Hi Ron,
> Ron: > You're preaching to the choir Steve, I'm offering some reasons I've > Been hit with in the past. I have conversations with my parents about > Such things. My mother is very religious My father is more a > traditionalist > He used to take me out on walks in the woods on Sunday mornings > telling > My mother that that was his church. My father believes in the great > spirit > My mother believes in the Christian God. My father is a follower of > Science and reason, my mother of faith and feeling. I grew up in a > Heated theological climate (this usually occurred on a Sunday when > My father and I did not go to church with her) > > Atheism was always a hot topic especially for my father, I guess > because > He experienced combat in Vietnam, He said once that there are no > atheists > In a fire fight. He also once said to me that to deny a great > spirit is to deny any connection to life and reality. All things > are connected he said > This connectedness is the great. All have a relationship with the > universe. > What sense does it make to deny your relationship with all things? > He said the idea that we are separate from the universe was called > "the > White mans sickness" by the natives. Steve: Your dad sounds like an atheist to me. Yet he does want to be identified as one and even rails against atheism. This is evidence that atheism has a horrible PR problem. (I don't like the term myself since atheism is not a philosophical position and makes no claims of belief.) Not believing in gods doesn't mean that one can't have a sense of connectedness. It doesn't mean denying your relationship with all things. It just means that people like your father have considered the evidence for gods and the dogmatic claims of religions and found it unconvincing. > Ron: > He said it was this that creates all the trouble not God. He thought > And still thinks that atheism makes this worse. Steve: I think that in this country it is the things that Christianity says about God that makes this worse. Religions don't contribute to a sense of connectedness. They divide us rather than unite us. Ron: > My first hand experience tells me that all things are connected. > That it has > A way or a nature. That if one moves in harmony with it they have > greater > Power than those who struggle with it. I can not deny my > connectedness. Steve: Nor should you. Regards, Steve Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
