Defend your beliefs!

[Quintessence]

To make a complicated story simple, Druidry naturally grew out of these background elements:

• Raised to value and practice the creative arts, from song and dance to painting and sculpture
• Raised to value and practice the scientific arts, from critical thinking to following the evidence
• Grew up with the woods as my playground and parents who were environmental progressives
• Encouraged to explore and learn continuously, which I practiced voraciously especially in libraries
• Deeply interacted with the otherworlds and their denizens through regular practice

Druidry does all of those, and then some. So of course it fits.

 

[Heyo]

Or at least explain where such did come from, and as to how were you influenced so as to have these (if at all), and were these truly independently formed - but does this matter?

For myself, I didn't have any real education/indoctrination as to religious beliefs, apart from the normal half-hearted education appropriate in most secondary schools in the UK at the time (such being Protestant Christianity), and which mostly passed between my ears so serenely - given that it was so boring. I was a bit of a dreamer anyway then, and looking out of the windows all too often, but RI was just THE worst lesson of the week. As I no doubt have mentioned many times, my suspicions were aroused when I discovered there were so many different and apparently irreconcilable religious beliefs, even before secondary school. This seemed to be the impetus to question religions, and by implication God, and which hasn't yet been resolved - so ending up as an agnostic atheist - but not taking too much as to explanations from all the various religious beliefs. But I did look - as far as I thought reasonable - given that to study in depth all the various religious beliefs might have taken time away from other more beneficial study - like science in general, philosophy, psychology, animal behaviour, and other such.

So, try to explain your trajectory as to why you have the beliefs you now have.

Since you asked ... (not wanting to sound proselytising)

When I first consciously heard the Christian stories (in Church) I compared them to what stories I already knew and they fit the genre of fairy tales. They've got quaint language, exaggerated good and bad actors, a "moral" and magic. Church was community story hour. (And the adults liked to hear the same stories over and over again, like many children. I got the gist after two or three readings and requested new stories.)
When I realised that some people believed the stories which were obvious fairy tales, it piqued my curiosity. I had to know why.

Over the years I studied people with irrational beliefs (and tried to "cure" them). During that time I learned that beliefs are as individual as people are. No two are the same. Which eventually lead to my Agnosticism (after I learned that Agnosticism isn't just the ignorance about the existence of gods but the nature as well).

I would like to be able to consistently prove that the nature of gods can't be known, but as I'm not, I'm just a weak Agnostic who "only" has evidence that the nature of gods isn't known. But that evidence is so abundant that it is difficult to believe that not everybody gets it.

 

[crossfire]

Always best to seek mediation.

And on occasion, medication.

Or failing that, meditation.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Or at least explain where such did come from, and as to how were you influenced so as to have these (if at all), and were these truly independently formed - but does this matter?
So, try to explain your trajectory as to why you have the beliefs you now have.

My views come from non-dual Hinduism (Advaita) and science. Non-dual for me is non-existence of God, because I am not a God. Non-dual also means that the whole universe is constituted by (made up of) Only one entity. Science tells me that at the time of 'inflation', nothing other than 'physical energy' present in the universe. Therefore, what constitutes my non-dual universe is 'physical energy'. Hindus term that one thing as 'Brahman', that which constitutes the universe (Brahma). I do not think many Hindus will subscribe to this view.

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

I got hit in the head by the wing of a Dutch windmill.

Edit: In case people don't realize or aren't sure, I was joking.

Seriously though, since I had no religious upbringing, I started to study the Bible and the Quran (And later apocryphal and non-Abrahamic texts) out of curiosity.
As I was studying it, I did my best to interpret the texts as if they were true one way or another.
This caused me to gradually develop a mindset that eventually made God real enough for me to worship.

This helped me to give my life meaning, since I tended towards such a strong sense of nihilism that life itself often felt like an agonizing prison to me.
It helped me to appreciate the simple joys and beauties of life, without feeling too bad about the fleeting nature of such emotions, and deal better with feelings of hopelessness, insecurity, fear, anger, and sadness whenever things don't go the way I want; I have arguments I can use to temper my ego.
I also feel more connected now, since I often felt lonely and misunderstood, even when I was with friends or family.
I can still feel that way sometimes, but since I've stopped feeding such worries, they rarely last longer than a day, and everyone has their bad days.
Positive coincidences are more likely to happen whenever I try to "live right"(Though I've learned the hard way that there is also a thing such as "trying too hard" which can have its own adverse effects).

I don't care whether people think this can be explained by science (such as confirmation bias), or something supernatural.
For me this isn't really an either/or question anyway, it all takes place in the same reality as far as I care, even though some may consider this to be impossible.

Since I believe my faith helps me bring out the best in me, and potentially in others as well, I have no reason to let go of it.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Or at least explain where such did come from, and as to how were you influenced so as to have these (if at all), and were these truly independently formed - but does this matter?

Assuming that you're asking about religious/ethical beliefs, weekly Torah study with smart folks helped.

 

[mangalavara]

Or at least explain where such did come from, and as to how were you influenced so as to have these (if at all)

I’ve always been one to read a lot, and I’ve always been drawn to that which is different. As a result, I found myself reading scriptures of Eastern religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism in particular. In the end, as far as externals go, it was books that influenced my religious worldview and beliefs.

were these truly independently formed - but does this matter?

Yes, my beliefs were independently formed. No, it doesn’t matter to me if they were independently formed or not: my religious worldview wonderfully helps me make sense of life, the world, and everything, and my spiritual life is a satisfying spiritual life. What matters to me is not how I obtained it but that I have got it.

I have never wanted to bow to the common trend.

That makes two of us.

Therefore, what constitutes my non-dual universe is 'physical energy'. Hindus term that one thing as 'Brahman', that which constitutes the universe (Brahma). I do not think many Hindus will subscribe to this view.

Your view is like Shākta minus divine personalities and minus the primacy of consciousness.

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

Or at least explain where such did come from, and as to how were you influenced so as to have these (if at all), and were these truly independently formed - but does this matter?

For myself, I didn't have any real education/indoctrination as to religious beliefs, apart from the normal half-hearted education appropriate in most secondary schools in the UK at the time (such being Protestant Christianity), and which mostly passed between my ears so serenely - given that it was so boring. I was a bit of a dreamer anyway then, and looking out of the windows all too often, but RI was just THE worst lesson of the week. As I no doubt have mentioned many times, my suspicions were aroused when I discovered there were so many different and apparently irreconcilable religious beliefs, even before secondary school. This seemed to be the impetus to question religions, and by implication God, and which hasn't yet been resolved - so ending up as an agnostic atheist - but not taking too much as to explanations from all the various religious beliefs. But I did look - as far as I thought reasonable - given that to study in depth all the various religious beliefs might have taken time away from other more beneficial study - like science in general, philosophy, psychology, animal behaviour, and other such.

So, try to explain your trajectory as to why you have the beliefs you now have.

I’d say that my beliefs come from observation, reflection, trial, error and success.

I don’t think any beliefs are without the influence of being and no being is entirely without interaction with and influence of context.

Humbly,
Hermit

 

[JustGeorge]

I admit, I passed by this thread at first due to the title. "Defend." I have no interest in defending my beliefs. I don't care what other people think about them, and I have my own questions to ponder on and answer, let alone worrying about someone else's.

My beliefs stem from love, personal experience, and a process I call "unfettering". I often feel an overwhelming love towards things; the neighbor's evergreen, the green color on the car that passed down the street, the squirrel I put birdseed on the roof for. This causes a sense of the divine in all, and its hard not to be in awe when the divine is everywhere.

The unfettering is something I noticed I do a year or so back, and I think I've always done it. It seems like an obnoxious trait(and maybe it is), but its opened me up spiritually; to experiences, to people, to ideas. Basically, I'm always questioning. Why? Everything. Everything. Why? Breaking free from what is constructed, what is someone else's, trading it for what is now(and now will change again).

I won't clutter up this post with my personal experiences(or even my personal beliefs), but this is how I arrived at them.

 

[syo]

why you have the beliefs you now have.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Your view is like Shākta minus divine personalities and minus the primacy of consciousness.

Your views are welcome. Hinduism being Linux of religions, we are not shackled by books or messengers. You are a Hindu if you follow your 'dharma'. Don't want to use Libreoffice, use Abiword instead.