Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?
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I think that list of pantheistic proniciples would be endorsed by most secular humanists, without using a god term. Certainly they all fit for me. (They also fit, incidentally, for most Quakers I know.)
Wrenn, what a lovely poem. I struggle with the idea that every thing is okay, but I can accept that everything is. The light and the dark just are.
Ananda, I work in an area where the question of where you go to church is often the first thing people ask you about yourself. You can't throw a rock around here without hitting a little Baptist church.
I generally call my self nontheist rather than atheist, but I prefer just to say “I'm not a theist." A weird distinction, maybe, but the reason I make it is that it irks me to have to have a word for not believing in a mythical being. The way I don't say I'm an atoothfairyist or an asasquatchist.
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Th pat list of pantheistic principles is almost identical to the 7 principles of Unitarian Universalism. The only thing that is missing is "respect for the democratic process."
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I just say I am unchurched if asked.
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Using the phrase "unchurched" in my area would result in people knocking on your door. There are all sorts of strategies to reach the unchurched.
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Double funeral tomorrow for my former bosses parents (car accident). I will respectfully sit through all the BS and give my support but this is a pretty rare occasion for me.
Side note: I wonder if the funeral will be extra strange, it’s my first one since diagnosis and death is a legit possibility sooner rather than later. I don’t care about being gone myself but I hate to see the sadness that remains.
Also, I usually say I’m not religious too.
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I agree with Ananda - saying you’re unchurched in my neck of the woods is just asking for an intervention!
Illimae - I’m sorry about your boss’s parents. That’s sad. Life can sure turn on a dime. I imagine the funeral will feel different for you now. I’m only stage 1 but there’s something about chemo that makes mortality a much more real concept.
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Thank goodness I live in pretty progressive part of California. The church question never arises. I did have it come up with my very religious in laws when I first met them 25 years ago. My MIL said to me: Even though my son doesn't believe in God, we both know he's watching. I just laughed and let her know that her son and I were on the same page when it came to not believing in magical sky fairies.
Needless to say, it didn't go over very well. 😉 That, and the fact that we chose to not get married until our daughter was in high school, made for some very strained holidays.
Even though I don't post much, I really do enjoy this thread. It adds to the sense of community for me.
Trish
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Lucky you, wrenn. Used to be that way here. Until the conservatives took control of our government back in the eighties. After that all politicians (left, right and center) played the religion card. Very depressing.
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I'm lucky to live in Seattle. The majority of people here would rather be in the wilderness than in a building on Sunday. We can be on the ski slopes in a couple of hours.
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If people ask, my first response is usually "I'm not churchy." If the other person escalates the conversation, I'll get as specific as necessary. Hmm, maybe I need to try "I'm not goddy."
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Alice: I agree the second response is much more specific as I think many folks who are not 'churchy' are very 'goddy'.
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I also live where noone really questions ones religious beliefs. And that's a good thing!
I avoid funerals but sometimes I just really have to go. I just hate being preached to. And listening to all the prayers. But compassion for close friends and family overrides my personal beliefs.
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I go to church weddings and funerals. I'm pretty good at having a movie playing in my head when I'm bored, so it's a handy trait to have! When it's time for Their Lord's Prayer, I quietly recite Wordsworth's My Heart Leaps Up (The Rainbow). The hard part, as a churchy friend who switched to an Episcopalian congregation put it, is keeping up with the choreography. 💃
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I wish I could get bored, I can’t quit crying longer enough for that, lol. I’m in Texas, so lots of sad country music and some funny big hair. I cry when tv show series end, at retirements and funerals are the worst. I managed until wind beneath my wings played, it’s a big trigger for me of death by terminal cancer, so I stepped out briefly. Anyway, it was more stories than sermon, so that was nice.
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I live in the "Bible belt" of Ontario surrounded by Mennonites. My husbands family either are or were Mennonite. The ones that were are now in fundamentalist groups. We get asked all the time "so where do you fellowship?". For many years I lied and said we were going to a church in the near by city ( not total lie we did go there years ago). No i just say no where. Then we get asked how our relationship is with the lord, my answer is usually fine, to avoid any sermon. Definitely would get a visit at the door if we said un-churched lol. Sad to say but we avoid family gatherings so we don't get asked and made to feel bad about yourselves. I know many of my husbands family think i lead him away for the lord but we dont care what they say.
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Having been in churches maybe ten times in my life I feel a bit uncomfortable - I don’t know what to do! Also a bit worried I may spontaneously combust!😂. Glad you made it through the funeral, Illimae. I must admit I was relieved this fall to not attend a funeral. Not someone I was close to, a former colleague whose husband died of a heart attack. I may have gone but we had travel plans already. I also gaugemy emotional state on weddings, parties, etc. I don’t want to go if I’ll be very upset and ruin the celebration. Hasn’t happened yet.
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illimae- I'm pleased for you that the service went well. Wind Beneath My Wings always make me tear up. I haven't been to a funeral or memorial service since being diagnosed a year ago. A friend's mother died approx. 6 months ago. I politely declined attending the service. I figured cooking enough food for a hundred people for the repast was far easier than attending the service.
We are still awaiting results from my nephew's tests. The bible-thumping crazies from Tennessee and Kentucky have all arrived. Then we need to throw in my sanctimonious sister-in-law (wife of the minister) . I am so thankful none of them know I have cancer. My Sil has not shown up or called to visit my nephew since he's been hospitalized. Now that the whole family is at the hospital she shows up with her Bible. Most of them mean well. When my former sister-in-law informed me today she was going to pray for my worthless soul anyhow because she's a good Christian. I believe a family member must have mentioned it to her that I didn't participate in one of the prayer circles. She made it very clear she prays for those heathens who don't deserve it only because God commands it. Im thankful there were 240 miles separating the two of us. Instead I politely told her to have a nice day and I hung up the phone. I'm going for a run now. I need to clear my head.
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jo6359, What a crowd of believers! When I'm in a group like that, I pretend I am an anthropologist and they are a newly discovered primitive tribe.
I'm sorry your nephew has to go through the week end waiting for his test results. I hope that the results show something easily fixed with ice cream.
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I rearranged my weekend plans to attend a memorial for someone I used to work with. It's happening at this very minute and I'm not there. It is at a Methodist church - the one I was raised in. I decided no one would expect me there and it wouldn't do the deceased any good, and I really wanted a free day. He was a psychiatrist for our mental health team and I loved that he treated case managers as intelligent co-workers. No M.Deity complex with him. He was 81 and wasn't in good health years ago when we worked together.
No one in my family is religious. My SIL is the most and he's Buddhist. All the men are atheists, including SIL since Buddhism is not a theistic religion. The women are indifferent. DS attended Christmas Eve service only because he told the newspaper it was a tradition. We were all surprised, since it hadn't been. After that, we sort of had to.
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Has anyone here heard of Sunday Assembly? It started in Britain, I believe, by some folks who wanted a church-like community without the god stuff. Their motto is "Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More." My husband and I went for the first time today to the one here and really enjoyed it. This one was about "Joy," and included watching clips from a couple TED talks, talking about what brings us joy, and singing (we sang "Walking on Sunshine"). And then a potluck. There was no mention of religion, positive or negative. Just a very inclusive, nonjudgmental atmosphere and a focus on helping others. It's really nice to find a values-based group where no one is talking about prayer or ministers or gods.
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wanderweg- love the TED Talks.
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Wander… Sunday assembly looks somewhat successful in gathering people together. None in may area since 2015
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From the New York Times ... "The axolotl, sometimes called the Mexican walking fish, is a cheerful tube sock with four legs, a crown of feathery gills and a long, tapered tail fin. It can be pale pink, golden, gray or black, speckled or not, with a countenance resembling the “slightly smiling face” emoji. Unusual among amphibians for not undergoing metamorphosis, it reaches sexual maturity and spends its life as a giant tadpole baby.
Many animals can perform some degree of regeneration, but axolotls seem almost limitless in their capabilities. As long as you don’t cut off their heads, they can “grow back a nearly perfect replica” of just about any body part, including up to half of their brain, said Jeramiah Smith, an associate professor of biology at the University of Kentucky and an author of the paper. To understand how they evolved these healing superpowers, Dr. Smith and his colleagues looked to the axolotl’s DNA.""
This article made me think of this meme
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Axolotyls are absurdly cute. But man, don’t you wish we could regenerate parts? I’d have re-grown my breasts instead of doing reconstruction.
I know that’s not the point of your post, Ananda!
Logic just doesn’t enter into it with creationists. 0 -
wanderweg, Perhaps the research they are doing on these little guys will enable the restoration of the body after trauma. Certainly mastectomies qualify as trauma. What I find truly fascinating is their ability to regrow all forms of tissue to replace every part as long as they still have their heads and half their brains. I knew about limbs, but the article is talking about everything. Truly amazing.
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I have been reading about the science behind/physiological response to meditation. Fascinating stuff. In the Christian world we were told that meditation, emptying ones mind, eastern religion, was evil, opened the door to satan. Such crap, I even read a Hollywood actor recently speak of this as to why she wont do yoga. Anyway I am so interested in the non religious attributes to mindfulness and how our brains respond. We in the western world don't have these types of things in the fabric of our culture. Japan, China, Korea for example have a high regard for martial arts and how it helps with mental health. India and other South Asian countries have Yoga, African nations drumming and rhythmic dancing, these are all healing beneficial practices for our mental health. I am learning so much. I am also diving into feminist thinking. I am being transformed for the better. That journey started with "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter" that I learned about here in this thread. Thank you!!!!
Don't get me started on creationism lol.
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NanfromOntario,
Although I don't consider myself a Buddhist or believe in everything the Buddha taught, I did study the teachings and practice meditation for about 10 years. I was sufficiently well versed in the teachings to be selected to moderator of one of the largest international Buddhist forums in the world. Buddhism has no creation story, no creator god, no belief in an eternal self of soul. I can understand why some Christians are uncomfortable with it.
Hinduism has a lot in common with Buddhism when it comes to basic stuff, but it has a creator god, a creation story and a belief in an eternal self or soul all of which is different than Christianity. I can understand why some Christians are uncomfortable with yoga and Hinduism.
Today both mindfulness and yoga are becoming more popular in the west. But because of the discomfort of Christianity towards these things, they have been watered down so as not to offend Western sensibilities. I agree that meditation can be useful for some mental health issues but it useless for some other mental health issues.
The one form of meditation that is very effective for the average person is Metta meditation. You can Google that and try it.
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Nanfrom...Brain chemistry and meditation is indeed a fascinating topic which has nothing to do with belief in a higher being and thus a very pertinent conversation for this thread. I've been meditating on and off for a couple of decades. Jon Kabat Zinn MD is or at least was the chair of the Center for Mindfullness in medicine. His work and that of others has been helpful to me in dealing with the residual pain from a BLM a few years ago.
So much great feminist scholarship out there to delve into - enjoy your 'diving' and do share your thoughts.
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nan- I'm a firm believer in meditation. I have been meditating since my college Years back in the early 1980s. I continue to meditate approximately 20 to 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. When I meditate I just focus on clearing my head of garbage in an attempt to reach a state of completely being in the moment. What I do find it interesting almost always during my meditations my darling dogs will join me on the floor and will soon fall asleep. A couple of my dogs behavior is similar to a toddler on steroids. Maybe as I'm attempting to reach a calm space they start picking up on my energy or more relaxed state and act accordingly.
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