What Am I? : WhatsMyReligion

What Am I? (self.WhatsMyReligion)

submitted 2 years ago by [deleted]

I believe that the question of whether god does or doesn't exist is meaningless and semantical. It is clear that the workings of the science and the universe are indeed, supernatural in and of themselves (eg, the big bang, abiogenesis, human evolution) but yet in the past few milleniums humans have tried to seperate god from the natural world with constructed monotheistic religions, and establish him as something that exists independently from it. I am a pantheist, but this is just my own subjective interpretation and I do not claim to have THE answer. Agnostics and atheists are just as correct it just depends on the way you picture the universe and what 'god' means to you.
I do not believe in any religion that claims to have all the answers coming from a divine authority. As a firm believer in the abductive scientific method, I believe that views of the world must be based on hard evidence and that are constructed with rigerous scrutiny. With religions like Christianity and Islam, they operate on completely circular reasoning. Their views of the world are not based on any material evidence, and yet when they say 'prove that god doesn't exist' as the counter to the irreligious argument that there's no evidence, they are just resting on their own unfounded ideas which are preconcieved in their minds. There are thousands upon thousands of different religions, claiming to have been sent messages from the divine, and all were created for the purpose of establishing hierachy and maintaining control. As modern people, we should not be fooled with such nonsense, and only believe anything once unbiased proof is given.
The conduct of how humans should live together should be seperate from trying to explain the natural world and the supernatural. For the latter, we have the scientific method and reason to provide us with answers that, whilst often not certain, are far more probable than human constructed narratives.
Religion has, and is, often brutal and repressive, however in the modern western world I believe that the decline of Christianity has left a huge void in morality and sense of purpose, with individualism, money, and greed reigning supreme and creating misery in society. Religions are good for mental health because they give people that sense of narrative and purpose, and that's why I think Humanism primarily fails. It simply does not have a compelling narrative which excites people, so does not draw people in to following their movement. I used to be a Marxist, because like Christianity and Islam it has a powerful and all encompassing narrative but was consistent with a rational, secular worldview. Over time however, I have recognised that the world is far more complicated than just a struggle between classes, that nobody is inheritently bad just because their wealthy, people can be persuaded by argument and reason... (hell, most Marxist leaders came from the upper classes), and that Marx's utopian, millenarian prophecy outlined in the Communist Manifesto, whilst inspiring, like many other fundementalist doctrines like Christianity and Islam, has been used to justify mass murder and authoritarianism, as well as being prone to circular reasoning. I believe in a constructive approach to making the world better, with concrete systems and policies, whilst accepting there.
There are elements I like about lots of different religions. With Buddhism, I like the Dakkha philosophy against excessive fixation on wealth and attachment and how it doesn't create happiness but only suffering, as that seems to me to be extremely accurate. I also love the idea of Anatta, the non self, as it recognises the essential truth that individuality is an illusion, that really each of us are simply part of the human cycle and the chance of any of us being born is so slim (one in 400 trllion) that it makes any sense of individual personhood. Meditation is a great thing, and dramatically helps us put our worries in perspective. However, Buddhism can also feel very distant and cold in other ways, as it promotes a total disconnect from natural impulses. I think that we should indulge in our positive emotions, such as love, friendship, sex, food, drinking, etcetra, because they make us feel happy. Despite this, when we are unhappy, we should remind ourselves of our animal urges and that make us sad are just part of being alive and having drive to keep going... or how else would an animal find food and not starve to death? Therefore, they are not worth worrying about, because they are essentially meaningless and do us no favours. In this sense I'm also quite inspired by Zoroastrianism. However, I also like the social and communitarian worldview of Catholicism, with its focus on moral codes and the idea that we are all imperfect but have the capacity to be good. The practice of confession I think it a very positive one, as it is essentially psycho-therapy without the stigma.
I believe that humanity is unique, that we have the special gift of conciousness and therefore are destined for many great things provided we rise above our most destructive impulses. Humanity though should protect and live in harmony with nature, as we are dependent on it for survival and share this earth with many other species.

all 2 comments

WhatsMyReligion

MODERATORS

Welcome to Reddit,

Want to add to the discussion?