It's nice to see Nectar and Martin engaging is a respectful discussion. Some day, I will share my own metaphysical beliefs that cannot be described as either a ‘faith’ or ‘arheistic’.
Personally, I remain agnostic to even the atheist religion. There are elementsof truth to every major belief system., To be fair, however, faith in God has provided many Christians with the backbone to speak out against the absurdities and lies surrounding the pandemic, climate, gender and other pseudo-religions that abound today.
I admit that I was undisciplined with the use of the words "religion", "faith"., and "belief system". Atheism as I understand it, implies a belief that there is no God/deity. In that sense, it can be viewed as a belief system. However, when an atheist puts their faith in a mortal being such as Mao, or Greta, or Trudeau, or some inanimate object subject as a vaccine, then atheism can become a religion as well.
By the same token, I believe that you have co-mingled a belief in God with institutional religion. The Lutheran reformers rejected the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, without rejecting God and the teachings of the bible. I'm no historian, but I believe that this opened the door to scientific inquiry (free from Papal dogma) and perhaps made room for atheism to take root as well (my speculation).
I do agree that the Vatican and the Pope did nothing to stop what happened over the past three years, and most Protestant denominations lost their way as well.
I look at atheism as a belief that there is no higher power (whether one calls this power God, Creator, Gaia, etc)....a belief that there is no higher power is still a belief, the way I see it. I was brought up pretty much without religion, and studied applied sciences, so my outlook also tend toward objective reality. The laws of physics, and the downstream field of chemistry follow distinct rules that are explained and modelled mathematically. Outcomes in this field can be reliably predicted. But I still wonder "what" created atoms and the laws of physics which they obey? That is but one example of why I believe in a higher power. However, I remain agnostic in that I don't subscribe to any one religion.
It's nice to see Nectar and Martin engaging is a respectful discussion. Some day, I will share my own metaphysical beliefs that cannot be described as either a ‘faith’ or ‘arheistic’.
Personally, I remain agnostic to even the atheist religion. There are elementsof truth to every major belief system., To be fair, however, faith in God has provided many Christians with the backbone to speak out against the absurdities and lies surrounding the pandemic, climate, gender and other pseudo-religions that abound today.
I admit that I was undisciplined with the use of the words "religion", "faith"., and "belief system". Atheism as I understand it, implies a belief that there is no God/deity. In that sense, it can be viewed as a belief system. However, when an atheist puts their faith in a mortal being such as Mao, or Greta, or Trudeau, or some inanimate object subject as a vaccine, then atheism can become a religion as well.
By the same token, I believe that you have co-mingled a belief in God with institutional religion. The Lutheran reformers rejected the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, without rejecting God and the teachings of the bible. I'm no historian, but I believe that this opened the door to scientific inquiry (free from Papal dogma) and perhaps made room for atheism to take root as well (my speculation).
I do agree that the Vatican and the Pope did nothing to stop what happened over the past three years, and most Protestant denominations lost their way as well.
I look at atheism as a belief that there is no higher power (whether one calls this power God, Creator, Gaia, etc)....a belief that there is no higher power is still a belief, the way I see it. I was brought up pretty much without religion, and studied applied sciences, so my outlook also tend toward objective reality. The laws of physics, and the downstream field of chemistry follow distinct rules that are explained and modelled mathematically. Outcomes in this field can be reliably predicted. But I still wonder "what" created atoms and the laws of physics which they obey? That is but one example of why I believe in a higher power. However, I remain agnostic in that I don't subscribe to any one religion.