thoughtz

I tend to identify with a naturalistic interpretation of the world and our lives. This interpretation tends to clash with contemporary Christian doctrine-but we all know it will evolve. It just takes them longer to catch up with the rest of us (see the final acceptance of evolution a few months ago!) Here are some tenants of the Naturalism I support:

1. There is no transcendent source of moral Truth. Instead, it may be derived from logical analyses, or principles that, if universally applied, are resultant in the highest amount of goodness for humankind.

2.I believe that we should treat....to be continued...

I have come to accept a rather alternative interpretation of the soul. I consider the soul to be the influences-negative and positive-that we have upon people. I believe that it should be in our interest to make our soul the best it can possibly be. In fact, I believe that life is given to us so that we can help humanity achieve a life of greater satisfaction. The soul lasts forever and is infinite in nature. It affects persons we love, persons we smile to while passing on the street, and the homeless people we try to ignore shaking empty cups in the streets. It is eternal because the effects of one persons actions are imprinted onto another into a seeming chain of persons. For example, the song lyrics I write will be read and listened to by my sister, S, who is encouraged to commit some action ,A, which inturn affects her best friend, T.T has a child who is affected. A sucessful and therefore beautiful person is one who has positively influenced many and hurt almost none. . and so on...... to be continued...

yeah all the juicy stuff i am supposed to be afraid to post...

On this subject I believe there are 3 point on a continuum. On one end, the atheist. In the middle, the agnostic, on the other end, the Christian/Catholic.. you name it people who preach. ( just so we get the point)

I have issues with those on both extreme sides of the continuum. The atheist and the Christian both believe with all their hearts that they know the truth. Impossible, say I! The atheist claims that there is no God, etc. The Christian claims there is the all good, all powerful, all knowing God. Note, there are many issues with this Christian notion of God. One being the presence of evil! (And don't jump the gun, and claim something like he doesnt want us to be robots.. I mean come on!! Give me a break!! There are plenty of choices that she could have given us and have them all be good!) Anyways, i say to the atheist, "How can you know, that there is no God." I say to the Christian, " How can you know there is a God, and she is the God you claim her to be? " Now, the Christian can claim that the Bible allows them to know their God. However, there are many conflicting notions of the God. (*side point* Wouldn't an all good God ensure that we knew what she wanted us to do/ be without error and misinterpretations... I have a list, if you are interested, in errors and inconsistencies if you are interested. I took the time to type out all 20 pages worth of them that i could find! Just call me a passionate person!!) I love this stuff.. I could talk about it for hours.. and hours..So where do i belong... well.. certainly not atheist, and certainly not Christian. And trust me, this has been one of the most consuming and challenging decisions in my life. I am a naturalist, an agnostic.