in religious terms -> what am i?

[Don Seer]

i dont believe any man should de-nounce what another man holds dear and true.  (tolerance... anti-bigotry)

we may walk different paths, but  we're still just people.

----
just had a bit more of a search.. come back because i've found a few more 'movements'.
'humanism' and 'rationalism'

they seem to classify themselves as 'freethinkers'

http://www.geocities.com/athens/atrium/6072/alter.html

a lot of other parts of the site seem to dwell on anti-christian things. calling the bible 'evil' and 'the most dangerous book' its only evil if used incorrectly


anyways... from that page it seems like i'm a 'secular humanist'

the basic 'manifesto'


Humanism - "Serve human needs, not god/gods needs"
- worry that trust in religions comes at the expense of our freedom to think for ourselves.  

Secular Humanism
-Dogmas,  ideaologies,  and traditions - whether political,  religious or social must be weighed/tested by the individual and not simply accepted by faith.

-Critical reason,  factual evidence,  scientific method rather than faith & mysticism in seeking solutions to problems important to humans.

-Their primary concern is with fulfillment,  growth,  and creativity.

-Constant search for objective truth with the understanding that knowledge and experience constantly alters our perceptions.

-Search for viable individual social and political principles of ethical conduct,  judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility.

-A conviction that with reason,  an openmarketplace of ideas,  good will,  and tolerance,  we can make the world a better place. (the above thanks to Counsel on Secular Humanism)

-You can be an Atheist-Humanist or Agnostic-Humanist.  Some even argue that you can be an Atheist-Agnostic-Humanist.

Take Time to Smell the Roses - Humanists believe that the life we have now is probably the only one we're going to get so make the most of it.

Famous Humanists
Gloria Steinem,  Kurt Vonnegut,  Einstein,  Asimov

----------------

good reading here.
http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html

its the closest hit so far



btw: i'm not going to go to meetings or whatever they may do. this is just 'what i am'. i sure has hell wont have a 'honk if you love secular humanism' sticker on my bumper.

[Don Seer]

some question answer stuff.

from http://www.arthurchappell.clara.net/faq.htm


Q2 - ARE ALL HUMANISTS ATHEISTS? No, though many are, others prefer terms like agnostic, secularist, etc. Atheist means literally without belief in God(s) and refers to someone who emphatically believes that there is no reasonable grounds for belief in a religious entity of any kind. An agnostic is someone who believes that there is insufficient evidence for believing that there is a God but that there is a possibility that someone somewhere, some day may present a more convincing case for believing in God, and therefore aims to keep an open mind on the matter. Atheists are skeptical that any such evidence will ever be forthcoming.

At first glance atheists seem more narrow minded, and dogmatic in their rejection of belief, whilst agnostics seem tolerant and more sympathetic to new evidence. Generally though, the two names are used interchangeably. Agnostics are often as fiercely critical of religious evidence as atheists, and often sound like they are being merely polite about their atheism. Humanists can be either atheistic (as I am) or agnostic, and often argue their views strongly from either end of the spectrum. This should be seen as a spectrum of unbelief; as in Humanism there are many ways of not believing in God, just as for the religionist, there are many ways of believing in one. The choice is healthy, ands tops Humanism degenerating into blind dogma where everyone simply agrees with everything each other say. Some Humanists, and some Humanism journals sadly try to play down the atheistic/agnostic angle of Humanism, by avoiding letters and articles addressing the issues therein, which is a pity and a shame, as they are central foundation stones on which many Humanists develop their philosophy of atheism & agnosticism. There is a feeling among some leading Humanists that atheism and agnosticism references make us sound too negative and anti, so they try to avoid the terms and adopt an apologetic stance that leaves people unclear on the view that atheism and agnosticism are not dirty offensive words or in any way socially unacceptable. I find no shame in being an atheistic Humanist.

Q4 - ARE YOU ANTI-RELIGIOUS? No. Humanists must always respect anyone's freedom of worship (and they must recognise a Humanists freedom of the right not to worship too, a fact often neglected). I have no problem whatsoever with anyone believing anything just because I don't happen to believe it. If someone wants to believe the World is flat, that the tooth fairy is real, and the Moon is made of Green Cheese, then good luck to them. If however, they try to preach such a view to the rest of the World, they must consent to the fact that some people, like myself don't wish to share such a belief. I am against and anti- any bad religious practice; i.e.; brainwashing; raising children to believe that seeing the Moon as a lump of Gorgonzola is the only way of perceiving it, denouncing unbelievers, and persecuting anyone raising objections to the creed; starting wars in support of the creed of cheesy Moons, declaring fatwas on those who dare to claim or write that the Moon is rock, denounce any attempt to go to the Moon to look for ourselves, and deny that any such visit ever really occurred; subjugate, or torture or suppress any member or class of people within or without that belief system, etc. Bad religion I just find sad; bad religious practice - there I stand as a mortal enemy, I'm afraid.

[MidnightPills]

Lets just make it simple and say your unique

i thought i was Unique  

[bLaDe]

Your confused
lol

hmm i dunno, you say christians, muslims have their OWN Gods, but in my religion[sikhism] we have ONE GOD which is the same God of all Religions...i think Islam preaches the same thing.  So we dont have diffrent Gods, or our own Gods, we only worship One God...

 -{bLaDe}

[Don Seer]

the muslim, sikh and christian god is the same one!

so why isnt everyone sikh?

you say all worship the same god, but in different ways  

do all other faiths agree.. or is this from a sikh perspective.

[bLaDe]

the muslim, sikh and christian god is the same one!

so why isnt everyone sikh?

you say all worship the same god, but in different ways  

do all other faiths agree.. or is this from a sikh perspective.

A few other religions beleive in the same thing, i think Islam preaches the same thing.

"Don’t say the Vedas and the Books (Torah, Bible, Qura’an) are false. False is the one who does not study them." [1, page 1350]

"Kabir says this loud and clear, and you should think over it in your own mind. God pervades all persons unseen. He is the same in the Hindu as well as in the Muslim."[1, page 483]

God created all people and all faiths. All worship the same God. The apparent differences in form are indicative of God’s glory in revealing Himself to people in language, idiom, and metaphor appropriate for them.
Throughout history, Sikhs have been committed to religious harmony and interfaith cooperation. Siri Guru Nanak Sahib, the founder of the faith, was loved by Hindus as well as Muslims. He was referred to as Pir of the Mussalmans and Guru of the Hindus. The Ninth Nanak, Siri Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib, sacrificed his life for the right of the Hindus to wear the sacred thread and the saffron mark on their forehead even though he did not believe in those rituals himself.  The Gurus spoke against hypocrisy and false emphasis on outer formalisms and practices of every religion but respected the right of all to profess their faith and serve mankind in their own ways.


So yeah, we worship only One God and some religions beleive that too.

 -{bLaDe}

[Don Seer]

"Don’t say the Vedas and the Books (Torah, Bible, Qura’an) are false. False is the one who does not study them." [1, page 1350]

i agree with that... wheres that from?

the origin of the veda's is being pushed back further and further. quite possibly the oldest religious texts of mankind due their precise oral history before codification.

'codification' is when they were written down. The oral history part had the monks commit them to memory, they were arranged in a format like poems allowing easier memory.

[bLaDe]

"Don’t say the Vedas and the Books (Torah, Bible, Qura’an) are false. False is the one who does not study them." [1, page 1350]

i agree with that... wheres that from?

the origin of the veda's is being pushed back further and further. quite possibly the oldest religious texts of mankind due their precise oral history before codification.

'codification' is when they were written down. The oral history part had the monks commit them to memory, they were arranged in a format like poems allowing easier memory.

Yea its from the holy book of the sikhs called the "Guru Granth Sahib" , basicly its that we respect all religions and belifs cuz we beleive everyone of every religion prays the the same God...

 -{bLaDe}

[Tecknine]

i believe in a creator..molecules and shit that formed life

[budsmokeronly]

maybe you are a goat trapped in a man's body

[Trauma-san]

i'm not an athiest. because i dont denounce any god/s.

i'm not agnostic, theist or gnostic. because am not concerned with the existance of god/s. agnostics are undecided. theists and gnostics believe in gods.

maybe i'm an apath-eist but that word doesnt exist...

i'm not pagan. because  1) i acknowledge other faiths with no bigotry but their god is not my god. 2) i am *something* pagans are staunchly *nothing*

the closest i've found so far are 'pagan/gnostic' but even though i dont denounce any gods. i'm notconcerned with them. gnostics pursue truth in god.

My .02 would be that you just don't care about religion.  You probably find it interesting, but only in a political or historical sense, you just think it's interesting to see how religion effects things, and what different religions believe.  You probably just don't really feel a need to choose a religion, or worry about god, or whatever.  That doesn't mean you're bad, or you're going to hell or anything, it just means religion isn't an issue to you... right now.  I think maybe as you get older, get a family, etc. things like that might become important to you, but then again plenty of people die without ever being concerned with religion.  

Latter Day Saints believe that everyone is guided by the holy ghost, whether they're christians or not, basically... your conscience is the lord telling you to do things, or giving you guilt, or positive feelings about things... that's why, even without being concerned about god, or feeling like you have to do anything for god, or whatever, you still abhor injustice, and you still feel good when you smile at kids, and things like that.  That's why people feel bad when they lie, even when nobody knows it, stuff like that.  We would say the holy ghost is guiding your life whether you realize it, or even care about it.  God loves all his kids, even if they don't know him, or have the need for him, or whatever.  Peace~