none of the above

Hello,I just wanted to say that like a lot of you, I came to the realization that the only reason I was a Christian was because that's how I was raised. I refer to this as 'indoctrination' or 'brainwashing' which as you can tell, does not please the Christians too much.But, I think it's true, otherwise how do you explain the "belts" of religion around the world? Iran is especially interesting--surrounded by Sunni Muslims--it retains its Shia identity.This, plus the obvious unusual math and logic in Genesys caused me to dig further. This was all when I was a teenager and so I asked most of the elders and preachers (I was raised as a fundamentalist So. Baptist) about some of these things and the BEST answer I've ever gotten is, "God works in mysterious ways."That never really cut it for me...and most of the Christians I've talked to since haven't come up with anything better. Then I went and searched for answers elsewhere. Which is how I came to study history, philosophy and archaeology, learn about natural selection, the Big Bang, other scientific theories, geology, astronomy -- I became (and am) a knowledge junkie. I want to know it all.Maybe I can't ever really know it all, but I will not waste another day of my life being told, "the ways of God are not for man to question or understand."And, thanks to my studies and this forum, I've already learned a lot--especially about myself. Thanks to Crashfrog for helping me realize I am Agnostic (at least for the time being)!wr/Geno

Well, if that's what it comes to, so be it. I promise I won't scream "Crashfroggggg!!!" I don't know about that, but you are far more certain of your belief in God than I am. The only thing keeping you from saying that there is no God is scientific uncertainty. My beliefs are vastly more unresolved.

This sounds to me like atheism says: "no gods".

Interesting, isn't it? Page not found - American AtheistsLook about 6 paras down.

What is she [Madalyn Murray O’Hair] talking about then? The Atheist.Org site gave her 1962 essay the first spot on the reading list. I've heard how influential she was to the American Atheist movement...but honestly don't know much more about it. The "materialist philosophy" rant kind of struck me as dogmatic, but I refer to the previous sentence.Does her opinion carry weight with atheists? If so, then why does your opinion differ? If not, then why is her mug plastered all over the site? Are there competing "factions" of atheists?The reason I posted this quote was in response to PaulK's comment: I figured the American Atheist Organization (and Madalyn Murray O’Hair) would satisfy the "respectable source" requirement.[This message has been edited by Geno, 06-19-2003]

LOL! OH, I can see that all right!wr/Geno

Thanks Rrhain,I'm really just learning about it, interesting reactions though. It seems that some would define Agnosticism as a subset of Atheism.Any Agnostics who would like to refute or support that?I'm not sure if I agree or not. I just know that, as CrashFrog has defined his atheism, I'm not atheist. Right now, I'm just unconvinced either way. Also, I'm not saying that you can't say that you are unconvinced and yet call yourself an atheist. I just think it connotes something to the general public about your beliefs. In that case, I am more convinced that I should stick with the Agnostic label.

HA! Yuk yuk

I was thinking about this the other night, and I think you have to define what God is. If we are talking about the Christian God, then I don't believe God exists. If we are talking about any possibility that there may be a god then, I think there is no way you can convincingly argue for either existence or non-existence, and since this is basically the Agnostic's view, that's where I find myself.wr/Geno

Dan,Sorry for the long delay. I think you have to make the attempt to satisfy what "God" means to you. It may be that you define "God" as anything supernatural. It may be that, for you, "God" is the Universe and everything in it. It may also be that, as you've pointed out, "God" is outside the sphere of human understanding. Just because we can't understand God doesn't mean can't define God in some way. The problem I have with this is, you could have used this to refute the existence of bacteria until the 19th century. Didn't mean they didn't exist until then...r/Geno