Religious Guidance

[Juan J. Sánchez]

Warning: There's a high probability that the groups overlapping with that black circle are full of shit.

Both religious folk and atheists should probably receive a class on tolerance. One of the things I don't like about being associated with atheism is that lots of atheists (specially in the internet) are douchebags.

 

[Venetia]

Many atheists will try to convert people just as readily as Catholics or Muslims or any religious person.

Atheism, when seen from a certain light, is a religion. With regards to the origin of the universe and what happens after you die, they make declarations based on blind leaps of faith as well. Just because the leaps are more pessimistic (or based on "science"), it doesn't change the fact that they make declarations that cannot be "proven", are not recorded, and have various gaping lacks of supporting information.

(Note: TRUE scientists do not say that ANYTHING is 100% PROVEN, nor do they state that THEORIES are FACTS which are infallible. Especially when it comes to things that happened billions of years before recorded history, and things that happen beyond reasonable means of measurement or experience. There will likely never [in our lifetimes, anyway] be a theory which clearly ascertains a lack of existence of some supernatural "fate"-like force, nor one which entirely & doubtlessly "proves" how the universe began, nor one that will be able to truly & accurately define how bodily fluids, catalysts, and electrical impulses travelling through layers of cholesterol can translate what we know as consciousness.)

Many don't seem to understand that the acceptance of what atheists "know" for someone who has a very spiritual side is a frightening, awful thing, which makes no sense to them.
It makes about as much sense to the faithful as religions make to people who consider themselves "faithless".

And, of course, I'm speaking of the CORE fundamentals. Creation of the universe, the afterlife, presence of supernatural forces, a defined set of moral laws. Not the myriad of other traditions or platitudes or fables or cultural concepts.

All pushy or haughty people are annoying.
I wish everyone could just embrace open-mindedness and what it is to just chill the fuck out

 

[BlueScope]

Open-mindedness is compareatively hard for a thing like religion, but people definately need to respect other's beliefs and not try to change anyone.
It doesn't take me a diagram to figure out I'm an agnostic atheist, and the last thing I'm going to do is try to convince (or even convert) someone to change their minds about their beliefs. Aside from not trying to change anyone, it is because - and this comes from experience - people either don't really care all that much and you wasted a lot of time and effort, or they actually do care a great deal, in which case you could as well argue with your scissors, pen or fuel prices.

So, in general, if you have your beliefs and are fine with them, I won't bother you about them. However, believing into something and religion are two entirely seperate pair of boots from my point of view.
What's bothering me is sentences like "I'm thinking about converting to another religion".

It really makes the whole issue sound like a cult rather than personal change of mind. If someone's opinion changes and they figure out it sounds a lot like Buddhism now, then it might make them a Buddhist or not.
If someone goes to Wikipedia, thinks that being a Buddhist will get them laid, so they convert - it makes them idiots.

Again, not saying that this is the case here at all, but really... whenever I hear someone say they're a Christian, a Buddhist or whatever, I can't help but to think that they don't really make up their mind about things, but just choose between a handful of predefined thinking templates and pick the one that sounds the most appropriate at the time.
The whole "have you ever changed or felt like changing religions", "current faith" and whatnot make the whole thing sound like a social network status, which even emphasizes the whole thing more. It just pisses me off that religion seems to be more about talking about it with others than actually living by the suggested rules. Of course the basic concept is a set of guides and suggestions that seem to be set in stone, but you're a complete idiot if you follow each and every one of them and no others, instead of compute what's going on and figure out your own mindset. If you notice along the way that you have 95% Muslim beliefs, then go ahead and call yourself a muslim, nothing wrong with that. But if you think of religions as mutually exclusive, you're an idiot and a hyocrite.
Unless that's what you actually want to believe, cause I'm not keeping anyone from wanting to be narrow-minded.


Here's one last thing to think about: If you (as in the reader of my post) felt in any way addressed, you likely did for a reason.

 

[Ellie]

When my Iranian friend moved to the UK, his family changed their religion to Christianity, because they assumed that's what you're supposed to do. The idea that a country doesn't have a universal religion was confusing for him. But, in his defense at the idea of switching religion, in his mind Allah and Jehova both existed (somehow); both religions were right, he was just choosing to worship a different god. I guess his actual belief (or what he'd come to know) was that the world was polydeist, and that all the different religions were just worshipping a different god, all of which actually existed (even though if he'd studied them he'd realise they can't coexist as they contradict on many things).

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

@BlueScope Converting is the term I saw most appropriate. I'm doing a lot of reading on the subject and I don't expect to convert any time soon. It takes years to learn the principles of Catholicism. I don't suppose learning about Buddhism is any easier. Finally, I'd like to add that Buddhism is more of a general guideline to having peace of mind than an actual set of rules you must follow. Their's no immortal soul, no God or gods, no heaven or hell, no trying to convert other people and, most importantly, no one telling you what to do.

When my Iranian friend moved to the UK, his family changed their religion to Christianity, because they assumed that's what you're supposed to do. The idea that a country doesn't have a universal religion was confusing for him. But, in his defense at the idea of switching religion, in his mind Allah and Jehova both existed (somehow); both religions were right, he was just choosing to worship a different god. I guess his actual belief (or what he'd come to know) was that the world was polydeist, and that all the different religions were just worshipping a different god, all of which actually existed (even though if he'd studied them he'd realise they can't coexist as they contradict on many things).

That's pretty much what people used to do in the old days: you'd practice whatever religion was popular in your current time and place. If you think about it, this is still very true today. In my country, at least, there's a national religion, which is Catholicism, and which spans absolutely everything, including language, politics, and society. I'll give you an example of each. When people say goodbye in Spanish, they say "adiós", which literally translates "to God". When you help someone, they thank you by saying "may God bless you". Abortion is illegal here because the church doesn't approve of it. In vitro fertilization is also illegal. If you live here, chances are you will be going to a Catholic wedding, baptism, first communion, confirmation, funeral, etc. They're all exactly the same ceremony. People assume de facto you're a Catholic.

I think BlueScope is right in the sense that you shouldn't allow your place in the world define what you believe in. But what you're failing to see is that religion, as is the case in my country, is a big part of nationalism. It allows people with different views, different socioeconomic status, different levels of education to connect. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's certainly a thing where I live.