Revasser
Terrible Dancer
Well, it's happened. Was it inevitable? Perhaps. A simple, unavoidable result of my upbringing or of personal intellectual inquiry or of brainwashing by the evil secular liberal media elite? I don't know for sure. Either way, I feel I'm back to pretty much where I was a few years ago, though perhaps a little more knowledgable and, hopefully, a little more mature now.
After a very interesting jaunt into religiousity, I'm now at a stage where I feel comfortable and confident in publically saying that I no longer consider myself religious. You could say I have (re)joined the ranks of the agnostic atheists.
I would love to say that this was a result of applying rigorous logical thought process and reason to various beliefs and arguments, but I'm afraid that would be rather dishonest of me. You see, I am not, nor have I ever been, a person particularly disposed to the sort of hard logic that many non-theists value and employ, especially in arguing their position. I have always been more inclined to act and think along intuitive and emotional lines. It can be difficult, since such a trait seems to be largely considered a character flaw in our culture, especially for a male. I often find myself a little envious of those who appear to be able to think in a more directly logical fashion, but in the end, I do not think I would wish to be any different than I am, character flaw or no.
So no, I have not arrived at this position through a great application of logic, but rather simply through an intuitive examination of my beliefs and those of others and allowing myself to take a more integrational approach to some very persuasive arguments in favour of non-theism, many of which have been made on this very forum.
It is shocking how deeply ingrained some beliefs can become. I had not even nearly lived a life of religion like many people, and still I am astounded. I cannot even begin to imagine what the transition must be like for those who have spent a lifetime with religion but who then go on to become non-theists. My respect and admiration for such people has increased tenfold, a hundredfold, as has my sympathy even after receiving what must surely be a comparitively light dose of the internal conflcit that can result from a loss of faith.
So here I am. No great scientific enlightenment, no emergence into a world of logic, just basest emotion, intuition and feeling has led me here. In that spirit, I feel I've come home again after a journey into the wilderness. A journey I don't regret in the least, but it's good to come home.
Well, I've bored you all quite enough. Thanks for reading though.
After a very interesting jaunt into religiousity, I'm now at a stage where I feel comfortable and confident in publically saying that I no longer consider myself religious. You could say I have (re)joined the ranks of the agnostic atheists.
I would love to say that this was a result of applying rigorous logical thought process and reason to various beliefs and arguments, but I'm afraid that would be rather dishonest of me. You see, I am not, nor have I ever been, a person particularly disposed to the sort of hard logic that many non-theists value and employ, especially in arguing their position. I have always been more inclined to act and think along intuitive and emotional lines. It can be difficult, since such a trait seems to be largely considered a character flaw in our culture, especially for a male. I often find myself a little envious of those who appear to be able to think in a more directly logical fashion, but in the end, I do not think I would wish to be any different than I am, character flaw or no.
So no, I have not arrived at this position through a great application of logic, but rather simply through an intuitive examination of my beliefs and those of others and allowing myself to take a more integrational approach to some very persuasive arguments in favour of non-theism, many of which have been made on this very forum.
It is shocking how deeply ingrained some beliefs can become. I had not even nearly lived a life of religion like many people, and still I am astounded. I cannot even begin to imagine what the transition must be like for those who have spent a lifetime with religion but who then go on to become non-theists. My respect and admiration for such people has increased tenfold, a hundredfold, as has my sympathy even after receiving what must surely be a comparitively light dose of the internal conflcit that can result from a loss of faith.
So here I am. No great scientific enlightenment, no emergence into a world of logic, just basest emotion, intuition and feeling has led me here. In that spirit, I feel I've come home again after a journey into the wilderness. A journey I don't regret in the least, but it's good to come home.
Well, I've bored you all quite enough. Thanks for reading though.
