enki,
I have never been averse to the idea of a person thinking that there is something outside oneself which one feels that they can relate to in some way.
I’m “averse” to it only in the sense that I see no reason think it’s true, but in general terms I agree with sentiment.
If this results in rituals and practices which stengthen this resolve while leading to a responsible and beneficial effect on the individual then I feel that I have no cause to challenge that individual and their chosen attitudes at all as long as their particular ways do not exhort others to do the same or try to impose their views on others.
That opening “if” is critical though. What if in instead it leads to say, teaching children that gay relationships are “sinful”? Indeed, what if “the individual” in this case is the teacher who does thereby feel strengthened in his “resolve”? Carrying an idea in your head is in other words one thing, but acting on it has consequences for other people that may actively be harmful.
The problem I think is the status we still afford to religious beliefs in education, in legislature, in the media, in public discourse generally. If instead we treated each religion as a private members’ club just as we do, say, the flat earth society, then whatever the members got from their rituals and sense of community would be just a matter for them and so treated accordingly. That is, when we stop privileging “faith” over just guessing then those who would use that rationale for malign actions would no longer be able to hide behind the respectability given to them by those who use the same rationale for benign ones.
For my part, I see myself as an integral part of this world and hence I feel no need to worship anything particularly or subjugate myself in any way. I simply to try to understand myself which includes being aware, taking responsibility for and attempting to minimise what I judge to be my failings and seeking to encourage and act upon what I judge to be my better points. In this I always try to listen to the views of others, as indeed they can be very valuable, but it is my own mind that has to be the final arbiter as to how I develop.
I doubt that this is very much different from what lots of people seek to do, but I can only reiterate that in my case I feel I have no need for any outside agency(i.e. a god) to help me on this path.
As you probably expect, that makes sense to me too.
