This site, the members - all of us - outwardly deny the existence of deity.
Yet the preponderance of discussion I have read here is based on religion.
Perhaps this is developmental. This may be a nascent effort. The discussions are therefore relatively "young".
Like a new club formed in response to another group the members of this newly minted club are all interested in reinforcing their reasons for belonging to THIS club - not that other one.
Anyhow.
I don't want to talk about religion. I reject it. Utterly.
It is the root cause of mankind's most horrible behaviors.
You show a good point and I for one call myself very spiritual. All things are made up of the same star dust, as Sagan used to say. To hold that there is no connection of energy is of course foolish. But take it further and go deep inside to the other voice, each and every one of us has in their head, The one that talks to you and carries on a conversation. The brain part of me is small compared to the one that calls all the shots, who the hell is that, but me
Let's see now, you don't want to talk about religion. Solution, don't talk about religion. The posts you answer, the groups you join, and the threads in which you participate are up to you. Now, don't get me wrong, because I happen to agree with you, but that doesn't mean that everyone does or will refrain from religispeak --- including me. I am known to post the occasional religious barb, irreverent meme, and to answer religious questions and/or remarks. But I don't harp or dwell on it. Look into the groups. The list has swollen over the past few weeks and there is quite a range. Most of them have nothing to do with religion.
By the way, did you happen to notice you made a comment related to religion to close out your post? Funny how that works.
maybe because it feels good to be able to discuss things with "like minded" people. A lot of us have had to suppress our feelings and beliefs or risk alienation. It's great to be able to vent, discuss, laugh with others that are open
Very good point !!!
I think the idea is supposed to be 'we can discuss religion in this environment with a lower volume of devout believers relative to the sum of all participating parties, thereby allowing (theoretically) for a more open amd objective set of discussions, rather than every conversation devolving into a 'well God says this' or 'this religion is the only possible option' because similar conversations in other environments reach this abysmal level of discourse rapidly, belligerently, and with alarming consistency.
Then why are you talking about religion? I haven't talked solely about religion since I got here. I'll talk about how religion affects my relationships with my loved ones. But that's about it. I have no reason to actually discuss religion while here. That's what I do with theists. So why did you bother bringing it up if you don't want to talk about it?
I don't want to deep dive in it either so I avoid those topics, I'm perfectly at ease in my non belief, although once in awhile will peek in and just seems to me there are some people for whom it is a continuous venting platform, and that's ok and normal I think. Not everyone is free from the BS so they come here and let off steam.
There are people who've been really damaged by those around them over it.
I don’t deny. I simply do not believe. To me there is a difference.
It is ever present in our lives. Ignoring it will not make it go away. We should always be ever mindful of its intrusion into our lives and our laws. If you really check out this site these folks talk about everything, and l mean everything. That is what makes it interesting and at times entertaining. ☺
It makes sense to me that religion would be a main topic on a site called Agnostic.com. I’m all for discussing other topics, but we are surrounded by religion whether we like it or not so it’s nice to be part of a skeptic community to share experiences. Religion is what brought us all to this site.
Just because it's not a concern for me doesn't mean other people aren't going to make concerns for me over it. See how that works?
Kinda like saying " just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't talking about you".
I hate religion but it's a gross oversimplification to blame mankind's most horrible behaviours on religion. Religion might be one excuse but it's not the cause.
Great idea. Let's talk about irony instead.
That would be difficult as most of you are American
Good one!! Lol
Lots of posts not about religion and groups to check out.
Religion is one of the more intfluential aspects of human culture. To ignore that is to walk out of your house every day with blinders on. Like it or not, it’s a fact of life. People on here talk about it all the time because when you’re a minority that’s ostracized by a majority, you don’t have the luxury of ignoring that fact.
This site is not only for non believers,some are new and need community and un-judgmental advice on how to proceed having just "come out" of the atheist agnostic closet, or when they incounter a problem they havent faced before. When they have questions we should advise and help as much as possible.that is what makes this place great. If just the mention of religion and how it has affected someone bothers you then simply don't respond. But if you can help someone you should.
We are of like mind! I came here to get away from religion. At this site, awhile back, I set filters to skip posts about either religion or politics. After about a week of no posts coming to my attention, I removed the filters. I deduced much what you did, that those newly out of religion have to talk it out of their system or something.
Yes, I wondered about that too. Let's move into the abyss of ungodly ideas
I talk about religion because it does have an effect on me. Christians continue to legislate their dated morality here; Muslims do the same in other locales. I talk about religion because people in my life are still directly affected by their beliefs, their families' beliefs, and their communities' beliefs.
I don't speak against religion to be edgy or contradictory. I would like nothing more than to no longer have any religion in my life, and would gladly stop concerning myself with it. I just need it to keep to itself first.
Since the reason for the title of this group has to do with our thoughts on religion, I would be very surprised if I came here, and that wasn't the main focus.
What do you think agnosticism refers to, the non belief of Bigfoot?
Interesting post. I've often pondered why "religion" became a core need of our species. I get the need to explain the unexplainable. But Damn!!! Religion just seems so embedded in our collective psyche.
Why?
Because sadly some people need to be told not to rape and murder other people. How many theists have you heard say that if they didn't have their religion they wouldn't stop themselves from raping and stealing and murdering? Personally I've heard a ton of them say it. Without that book imagine how many more serial killers and rapists would be out there running the streets.
@MamaMOB I'm pretty sure the behaviour of nomadic desert peoples needed a little guidance. Most of the old testament/qu'ran/ torah stems from a ten square mile area in the middle east. Interesting strictures such as not having sex with an octopus or squid leads me to assume that at one point somone (probably a man) had a bash at it. The prescence of an all seeing god theoretically helped to keep the people on track. However the prescence numerically of sexual/violent crime varies very little between cultures places and times. Sadly religion has little or no effect on our natural nastiness or goodness. It does havecan influence on what we regard as good or bad eg homosexuality, forceful women etc. One good reason for not having it in my humble opinion.
@Gogster I disagree that religion has little to no effect. We've had religion since before we had the written word. So we have no way of knowing how we all would act without. I do believe there are people who are either too stupid or uncaring to realize that rape, murder, theft is wrong. Because of that they need someone to tell them. Religion fulfills that purpose. I trust people when they tell me that without a book they would be out there doing these things. I take them at their word.