(August 8, 2016 at 1:22 am)Bunburryist Wrote: According to the 17 kinds of Atheists website, I am a Gnostic, Positive, Broad, Indifferent, Semi-open, Passive, Non-religious, atheist. Fortunately, my immediate family holds similar views, so we have a religiously stress-free home! If there is anything that separates me from most atheists it's that I am a non-materialist. In some ways I've been an atheist all my life, in that, although I was brought up in a mildly Christian home, I never believed a lot of the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, and probably most of the miracles. Probably my best memories of childhood religion was the cookies and Hawaiian Punch we had a summer Bible school, and to this day I still love many of the old hymns which are, I believe, beautiful songs. There was a time in my late teens when I got involved with some born-again types, and I believed I believed, but looking back, I really don't know whether I "really" believed. Of course, that didn't stop me from trying to "spread the word" - which makes me question whether anyone REALLY believes - a subject that I believe is pregnant with possible discussion and debate! See you at Converts Corner!
Welcome to the forum!
Just one thing I feel I need to comment on.
You state that you are a "non-materialist". If you could, please clarify that a bit.
Not all atheists are "philosophical materialists", meaning that they do not claim to know, that the material is all that exists.
Most atheists I run across are "methodological materialists".
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
