From gnostic to agnostic,  theist to atheist; there are many positions having to do with belief or possible knowledge of a belief. Gnostic and agnostic have to do with knowledge, while theist and atheist have to do with belief. Agnostic is not a mid point between atheism and theism.

Because I was constantly being told that I’m rejecting God, and I knew that wasn’t true, I decided to research rejection, which made me aware of its effects. My studies took me in a completely unexpected direction. The epiphany (pun intended) was rather shocking. The evidence indicates that the personal god is a manifestation of the ego, which explains a plethora of theistic tendencies, including their typical dislike of atheists, who theists subconsciously perceive to be rejecting a part of themselves. God is Tyler Durden; and the first rule of Jesus Club is you have to talk about Jesus Club. The second rule of Jesus Club is you have to talk about Jesus Club.

By DarkMatter2525

Mr Deity’s latest episode touches upon the Elevatorgate stupidity.

Via Heathen Hub

Not quite short and sweet enough while in the midst of sexual pleasure? ;)

I’ve been asked before what atheists say during sex. Sometimes, I guess someone could be trying to be funny but it can sound derogatory.

Why is saying your partner’s name in bed such a foreign idea to some? I may have uttered “oh god” at some point in my life; I can’t be certain. Though, I never actually thought I was talking to some “other-worldly” being. It was just a thing I said.

When I was younger I thought the phrase “might as well” was “mine as well” for a brief period (until I thought about it reasonably). People misuse phrases all the time. We just say things that are what they are: menial sayings.

If they are living according to the holy book(s) some purport to, they shouldn’t be enjoying sex anyway (at least in the Abrahamic religions). Does that mean they’d be silent? Or talk about the weather? I may have not always been an out atheist but I was surely skeptical of the claims made by religion. If I ever said “oh god”, it was just a thing to say.

Is “oh god” the only thing theists ever say during sex? Is this why people are so shocked about Anthony Weiner’s tame dirty talk?

Nearly 50 years ago, Time magazine, in a report about Jewish opposition to “religious practices” in public schools, described a rise in Jewish secularism that disturbed some leaders of the American Jewish community.

Jewish support for a secular agenda added “fuel to the flames of anti-Semitism,” Time quoted Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits of Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue Synagogue as warning. “The danger” to American Jewry, said Michael Wyschogrod, assistant professor of philosophy at Hunter College, is not the threat of conversion to Christianity, but “secularism, the disappearance of the word ‘God’ from the minds and tongues of millions of Jews.”

In 2011, the emerging strength of Jewish secularism (or secular Jews, not necessarily the same) that Time wrote about has grown into a presence that represents about four in 10 of the country’s self-identified Jews, according to studies, and which is subject to less criticism from Jewish and outside circles.

Today, secular Jews don’t feel compelled to defend their beliefs — or non-beliefs.“There are hundreds of millions of people who are non-religious,” and Jews are a disproportionate part of this group, said Phil Zuckerman, a “culturally Jewish” sociologist of religion at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and director of the small liberal arts institution’s newly announced department of secular studies.

The times. They are changing.  Similar to the way atheism in general is slowly gaining societal acceptance. Humanist Judaism is more about the heritage and a lot less about faith. I suppose, that to any Christian or Muslim fundamentalist, Jews are atheists no matter how much faith they have. Though, that can work in all ways. In any case, Jews are known for not believing in an afterlife (at least not in the sense that those of other religions do).

“We’re more secular than Americans in general,” with roots in the waves of immigrants from Europe who came here more than a century ago, partly as a “move against rabbinic [authority],” Kosmin said.

So what’s the purpose?

A secular studies department is a natural home for students with a secular bent, said Phil Zuckerman, the department’s director. At most universities, he says, courses about secular subjects are taught in religious studies departments. At Pitzer College, he said, courses about secular subjects will be outside of a religious influence. “It’s exactly where we want to be.”

Read more.

“I don’t see us competing, because there’s so many options around here,” said Epstein, a dapper, charismatic, 34-year-old with a shaved head and stubble. “But I think this provides an option that is sorely needed. It provides additional bandwidth on the spectrum, a set of ideas that I think people are going to find very powerful.”

The core idea of humanism might be best summed up in the preface of Epstein’s book: that people can “lead good and moral lives without super-naturalism, without higher powers, without God.”

He continues:

“I think people are very hungry for community — one based not on material acquisition or consumption — that builds more on the contribution one gives outside the self,” Gregory said.

He added that he believes there’s a fundamental compatibility between humanism and Judaism. “Jews don’t believe in heaven or hell. We don’t know what comes after this world,” he said. “The Jewish tenet is, we make heaven a place on earth by helping each other. I see this center as taking that tenet and running with it.” [Read more]

Well, I can’t argue with helping each other. Here’s where a huge semantics war has a chance to come into play. It seems as though – to some – Judaism is evolving more into something like Buddhism or Universal Unitarianism, both of which do not require belief in a higher power. But, they are still religions, or at least ways of life. Where does the line get drawn? Does it matter? I personally am not a fan of religion, in most cases. I see the harm it causes. I see the wars that are carried out in the name of god or religion. Generally speaking, I see the enablers allowing this to go on because there were once elements of reason embedded into the fight that they can’t let go.

That stated, I certainly understand the need for neighbors and friends to get together, find a sense of community. There are many ways for people to get together. A wide range of Meetups and other gathering opportunities, where people can get together on the basis of just about anything. In any case, I don’t see how faded religious ties are necessary to build that community. But if they start there and travel to become something different, ending up doing good and spreading rational thought- eh-I can’t argue much. ;)

All this aside, I read this moving poem. The formatting is strange and might not appear exactly as intended, so you may want to read it at the original source. Or here is fine, too:

I’m not sure about God.
I’ve seen too much of ugliness for it
to be intentional,
………. too much
of beauty for it not to be.
………. ………. Take,

for example,
……………….. the downtown silhouette
from across the Manchester Bridge
on a winter’s early evening, the
moon just shy of full, blushing
behind lit twelfth-storey windows, the soul-eyes
of a city half-wrapped in rivermist
and dinner plans, grinning teeth
of January jack-o’-lanterns reflecting
over rock and rapid.
……………….. Or
Fourteenth and Main
on a rainy rush hour, drops
………. spilling river-ward through traffic light
and streetlamp, tires
leaving splashmarks across
the footprint of cavalry and

………………………… slave.

Better yet, walk with me
through the whispers
at Belle Island, where the voices of fallen prisoners
haunt the college kids sunning like
………. sea lions out over the self-same
rocks. (Have you seen what they feed them in those cafeterias lately?)

……………….. When autumn comes,
the waters will rise in waves, creeping up
………. on the empty beer cans and cigarette
……………….. packs, washing them down
past Chapel Isle and the ruins of the Confederate boatyard
as the river runs home.

………………………….. When
I’m dying,
take me to the old hospital
where McGuire’s successors taught
medicine with stolen bodies; no
chain-linkedSaint-named designer cure
for this gentlesoul. Andwhen

I’m dead
take me to
Hollywood
………. and a spot
……………….. where I can see the river
………. from a grave
without a cross:
I’m still
not too sure about God.

It has a really nice flow that urged me to share.

My dad was basically an atheist but wouldn’t admit it. He was also an apologist and didn’t understand why I was an “atheist”. He once said something along the lines of “Being Jewish has nothing to do with belief in God or meeting grandma in Heaven when you die.” He wouldn’t discuss religion with me much further. He very strongly believed in people’s freedom of religion, so much that freedom from religion was non-existent. But the fact remains. He was not really a believer. And many Jews I have known don’t believe in a higher power. I don’t know what to make of this. Except that they should come out!

To me, my Jewishness is a result of hereditary. I feel connected to the past of my ancestors, in a sense, just like most people do. But I also have a severe disdain for religion. I see the hope it brings some but, moreover, I notice the negative aspects it brings. It’s hard to ignore. It’s hard to sweep under the rug when so many die due to religious beliefs; sometimes something that could have been completely avoided.

As a young child, I assumed that the afterlife was just a nicety that everyone said talked about and no one believed. (I never discussed it much so I didn’t realized how wrong I was until later on.) As a young kid, I was tested for something I don’t remember. Yet, as a result, my parents always said I was a great analytical thinker who would make a good lawyer. As a teenager, I wrote poems against religion. Then, they were actually surprised when I said I was an atheist. Were they not paying attention?

It’s funny; we’re always told to be ourselves, be proud of who we are. Blah, blah, blah. I was always told to be myself and stand up for myself. But as soon as I say something they don’t like, none of what they told me counts anymore. And, BTW, that’s not funny in the ha ha way.