Don't ask, don't tell, don't persueFollow

You're preaching your opinion rather than stating it Kelvyquayo. That's where the righteousness comes into play.

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Eh Kelvy, I believe in god/spirit/etc - the difference is accept that belief is a really personal thing, and that no matter what I have personally experienced in that respect - I can't expect others to take my word for it.

I don't think it is necessary for others to interpret their sense-data and experiences in the same way I do either. For me, all I want is for people to treat each other with diginity and respect. Although I believe in god I don't think of god as a personality that cares much about what I believe in.

Unfortunately, at least in my experience, those who claim to be the closest to god or have the most spiritual truths also tend to be more cruel and judgemental than other people. You can see it in all the people clinging to the ****-hating train.

It's funny because, at least in my opinion, by being hateful bigots, those individuals actually discredit the whole idea of god and spirit that they say they believe in

Brilliant design decision.

I agree that we cannot find out for ourselves: I agree. Only God knows the whole truth. While we can never intellectually come to any truth other than what we can guess; it is possible that God may open our eyes and give us a glimpse of the truth; that is the truth that no human being can every simply learn on their own; it has to come from God.
Once your eyes are open to that truth then you will feel an overwhelming need to share that truth with everyone that doesn't know it..because when it is from God you cannot really fight against it.

..which, of course, is why Christians are so ******* annoying.

YOU DON'T EXIST, MAN!!!!1111ONEONEELEVENTYONE111!!

Well Belkira I guess it's sharing time.

As a child, I don't believe that I ever believed in god, though it wasn't as if I rejected the idea either. I was in a state of unbelief where I didn't understand how it was possible to not be a Christian. I was born to a Lutheran family, went to a Lutheran Church, and attended a Lutheran private school, and when you're surrounded by so much of the same then it becomes difficult to see how anything could ever be different. I pretty much couldn't conceive of atheism.

I did realize that something didn't seem quite right. Church and Chapel were boring, not just to me, not just to the other kids, but I could see it in the adults as well. If this was truly some wonderful thing, why did it seem like a chore to nearly everyone? I learned nearly all my "bad language" from the other Christian kids in school, which didn't seem to mess just quite right with what I thought Christian behavior was supposed to be. One time at a water park, a girl came up to my friend and I to tell us how we needed Jesus in our hearts. While she coincidentally happened to be right about me, she wasn't for my friend. I saw how there wasn't some special aura or glow about a Christian person; they're just normal people. There was some factual stuff I wondered about late at night, like where all that water went when god flooded the earth or why dinosaurs weren't around anymore. But mostly, it was the way people talked about god to me that seemed to be a little off. It was different than how I had seen scientists talk on PBS. There was an earnestness in their voice. They didn't just want to show me something. They needed something from me for themselves. That in some way, me believing helped validate and reinforce their own beliefs.

It wasn't until I attended public school that I was made aware that something like atheism was possible and not merely a fictional concept like galactic imperial empires or illegal kryptonian immigrants.

I've never believed in a god, but I did believe in Santa Claus for a time. Lots of people describe the moment they found the truth in terms of biblical revelation, sweating and thrashing in their bed as Dad's ugly mug peeked around the door, sack in hand. For me, it dawned gradually. The clues were everywhere, it was simply a matter of putting them together. When I worked it out, I'd been suspicious for a while.

My school was pretty religious, but I never really thought of it as something people did earnestly. More as a kind of chore everyone had to do because life is full of ********* I think I was about 12 when I met my first crazy religious guy. At least he was more concise in his frothy-mouthed zeal than gbaji 2.0 up there.