Jonathan H. B. Lobl

Free Thinker? You? If you're a Free Thinker, then words have truly lost all meaning.

Have you seen the children's books of Bible stories? It's small wonder that children get their own sanitized versions. We can't have the children reading about Lot and his daughters. A great deal gets left out of the children's versions. The Brothers Grimm can't compete with that stuff.

Bubbles are delicate and ephemeral. I think the popping of a boil is a more useful image. The pressure builds up until there is an explosion. This is good. It is a release of poisons. I know about the mixed feelings. We want authentic lives of honesty and sanity. At the same time, we get so tired of other people's crap. We develop awareness of the deep conditioning, that is so much a part of us. We also know that the rage and resentment have to be released, for our own good. We want to be kind, to the good people of faith, who respect us. We want to tell all the smug, arrogant, pricks, who know, where they can stuff their certitude. Yes. I know. It's a toxic stew with mixed agenda and conflicted emotions. It helps to focus the anger where it belongs. God is not the problem. Things that don''t exist are not an issue. It's like being angry with Captain Ahab. Or Lex Luthor. Religion is not the problem. No Pantheist or Polytheist ever got in my face, and told me that I was going to Perdition. Neither do they try to distort Public School education or legislation. Even Monotheism is not the problem. There are plenty of good Monotheists with nothing but love in their hearts. I don't have an answer. Anti-Theism has a way of bringing forth the worst that the religious world has to offer. Religious persecution is a mistake. It is both morally repugnant and useless. It is necessary to draw a few lines. I can't figure out where.

I find it is often difficult, to know where to draw the line. Creationism is crap. Creationism is not crap "to me". It's just crap. God is more tricky. Some highly intelligent people, who have my respect, are believers. I throw in the qualifier, for the simple reason that I don't enjoy being mean, or rude. But yes. God is crap, to me. The basic rule of thumb that I use, is to put things on the other foot. When a Fundamentalist says that Atheism is crap, it is what I expect. Rudeness, arrogance and condescension. The intelligent believer, will throw in the same qualifier. "To them." It is the same thing. It is the fine art of coexistence. Not that I'm always up to my own standards. When people ask what I think of Scripture, my first reaction is generally blunt honesty.

Philanthropia sounds like a personification of Philanthropy. Am I missing something?

If you keep that up, people might suspect that you're a Christian.

Yes. This sort of conditioning goes deep into the bones. On a deep emotional level, way below the rational, you probably feel like you "failed" God. Along with your parents, ancestors and humanity. It's a good start. The wounds won't heal if you don't know you have wounds. The good news is that this is not your weakness. You were supposed to be consumed by guilt. This is what the founders had in mind. It worked. Releasing is going to be an ongoing process. It will take time.

You called? Since you asked, I currently find the idea of the Biblical God rather silly. I find I can't take the idea seriously, long enough even to attack it. Still, other ideas..... Well, maybe. Then again, I don't think it matters. It is odd, how the cultural conditioning gets stuck in the bones.

Who gets to make these rules and definitions? If your church has authority over you; they make the rules. If not, you get to make your own rules. So, question number one. Do you care what the rules are? Or who made them? A brief observation: "Rules? We don't need no stinking rules!"

Boys (and girls) and their toys. It's nerd culture.

Maybe. We get hung up with differences in vocabulary, idiom, imagery, symbolism and such. If we can pierce the vale of illusion, very little matters. In the end, we're all just people. And we're all different. Just like everybody else.

Oops.

I don't have a smart phone at all. I don't need a device in my pocket that has a higher IQ than mine. I have an old dumb phone. Nice and simple. I use it to make and receive phone calls. "Old?" "Dumb?" "Simple?" Remind you of anyone?

You have mentioned your in-laws in the past. You said that they were Fundamentalist. Unless I have my wires twisted. The other details don't matter. No matter what you do or don't do -- "If it ain't from God it's from the Devil". With enemies like that, who needs friends? Welcome to the dark side.

Sadly, I do. You have sent some remarkable barbs in my direction. I was caught off guard by your insistence that you always apologize. You don't remember? Never mind. I have to do a better job of letting go.

Interesting. Thank you.

Really? If you believe that, you have a short memory.

Thank you. For me, it begins with radical internal honesty. What do I believe? What do I really believe? Not, what I should believe. Or what I would like to believe. Or what I would like to tell others I believe. No. That's crap. What do I really believe? Not much. I have also discovered, that the true nature of my deep beliefs, is subject to drift. I have made a few discoveries. 1. I lack piety. This is not good or bad. It is simply true. I don't care whether or not God exists. That is my truth. 2. I don't know whether or not God exists. That is the truth. My truth. The idea of God's existence seems rather silly. But I could be mistaken. There were times when I did believe. They could come back. I doubt it, but I am inconsistent. 3. At minimum, I do not have an affirmative belief that God exists. 4. I can not be certain of my own beliefs. In the past, I have believed. I prayed. I look back in horror and disdain. I might have a future self looking back at me now -- wondering how I could have been so stupid. Probably not, but maybe. Well, Agnostic seems to fit. So does Atheist. So does Apatheist. For a while, I tried working with Pantheism. In my truth, I discovered that that was dishonest. Labels. In the end, none of them matter. Stream of consciousness. I seem to have drifted off topic. Anything specific need covering?

We have meditation. Some things can not be heard unless we are quiet.

This particular task is also a mother's job. One of my mother's favorites.

"The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao. The Name that can be named is not the eternal Name." Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Change is the only constant. I Ching (Book of Change)

Yes. My point exactly. If someone is determined to project the complexity of their beliefs -- onto the simplicity of my non-belief -- it's their issue. Not mine. I am not motivated to try to explain Atheism to all those believers. There is no Atheist obligation to enlighten the believer. Just as well. I do despise missionaries.

Atheism complicated? Simple non-belief -- not even dis-belief -- on one point of one issue? What am I not seeing? How can anything be more simple?

The world is awash in bullies and other abusers. Also, fools who mean well, but don't have a clue. I have discovered that giving my power over to others is a mistake. When I was younger, I made that mistake. No more. Sometimes, even I learn from mistakes.

I am persuaded that if this need exists -- it rises out of a religious cultural context. A Christian might need to forgive. I was never Christian. I need to let go.