believe human beings are the highest form of sentient beings in the universe - just asking to know

I don't think if I grow a liver from cells I am a God. I don't believe if we were genetically engineered by aliens that it makes them God. It makes them well educated in science. I also don't think if they aided us in anyway it makes them God like. I could talk forever about this but do not want to be offensive to anyone :happy:

This is a pretty interesting little quiz:
http://www.selectsmart.com/PRO/myreligion.php

tells you which religion your beliefs actually fit into best and ranks them all in order.

I went to Catholic school from kindergarten through college ... and it appears 26th out of 27 in my beliefs
This is pretty accurate as I have considered myself "recovering catholic" for many years.

Hahaha! Checked it out and apparently, I should be an Orthodox Quaker (100%)... after that Mainline Conservative Christian (which doesn't surprise me as I'm already so.. but I find I'm typically more liberal and tolerant than many of our leaders.

Im a Jedi.

Nice to see a fellow Jedi on the boards. You on TOTJO?

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Can someone sort of explain to me what it means to be 'Spiritual'? I'm just generally confused and have always been. I just kind of always thought that was Hippies for some reason (sorry if that's wrong and offensive it's just always what I thought, the word just makes me think of freeness and openeness and things). Is being spiritual like being a wiccan? Or something along those lines?

To me, being spiritual means acknowledging there is a higher power or powers, with many names given by many peoples, that help guide us along our life journeys. I was raised a particular denomination and while I acknowledge my upbringing, I don't necessarily use the same names for powers or rituals that I did as a child but my intent is that of being the best person I can be to myself and others.

Well said...

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Can someone sort of explain to me what it means to be 'Spiritual'? I'm just generally confused and have always been. I just kind of always thought that was Hippies for some reason (sorry if that's wrong and offensive it's just always what I thought, the word just makes me think of freeness and openeness and things). Is being spiritual like being a wiccan? Or something along those lines?

To me, being spiritual means acknowledging there is a higher power or powers, with many names given by many peoples, that help guide us along our life journeys. I was raised a particular denomination and while I acknowledge my upbringing, I don't necessarily use the same names for powers or rituals that I did as a child but my intent is that of being the best person I can be to myself and others.

Well said...

Thank you. :blushing:

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My silly question to the atheist community is if you don't believe in gods or godesses doe this mean you also don't believe in the concept of extraterrestrials(sp?) influenzing the development of early humans and taken as gods ? Does it also then follow do you believe human beings are the highest form of sentient beings in the universe - just asking to know

I kind of have the opposite question, if you believe in a God do you believe in Aliens???

I raised the question as there has been much written on the subject like "Chariots of the God"s that attempt to redefine and rationalize God as a being within this universe that is in actuality an Alien. Hence God is not in a "spiritual" world outside of this universe, but living in this universe and we as early humans with no other ways of explaining their nature, noted them as Gods or God. These interventions over time became embelissed and evovled into the modern day religions we have today. Whether I support this is something else, but attempts to rationalize why so many early and separated societies had a common theme that gods or Gods came from the sky or stars.

Oh yeah, I always forget to mention on these threads. Even though I am an agnostic atheist (as has been discussed in this thread), I do still read about Buddhism, meditate and do yoga. As I said I was raised in "alternative religion". It is long and involved and I don't want to say I had a bad experience with it, but I did not have a good experience or feel that it benefited my life (I am well aware of the reasons why). But, during those younger years I read books by Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a Buddhist monk. He has been through trauma and he is very down to earth, compassionate and understanding. So, I did relate to him and found his writing and wisdom to be helpful. I ended up becoming agnostic atheist (or secular humanism). And still like Thich Nhat Hanh. And it turns out that Thich Nhat Hanh also does not believe in God, afterlife, reincarnation...etc. A lot of Buddhists don't. Sometimes Buddhism is a way of life, a philosophy, a type of psychology and not a religion. So I appreciate the writings of a lot of secular Buddhists. And just because I like them, does not mean I agree with everything. We are all still individuals and all still learning.

It is a real shame that you and I will likely never talk to each other in person Binary Pulsar.

NO........................................... THERES 1 GOD
CHRISTIANITY ..........................

Proof?

This is a pretty interesting little quiz:
http://www.selectsmart.com/PRO/myreligion.php

Interesting! My top 4:
1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Secular Humanism (94%)
3. Non-theist (91%)
4. Theravada Buddhism (80%)

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Can someone sort of explain to me what it means to be 'Spiritual'? I'm just generally confused and have always been. I just kind of always thought that was Hippies for some reason (sorry if that's wrong and offensive it's just always what I thought, the word just makes me think of freeness and openeness and things). Is being spiritual like being a wiccan? Or something along those lines?

To me, being spiritual means acknowledging there is a higher power or powers, with many names given by many peoples, that help guide us along our life journeys. I was raised a particular denomination and while I acknowledge my upbringing, I don't necessarily use the same names for powers or rituals that I did as a child but my intent is that of being the best person I can be to myself and others.

That really cleared things up. Kind of sounds how I feel about things. Thanks

You're welcome. :blushing:

show previous quotes

Oh yeah, I always forget to mention on these threads. Even though I am an agnostic atheist (as has been discussed in this thread), I do still read about Buddhism, meditate and do yoga. As I said I was raised in "alternative religion". It is long and involved and I don't want to say I had a bad experience with it, but I did not have a good experience or feel that it benefited my life (I am well aware of the reasons why). But, during those younger years I read books by Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a Buddhist monk. He has been through trauma and he is very down to earth, compassionate and understanding. So, I did relate to him and found his writing and wisdom to be helpful. I ended up becoming agnostic atheist (or secular humanism). And still like Thich Nhat Hanh. And it turns out that Thich Nhat Hanh also does not believe in God, afterlife, reincarnation...etc. A lot of Buddhists don't. Sometimes Buddhism is a way of life, a philosophy, a type of psychology and not a religion. So I appreciate the writings of a lot of secular Buddhists. And just because I like them, does not mean I agree with everything. We are all still individuals and all still learning.

It is a real shame that you and I will likely never talk to each other in person Binary Pulsar.

I worship Spock. Live long and Prosper.

NO........................................... THERES 1 GOD
CHRISTIANITY ..........................

You're always such a wet blanket. Maybe you need a cookie...

I worship Spock. Live long and Prosper.

It's the only logical choice