I've been trying to work this out in my head for quite awhile.
I mean to start with I'm pretty strongly agnostic. We don't have all the information, so we'll probably never _know_ what's out there. Current scientific theory tells us that its pretty unlikely, but scientific theories change as we learn and discover more. So *shrugs* telling us science says there is no god, always did seem pretty petty and missing the point to me. Religion is more than about whether or not the is a god, I think.
I do however have a very strong ethical and belief system, it changes over time, but its something I stick to, study and use to try to make myself a better person. vegetus mentioned that being vegan was the main part of her beliefs, I wouldn't go as far as this (partly in that I'm 'only' vegetarian, but also I feel there's more to my beliefs than my eating habits/lifestyle). Still being vegetarian, is certainly the main thing people think when it comes to this, its easily the most visible.
My family seems to be a mixture of Anglican and atheist though. Dad doesn't believe there's anything out there, and while his parents do a lot of volunteer work which includes taking the elderly to churches and stuff, they don't seem to be religious either. Mum (and grandma) on the other hand, gets very very angry if there's any suggestion that we are anything else, even though she never goes to church. I think this determination comes from when Granddad died though, the need for there to be a better place, so they can move on (and I don't think any truth is really needed here).
I do have very little patience for people who are the bible-bashing equivalent of atheist though, perhaps even less than for the usual bible bashers, who've always been friendly to me (I don't mind getting told about religions, I don't know that much about them, and its always interesting talking to random people). I don't fully understand the anger that a lot of people express here (except of course when churches start interfering with other peoples lives). And I'm an angry angry person.
Okay and now for the reasons why I'm not various other religions (this seems to be important to me, because that's mostly how I define my religious standpoint).
I mean I'm not atheist, not just because I don't think its likely there is a god (in the traditional sense) but also because being atheist associates you with a rather strong standpoint that has no defined ethical or behavioral structure behind it, means I don't see any use for it. As well it ties in closely to this people believing in science thing, which REALLY annoys me. I'm trying to be polite about it, but really the idea of using something that seems to be a abstract tool to discover more about the world to guide how you live your life... that idea chills me somewhat. The reason science is so useful is that it doesn't actually require or need belief in its theories (in fact your understanding is helped in a lot of chemistry and physics if you can remember that its not 'real' so much as models that enable us to do things) to get what it can give us. Entirely different to a religion (which requires a certain amount of belief and following to get any of the benefits).
I also have an intense dislike of people saying things like relgion has never done any good for the world. Because (especially at an individual level) I've seen it to many wonderful things to people. I'm not saying their hasn't been horrible things that have happened, there have been, but that often the good things religion (even organized) religion can bring are often understated in arguments.
I'm not Anglican, probably mostly because I dislike being told I am, all the while, not going to church, not following or knowing ANY of the beliefs involved and getting a sneaking suspicion that those beliefs involved don't actually match all that many of the ones I currently follow.
Hm. For all that this is stupidly long, I'm not sure I've really explained my position well at all.
I'm really out of it, so hopefully this makes sense.
I mean to start with I'm pretty strongly agnostic. We don't have all the information, so we'll probably never _know_ what's out there. Current scientific theory tells us that its pretty unlikely, but scientific theories change as we learn and discover more. So *shrugs* telling us science says there is no god, always did seem pretty petty and missing the point to me. Religion is more than about whether or not the is a god, I think.
I do however have a very strong ethical and belief system, it changes over time, but its something I stick to, study and use to try to make myself a better person.
My family seems to be a mixture of Anglican and atheist though. Dad doesn't believe there's anything out there, and while his parents do a lot of volunteer work which includes taking the elderly to churches and stuff, they don't seem to be religious either. Mum (and grandma) on the other hand, gets very very angry if there's any suggestion that we are anything else, even though she never goes to church. I think this determination comes from when Granddad died though, the need for there to be a better place, so they can move on (and I don't think any truth is really needed here).
I do have very little patience for people who are the bible-bashing equivalent of atheist though, perhaps even less than for the usual bible bashers, who've always been friendly to me (I don't mind getting told about religions, I don't know that much about them, and its always interesting talking to random people). I don't fully understand the anger that a lot of people express here (except of course when churches start interfering with other peoples lives). And I'm an angry angry person.
Okay and now for the reasons why I'm not various other religions (this seems to be important to me, because that's mostly how I define my religious standpoint).
I mean I'm not atheist, not just because I don't think its likely there is a god (in the traditional sense) but also because being atheist associates you with a rather strong standpoint that has no defined ethical or behavioral structure behind it, means I don't see any use for it. As well it ties in closely to this people believing in science thing, which REALLY annoys me. I'm trying to be polite about it, but really the idea of using something that seems to be a abstract tool to discover more about the world to guide how you live your life... that idea chills me somewhat. The reason science is so useful is that it doesn't actually require or need belief in its theories (in fact your understanding is helped in a lot of chemistry and physics if you can remember that its not 'real' so much as models that enable us to do things) to get what it can give us. Entirely different to a religion (which requires a certain amount of belief and following to get any of the benefits).
I also have an intense dislike of people saying things like relgion has never done any good for the world. Because (especially at an individual level) I've seen it to many wonderful things to people. I'm not saying their hasn't been horrible things that have happened, there have been, but that often the good things religion (even organized) religion can bring are often understated in arguments.
I'm not Anglican, probably mostly because I dislike being told I am, all the while, not going to church, not following or knowing ANY of the beliefs involved and getting a sneaking suspicion that those beliefs involved don't actually match all that many of the ones I currently follow.
Hm. For all that this is stupidly long, I'm not sure I've really explained my position well at all.