Religion Pole

YellowSnow

Flying spaghetti monsterinan - God's not real you fucking idiot

PurpleThrobber said:

Mad_Son said:

RoadDawg55 said:

YellowSnow said:

My basic elevator speech hasn't changed much since HS...

Earth = 4.5 billion years old

Simple life emerges 600 million years ago

Dinosaurs for like 200 millions years

Early modern homo sapiens don't arrive until 200,000 years ago

Then 2,000 years ago in the most bass akwards part of the world (not Rome or China mind you) amongst a bunch of bronze age goat herders, the most important even in the history of the planet occurs, followed by a Roman Emperor needing a new state religion three centuries later.

I need more evidence guys and can't take on faith. But that's just me, and believing that we're simply worm dirt when we die ain't for everyone.

Mrs. Snow is a confirmed papist, but more of a deist these days. I told her she can take on a new boyfriend in heaven if I don't get in.

ATBSJBS, I'm thankful for the Protestant Reformation and the good that it did in creating the modern world.

Somehow life started. That’s the most simplistic reason why I believe in God.

All of the Heaven/Hell and afterlife stuff is difficult for me because nobody actually knows.

If God's purpose is to fill in the gaps of human knowledge, then God is shrinking every day.

If you’ve ever read an @HHusky or @MelloDawg post on the Tug, you’d know that’s not true.

It’s a long list.

Doog_de_Jour

Buddha but not Baker

Grew up Lutheran. Loved my church. It was pretty progressive for the time/area (didn’t take the Bible literally, gays weren’t going to Hell, and encouraged interfaith dialog - even with those shady papists!)…good old fashioned hymns, potlucks after the service, and you got out early enough to watch the afternoon NFL games. The congregation was a great community: little old ladies hand sewed us quilts as confirmation gifts, and we did charity work. I can confidently say that place had a big part in shaping my moral compass.

But when I got to college, I finally popped open the hood of my theological car and took a look at what was inside. I realized that I didn’t actually agree with/believe a lot of it. Plus my social circle now mostly consisted of the non-religious or atheists. I only went to church when I visited my parents, and even then it just felt like theater to me. I entered my spiritual “desert period”.

After visiting lots of other houses of worship and reading a ton of religious texts I ended up going with Team Buddhist (fortunately my family respected my decision). I loved forming a meditation practice, there were services during the week so I had my weekends free. But what I loved most of all was that questioning was not only allowed, but encouraged. That being said though, anything that delved too deeply into the metaphysical (including the existence of a “God”) was downplayed, as it was a distraction from the practical real-life work of finding calm, being a good person, and breaking the cycle of suffering.

But then 2020 happened.

Between Trump, COVID, all the civil unrest, my sangha (congregation) went WAY political. We talked less about the dharma (teachings), and more about what was in the news. I’m a big believer of separation of church and state, so I left…not to go to transfer portal, but with the intention of becoming a sole practitioner. And that’s what I did.

I still meditate everyday, try not to be an asshole, and am currently reading a lot of books on Western philosophy. I miss having a community, but this feels far more authentic.

Anywho, thank you for coming to my TED talk. Interesting thread @dnc.

PurpleThrobber

Janet Reno

YellowSnow said:

PurpleThrobber said:

Mad_Son said:

RoadDawg55 said:

YellowSnow said:

My basic elevator speech hasn't changed much since HS...

Earth = 4.5 billion years old

Simple life emerges 600 million years ago

Dinosaurs for like 200 millions years

Early modern homo sapiens don't arrive until 200,000 years ago

Then 2,000 years ago in the most bass akwards part of the world (not Rome or China mind you) amongst a bunch of bronze age goat herders, the most important even in the history of the planet occurs, followed by a Roman Emperor needing a new state religion three centuries later.

I need more evidence guys and can't take on faith. But that's just me, and believing that we're simply worm dirt when we die ain't for everyone.

Mrs. Snow is a confirmed papist, but more of a deist these days. I told her she can take on a new boyfriend in heaven if I don't get in.

ATBSJBS, I'm thankful for the Protestant Reformation and the good that it did in creating the modern world.

Somehow life started. That’s the most simplistic reason why I believe in God.

All of the Heaven/Hell and afterlife stuff is difficult for me because nobody actually knows.

If God's purpose is to fill in the gaps of human knowledge, then God is shrinking every day.

If you’ve ever read an @HHusky or @MelloDawg post on the Tug, you’d know that’s not true.

It’s a long list.

You can't rank the amateurs with the professionals.

YellowSnow

Flying spaghetti monsterinan - God's not real you fucking idiot

Doog_de_Jour said:

Grew up Lutheran. Loved my church. It was pretty progressive for the time/area (didn’t take the Bible literally, gays weren’t going to Hell, and encouraged interfaith dialog - even with those shady papists!)…good old fashioned hymns, potlucks after the service, and you got out early enough to watch the afternoon NFL games. The congregation was a great community: little old ladies hand sewed us quilts as confirmation gifts, and we did charity work. I can confidently say that place had a big part in shaping my moral compass.

But when I got to college, I finally popped open the hood of my theological car and took a look at what was inside. I realized that I didn’t actually agree with/believe a lot of it. Plus my social circle now mostly consisted of the non-religious or atheists. I only went to church when I visited my parents, and even then it just felt like theater to me. I entered my spiritual “desert period”.

After visiting lots of other houses of worship and reading a ton of religious texts I ended up going with Team Buddhist (fortunately my family respected my decision). I loved forming a meditation practice, there were services during the week so I had my weekends free. But what I loved most of all was that questioning was not only allowed, but encouraged. That being said though, anything that delved too deeply into the metaphysical (including the existence of a “God”) was downplayed, as it was a distraction from the practical real-life work of finding calm, being a good person, and breaking the cycle of suffering.

But then 2020 happened.

Between Trump, COVID, all the civil unrest, my sangha (congregation) went WAY political. We talked less about the dharma (teachings), and more about what was in the news. I’m a big believer of separation of church and state, so I left…not to go to transfer portal, but with the intention of becoming a sole practitioner. And that’s what I did.

I still meditate everyday, try not to be an asshole, and am currently reading a lot of books on Western philosophy. I miss having a community, but this feels far more authentic.

Anywho, thank you for coming to my TED talk. Interesting thread @dnc.

Sam Harris tells me there's no mutual exclusivity between meditation and atheism.

Doogles

Deist - some God of some sort is out there, somewhere

YellowSnow said:

chuck said:

YellowSnow said:

RoadDawg55 said:

YellowSnow said:

My basic elevator speech hasn't changed much since HS...

Earth = 4.5 billion years old

Simple life emerges 600 million years ago

Dinosaurs for like 200 millions years

Early modern homo sapiens don't arrive until 200,000 years ago

Then 2,000 years ago in the most bass akwards part of the world (not Rome or China mind you) amongst a bunch of bronze age goat herders, the most important even in the history of the planet occurs, followed by a Roman Emperor needing a new state religion three centuries later.

I need more evidence guys and can't take on faith. But that's just me, and believing that we're simply worm dirt when we die ain't for everyone.

Mrs. Snow is a confirmed papist, but more of a deist these days. I told her she can take on a new boyfriend in heaven if I don't get in.

ATBSJBS, I'm thankful for the Protestant Reformation and the good that it did in creating the modern world.

Somehow life started. That’s the most simplistic reason why I believe in God.

All of the Heaven/Hell and afterlife stuff is difficult for me because nobody actually knows.

I suppose where I differ with you god guysm, is that “somehow life started” doesn’t suggest to me magic and/or divine plan. The origins of life seem totally random, haphazard and disorganized.

It was, but you still can't rule out that it was all set in motion by something.

Nope. But we can make educated guesses.

There’s no examples of magic in the normal, every day universe, which is why I don’t see how “life began” would be any different.

Evolution seems pretty magical to me.

chuck

Deist - some God of some sort is out there, somewhere

Doogles said:

YellowSnow said:

chuck said:

YellowSnow said:

RoadDawg55 said:

YellowSnow said:

My basic elevator speech hasn't changed much since HS...

Earth = 4.5 billion years old

Simple life emerges 600 million years ago

Dinosaurs for like 200 millions years

Early modern homo sapiens don't arrive until 200,000 years ago

Then 2,000 years ago in the most bass akwards part of the world (not Rome or China mind you) amongst a bunch of bronze age goat herders, the most important even in the history of the planet occurs, followed by a Roman Emperor needing a new state religion three centuries later.

I need more evidence guys and can't take on faith. But that's just me, and believing that we're simply worm dirt when we die ain't for everyone.

Mrs. Snow is a confirmed papist, but more of a deist these days. I told her she can take on a new boyfriend in heaven if I don't get in.

ATBSJBS, I'm thankful for the Protestant Reformation and the good that it did in creating the modern world.

Somehow life started. That’s the most simplistic reason why I believe in God.

All of the Heaven/Hell and afterlife stuff is difficult for me because nobody actually knows.

I suppose where I differ with you god guysm, is that “somehow life started” doesn’t suggest to me magic and/or divine plan. The origins of life seem totally random, haphazard and disorganized.

It was, but you still can't rule out that it was all set in motion by something.

Nope. But we can make educated guesses.

There’s no examples of magic in the normal, every day universe, which is why I don’t see how “life began” would be any different.

Evolution seems pretty magical to me.

I dont understand why people bother with evolution anymore. There are way bigger, way older, way more difficult questions that render recent, small matters like life on an isolated rock planet a trivial matter.

YellowSnow

Flying spaghetti monsterinan - God's not real you fucking idiot

Doogles said:

YellowSnow said:

chuck said:

YellowSnow said:

RoadDawg55 said:

YellowSnow said:

My basic elevator speech hasn't changed much since HS...

Earth = 4.5 billion years old

Simple life emerges 600 million years ago

Dinosaurs for like 200 millions years

Early modern homo sapiens don't arrive until 200,000 years ago

Then 2,000 years ago in the most bass akwards part of the world (not Rome or China mind you) amongst a bunch of bronze age goat herders, the most important even in the history of the planet occurs, followed by a Roman Emperor needing a new state religion three centuries later.

I need more evidence guys and can't take on faith. But that's just me, and believing that we're simply worm dirt when we die ain't for everyone.

Mrs. Snow is a confirmed papist, but more of a deist these days. I told her she can take on a new boyfriend in heaven if I don't get in.

ATBSJBS, I'm thankful for the Protestant Reformation and the good that it did in creating the modern world.

Somehow life started. That’s the most simplistic reason why I believe in God.

All of the Heaven/Hell and afterlife stuff is difficult for me because nobody actually knows.

I suppose where I differ with you god guysm, is that “somehow life started” doesn’t suggest to me magic and/or divine plan. The origins of life seem totally random, haphazard and disorganized.

It was, but you still can't rule out that it was all set in motion by something.

Nope. But we can make educated guesses.

There’s no examples of magic in the normal, every day universe, which is why I don’t see how “life began” would be any different.

Evolution seems pretty magical to me.

Agree. Sexy-time to pass along heritable traits is a magical thing. I've enjoyed it.

Doog_de_Jour

Buddha but not Baker

YellowSnow said:

Doog_de_Jour said:

Grew up Lutheran. Loved my church. It was pretty progressive for the time/area (didn’t take the Bible literally, gays weren’t going to Hell, and encouraged interfaith dialog - even with those shady papists!)…good old fashioned hymns, potlucks after the service, and you got out early enough to watch the afternoon NFL games. The congregation was a great community: little old ladies hand sewed us quilts as confirmation gifts, and we did charity work. I can confidently say that place had a big part in shaping my moral compass.

But when I got to college, I finally popped open the hood of my theological car and took a look at what was inside. I realized that I didn’t actually agree with/believe a lot of it. Plus my social circle now mostly consisted of the non-religious or atheists. I only went to church when I visited my parents, and even then it just felt like theater to me. I entered my spiritual “desert period”.

After visiting lots of other houses of worship and reading a ton of religious texts I ended up going with Team Buddhist (fortunately my family respected my decision). I loved forming a meditation practice, there were services during the week so I had my weekends free. But what I loved most of all was that questioning was not only allowed, but encouraged. That being said though, anything that delved too deeply into the metaphysical (including the existence of a “God”) was downplayed, as it was a distraction from the practical real-life work of finding calm, being a good person, and breaking the cycle of suffering.

But then 2020 happened.

Between Trump, COVID, all the civil unrest, my sangha (congregation) went WAY political. We talked less about the dharma (teachings), and more about what was in the news. I’m a big believer of separation of church and state, so I left…not to go to transfer portal, but with the intention of becoming a sole practitioner. And that’s what I did.

I still meditate everyday, try not to be an asshole, and am currently reading a lot of books on Western philosophy. I miss having a community, but this feels far more authentic.

Anywho, thank you for coming to my TED talk. Interesting thread @dnc.

Sam Harris tells me there's no mutual exclusivity between meditation and atheism.

You’d be correct. Buddhism (or any religion) can’t lay exclusive claim to meditation practices.

And there’s many that believe the historical Buddha himself was an atheist.

https://tricycle.org/article/was-buddha-atheist/

Secular Buddhism is in fact one of fastest growing ways to practice. All the tasty mindfulness/virtue of original recipe Buddhism without all those pesky karma/rebirth calories.

PurpleThrobber

Janet Reno

Can we discuss the merits of a Catholic upbringing?

YellowSnow

Flying spaghetti monsterinan - God's not real you fucking idiot

Doog_de_Jour said:

YellowSnow said:

Doog_de_Jour said:

Grew up Lutheran. Loved my church. It was pretty progressive for the time/area (didn’t take the Bible literally, gays weren’t going to Hell, and encouraged interfaith dialog - even with those shady papists!)…good old fashioned hymns, potlucks after the service, and you got out early enough to watch the afternoon NFL games. The congregation was a great community: little old ladies hand sewed us quilts as confirmation gifts, and we did charity work. I can confidently say that place had a big part in shaping my moral compass.

But when I got to college, I finally popped open the hood of my theological car and took a look at what was inside. I realized that I didn’t actually agree with/believe a lot of it. Plus my social circle now mostly consisted of the non-religious or atheists. I only went to church when I visited my parents, and even then it just felt like theater to me. I entered my spiritual “desert period”.

After visiting lots of other houses of worship and reading a ton of religious texts I ended up going with Team Buddhist (fortunately my family respected my decision). I loved forming a meditation practice, there were services during the week so I had my weekends free. But what I loved most of all was that questioning was not only allowed, but encouraged. That being said though, anything that delved too deeply into the metaphysical (including the existence of a “God”) was downplayed, as it was a distraction from the practical real-life work of finding calm, being a good person, and breaking the cycle of suffering.

But then 2020 happened.

Between Trump, COVID, all the civil unrest, my sangha (congregation) went WAY political. We talked less about the dharma (teachings), and more about what was in the news. I’m a big believer of separation of church and state, so I left…not to go to transfer portal, but with the intention of becoming a sole practitioner. And that’s what I did.

I still meditate everyday, try not to be an asshole, and am currently reading a lot of books on Western philosophy. I miss having a community, but this feels far more authentic.

Anywho, thank you for coming to my TED talk. Interesting thread @dnc.

Sam Harris tells me there's no mutual exclusivity between meditation and atheism.

You’d be correct. Buddhism (or any religion) can’t lay exclusive claim to meditation practices.

And there’s many that believe the historical Buddha himself was an atheist.

https://tricycle.org/article/was-buddha-atheist/

Secular Buddhism is in fact one of fastest growing ways to practice. All the tasty mindfulness/virtue of original recipe Buddhism without all those pesky karma/rebirth calories.

I'm trying to take more deep breaths these days and not yell at my computer or the kids as much.

I didn't even yell at the TV once during the UCLA game, but that was partly due to @PurpleThrobber 's fruity little edibles.

#YellaMindfulness