| 11/22/2007 2:18:27 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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yankeeluvspeach
Athens, GA
age: 29
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well actually, it'd be like you have 5 or ten instruction manuals, as every religion pretty much has their own text and each one declares itself to be "THE ONE" I think of it in terms of physics. If you have a particle being pulled in two (or for that matter 20) opposing directions with equal force, the net movement of the particle is null. For that matter, these instruction manuals are also in some cases 2000 + years old and have been quadruple translated so you are not even sure what is a legitimate instruction and what is lost in translation, so that you end up throwing out most of the instructions and just sort of muttle your way through on your own. Thanks for helping me flush out my analogy though. 
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| 11/22/2007 2:29:06 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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yankeeluvspeach
Athens, GA
age: 29
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on a somewhat related note, it is interesting to notice that you photo have decided to post on a threat for a group that you do not WISH to belong to, attempting to scuttle the group. Or am I misreading your intent? By posting here it makes me think you have either a desire to "save" us fringers or else doubts of your own. Either way, you're welcome to publish those concerns in your christian group, where it is welcome, since that is already in existance.
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| 11/22/2007 8:47:02 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
age: 62
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Give the boy a hand. Lets here it for the boy.
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| 11/23/2007 10:39:31 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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yankeeluvspeach
Athens, GA
age: 29
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So all of this thanksgiving stuff has gotten me thinking? What do you agnostics out there celebrate in the way of holidays? Christmas? Easter? Halloween? I know for me, one of the most awkward parts of a lot of holidays is when I get together with extended family and everyone bows their heads, and grabs eachother's hands to say grace. How do/would y'all handle the situation? Myself, I do hold hands as I'd hate to be the one to break their ring, but I don't bow my head or close my eyes. I figure god's pretty much always watching if she's out there so I'm not much into the "ok let's fold our hands and pray" thing. I know that probably ticks some people off though, and I'm sure someone will come on here and tell me about it but for the rest of you out there, what do you do in situations such as that?
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| 11/24/2007 2:37:56 AM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
age: 62
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I do about the same as you. I just let them do their thing. One thing about here though is that none of us are into praying.
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| 11/24/2007 5:21:44 AM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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kellytoo
Moses Lake, WA
age: 58
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Even though I am not Christian, I am not uncomfortable holding hands, bowing my head etc, and expressing gratitude/praying. The food on the table was sacrificed so that we may continue to live. I think blessing our food helps to infuse it with good energy thoughts. Now if it becomes a rambling about sin or something, I just let it go out my personal window. I don't think anyone should be made to pray with others if they are not comfortable with the idea.
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| 11/24/2007 10:50:52 AM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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yankeeluvspeach
Athens, GA
age: 29
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Kelly, oh I 100% agree. There are alot of things done by organized religions that make a lot of moral sense, such as giving thanks for food. Both for the animal/plants sacrificed their lives and the people who harvested, prepared etc. In fact, I think the muslims have the right idea with fasting during Rama Daan. I think it's one of the five pillars that, barring medical conditions, if you can, you should fast between sunrise and sunset for that period to make you appreciate how fortunate you are to have food. We all could do with a little self restraint in our modern "give it to me now, all of it!" mentality. That's why amongst other things, I'm agnostic. A bumper sticker I saw once phrased it best. "God's too big to fit into any one religion."
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| 11/24/2007 10:54:25 AM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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yankeeluvspeach
Athens, GA
age: 29
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Just got this as an email from a friend and thought this was apropos given the original posting for this thread. It's a spam story anywhere else but here. :
HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT
The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term.
The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well:
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.
Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell,then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.
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| 11/24/2007 4:21:16 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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kellytoo
Moses Lake, WA
age: 58
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Yankee, That was a funny analogy about Hell. I believe we make our own Hell, if we choose to want to take that trip. Ask anyone and even the most so called evil of persons, if they believe they are going to Hell. Noone will say yes.
You are so right regarding our instant gratification society. Fasting is a great way to appreciate the bounty of food we have here. Plus, it's healthy for our bodies to fast sensibly. I like the bumper sticker too. People like to think that God is somewhat like us, with a human resemblance, likes fancy churches and loses 'his' temper when humans do wrong. Why would God wanna be like us? We would be in deep doodoo.
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| 11/24/2007 10:37:41 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
age: 62
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That was cute.
I sort of live by the same thing I tell others. You can say thank you to the universe in your mind without a word spoken aloud. All else, I feel, is for show. But if I am among those who feel it necessary to have that show, I see no need to rock the boat.
I see no benefit of praying myself because I can think and the Creator is aware of my thoughts because It is one with me. However I see no harm in those that find it a comfort for themselves to pray.
The closest I ever felt with the Creator, I had the feeling that he/she/it was exceedingly pleased with and in love with the universe. Nothing I can prove just the feeling I had when I felt the most wonderful feeling I have ever experienced. The only other time I felt that was when making love with the person I loved more than anyone else in my life.
That is why I gave up sex because I think that was the way the Creator intended it to be and I will not settle for less.
[Edited 11/24/2007 10:37:53 PM]
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| 11/26/2007 12:30:43 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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yankeeluvspeach
Athens, GA
age: 29
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I wouldn't normally ask a lady this queen, but since you brought it up..  does that include self-stimulation?  Just curious. Cause I've always thought that to some extent it was a tad unrealistic of the Catholic church to encourage their priests not only to abstain from sex, but masterbation is off limits too. I don't think sex is "necessary" for individual survival, but I do think its absence can increase mental instability.
[Edited 11/26/2007 12:31:21 PM]
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| 11/26/2007 1:00:02 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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yankeeluvspeach
Athens, GA
age: 29
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I caught a few seconds of this program on PBS. Dr. Wayne Dyer: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life. I guess he draws from this book for inspiration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching I didn't want to sit down half way through and watch, as I hate missing things but there's another replay of it on dec. 2 @ noon. Set your VCR/Tivo if you're busy/working. You won't regret it.
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| 11/26/2007 7:05:42 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
age: 62
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Yes it does Yankee. To make up your mind not to settle means in any way.
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| 12/1/2007 10:44:36 AM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
age: 62
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Dustin the religion forums are becomming more and more for preaching and teaching the bible and those of us not into that form of religion are more and more left out. We really do need a forum, for those of us who are not athiest or christian, to share our ideas and discussions where they are not taken over by christians and turned into another christian teaching/preaching thread.
I cannot get into any of the forums that you have started on the groups because I will not say I am an athiest in my profile and I am not a christian.
Please will you not take this into consideration as there are not many of the forums that I am interested in anymore because of the language and sexual content.
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| 12/2/2007 8:50:07 PM |
Agnostics and the religious fringe |
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queenofhearts61
Seymour, IN
age: 62
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Have to keep asking for a place for those of us that are not at either end of the extreme.
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