Positive Atmosphere
Inspiring and Empowering Positive People
 |
Positive atheists and agnostics...
Any other atheists or agnostics out there that think life just rocks? I'd dig some discussion... what about atheist inspirarion of a positive nature? Maybe even some ideas that motivate us to make life better, despite the common disbelief in an afterlife...
Tags: agnostic, atheist, inspiration, non-religious
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Dan O'Donnell on -
hey Doug, interesting topic. i'm pretty open and undecided on lots of spiritual things. i do think that there is a lot we don't understand and that being confident that there is no God, when we haven't even travelled outside our own solar system is a bit presumptuous. Sort of like everybody standing in a closet and arguing that there is no carpenter that built the house because they haven't met him or her. I personally don't believe there's a man on a cloud, but if you were a painter, what would you paint to represent God?
Interesting discussions, and anyone who says they have it all figured out is a bit.... :) I'm personally ok with the mystery of it all.
Regardless of why we're here or who/what put us here, I'm having a fun time and grateful to God or chance or whatever gave me the free ticket for a great ride :)
Harmoniously and non-judgementally,
Dan O'
-
Permalink Reply by Doug Hoelbinger on -
Great points Dan. Personally, I am atheist, but I approach life as an agnostic: I simply do not know, but I can accept most anything as a possibility. I prefer to be humble and admit that I don't have the answers. Along with that, I also like to take a scientific approach. Science is constantly changing as we aquire new information and ideas. With that in mind, it is sometimes difficult for me to accept rigid religious theories that refuse to change even when disproven. As I see religion, it is a tool to guide people toward morality, and can be quite helpful in that sense. But as with almost anything, the tool can be manipulated to cause harm in a number of ways. Just like a chainsaw can be useful in efficiently aquiring firewood, it can also be used to... well, I'm sure you know of the movie "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"...
My idea for this thread is actually encourage inspiration, sans the need for a higher power. People can be good or bad, and that comes in any walk of life. I believe it is essential for people to find goodness in themselves, over relying on said higher power to find that goodness. We all have it, we just don't all nurture it...
I've always been a fan of the term "namaste", and if I'm not mistaken, the translation is essentially: "I worship the god inside of you." As I said, goodness is inside of us all...
And not to seem like I'm arguing (mind you, I am a huge fan of rational and reasonable debate, without hostility of course), You said that it may be presumptuous to disbelieve in the existence of a god... agreed, but that would also make it presumptuous to believe that god exists. I agree with both ideas... And that closet? It's there now... who knows how it got there? (probably a carpenter, but you can't be sure unless you've witnessed the proccess) There is certainly a lot that we don't understand, and I will not dispute the existence of a higher power. I will say, however, that there is no substantial way to prove either side of the arguement. I love that. The lack of concrete evidence gives way to new ideas and philosophies, which in turn exposes the hateful and discriminatory. When someone tells you that you're wrong and they're right, without any evidence (with the possible exception of literature, which may very well be unsubstantiated fables), then such a person has shown their nature which would probably be the same regardless of what they believe...
I'm kinda goin off here... replies? Let us discuss...
Thank you again Dan for bringing some essential ideas to this thread, I truly appreciate a mindful debate...
-D.H.
-
Permalink Reply by Dan O'Donnell on
-
interesting points DH, I guess I don't necessarily know what some people mean when they say "I'm an atheist". the way you described your perspective sounds more like what I call "agnostic". i guess i thought theists are convinced that a God(s) exist, atheists are convinced that no God exists, and agnostics are undecided, but my definitions may be a bit different than others'.
i'm with you though, I am grateful for my life no matter if an intelligent higher power provided it or?......
btw, speaking of life being awesome, I'm in thailand right now and it's a beautiful day, staying at a great spot on a gorgeous beach, for $12 per night, and my friend and I are splitting that! amazing, we even have free wifi. our bungalow is about 100 ft from the beach :)
So thank you to whatever/whoever provided this to me!
Have a good one Doug, it's awesome having you here at PA, you've made so many great contributions already!
Dan O'
-
Permalink Reply by Doug Hoelbinger on
-
As far as being an atheist goes... it is true, I am not convinced that god(s) exists. With humility and the limits of my own conciousness though, there is no way that I could truly be sure...
To be clear, I could also never believe that everyone should be an atheist. I truly believe that all people should believe in what they understand is true for them. In a certain light, I have adopted Taoism as a philosophy (somewhat loosely, mind you), choosing to accept most things as being exactly as they should be, and it is in the nature of all things to do what they are meant to do.
Sounds like you're having a good time in Thailand. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay there...
D.H.
-
Permalink Reply by Dan O'Donnell on
-
Taoism is rad, I give it two thumbs up. Almost brought the Tao with me to Thailand but left it on my desk (right where it's supposed to be I'm sure ;)
I don't know if you've listened to the Dalai Lama much, but he has a lot of great things to say as well, and he discusses lots of interesting things with scientists, he's a very open minded and curious guy, I really respect him a ton. Here's a great interview with him and Charlie Rose http://positiveatmosphere.com/video/the-dalai-lama-talk-with-charli...
-
Permalink Reply by Charmaine on -
Hi Doug,
I'm not an atheist or agnostic, so I hope you don't mind me commenting on your post. I do believe in God because its hard for me to believe our incredible universe just happened by accident. To me, the diversity of life forms and incredible structure and design of all living things and the interdependency of the ecosystems seems to indicate intelligent design, it is all just too wonderfully perfect to be random. What inspires me is the beauty in nature. I like to meditate upon nature and find this is a wonderful way to relax and find inner peace and harmony. If you haven't tried it, it might be something you might enjoy doing also, especially if you have stress in your life. Taking time to observe and appreciate the details of a beautiful flower, sunset, river, forest or mountain as you let go of your worries and breathe deeply can result in a wonderful, peaceful experience. I highly recommend it. Meditating upon nature was so helpful to me when I went through a very difficult time in my life that I decided to create scenic relaxation videos to help others as well. If you'd like to see them, visit www.serenitymoments.com
Peace.
-
Permalink Reply by Doug Hoelbinger on
-
Hey Charmaine... Most of the things you have mentioned are things I do regularly. Though admittedly, I'm more into the human experience than I am the nature thing. I still appreciate nature, but it's not my native environment... I could expand on that if you like, but simply put... the human experience is amazing and a wonder to behold.
Where God is concerned, as I mentioned before, I may be wrong... but here is the kicker: I believe in intelligent design. A video I've already posted could explain this further, but basically, at the core of matter on a subatomic level, inside protons and neutrons, there is a vibration (not physical matter) that is identical to the vibration of thought... incredible! This indicates to scientists that our universe is not matter based, but consciousness based... that could be a god, I am willing to admit that...
What get's me sometimes, is the idea that this being (whatever anyone decides to call it, I sure it doesn't mind) somehow follows the characteristics that it's fans have predetermined. So for me, when it comes to God: probably real, but I don't think anybody has it figured out yet, and if you do, you probably get "promoted".
btw, I don't mind you posting on this thread at all. That's what it's for. Ideas are important and certainly an indication of a soul. I truly welcome open-minded discussion on this topic, life is made much more interesting that way. ;)
-DH
-
Permalink Reply by Dan O'Donnell on
-
nature is amazing, i can hear the waves crashing on the beach right now from my little bungalow on a rock. i'm super grateful to whoever/whatever/whichever made this life available to me, it's actually quite mind-blowing. i saw flying lizards yesterday, are you kidding?! and i got to feed a young elephant bananas today. i'm honestly not trying to figure it out, i'm just saying thank you and enjoying the ride :)
-
Permalink Reply by Jaemy on -
I realized the other day that, technically, I am an atheist, because I don't believe in God the Person with moods and emotions, etc. Also, that it's, technically, the same as being a non-deist (word origins both mean "no-god"), which people are using a lot now. While I describe my spiritual leanings as pagan (simply nature-focused), there's the idea that atheists don't believe in ANY kind of spiritual essence, souls, reincarnation, Divinity, etc. That's incredibly not true. I know a handful of very spiritual people and only once in the few years I've known them, did I hear them use the term "atheist" to describe themselves. Mostly, because such things don't matter. When we discuss spiritual matters, we discuss ideas and beliefs because, let's face it. The labels are tooooo small!
I also know a person who likes to laugh at people who self-apply "agnostic," since it means that you don't know, he says it means you are calling yourself stupid. I don't agree, but I do think that it is not important that you get it RIGHT. There is NO WAY to objectively know or be able to quantify what "right" is about God. I don't think THAT is the part that matters. At all.
<3 Love, light, peace, and abundance to ALL! <3
-
Permalink Reply by Peter R Eden on -
Yes, Life does Rock ! I am an atheist. I do not believe in a God, however I do believe that having a belief is a good thing, and that most religious belief is good. My life certainly is no worse for being an atheist (well I assume that it is not) and I like to take partts of each religion as rules to my life, as someone said below ... as a philosophy. In fact my father, who is a priest, once told me "You should not believe everything that you read in it (the bible) but ...... It is a jolly good book ! " meaning that we know it was written, say, 500 years after the events were meant to have happened so a lot of the facts are going to be wrong but what is important is the message, or rather any message that you take from it for good. A kind of moral and ethical code. I do not steal, murder, descriminate or any anything else 'morally' wrong and I believe that it makes me a better person.
In short I am enjoying life and looking forward to the future, and I have Sunday mornings free ! :-)
-
Permalink Reply by Kathy Gottberg on -
Hi Doug,
I personally think it is really important to define our terms before we can really understand what we are talking about. I do believe in both an immanent and a transcendent Universe--often referred to as panentheism--and decidedly not Christian. Many people say if you are not Christian you are an atheist or at least agnostic--I don't think that's true. I am not Christian but I do believe myself to be spiritual--and after studying and looking around I believe panentheism (as a guiding philosophy) fits it pretty well. A VERY simplistic explanation for panentheism is that--God/or Universe/or Fred--It doesn't care what you call It!--is both inside us, acting through and as us--but It is also more than us individually and collectively. In other words, panentheism includes everything--the world, the universe, you and me--but It is also more than just the sum of It's collective individualities. Panentheism has also been called interdependent, evolutionary and emergent--all played out on both the personal and the universal.
So not sure if you were even interested in hearing such an explanation--but like I said, many people think that if they aren't Christian, or Buddhist or Islamic or any of the more common religions then they are atheists or agnostics. I think that is because most people have never taken the time to study world religions and then explore alternatives. It is good to remember that there are hundreds of ways to be spiritual but that we don't have to put a label on them to practice the universal themes of love, peace, joy, compassion and kindness. (oh, and being positive too!)
Just my 2 cents.... :-)
Kathy
-
Permalink Reply by Doug Hoelbinger on
-
I'm all about it Kathy. The labels of atheist, agnostic, or even pantheism, are often classified by the religious as dogma, nothing could be further from the truth.
My issue as of late has been morality. As I explore this, I have found that dogma has very little to do with morality. What is much more important, is character. I have friends from a variety of religions. These titles, however, make no difference to me... what matters is a person's character and motivation. The universal themes you have described are spot on... where the labels are nearly irrelevant.
© 2012 Created by Positive Atmosphere.
