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No, I am an agnostic atheist, as many are. Agnosticism and atheism are measures of two different things:
Gnosticism/agnosticism - a measure of whether one believes solid knowledge of a deity can be possessed or not
Theism/atheism - a measure of whether one believes in a deity or not
So you can see, mixed and matched, there are four possibilities. I am an agnostic atheist because I don't believe that solid knowledge can be had, which makes atheism the logical choice. Why should I believe in something of which solid knowledge cannot be possessed?
Who says that atheists "are so sure" there is nothing at all? We just have not been convinced to believe in any god due to the lack of convincing evidence. That doesn't mean we are not open to the possibility of gods!
So, since you say you are not an atheist, what god do you believe in?
I don't know what I believe to be honest. And I guess I was wrong about atheist. I thought they did not believe in anything. I was wrong.
I don't know what I believe to be honest. And I guess I was wrong about atheist. I thought they did not believe in anything. I was wrong.
You must not have a belief if you don't even know what you believe. If you believed in god, you would be able to tell me about this god and why you believed in him.
You must not have a belief if you don't even know what you believe. If you believed in god, you would be able to tell me about this god and why you believed in him.
Theists/deists=those who believe in a god
Atheists= everyone else
Did you even read the OP? If you did we would not even have this...discussion..
I call my self open minded, really open minded. When I hear testimonials from people of various religions or when I read books or watch movies about the "unknown" or when I on a star-studded night I look up in the sky i cannot help myself to wonder - what is the real truth?
Who am I to doubt anybody? Muslims, Hindus,Christians, Buddhists and Jews along with all the other religions in the world, who is to say one is more correct than the other.Not to mention atheists. How can they be so sure there is nothing at all! Maybe we are all wrong!? Maybe we are all in for one big surprise.
When I am watching pictures of earth taken by NASA and I see earth from millions of miles away I realize how little and unknown we are in the Universe and how incredibly little we know about anything. One of my closest friend swear up and down over her mothers grave that she has seen Gods angels. She swears that she has talked to them and that she has talked to God. She tells me that she knows for a fact that there are a God and Jesus and she tells me there are no such thing as a Hell the way most people describe it or picture it. She is a goodhearted non judgmental person and I love her dearly. I want to believe what she say, I want to be as sure as she is, but I can't do that. There are too much questions that has to be answered. There are many people like my friend who are just as convinced and sure about there faith and their religion. One thing all of these people have in common, they are all alive. Non of them are dead and have come back to tell me what is really going on. So I have come to one conclusion. The safest bet in life is to be a good person and follow you heart.
I loved your post. I loved it! I personally do believe in God, and I am a religious person, committed to the religion of my choice. I am also totally willing to admit that none of us can possibly know for sure whether what we believe is, in fact, accurate. I recognize that it is entirely possible that I am the religion I am today because it is what I was raised with. I say that because I have often thought how different my worldview would be had I been born at a different time or in a different place. While I do believe there is such a thing as absolute truth, I'm not convinced that it's essential that we find it in this life. If it were critical to God that we get all of the facts right, He is certainly (IMO) capable of making sure we never received any mixed signals. He would leave us with no unanswered questions, no reason to doubt, no opportunity to get it wrong. I think I have pretty much come to the same conclusion you have. Live according to your beliefs. Be faithful to what you believe. Fundamental righteousness is based on adherence to what you know to be right. You have been endowed with fundamental righteous understandings—ideals. Try to live by those ideals. (Source: For Those Who Wonder by D. Jeff Burton.) If we're doing the best we can with what our heart tells us is true, we're on the right path.
sparrow Wow - I love what you wrote (copied below)! That is beautiful!
"We've all got our own paths to follow in this world, and the more authentic and honest you can be with what is on your path, and what you yourself feel in your heart is truth, the better. Be true to yourself and don't worry about what other people think."
I believe in God but I'm not religious. I was diehard atheist until up to about 3 months ago. What I've come to realize is that all religions had the original intention of teaching about God. At the core, they are all about peace and love. But then other stuff got added on later, and that's all fluff and a result of human civilizations. All the "God hates this" "God hates that" stuff is fluff. God only loves. God can't hate because God IS love. All the rules about how you can't do this or that are details that don't matter.
I experienced it for myself and people may call me deluded but I've had so many miracles happen to me it's hard to chock it up to coincidence. My doctors call me a miracle patient. I've met other people who have similar stories and said they felt or heard or saw God's love as well. I met a paraplegic woman who should be dead based on her medical history. She should be quadriplegic based on her nerve damage. I should be dead based on the numerous times I came so close to being hit by a car when I was deaf-blind. I should still be deaf-blind based on the nerve damage I've undergone.
And the thing about realizing that God is love is that you don't have to kill people. The love speaks for itself in acts of kindness, compliments, a smile, etc. Believing in God's love actually turns your life around for the BETTER because when you act with love and not fear, things work out. In fact, you don't even have to believe in love as God. All you have to do is acknowledge love and its power to heal, and there are a million paths to that destination. Religions are all possible paths to love, but there are many non-religious paths as well. There are an unlimited number of paths and all of them are equal.
I don't know what I believe to be honest. And I guess I was wrong about atheist. I thought they did not believe in anything. I was wrong.
That's true. I believed in souls and spirits when I was atheist because of experiences I've had. I just didn't think there was any man running the show. I still don't think there is as someone who believes in God, but I do believe in a creating force and a force of love and call that God.
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