antireligious_awakening twenty-two I have tolerance. Loads of tolerance. I have a difficult time making sweeping judgments about any group of people or ideas. Better not to judge--and failing that (always failing that)--judge on an individual basis. In a noncommittal fashion. But lately I find religion more abrasive. It isn't fair of me to just say 'religion', when clearly I mean something more specific. Christianity, I suppose. If I ever wrote about my religious and/or spiritual beliefs on blather, it probably would have been my 14 year old self. Somewhere, yummychuckle is angsty or having an epiphany. Unfortunately, it is recorded on this website for the world to scroll past or sigh about or cringe over. nevermind that. What I was getting to is that I am agnostic. I have no pent up rage from a strict religious childhood. Nothing funky about my upbringing. Nice enough parents encouraging me to find my own belief or faith. So I have always really arrived at agnostic. Tolerant agnostic. But now? Religion as an institution...I just feel a sort of disgust. A sadness. Why do people need religion in order to have morals? Do people really need to act 'good' out of fear? Every time I make one of these judgments I feel a bit ashamed. But they're mine to have. I'm sure someone could lead me to a fantastic book about various scientific studies conducted on moral behavior and the brain...or religion. Either I've been drawn to the various media and dialogues I've been exposed to lately that are altering my views, or they've been drawn to me. Its all funny though. Everything is always terribly funny. 081231 ... hsg dinosaurs 081231 ... hsg "one_word_question, ready? dinosaurs?!" "god put those here to test our faith" "god put you here to test my faith! i think i got this figured_out!" another_dead_hero 081231 ... They call me Truth There is a book called "Conversations with God" It is an unconventional look at God. It is interesting. You should look into it and see if it helps...one thing it does at least is it opens the mind to other possibilities of looking at God and the world. but it is not absolute truth. No religion or belief is. That is something you need to find on your own. 090101 what's it to you? who go blather from