Ah, Dave..not one for checking those little ticky boxes, are we? ;-)
I was once religious myself, of the mainly Jewish sort of religious, but around the time my grandfather died I had a "crisis of faith" and became more anti-religious. I dislike organized religions of all types.
I may have dabbled slightly in gnosticism (which my mother is), but then settled firmly in existentialism. I don't believe in any supreme being. :-) Be that as it may, I'm still Jewish enough to split hairs (in hebrew, "pilpul") finely, so that while I do not believe in a supreme being, the fact that others do so means that I don't deny the possibility that a supreme being exists -- for other people. In my universe alone, there is nothing but the vast unknowable infinities. I take comfort in knowing that by choosing, and particularly by choosing to impose order upon chaos, I am holding back the inevitable entropy and eventual heat death of the universe. Ever so slightly. ;-)
I still dislike organized religions, as they try very hard to stop you from thinking and instead want you to mindlessly parrot the words they've decided are meaningful. There's people on the Bar that I won't acknowledge again, for their bigotry which is based mindlessly on their religion. [If I'm going to hate someone, it won't be because the bible says so..;-)]
Here's to prechristian holidays and the spirit of the season!
no subject
Date: 2005-12-26 12:09 am (UTC)I was once religious myself, of the mainly Jewish sort of religious, but around the time my grandfather died I had a "crisis of faith" and became more anti-religious. I dislike organized religions of all types.
I may have dabbled slightly in gnosticism (which my mother is), but then settled firmly in existentialism. I don't believe in any supreme being. :-) Be that as it may, I'm still Jewish enough to split hairs (in hebrew, "pilpul") finely, so that while I do not believe in a supreme being, the fact that others do so means that I don't deny the possibility that a supreme being exists -- for other people. In my universe alone, there is nothing but the vast unknowable infinities. I take comfort in knowing that by choosing, and particularly by choosing to impose order upon chaos, I am holding back the inevitable entropy and eventual heat death of the universe. Ever so slightly. ;-)
I still dislike organized religions, as they try very hard to stop you from thinking and instead want you to mindlessly parrot the words they've decided are meaningful. There's people on the Bar that I won't acknowledge again, for their bigotry which is based mindlessly on their religion. [If I'm going to hate someone, it won't be because the bible says so..;-)]
Here's to prechristian holidays and the spirit of the season!
Passing the bottle, Fear Darrig. ;-)