I grew up in a good old fashioned fundamentalist Christian household where I decided to do shit my own way. I believed in some version of the Christian God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and all that stuff, but I still drank, smoked (and smoked up), got into fights and random mischief, but I never felt like a hypocrite because I never talked religion unless I was in the company of a pastor, which is really easy to do when you live in a small town with a church on every corner.
I'm an atheist now (sorry for posting in a religion thread!) and it was weird... it was so gradual that I never realized it, I mean, I didn't spend days doubting God, I just eventually realized that I simply didn't believe in any of it anymore. In college I initially majored in English with a focus on literature. It was really interesting to see where a number of the stories in the Bible came from... the most prominent (in literature) is probably the whole flood story. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written roughly 2,000 years before Genesis, has a flood story that's nearly identical all the way down to the olive branch (though they used different birds). That's not to say that the Bible is a book of plagiarism, but it was common practice in those days (and the days before) to take folk tales and retool them to fit the audience. The Gilgamesh flood story wasn't the first, either... but it was one of the best preserved.
I don't have any beef with religious people as long as they aren't flaming evangelical religionists attempting to challenge reality or form our culture in their image based on their limited, selective, and selectively literal interpretation of the Bible or Quran. I've known a few people that practice Judaism, including some Israeli drinking buddies, but I've never met anyone in that's tried to convert me, in real life or online.
My main beef is with people that use religion as a front to excuse prejudice or willful ignorance. Like I said most people I know are religious, and they're exceptional friends. We mutually accept where we each stand, so it's a non issue. At work it's kind've weird though... the only people who know who are atheists are other atheists/agnostics (and one friend at work who is Hindu). There aren't many of us, but we keep quiet about it because there are some overtly religious people at work and it's much easier to just diplomatically and subtly redirect any religious discussion they might try to include me in. I've heard enough to know that if they knew I was a non believer, I'd be seen as a practitioner of something evil.
Here in Louisiana, the door has been opened to allow for the study and discussion of "Intelligent Design" as an alternative to biological evolution. That kind of shit pisses me off to no end... to teach that it's a valid alternative is an insult to science, as well as an educational setback for students forced to learn that line of bullshit.
Gay marriage: It's lame how anti gay activists use emotional appeals to make sure gays don't have marriages recognized by whatever state they're in (California's probably the best example though). People say they want to "protect marriage," but how the fuck are you protecting marriage by preventing it? If you want to protect the "sanctity" of marriage, then see if you can get legislation passed that makes divorce illegal. Good luck with that. Fuck "civil unions" too... fuck that separate but equal nonsense. If you're against gay marriage, you might as well take the next logical leap and be for the outlawing of homosexuality. If they don't deserve equal rights and a protected pursuit towards happiness, might as well take all their rights away (like Florida where gays can't even adopt).
The abortion thing too... I'm pro choice, but I'm sick of hearing anti abortionists draping themselves in religion when fighting against it. There are a few anti abortion groups that are also atheist in nature, and they might offer the anti choice crowd some real debate material other than "God hates abortion!" I'm not swayed by the atheist-anti-abortion argument, but I can appreciate it as a real and debatable argument.
I'm also bummed at religionists that support laws and legislation that test the limits (or cross) the seperation of church and state. The secular nature of our laws protects religion, the worst thing the religious could do is have government-endorsed religion. Shit like that might make somebody go Pilgrim.
/sorry for the rant, it's been wet and cold all day
Topic: post your religion and why (Read 13227 times)