Kathryn Blackmond Laskey wrote:
>
> I have received a deluge of email responses to Laskey's wager. I find it
> fascinating that with only a few exceptions, the skeptics copy the entire
> list and the "believers" send me private messages expressing support.
I've been meaning to stay out of this "God" thread because it is terribly
off-topic, and I won't be posting anything more on this thread, but...
I used to be a deeply religious person. I grew up a Mormon, served as a
missionary, etc. But over the course of my life I have attempted to
systematically root out any double standards or logical contradictions in my
beliefs. On the political landscape, this has caused me to move from being a
staunch conservative to a libertarian anarchist. (To give you some idea of this
process, at age 11 I heard a conservative speaker argue that the only legitimate
purpose of government is to protect basic rights. It immediately occurred to me
that if you really believe that, you can't support laws against drugs,
pornography, etc....) Eventually this process of "creeping rationality" forced
me to confront my religious beliefs and acknowledge that I couldn't justify them
by the standards I applied to everything else.
So now I don't believe in God. But this has left a big psychic hole in my
life. I'm considerably less happy and secure than I was before. Yet I cannot
just decide, "I will believe because that makes me happier" -- I just can't
stomach that kind of dishonesty to self, and it strikes me as borderline insane
behavior anyway.
So... I am interested in hearing from the "believers" how they support their
conclusions on purely rational grounds. There's a part of me that still wishes
I could find solid, rational grounds for believing in a kind and loving God.
(Although I see no reason why an all-powerful, all-knowing being would have to
be kind and loving instead of arrogant, arbitrary and tyrannical.) And I am
interested in hearing from nonbelievers (especially former believers) what fills
that part of their life that others fill with religion.
Private email only, please.
-- Kevin S. Van Horn
