My beliefs

I believe I should lead a life that does no harm to others and that I should also do what I can to help /enhance the lives of others and not just look after me an mine.

I believe we should all work for the good of the community, society and the wider world doing as little damage to the natural environment as possible so future generations benefit from our good stewardship.

I believe people live on in the hearts and minds of those they have loved and been loved by.

Science tell me the world was not created in 6 days and that humans have evolved into current human form over many millions of years. I do not believe a deity was or is involved.

I was brought up as a C/E Christian, attended church and Sunday School, did O & A level RE but the actions of priests towards me (not physical) made me question the institution of the church. By the age of 20 I was an atheist.

nanaej your first three paragraphs make absolute sense to me, and I agree with all you say, especially about working for the good of the world.

But as for me - I can't quite let go of God, or Jesus (or they won't let go of me). I have been much comforted, calmed and strengthened. I don't care for organised religion of any sort at all, because I believe that good men's words are muddied therein. But most of the words of the good men (using "men" generically!) said some immensely true and sensible things.

Sometimes I think I am easily seduced by wonderful language and music, but so what? It is beautiful, it moves me.

Gosh, how welcome this is - the opportunity to be honest in safety.

ariadne I love a good old church service! the hymns and the liturgy are all very emotive and I could so easily be carried away into believing but then the sermon starts and I hear too much that I cannot condone!

nanaej Yes!

I think there must be something, and I hope that there is! Otherwise why bother with anything?

ej and goose - I thoroughly agree with both your posts.

Galen I really don't think there is anything, but why not bother?

galen bother for yourself, your fellow and future humans? Do you only 'bother' because you believe there is an afterlife? I bet that is not true.

I believe that this life is the only one we have, that it is as meaningful as we make it.

I had a rather confused upbringing with regards to religion. I had catholic mother who suffered agonies of guilt because she had given up practising her religion for reasons which were never made clear to me. My formerly catholic father was fiercely anti-religion from the age of fourteen but did not press his views on us children instead we were encouraged to go to any church or Sunday school we took a fancy to. The result of that was me being able to recite huge passages from the scriptures, without believing any of it and hoping each week that I would be visited by the holy spirit and therefore be 'saved'. From what, I wasn't entirely sure.

I went home to Ireland every summer and wanted nothing more than to be the same as my cousins and so I went to mass regularly. Through the years I tried very hard to believe in a god; any god would have done, but belief just would not come to me. Eventually I came to realise that it was ok not to have any faith, that it was possible to lead a life out with any religion, and be comfortable with that.

I finally understood that morality did not depend on religion and that I could aspire to be a good person under my own steam. I'm content in my atheism.

This is such an interesting subject vq. Jesus Christ to me is just a story and other cultures have stories of parallel God like men who also roamed the earth long ago and were connected to their Gods. It is hard to describe how I think there would be a God, it wouldn't be a God looking out for the seven billion people on Earth. I really don't know.

I have seen ghosts and had other experiences, some I really don't understand. I believe in reincarnation. I also believe that we are with those we love in this life after we die.

GS then 4, last year kept talking about seeing both his great grandfathers, both who he has never met and we sadly never mentioned in front of him. It seems like they were forgotten. My eldest granddaughter spoke about reincarnation that even amazed me when she could barely talk. Late last year when I was walking into a museum with one of my other GSs also 4, when he stopped, stood looking at the ceiling and said "I saw that last night in my dream." I always find it fascinating to hear the things my grandchildren and other children say.

There is more going on than we will ever know, as far as I am concerned.

I was brought up in a household where my father was atheist - although I learned from his mother that prior to his experiences in the war, he was a devout Christian.

My mother was a "don't know" really but she dragged us around from one church to another in her sadly fruitless search for meaning.

I echo the thoughts of many above - that there is no way of knowing what the meaning of all this is. But that we can lead good lives in spite of that absence of knowledge.

As to the after death question - I believe that we all live on in the good we do and the mistakes we make. And we began as star dust and that is where we return. Atoms are not destroyed, just redistributed somewhere in the universe.

The important thing is that whatever our beliefs we live at peace with them. For my part I embrace the not knowing as part of the human condition and am at peace with that.

I think we're all born with the ability to connect to some other spirit world/dimension hence children say things that they can't possibly know or see and talk to people that don't appear to be there. Somehow as we get older we lose/logic away this ability except sometimes the other world seeps in and we see/feel/hear/smell something. How many people have thought they could smell tobacco or flowers that made them think of someone they knew? Have you ever had the sensation of something touching you when there is nothing there? Has anyone ever seen someone out the corner of their eye and turned to find there was no one there?

When my friend's son was around three they saw a vintage car. He said that he had liked riding in it. My friend told him he hadn't been in it but he'd seen it. He replied that he knew he hadn't been in it with her but had been when he was with his other mummy who had hair the same colour as him (he was blond and my friend is dark) and wore a dress with flowers on. She told me a shiver went down her spine and she changed the subject because it disturbed her so much. Maybe that's what happens to us as children. We come to realise that if we talk about what we can see it upsets the adults so we stop acknowledging it and eventually stop seeing it.

All I can say , and mock me if you wish ' Lord, I believe, help thou my un belief!'

I totally agree with your first line Baubles This is most definitely "it". It is up to us to make the very best of the one life we have.

I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread and have read every post with interest.

So have I, gillybob!

I agree, gillybob - a lot very interesting and thought-provoking posts.

Nobody's mocking you there Galen.

Have loved reading the many and varied posts and the very different tone of this thread. I believe there is a God and that I have free will to choose my path in this wonderful world. To do unto others as you would be done unto ,to turn the other cheek, ( so difficult and often fail) , to love one another, not judging others( challenging)are the principles I try to live by. Other faiths have much to offer as well and can prove so comforting in difficult times .
Thanks to to VQ for starting this discussion and I look forward to learning more as people post their views and opinions.

Having looked back at my post I think I meant to say I would describe myself as an agnostic, rather than an atheist. I am definitely in the 'don't know' camp rather than the 'don't believe' camp nowadays. Maybe it's wishful thinking as I get closer to the finishing line

I have often thought that the things we cannot explain may one day be explained by science. Perhaps quantum physics is getting closer. Perhaps today's supernatural is tomorrow's science.

I have read about children under 5 being more in touch with the supernatural (for want of a better word). I remember my son, at about 18 months, coming out with a string of words that sounded like Latin. He was not yet speaking English!

There is a lot we don't understand, but perhaps one day even ghosts will have an explanation. My favourite ghost story was about a man who worked in a pub. He was down in the cellar when he saw the ghosts of a troup of ancient Roman soldiers marching through the cellar, but their feet were about 2' below the floor. Years later an archaeological dig found a Roman road........ 2' below the level of that floor.

I don't have any religious beliefs any more, finding atheism more comforting, but I do try to keep an open mind about things we don't understand. The only things about religion that get me mad, are when it is used as an excuse to hurt people or discriminate against them, or screw more money out of them than they can afford, or to deny science.

I rather like the sound of that church in London that has been used as a gathering for non-believers; I think they call it Sunday Assembly. They have talks about philosophy, and have some music.

I think we're all agnostics really, since there are things we cannot know/understand. Atheist doesn't mean that you know there are no supernatural beings, only that you don't have faith that there are. It expresses a lack of faith (something negative), not a certainty (something positive).

This is one of my beliefs: "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal" – Albert Pike.

A slight variation on some themes above, but essentially the same.

My parents were agnostic. My mother sent us to chapel to get a grounding in the Bible which, she rightly pointed out, would help us understand subjects like history and english lit.
I have been an atheist since my teens. I believe we are biological entities - the product of evolution and individual upbringing. I do think that the human species is an amazing phenomenon - capable of such extremes of kindness and cruelty. I feel guilt about the damage we do to other species which have an equal right to be here. We know so much now about the huge complexity and size of the universe. I could not possibly fit belief in a personal god alongside that knowledge. I think gods are the inventions of the human mind.

A lovely thread, thank you to vq. I would like to endorse Galen's post of Mon 25th 21:43:20. Brought up a RC and still practising, altho' not as regularly as I would like; it is my 'unbelief' I struggle with. Great posts from everyone, read with interest and faith!