Hello All,
and thank you to those who have already welcomed me!
I'm Canadian, female, late 30s.
My journey to Agnosticism and Antitheism:
I was raised by devout Christian parents in a strict Baptist home.
Until about age 14, I tried hard to fit into the church.
However, there seemed to be an inherent conflict for me, in Religion.
It would end up taking me a couple of decades to sort out, for myself,
what would eventually turn out to be a fairly simple concept:
That God, and Religion, might have NOTHING to do with each other.
My rebellion began clumsily, in my early teens,
and gradually progressed through the years,
until, by my 30s, I had arrived at position of being basically Agnostic and Antitheist.
No-one influenced me; I read no books on the subject of Atheism;
I arrived at my conclusion on my own.
My position is this:
If someone simply "believes in God",
that,
in and of itself,
doesn't really bother me.
But unfortunately people never seem to want to simply leave it at that.
People seem to feel a compulsion to pile all kinds of DOGMA on top of their belief in God,
and place parameters onto god:
What god Loves, what god hates,
what god intended, what god never intended,
what god said, what god didn't say...etc.
It is when people are so sure that they "know" what pleases or displeases God
...usually based on a book...
that is the dangerous part.
Personally, I am willing to allow that God may, or may not exist.
But I am extremely scornful of the idea that any organized religion has ANYTHING to do with God.
I consider that "sin" is an entirely man-made concept,
and one that God, if he exists at all,
wouldn't care about, whatsoever.
I reject all Holy Writs, all Prophets, all Saviours.
I am scornful that religion professes to be primarily about "serving and worshiping God"
yet in reality it caters to a broad cross-section of fundamental human needs:
- Unconditional Love
- Unlimited Forgiveness (death row inmates)
- Immortality
- A source of strength (alcoholics anonymous)
- An explanation of our Origins and our Destiny
- A reason why bad things have to happen ("god has a plan")
- Justice (good will be rewarded, evil will be punished)
...and the people who can't be lured in with bribes,
can be coerced with threats of Hell, alternatively.
But, as I see it, a true God shouldn't have to bribe...or threaten...mankind into worshiping Him.
And a God that truly loved us wouldn't hold us accountable for our "sins" when we are not Omniscient, like He is said to be.
And a God that truly loved us wouldn't throw us into Hell simply because we chose to go our own way.
And a truly divine "holy writ" wouldn't require translation,
and people wouldn't be ABLE to misinterpret it;
Everyone would agree on it's meaning.
The main idea I would like to get across to Theists is this:
Not only is Religion NOT the bridge between Man and God,
but Religion may well be the single biggest OBSTACLE between Man and God
(...providing, of course, that god exists, at all)
Because BELIEF and TRUTH do NOT mean the same thing....in fact, they can even be OPPOSITES.
Theists often claim to equate GOD = TRUTH
but then contradict themselves by rejecting any feasible truths that might exist about God
if it doesn't fit in with their preconceived BELIEF structure.
Now, as I see it,
You cannot serve a God that you deem to be synonymous with TRUTH
with any degree of integrity,
as long as you allow your pursuit of the TRUTH to be biased by a BELIEF you refuse to relinquish,
because it makes you more comfortable.
Thanks for reading my story!
Now, I just need to make a little disclaimer:
I welcome all good discussion and new online friends,
HOWEVER:
1. I am very private.
I never post or send out images of myself.
and I do not use facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.
I will not give out my phone#, email, location, etc.
I will not consent to meet up IRL.
I'm sorry if that sounds a bit stand-offish,
since that is NOT my intent at all,
but I need to be clear on this:
Basically, I am *delighted* to make new friends here,
but I am ONLY able to offer ONLINE friendship,
in this forum, only.
2. I will do my best to reply in a timely fashion to all comments directed my way;
however I am new to this format of online discussion and I confess I find the navigation a bit daunting,
so if I do not reply to you, it may just be that I didn't see your post.
I don't mean to snub anyone.
3. Real Life will of course always trump online activity.
Inactivity or absence does NOT necessarily mean disinterest.
Looking forward to some edifying discussions, and happy to be here!!
Thanks again for the welcome!
and thank you to those who have already welcomed me!
I'm Canadian, female, late 30s.
My journey to Agnosticism and Antitheism:
I was raised by devout Christian parents in a strict Baptist home.
Until about age 14, I tried hard to fit into the church.
However, there seemed to be an inherent conflict for me, in Religion.
It would end up taking me a couple of decades to sort out, for myself,
what would eventually turn out to be a fairly simple concept:
That God, and Religion, might have NOTHING to do with each other.
My rebellion began clumsily, in my early teens,
and gradually progressed through the years,
until, by my 30s, I had arrived at position of being basically Agnostic and Antitheist.
No-one influenced me; I read no books on the subject of Atheism;
I arrived at my conclusion on my own.
My position is this:
If someone simply "believes in God",
that,
in and of itself,
doesn't really bother me.
But unfortunately people never seem to want to simply leave it at that.
People seem to feel a compulsion to pile all kinds of DOGMA on top of their belief in God,
and place parameters onto god:
What god Loves, what god hates,
what god intended, what god never intended,
what god said, what god didn't say...etc.
It is when people are so sure that they "know" what pleases or displeases God
...usually based on a book...
that is the dangerous part.
Personally, I am willing to allow that God may, or may not exist.
But I am extremely scornful of the idea that any organized religion has ANYTHING to do with God.
I consider that "sin" is an entirely man-made concept,
and one that God, if he exists at all,
wouldn't care about, whatsoever.
I reject all Holy Writs, all Prophets, all Saviours.
I am scornful that religion professes to be primarily about "serving and worshiping God"
yet in reality it caters to a broad cross-section of fundamental human needs:
- Unconditional Love
- Unlimited Forgiveness (death row inmates)
- Immortality
- A source of strength (alcoholics anonymous)
- An explanation of our Origins and our Destiny
- A reason why bad things have to happen ("god has a plan")
- Justice (good will be rewarded, evil will be punished)
...and the people who can't be lured in with bribes,
can be coerced with threats of Hell, alternatively.
But, as I see it, a true God shouldn't have to bribe...or threaten...mankind into worshiping Him.
And a God that truly loved us wouldn't hold us accountable for our "sins" when we are not Omniscient, like He is said to be.
And a God that truly loved us wouldn't throw us into Hell simply because we chose to go our own way.
And a truly divine "holy writ" wouldn't require translation,
and people wouldn't be ABLE to misinterpret it;
Everyone would agree on it's meaning.
The main idea I would like to get across to Theists is this:
Not only is Religion NOT the bridge between Man and God,
but Religion may well be the single biggest OBSTACLE between Man and God
(...providing, of course, that god exists, at all)
Because BELIEF and TRUTH do NOT mean the same thing....in fact, they can even be OPPOSITES.
Theists often claim to equate GOD = TRUTH
but then contradict themselves by rejecting any feasible truths that might exist about God
if it doesn't fit in with their preconceived BELIEF structure.
Now, as I see it,
You cannot serve a God that you deem to be synonymous with TRUTH
with any degree of integrity,
as long as you allow your pursuit of the TRUTH to be biased by a BELIEF you refuse to relinquish,
because it makes you more comfortable.
Thanks for reading my story!
Now, I just need to make a little disclaimer:
I welcome all good discussion and new online friends,
HOWEVER:
1. I am very private.
I never post or send out images of myself.
and I do not use facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.
I will not give out my phone#, email, location, etc.
I will not consent to meet up IRL.
I'm sorry if that sounds a bit stand-offish,
since that is NOT my intent at all,
but I need to be clear on this:
Basically, I am *delighted* to make new friends here,
but I am ONLY able to offer ONLINE friendship,
in this forum, only.
2. I will do my best to reply in a timely fashion to all comments directed my way;
however I am new to this format of online discussion and I confess I find the navigation a bit daunting,
so if I do not reply to you, it may just be that I didn't see your post.
I don't mean to snub anyone.
3. Real Life will of course always trump online activity.
Inactivity or absence does NOT necessarily mean disinterest.
Looking forward to some edifying discussions, and happy to be here!!
Thanks again for the welcome!
plenty friends here 
