Do you believe in God/a higher power?

[CuriousAboutWhatYouThink]

Not religion. I have no time for organised religion and the associated man made rules.

But do you believe in 'something'?

For context, my grandad was a CofE vicar but my parent rebelled against it and we were brought up broadly l in the religion (eg we celebrated main religious festivals like Easter and Christmas) but not as practising Christians and without a particular belief in God.

As an adult, I have friends of different faiths and none and it's something we have discussed from time to time. It's also something I used to discuss with my grandma who had a very strong belief in God but also believed the Bible until she became older when she still had a strong faith but admitted she thought the Bible was largely nonsense!

I suppose I've always felt that there is 'something' but I refer to it as the universe. I don't know, I always feel that there has been 'something' looking out for me.

That doesn't mean bad things have never happened because they have and religion/belief doesn't protect anyone from that. And it doesn't mean my life is anywhere near perfect because it's not. But the universe has always seemed to 'step in' when needed.

I don't know. I'm going through a tough time at the moment but I have a feeling everything will turn out to be OK because it always does.

@Lemonadepie

Thank you for apologising, I appreciate it.

No answer for that then…?

There doesn’t seem to be much kindness in religion.

I agree. Threatening people with hell if they "don't believe". Threatening them with eternal damnation and fire.

What about people born into remote tribes who have never even heard of Christianity? Are they doomed too? What about small children who have no concept of religion?

As the quote in Auschwitz says "If there is a God, he'll have to beg my forgiveness".

Of course not.

How very Christian of you 😂

@GarlicBreadStan

Hopefully, you'll be happy to know that polytheist pagans do NOT believe that atheists are damned to eternal punishment for not believing in deities. We don't even believe that a specific realm exists for eternal punishment in the first place.

I believe that atheists will live on in a spirit world just as anyone else does.

@thisishowloween

The particular lack of kindness you are referring to is specific to Abrahamic monotheist faiths, though.

There are a number of other religions that don't believe in a 'hell' and don't posit that non-believers will be eternally damned and punished.

Pagan religions do not take that perspective and believe that atheists will enjoy the experience of the afterlife as much as theists do. There will be no punishment.

On that basic, I would say that there IS rather a lot of kindness and tolerance in polytheistic pagan religions.

That does make me happy because in my experience, a lot of religions/religious people are very judgemental when it comes to those of us who do not believe in what they believe in.

If I were to follow a religion, I'd probably follow one that aligns more closely with Satan than with God, but that's because I believe Satan is extremely misunderstood and is probably the better one out of the two. If he is real (and you know my stance on what I believe) then I think he's probably a very chill guy. It might make me out to be rude, but I like trolling people like DandyMintLeader who think that Heaven is the be all and end all and anyone who doesn't believe will die a fiery death

As an atheist I don’t believe that anyone lives on in any world after death. You die, the end.

Yes, maybe I should have been more specific.

For most people, "religion" does mean Abrahamic religion. But you're right, I shouldn't generalise.

You obviously don’t follow any religion promoting kindness.

@GarlicBreadStan

Well, in general, you're unlikely to find Pagan Polytheists who are judgmental of people who don't believe.

We're judgemental of non-believers who give us a hard time about OUR beliefs and try to infringe on our rights, but it would be VERY rare to come across a pagan polytheist who made negative judgements on someone simply for being an atheist.

Paganism simply does not have concepts that require people to believe or not believe. Belief in deities is not aligned with inherent goodness or morality. In one of the Ocean Keltoi videos that I linked you to, he makes a point about a positive experience of the afterlife, in Pagan Norse tradition, being available to "the righteous" - not the righteous who believe, but people who are good/righteous generally, which includes non-believers.

Quite, I've just been told to "rot in hell".

Oh I'm in no way saying that your religion is judgemental - just that my general experience with other religions has not been good. To be honest, you seem like a very open minded and lovely person and I would have no issue with talking to you about your beliefs if I knew you IRL.

@thisishowloween

For most people, "religion" does mean Abrahamic religion. But you're right, I shouldn't generalise.

That there is one of my issues, though. Abrahamic religions are only a small number of the religions out there, yet their tenets tend to get taken as applicable to every religion in general.

This is one of the reasons why I like to give information on the pagan polytheist perspective and traditions.

Quote The Exorcist back at them - "your mother sucks cocks in Hell". That'll piss them off so much that they probably won't be able to form a cohesive response. I would take that, at that point, to be winning the argument. I am a HUGE wind up merchant though

This is a great thread: like Amos Starkadder shouting at Doris Stokes.

I totally get why that's frustrating, but I do think it's to be somewhat expected in a Christian country, with Christian schools and a broadly Christian education.

I'm not saying it's right, however.

In fact after years of theological university studies and church training I was ordained in a Nordic National Church that marry same-sex couples. So no my church doesn't refuse this but happily welcomes same-sex couples for marriage.
Via the Poorvoo declaration (it's an ecumenical agreement from 1992 between a number of Lutheran churches in the Nordic countries, Baltic countries and Anglican churches in Great Britain establishing a full church communion) I can serve in CofE. CofE at the moment only offer a blessing for same-sex marriage and of course I follow guidelines.

Even these days I prefer to work as a nurse which I can do in UK and Scandinavia. The new archbishop of Canterbury has a past i nursing so we are more than one flexing.

The Bible says so much about sin. Read more than the highlights. Does most of us good.

I have to admit it's been great fun being provocative with certain people 😂

My partner always warns me against arguing on the internet but sometimes the temptation is just too good.

Did I just say temptation? Oh god, the Devil has tempted me! Burning in Hell in 3... 2... 1...

Every time mediums have been subjected to rigorous scientific research they've been shown to be either deluded or outright charlatans. The history of scientific investigation into communicating with the dead is notable for just how many people make outlandish claims and how, every time, those claims are shown to be dubious at best (very small sample sizes, rampant observer bias, p-hacking etc) and outright sham at worst. Finally, Julie Beischel's PhD is not in anything to do with the subject matter she now earns her living from claims to research.

You may find them persuasive but to me they look as convincing as the scientists in the 1970s who were fooled by Uri Gellar into thinking that he really was bending spoons with nothing but the power of his mind and not by basic stage magician tricks and misdirection.