August 22, 2007

Tagged and Bagged

Pisco has tagged me. The mission, should I choose to accept it is to list the joys and trials of my belief system. I don't really have a cohesive belief system; it's actually more of a nebulous intersection of many ideas that I've run across in my life. I was raised as a Methodist, gave that up and have since explored ideas from New Age religions, Paganism, and religious philosophers like Eliade and Freud. (Yes, Freud did write at least 1 book on the nature of religion.) In sum, I'd qualify myself as an Optimistic New Age Agnostic (with Atheistic leanings).

Rules
1. You have to use your own belief system for the meme. No fair using someone else’s to make a joke or satire. Being humorous about your own religion is encouraged!

2. You have to have at least one joy and one trial. More are encouraged. And no, they don’t have to be equal in length, but please be honest.

3. You have to tag at least one other person. More are appreciated!

4. Please post these rules!

Joys
1. I can be as much of a magpie as I want. Any idea/belief that I come across that dovetails nicely with my belief system can be incorporated and adopted.

2. My beliefs are constantly evolving. I don't feel tied to any particular belief, because I know that at any given moment I could be proved wrong, or find a new way of understanding something.

3. Each person is divine. We all have the spark of the Infinite within us.

4. No monolithic organization telling me what to think/do/act breathing down my back.

5. Rejection of the idea that humans are inherently flawed and sinful beings and should spend their whole lives atoning for this. I'm not perfect, but I strive to be the best person I can be. If I make a mistake, I learn from it and move on.

6. Karma.

Trials

1. Not having anyone else who shares my exact belief system. I do miss the sense of community from my Methodist days.

2. Having to explain the difference between agnosticism and atheism. For some reason people think the 2 words are equivalent.

3. Tolerating people's disbelief and ridicule when I state I believe in ideas like karma, reincarnation. Also having to convince them that I'm perfectly happy not being a hard-core Christian/Muslim/Jew/whatever.

4. What if I'm wrong? I like to think that if there's a God s/he'll be forgiving of my skepticism and realize that I've strived to be the best person I could be. But there's that old-school Old Testament indoctrinization in the back of my head that goes off and says "what if God really is that vengeful."

5. Karma.

I'm tagging the Scorpio(s) to play this game.

3 comments:

Dave said...

What if God really is that vengeful? Well, it's like I say about my universalist beliefs. I seriously don't believe God would punish me for thinking him even greater and more merciful than he actually is. And if he would, well, he's not a very good God for me to worship, now is he?

Anonymous said...

Interesting answers!

Jo said...

wow. i'ma need a minute to get my thoughts together but i accept the challenge.

oh and being born on all hallows eve make be think they had something going with the paganism.