I Came Out Of The Closet When I Retired

Discussion in 'Atheism & Antitheism' started by Lon Tanner, Apr 15, 2016.

  1. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    Much of the world doesn't acknowledge sin as being a real act, whether something done, or something said or just a thought in our heads. Not to give christians an ok on sinning, but as long as we are in this fallen world, we will sin. That is why Jesus allowed Himself to be sacrificed, the Lamb of God, for our past, present and future sins so that we could be part of the family of God forever.

    It's like we divorced ourselves from God, and He allowed it, in the Garden. God seeing/knowing man's inability to follow His laws sent His only Son to pay the price of all sin for those that want to be reconciled to God.
     
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  2. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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  3. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    I can so relate to that Hedi, I feel the same, I sometimes wonder if I am saved too. But then I read about all the doubts those in the bible had as well, and misunderstanding what Jesus said. He must compensate to us less brilliant because there are times I just know He's real. other days I'm just a doubting Thomas ;)
     
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  4. Jeff Elohim

    Jeff Elohim Very Well-Known Member
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    There's "supposed to be" older women to help the younger women daily thru life , struggles, doubts, actions, feelings, activities, helps, encouragements, and so on....

    So , if there are "older women" today to help, they would be , what, ninety-five years old ? .... There is one much younger woman who is able to help in all these vagaries of life/ faith/ trust.... she has a website and much info ... to be continued... God Willing... /I'm short of time at the moment/ ....
     
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  5. Thomas Windom

    Thomas Windom Very Well-Known Member
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    You said you worked to leave it? How did your loss of faith proceed? For me it was very gradual, over a period of several years and got started because I saw conflicting beliefs in Mennonites and Catholics, the two churches I had most contact with growing up…if you don’t mind sharing.
     
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  6. John Houlihan

    John Houlihan Very Well-Known Member
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    Hi Thomas,

    I like your post a lot because it made me think about my position on a supernatural deity. Your post says you do not believe a supernatural deity exists. I’m slightly different. I lean toward an either-or-maybe position. But I have no problem with atheists. My favorite atheist is the Buddha. My second favorite is Lao Tzu (Taoism). These two atheists made the world a much better place.

    I love science but at this time hard science deals only with physical reality. I’m looking for answers on who and what I am. Especially important in my search is the hard problem of consciousness because consciousness smacks of being well beyond physicality. So far, hard science can tell me nothing of value about consciousness. This is why I think other paths to truth like philosophy, psychology, mythology, etc. can also be sources of truth.

    Bottom line: I believe I am an agnostic rather than an atheist. I believe in a higher power that is both inside and outside of time and space. As far as how personal or impersonal this higher power is, I am still working on it. I also like to think that this higher power loves an inquiring mind that is trying its best to find the truth before accepting anything as true.

    Namaste, John.
     
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  7. Joy Martin

    Joy Martin Veteran Member
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    I was born in it and started to question it all after my very catholic virgin boy husband left me for a secretary in his office. I was in SHOCK, he of all people, more strict than me when we met......It took 60 yrs to get rid of any religious affiliation.

    Along the way Unitarian made some sense and I met a lot of Non believer friends, and then in the 80's New Age, Science of Mind, hooked me in. I still believe it all, but Covid crap has sure shook me up.
     
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  8. Thomas Windom

    Thomas Windom Very Well-Known Member
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    Thanks. I have resigned myself to being at peace with my ignorance of a lot of things. I’ve probably said it before but I’ve arrived at the place where I have an acceptable (to me) answer to any question. 1. The best current answer provided by experimental science and 2. I don’t know.

    I am still curious about many things and I hope I’m not going to pass away before I know or understand some of them. I have no animosity towards religion for the most part. I sometimes wish I could believe but it’s not an option any longer. I think, if I were to relent in my hard nosed approach and try to follow anything it might be Taoism.
     
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    Last edited: Mar 21, 2023
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  9. John Houlihan

    John Houlihan Very Well-Known Member
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    Hi Thomas. The big three of Eastern thought (Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Confucius) created religions that do not believe in a supernatural deity. Because of this, I think of them more as philosophies, man-made suggestions for how to live life. If you are ever interested, I recommend Peter Bolland's YouTubes in these areas. Take care, John.
     
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  10. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    Denise,I think many of us don't always feel as close as we want to.
    Like the verse says," the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak".
     
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  11. Janine Coral

    Janine Coral Very Well-Known Member
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    My personal choice has been to love God through my life. It is right for me~
     
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  12. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I came back here from the link you put in another thread, Thomas. So I have a question I'm curious about...this is not to challenge you or poke at what you said or anything like that...

    When you look at nature and at living things (or even at geology as it goes through its states of being) do you ever marvel at it all and think there must be "the hand of a creator" behind it all? Or do you think such a statement is merely humans putting a label on that which we may never scientifically understand but still feel a need to "explain"? I'm not necessarily referring to the origins of life, I'm referring to the interaction and symbiosis of cellular-level activities within individual beings (even plants are so complex), with each flora and fauna being a similar component of all life in the aggregate.

    I guess true science eschews "conclusion by exclusion," but scientists are human, too.
     
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  13. Thomas Windom

    Thomas Windom Very Well-Known Member
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    No problem, I’m pretty thick skinned.

    I am completely in awe of the natural world, especially the biological, cosmological and quantum realms. I used to see it as evidence of a deity but no longer. Several books I read, “Origin of Species”, “The Blind Watchmaker”, “A Physicist’s Guide to Skepticism” and “Creation by Natural Law: Laplace’s Nebular Hypothesis in American Thought” most prominently among others, pretty firmly nailed shut any doubts (for myself) as to the universal rule of the laws of nature.
     
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  14. Tony Nathanson

    Tony Nathanson Very Well-Known Member
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    Well, I learned a new definition for "Coming out of the closet." :D
     
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  15. Joy Martin

    Joy Martin Veteran Member
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    Finally made a lot of good sense once we found each other in the 80's......There has been large participation in California and the other states I don't know. My last "church" was City of Angeles and O.C. Smith, the great minister....He died very unexpectingly and the church couldn't make it without him. His wife tried to keep it going but she was not O.C.

    BTW: God was spoken in SOM. To me God was the Sun and maybe I still feel that....

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/355197644229?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr=1&amdata=enc:19sDv5DnMTm2e_ERLbdIkSw97&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=355197644229&targetid=1584739239014&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9031168&poi=&campaignid=19894961968&mkgroupid=148855406073&rlsatarget=aud-1315132080129:pla-1584739239014&abcId=9307911&merchantid=7867094&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7Jm0zaO6gwMV7RatBh3BewHyEAQYBCABEgI6LPD_BwE


    Before SOM I had hung with the Unitarians for a few years but something was missing for me or there was just too much political leanings with UU, so in comes SOM.....


    Oh I see this post has been merged!!! I would have liked SOM to be a stand alone topic...
     
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    Last edited: Dec 31, 2023

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