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That pretty much describes me also. For me the lack of trust is actually a lowered sense of confidence in their judgment rather than that I think they are dishonest or unethical.
It gets particularly difficult when they think that trotting out their intractable belief should end a discussion that affects others, not just them or worse yet something that doesn't affect them at all. If you want to believe God is your copilot, that's fine. But if you want to nap for a bit and have God take over that's not okay.
I have often wondered what the results would be if you gave a polygraph about beliefs to all the members in an upscale suburban church. I chose that location as it tends to line up with an average level of education that is fairly high. A lot of people I talk to do seem to genuinely believe in a creator but hem and haw about specifics in the Bible.
I grew up in a very religious family, but as early as I can remember I was not a believer, and I'm still not a believer. I'm not Atheist, that requires a belief that there is no god, I'm not religious, that requires a belief that there is a god. I see no concrete evidence either way. I'm solidly agnostic.
I've had the privilege of meeting wise, clever, well-educated and thoughtful people who happen to be religiously doctrinaire and quite orthodox. That they can square such beliefs with a voracious curiosity about nature, humanity and philosophy, is to me a bewildering mystery. But somehow they do it, and I value their company, even if I vehemently disagree with their core beliefs.
Ultimately, one hopes that one aspect of the wisdom of age, is being able to interact productively and enjoyably with other people, despite potentially core disagreement. Of course, the openness that this requires, must be bi-directional! If only one of the parties is thus open, but the other is not, the interaction becomes one of careful discipline and self-censorship. That's a way of being neighborly, but it isn't the basis of true friendship.
I agree. People should not be put on the defensive over their beliefs, whichever way they go. We have become a society that is so intolerant that we say we can't interact with people who don't believe exactly as we do, about everything. We need to be a little more open to what other people think and a little less certain about our own (often erroneous) beliefs. We have all deeply believed in things that have turned out to be wrong and we need to remember that.
Less I suppose. I went to Sunday school and church every week from grade school until I graduated from high school. I never felt that I was all that religious the whole time, but that was just the way it was at my house. After high school we were on our own and made our own choices. I’ve been to church maybe a dozen times in the last 50 years. Those were mostly a Easter sunrise service.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I have never been religious despite being raised as Catholic, stopped going as soon as I got my driver’s license at age 16. No change since then, still don’t set foot in a church except for the occasional wedding or funeral.
I was raised by atheists and tried hard to be an atheist as it was so much EASIER than grappling with all the hard existential questions that always arose for me as a child.
Apparently I was born with what scientists call the “god gene” as early on I could not fathom that the incredulous intelligence and creativity of this universe and all that inhabits it was just a roll of the dice, a mere “chance” happening. There clearly was some creative intelligence behind all this for me.
Then in college, I had a profound spiritual experience through a Christian friend sharing some teachings with me. It evolved into a lifelong personal and contemplative relationship with what I’m comfortable calling God.
Thankfully, it was never embedded in any strict denominational doctrine or dogma, and it has only grown and deepened over the many decades as my trust and faith in it evolved deeper and deeper.
Thankfully, I’ve learned to just surrender gracefully to the sheer mystery of it all....
Last edited by mountainrose; 08-11-2019 at 12:22 PM..
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