mondo_brondo,

I would say it’s cooler to be a good person for the sake of it rather than being a good person because you fear hell or desire some sort of reward (eternity in heaven).

jedi,

Yeah, I mean what if heaven and hell do not exist?

WarmSoda,

Well, then they don’t exist.

Zippit,

It’s better if they don’t exist. Just believe that you are energy that can’t be destroyed. That way, you’ll live forever, like molecules or whatever. I try to think of it that way? Just cruising around the globe or visiting other galaxies? Onward to the next adventure? (Sorry drunkish)

jedi,

I still believe that everything has its creator, and creator has its own creator.

Jhogenbaum,

Yep yep yep! You’re doin great. Keep it up hu-man

jedi,

You’re right. I just wanna be human.

shinigamiookamiryuu,

So in other words non-denominational? My denomination is so specific yet unspecifically connected to anything that you approximately described me as well. Without a doubt this can be said to be one of the driving forces of what we all talked about here. Jesus himself said the expression of love did not matter, it’s the love that counts.

jedi,

I just wanna share my love to the universe. I believe in oneness. I just don’t believe in any of religions.

shinigamiookamiryuu,

And I’d say there’s nothing a creator could be prouder of.

SatanicNotMessianic, (edited )

In my experience, at least in the US, non-denominational when associated with an institution generally means “Christian” but not affiliated with a sect. They’re (typically) still quite Christian, and the phrase can be and is applied to churches ranging from the ones flying Pride flags and declaring that they’re open to everyone to ones like Westboro - some of the most radical Christian churches are non-denominational because their views are too conservative for even the more conservative right wing religions.

The phrase itself is an organizational status and does not indicate what kinds of beliefs a person has. It’s not unlike someone describing themselves as “politically independent.” You don’t know if they’re Greenpeace types, libertarians, or far right of the republicans.

Edit: The usual term in the US for what I think you’re describing is “Spiritual, but not religious.” That’s the way it’s usually written in census and survey forms.

shinigamiookamiryuu,

If that’s what that is, what term would you use for someone whose conclusions are more unspecific than even can be categorized under the “Christian” umbrella?

SatanicNotMessianic,

I realized my omission and put it in my edit. The term generally used is “spiritual but not religious.”

It can include everything from atheistic humanism alongside the Gaia hypothesis to Wicca.

I think this is a very fast growing segment of the US population now. It might have been in a recent Pew survey.

rhacer,

I’m an evangelist’s kid. I grew up surrounded by religion. When I got to my 30s I started reevaluating matters of faith. Now in my 60s I consider that journey complete. On “good” days I’m agnostic, on “bad” days an atheist.

I know many awesome people of faith. I know many hideous people of faith. I know many awesome nonbelievers, I know meant hideous nonbelievers.

Be a decent human being and very few people will care what you believe.

jedi,

I’m not exactly an atheist but sometimes agnostic. I believe in higher power but I don’t believe in divine intervention.

TheOctonaut,

Can I ask, in the friendliest way possible and purely for my curiosity so I really don’t expect an answer, how you balance “higher power” with “doesn’t use it”? The way you’ve described it could be interrupted as anything from an otherwise traditional Christian who doesn’t believe in directly answered prayers, to believing that this is some sort of simulation we will wake up from.

ki77erb,

One thing I often think about coming from a Christian upbringing is the idea that God knows everything that will ever happen to you, every choice you’ll make, when you’ll die, etc. To me, that signifies determinism and total lack of free will. That just doesn’t sit well with me.

Fal,
@Fal@yiffit.net avatar

Agnostic and atheist aren’t mutually exclusive things. 99.9% of atheists are agnostic about there being a god because it’s unprovable. Same way you’re likely agnostic about Russell’s teapot en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot

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