Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Although I am atheist, I have envied those who find communion with others in a church setting. In retirement, I intend to look into a Unitarian gathering in the next town (I don't seem drawn to the one in my town) and have also considered the Ethical Cultural Society, which is in 25 miles in towards the city and is, as it says, about ethics. They have great music and food and seem very conscientious, plus there are a lot of Jewish folks there and I feel at home with that environment. I am waiting for retirement to check them out because I work every Saturday night shift and the meetings are all on Sunday mornings and I have to go home and crash after working.
I don't think I'd be comfortable in a more god-based group, although I would like a general positivity and the company of people who are searching. I am fortunate to live within 25 miles of just about every belief in the world. There are two Quaker gatherings in my radius, too.
Although I am atheist, I have envied those who find communion with others in a church setting. In retirement, I intend to look into a Unitarian gathering in the next town (I don't seem drawn to the one in my town) and have also considered the Ethical Cultural Society, which is in 25 miles in towards the city and is, as it says, about ethics. They have great music and food and seem very conscientious, plus there are a lot of Jewish folks there and I feel at home with that environment. I am waiting for retirement to check them out because I work every Saturday night shift and the meetings are all on Sunday mornings and I have to go home and crash after working.
I don't think I'd be comfortable in a more god-based group, although I would like a general positivity and the company of people who are searching. I am fortunate to live within 25 miles of just about every belief in the world. There are two Quaker gatherings in my radius, too.
Having a solitary spiritual practice works for me but at times I miss the fellowship. I would need to be with those who are like-minded (Quakers) or tolerant of my practice (Unitarians).
So if we had a Unitarian or Quaker group close by, I'd probably attend meetings. When we're vacationing in NM, I sometimes visit the Unitarian Church there. My paternal line has a strong Quaker tradition dating back to pre-Revolutionary days so I've long been interested in that movement. Quaker beliefs aren't far out of line with my own.
Definitely not; has only progressed to be less and less through adulthood. When you become less religious, it is very easy to start feeling some anti-religious sentiment when you start looking at agendas without blinders on.
It just becomes simpler and more clear...The more I understand natural law...the more I see the miracle of nature...the more I understand life as I age...the simpler and stronger my belief in God becomes...when you think of this miracle we live in - this speck of blue floating in the void of space...this bit of dust we live on.....the more astounded I am and the stronger I believe in a creator...
Atheism is not a wise option...with this way of thinking all things are NOT possible. This restricts available possibilities and probabilities. Why would one do that? It is not as some religions teach that if you submit to the idea of God...that the reason for it is confined in type of bribe - that some reward system is in play...that if you are a good little boy or girl you go to heaven. Even if there is no after life...it does not matter...this life was worth the ride and this life is your eternal heaven or hell.
As for blinders....yes most religions are perverse and do deflect away from reality....to me ancient Christianity was about the adherence to truth - to reality.... I would say the core of Christianity was to understand that LOVE is the most powerful force in existence. Love combined with reality leads to a heaven on earth....On earth as it is in heaven... nothing wrong with that...I keep it simple...there is God and there is me.....the human being who by the grace of God granted me this beautiful and wonderful adventure.
It just becomes simpler and more clear...The more I understand natural law...the more I see the miracle of nature...the more I understand life as I age...the simpler and stronger my belief in God becomes...when you think of this miracle we live in - this speck of blue floating in the void of space...this bit of dust we live on.....the more astounded I am and the stronger I believe in a creator...
Atheism is not a wise option...with this way of thinking all things are NOT possible. This restricts available possibilities and probabilities. Why would one do that? It is not as some religions teach that if you submit to the idea of God...that the reason for it is confined in type of bribe - that some reward system is in play...that if you are a good little boy or girl you go to heaven. Even if there is no after life...it does not matter...this life was worth the ride and this life is your eternal heaven or hell.
As for blinders....yes most religions are perverse and do deflect away from reality....to me ancient Christianity was about the adherence to truth - to reality.... I would say the core of Christianity was to understand that LOVE is the most powerful force in existence. Love combined with reality leads to a heaven on earth....On earth as it is in heaven... nothing wrong with that...I keep it simple...there is God and there is me.....the human being who by the grace of God granted me this beautiful and wonderful adventure.
I agree with all you say except about atheist thinking being restricted. I'm a former atheist who has atheist friends and their thinking is less restrictive and more open to wonder than many religious folks.
Also, by criticizing others' beliefs, we're veering away from the original intent of the thread. Let's not go there.
Did you find yourself become more interested in religion in your old age/retirement? Why or why not?
No change. Once one has experienced God's protection and personal miracles in their life, it is next to impossible to turn their back on Him. My faith is as strong as ever. It is the one constant that I can rely on in my life, no matter what the current circumstances happen to be.
I don't want to throw my atheism into a discussion here that would skew the topic. But I've had it validated and proven true *to me* all my life and that has only grown stronger.
Funny but my former FIL was a mathematics professor who had been at Columbia just after Einstein had been there. My FIL said there had to be a God. He thought it could be proven mathematically. I wish I could believe that. I don't think Einstein believed in God.
I do believe there is a spark that somehow set off all creation. Big bang? It has an intelligence. But I can't believe that there is something out there that punishes and rewards us. I can't believe that something is all good or all bad. Or maybe it is but it's just too complicated for us to understand. What appears bad to us could actually be good in the bigger picture, if you could be all seeing and all knowing.
Albert Einstein's religious views have been studied extensively. He said he believed in the "pantheistic" God of Baruch Spinoza, but not in a personal god, a belief he criticized. He also called himself an agnostic, while disassociating himself from the label atheist, preferring, he said, "an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being".
Although I am atheist, I have envied those who find communion with others in a church setting. In retirement, I intend to look into a Unitarian gathering in the next town (I don't seem drawn to the one in my town) and have also considered the Ethical Cultural Society, which is in 25 miles in towards the city and is, as it says, about ethics. They have great music and food and seem very conscientious, plus there are a lot of Jewish folks there and I feel at home with that environment...
I'm interested in the Unitarian Church too for the fellowship and as a type of service organization, especially if I relocate after retirement. Had not heard of the Ethical Cultural Society before. Being raised in a strict Protestant religion in the deep South and later becoming a scientist really soured me on traditional religion.
I found Ethical Culture when reading the obituaries in the New York Times during the AIDS years. A lot of the men listed had services at Ethical Culture and I found a gathering in Cambridge, too. I went a couple of times, and the people seemed to be either people who had been badly scarred by extreme religion, or (usually very old) Jewish people. I liked it. It does seem limited to a few major urban areas. At present, their meetings (called "platforms") are at 10a Sunday, so it really doesn't work for me as long as I'm committed to working every Saturday night, get out at 7:15a.m., and have to go 25 miles west of the gathering to tend to my dogs. I'm just too tired to go back into town.
I think Unitarian might be more like "Ethical Culture Lite." I went a bit when a teenager with my boyfriend's family- found it weird, singing hymns and having a "sermon" on something like "The Ethics of BioFreezing." (I do remember that).
I do think Unitarian is a pretty good place for those of us without a religioius belief system or agnostic or beyond.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
