What do you believe?

Discuss philosophical questions regarding theism (and atheism), and discuss religion as it relates to philosophy. This includes any philosophical discussions that happen to be about god, gods, or a 'higher power' or the belief of them. This also generally includes philosophical topics about organized or ritualistic mysticism or about organized, common or ritualistic beliefs in the existence of supernatural phenomenon.
MyshiningOne
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What do you believe?

Post by MyshiningOne »

If you are religious, which one do you practice?
It's not what you know that makes
you smart, it's knowing what you don't know.
cynicallyinsane
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Post by cynicallyinsane »

I was a Catholic, but now I'm not and I don't really believe anything.
MyshiningOne
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Joined: March 7th, 2007, 9:51 pm

Post by MyshiningOne »

Really? Well, religion can sometimes wear you out...
It's not what you know that makes
you smart, it's knowing what you don't know.
woot
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Joined: December 22nd, 2007, 9:52 pm

Post by woot »

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
(Mormon)
Practice is an accurate word
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elililly
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Post by elililly »

I'm a Secular Humanist, and I've started a new topic about it.
"Our similarities provide us with a common ground, but our differences allow us to be fascinated by one another. Differences give human encounters their snap and their fizz and their brew."
Tom Robbins ~ Skinny Legs and All
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coffeeprincess
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reformed mormon

Post by coffeeprincess »

:twisted:
I am what you might call a thelemite.
I intend to remove my name from the records of the church of slaves and join the O.:.T.:.O
I havebeen what the mormons call "inactive" from the time the indoctrination wore off (approx. 14) 'til now, which means if you don't count the years before I was "in full awareness and control" of my mind (8, acc.to LDS) I was mormon for six years and have been not a mormon for a little over ten.
"I'm not down here for your money, I'm not down here for you love, I'm not down here for your love or money, I'm down here for your soul"

-Nick Cave "Deanna"
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Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
The admin formerly known as Scott
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Re: reformed mormon

Post by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes »

coffeeprincess wrote::twisted:
I am what you might call a thelemite.
I intend to remove my name from the records of the church of slaves and join the O.:.T.:.O
I havebeen what the mormons call "inactive" from the time the indoctrination wore off (approx. 14) 'til now, which means if you don't count the years before I was "in full awareness and control" of my mind (8, acc.to LDS) I was mormon for six years and have been not a mormon for a little over ten.
Once free from it, past slavery and suffering often becomes very valuable. I try to be wise enough to be grateful for all the failed attempts to subvert me or my mind because they all made me stronger and made me appreciate freedom that much more.
My entire political philosophy summed up in one tweet.

"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."

I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
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coffeeprincess
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Post by coffeeprincess »

Yeah, except for when you have no choice when you are being misled. At least the Masons don't hide the fact that they are misleading you.
"I'm not down here for your money, I'm not down here for you love, I'm not down here for your love or money, I'm down here for your soul"

-Nick Cave "Deanna"
luciditee
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Post by luciditee »

I adhere to no one religion.. I just prefer to call myself a Spiritual Anarchist. Anarchism and spirituality are complementary and I believe that for either to be truly realized in their purest form depends on the realization of the other.

I take inspiration from all spiritual traditions, because, despite some difference, the core of each has a unique perspective that complements all others. My primary influences, however, are 'Buddhism' and Tao, and I'm also particularly interested in earth-based traditions such as shamanism.
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AmericanKestrel
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Re: What do you believe?

Post by AmericanKestrel »

MyshiningOne wrote: April 22nd, 2007, 12:49 am If you are religious, which one do you practice?
Can you define religious?
Per my definition it is about belonging to an organization, attending services, belief in and worship of a deity, following certain rituals, celebrating feast, and most importantly defining yourself by your religion. More or less.
In that sense I am not religious.
I consider myself an Advaitist, a non-dualist. It is a way of being based on the Vedas/scriptures of Hinduism, not necessarily religious as I define it. There are no Advaita temple as such, for instance.
I do believe in a deity but that deity is within me, not outside of me. So when I pray or worship, which I do, I pray to him who is within me. I study the Vedantic texts and meditate on what I study. This is how I practice my religion.
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Newme
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Re:

Post by Newme »

woot wrote: December 30th, 2007, 5:13 pm The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
(Mormon)
Practice is an accurate word
You were ahead of the game - the name rules didn’t officially change until 10 years after you wrote that! Well done!

Nelson said in a statement that the "Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name he has revealed for his church." (IOW: “too many people think we don’t believe in Christ and worship Mormonism more - as we do - so what’s in a name? Plenty - in marketing!!”)


I grew up lds. But I no longer believe in much dogma, including things like human sacrifice scapegoating Catholic votes threw in. I believe in God & try to practice and strengthen that faith.
“Empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieve any human suffering.” - Epicurus
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Terrapin Station
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Re: What do you believe?

Post by Terrapin Station »

I'm an atheist, and I was raised so that I knew very little about any religious beliefs until I was in my mid teens. When I first ran into religious beliefs/religious believers I seriously thought that folks were playing a practical joke.
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Newme
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Re: What do you believe?

Post by Newme »

Terrapin Station wrote: May 31st, 2021, 6:42 pm I'm an atheist, and I was raised so that I knew very little about any religious beliefs until I was in my mid teens. When I first ran into religious beliefs/religious believers I seriously thought that folks were playing a practical joke.
:D From a certain perspective, religion seems like a board game - one religion has 1 set of rules, the other has another. You know how some people get really into Monopoly or whatever game? It’s as if it’s life-or death to them. They forget that some guy just made up the rules!

Don’t misinterpret me - I’m not atheist. To me, it makes more sense & is more helpful to believe in God. But I don’t believe in dogma as presented.
“Empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieve any human suffering.” - Epicurus
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detail
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Re: What do you believe?

Post by detail »

Some people , just like to believe in the beliefs of those who believe. This may sound dumb but just think about doxastic logic , and take this as a strange variation of a modest reasoner the stable reasoner . See for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxastic_logic . A modest reasoner \forall_p : B(Bp-> p) -> Bp here the kripke structure then implements the believe in the Believe of thos who believe . \forall_p : B(Bp)->Bp as a formulation the stable reasoner.
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Terrapin Station
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Re: What do you believe?

Post by Terrapin Station »

detail wrote: June 3rd, 2021, 9:27 am Some people , just like to believe in the beliefs of those who believe. This may sound dumb but just think about doxastic logic , and take this as a strange variation of a modest reasoner the stable reasoner . See for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxastic_logic . A modest reasoner \forall_p : B(Bp-> p) -> Bp here the kripke structure then implements the believe in the Believe of thos who believe . \forall_p : B(Bp)->Bp as a formulation the stable reasoner.
I'm still not convinced that "believing that one believes that p" makes sense/isn't just redundant. But that's partially because I take belief to be not be satisfied if it's only a behavioral state; it necessarily has to be a (consciously) intentional state on my view.
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