From http://www.omnifarious.org/~eljay/rel_testimony.html __________________________________________________ Religion My heartfelt religious beliefs. main religion My Personal Testimony of My Religious Beliefs I believe in god. I believe that the universe is divine, the earth is sacred, and the sanctity of life. My god is the universe, totality, reality, the cosmos in toto. My god, the cosmos, is not a personage; it is an impersonal god – without personality, devoid of human character or human traits, without will, intent, or consciousness (nor even unconsciousness). I believe that laws of science cover all phenomena. I believe that all religious truth is derived solely from a study of natural process. I believe questioning the validity of something purported to be factual. I believe questioning the authenticity of something purported to be factual. I believe that statements of fact are meaningful only if they have verifiable consequence in experience and in statements of logic, mathematics or philosophy. I believe in the maxim that assumptions introduced to explain a thing must not be multiplied beyond necessity. I believe in salvation. Salvation from ignorance, from fallacy, from misunderstanding, from the untenable. Salvation can only be achieved by knowledge, comprehension, critical thinking, logic, reason, truth, and reality. I believe that each person can be his or her own savior, and no other. I believe that energy and matter’s motions and interactions constitute the universe and all phenomena. Including the phenomena of the mind. I believe that there is only one basic substance as the ground of reality, that substance is energy as described by the laws of physics. I believe in the moral maxim that the propagation of an unsubstantiated-belief-as-truth is falsehood; it is immaterial whether that belief is later proved to be true. The propagation of an unsubstantiated belief is a sin, some would call it “bearing false witness”. I believe that the phenomenon of the mind is an emergent behavior of mental faculties. And mental faculties are emergent behavior of the brain’s neural network. I believe that life is ephemeral and precious, and as such should be treasured and nurtured. I believe that humans must take it upon themselves the role of caretaker of the planet. If not for altruism of the ecosystems sake, for the sake of our own human self-interests. We humans are part of the ecosystem. I believe in the propriety of one’s own body. Of a person’s right to choose to die, or right to choose to have an abortion. Those who do not choose to die should never be forced to die. Those who are gravid who do not choose to have an abortion, should never be forced to have an abortion. I believe in sin. The sin of unjustified violence, the sin of wrongdoing, the sin of irrationality, the sin of ignorance, the sin of untenable blind faith, the sin of the propagation of falsehood. I believe that sin often goes unpunished. Sin perpetrated by one individual is paid for upon the sufferance of society, while the sinner goes unrepentant and never atones. When the sinner goes unpunished, there are still repercussions of the polluting the community in which the sinner lives, which harms the sinner’s own quality of life. In the cases when the sinner is punished, the punishment is loss of reputation, and in extreme cases by imprisonment and loss of liberty. Punishment for sin does not atone for the sin. The only atonement for sin is to undo the damage caused by the sin. I believe that the assumptions, methods of research, methods of inquiry, objective impartiality of the physical and biological sciences are equally appropriate and essential to all other disciplines. Including theology. I believe that there are many things that we human beings do not know. There are unknowns. There are unknown unknowns. Rather than fabricate some authoritarian dogmatic fantasy to explain the unknowns, it is correct and proper to say “I don’t know.” Investigate, explore, learn, and grow. Maybe someday we’ll know all the unknowns and unknown unknowns. Maybe not. That, in itself, is unknown. I believe that it is a laudable goal to attempt to make warfare unnecessary. To make abortion a non-issue, through having ready accesses to birth control and full reproductive control. To put an end to capital punishment, no matter how well deserved it may appear. To stabilize the world’s human over-population, before natural forces stabilize it for us.
Red's religious beliefs. I believe there is a Creator. Saints, priests, prophets, rattles and beads are another matter. It is impossible to know the will of God. Billy Graham and the Pope comprehend The Almighty no better than I. My God has no need for my money. My God doesn't need to be wound up on Sundays. I don't require a shaman to interpret the will of God for me, nor to beseech the diety on my behalf. Holy men, holy objects, and holy books are creations of men. Nature is created by God and I venerate only the creations of the maker. My God is not beguiled by robes, cathedrals, incense or incantations. Certainly not by jihads and crusades. I disdain people whose business is the selling of God. Prophets seek profits. Atheists do not threaten me. Zealots do not impress me. "God and me . . . we're mates." -- Michael J. Dundee
I'm in between Red & "Martin". I'm not sure why TigerRagAndrew thought this was funny, but I thought the original poster has well thought out, logical beliefs. I'm curious, Martin how close are these views to your own?
pretty close. except this guy plays some word games and claims that the universe is his god which is stupid. he is just redefining the term "god" to make a silly point. he also claims that he believes earth is sacred and he believes in the sanctity of life. unless he is bending the definitions of the words "sanctity" and "sacred", that is stupid too. earth is sacred in the same sense that an ant pile is sacred, which is to say not at all. if you are an ant, the pile is sacred to you, but your opinion doesnt make it true. the word "sacred" is a silly word in my opinion. things exist, and thats about it. some people like some things, others like other things. he also would like to put an end to capital punishment, which means he doesn't understand human nature. and also he mentions over-population, which isnt a problem at all and will not be for a long long time. i get the impression that this guy has read some rand, because of how he talks of people being their own personal saviors and they can get "salvation" from ignorace and fallacy. i am not buying it. ayn rand argues that man is a heroic being and his noblest pursuit is productive acheivement and rationalism. i would argue that anything you like is as noble as anything else. you will be dead soon anyways. you and me, and hitler and pol pot, none of us are any more or less "noble" than anything . the word is meaningless in this context. we exist, then we don't. but the dude is right on about generally being a rationalist and into science and not magic. in that department he is light years ahead of prety much every person around.
You should be sure. That guy is the exact opposite of me. I find someone who can be that wrong hysterical. Martin and I share many political and personal beliefs; we're just off by a mile on spirituality.
I believe that you use words like "claptrap" to inflate your own intelligence and others' opinion thereof. Kindly refrain.
dude, he even prefaced it with "i believe". and still you want him to "refrain" from expressing his opinion? besides, you should not feel threatened, your iq is 157.
