Quote:
Originally Posted by Toughy
This post reads like you must have a god to be a lover of the earth. I strenuously object to the idea that being a mother is holy. Being a mother does not make one holy. Holy is about religion. Motherhood has nothing to do with religion.
One does not need to be a 'believer' to see the beauty of the universe. You don't need god to make a connection with the universe. A god is not required to appreciate people or to have meaning in life.
If you found msdemeanor harsh concerning Christian (or any) monotheists, you certainly will not like what I think of them in general. It is a rarity to find a Christian today who has any idea what was taught by their Jesus.
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Two good points, T! Firstly, I used to be a theist and I have found that my appreciation for nature--in all its form, horror and splendor--has only been deepened by jettisoning any kind of divine being and just letting nature be, well, nature. There is something deeply humbling to realize that my brief life doesn't even *register* in the Universe. 80 years? That's nothing at all. You can't even really track geological changes that short and astronomical changes are right out! When I contemplate what a cat looks like to a bird or a rodent, I am in awe that both the bird and the cat are evolved creatures. When I think about the fact that birds are the only surviving descendants of the dinosaurs, I am awed. When I think about the fact that at the center of our galaxy is a supermassive black hole that is *billions* of times more massive than our local star, I am awed. When I think about the distance between us and the sun (93 million miles) and that it takes light 8 minutes to get here, I am made painfully aware of my own smallness. These are all good things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nat
I'm quite sure plenty of people love the earth without religious sentiment and I understNd others don't enjoy the idea of a maternal deity or any deity. I don't advocate anybody believe as I do - I am just tired of seeing Christian-hating going unchecked in the lgbtq community. I think this rather rampant behavior costs the community and also serves to divide the community from within.
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Nat, you make a good point however, it can't be said that Christianity hasn't--in some very significant ways that need not be belabored--*earned* the distrust and/or wrath of the GLBTQ community. Do I hold all Christians responsible for the behavior of some Christians? No. Do I hold Christianity responsible for its own theology? Yes. The theology of Christianity--at least traditionally--isn't the warm, fuzzy, ecumenical Christianity that most LGBTQ Christians practice. I sit somewhere between your position and MsD's and Toughy's although clearly closer to theirs than yours. I tend to think that divine beings are unnecessary kludges and inelegant hypothesis however I also recognize that I am a distinct minority of all human beings who have ever lived.