Well, enough talking about it...

[Caesar dude]

Snoopy could be seen as the Jeebus dude...then there's his side kick peanut...and the crazy kid and the girl....I think they all could be taken as Dudely characters...or Jeebus sidekicks....I don't know dudes...I just don't know...

Peace

[BikerDude]

Some good news - the director of the Richard Dawkins foundation hooked me up with the president of the Clergy Project; we'll be chatting on the phone tonight.  TCP provides support for disillusioned professional ministry workers (pastors and priests mostly) who no longer believe in anything supernatural.  Many of them understandably stay in the closet...

You might want to get in touch with Seth Andrews at the Thinking Atheist.
It's a wellspring of resources. He just came out with a book "Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason"
http://www.thethinkingatheist.com/

[Caesar dude]

Maybe it's my age. I turned 50 recently and although I don't feel any older than I did at 24 I think I've got a handle on most things in life.

I'm well past fighting unless it's for my family or friends....joined up and did the war thing...so that's out of my system.

I disregarded the religious thing at an early age...and that with the military thing made the decision to believe in a man in the sky easy to discount!

I understand that politicians are out for everything they can get for themselves (they may not start of that way but hey..power corrupts!)

I "understand" women...well as much as I ever will...I've got em exactly where I want them these days.... Yeah...as always! But at least I understand my relationship with women!

I understand men! Oh yeah now that I've got down pat! I know the alpha and the unter...and I've been both at times...but I got men sussed....beer women...pizza...oh yeah and some of the sensitive poetry types...I even understand some of the gay guys...I really do know men....far more than I will ever understand women!

But I do NOT understand priests! They believe they talk to god...and that he answers them! Now if I said that...I'd be branded a psycho! So my mission now is to ask every priest I meet if he has conversations with an invisible man in the sky. I've been shunned a few times so far!

Therefore....so far so good!

Peace

[BikerDude]

But I do NOT understand priests! They believe they talk to god...and that he answers them! Now if I said that...I'd be branded a psycho! So my mission now is to ask every priest I meet if he has conversations with an invisible man in the sky. I've been shunned a few times so far!

Therefore....so far so good!

Peace

Apparently many (maybe most) don't actually believe any of it.
In fact if you look at the lessons of the action of the church over the years it's pretty clear they are about having others believe, not themselves.
For instance the catholic church outlawed telescopes when they first came out because people would see that there was no heaven. And of course they famously murdered Galileo.
Engaging in this kind of obfuscation of the truth shows it all as the sham that it is.

As mentioned earlier the clergy project is where clergy who don't believe go for support and apparently it's nothing new.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85azbjY4E84

Even Mother Teresa it turns out was an atheist.

[Hominid]

>Even Mother Teresa it turns out was an atheist.

Where do you get that from?  She indeed expressed dark thoughts and doubts, but outright atheism?

[BikerDude]

>Even Mother Teresa it turns out was an atheist.

Where do you get that from?  She indeed expressed dark thoughts and doubts, but outright atheism?

She didn't believe.
Whether she wanted to or not is irrelevant.
It's only to the theist that it is enough to "struggle" to have faith.
One believes or not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUfLozwRln0

a?the?ism
/ˈāTHēˌizəm/
noun
noun: atheism
disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.synonyms:   
nonbelief, disbelief, unbelief, irreligion, skepticism, doubt, agnosticism; nihilism


Mother Teresa...

Moreover, this was no mere temporary visitation of doubt. Here are some of the things that she told her various advisers. "For me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see,?Listen and do not hear?the tongue moves but does not speak." "Such deep longing for God?and ? repulsed?empty?no faith?no love?no zeal.?[The saving of] Souls holds no attraction?Heaven means nothing."  "What do I labor for? If there be no God?there can be no soul?if there is no Soul then Jesus?You also are not true." Like an old-fashioned Morse signal, the cryptic and dot-dash punctuation somehow serves to emphasize and amplify the distress.

Whether her disbelief caused her distress does not change anything. A person doesn't need to choose to be an atheist or a theist. They simply have belief or not. It's not a church or a sect. You don't become a member.
It is simply believing there is a God or Not.
And yes I believe the churches are full of Atheists.
Once upon a time it wasn't a stretch for people to really believe when their entire understanding of the universe was filled with magic and superstition. People a couple thousand years ago really did capital B believe.
Today we have lowered the bar to the point it's enough to want to believe in a unspecific something of perhaps a Christian type God while ignoring most of the bible and if your brain intrudes it's OK. Just try harder.
This is the childish bullshit that religion traffics in. Making a virtue out of belief in the absurd.
It is no coincidence that the same trick used by con men. Making a virtue of belief and a vice of disbelief.
When Moses came down from the mount to report what God had given him (just him) what was the first commandment? Against Murder? Nope. Rape? Nope. Torture? Nah. "You shall have no other gods before me"
That was the first order of business

?Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool.?

― Mark Twain

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201307/can-one-tell-the-difference-between-religion-and-con-game

[Caesar dude]

Fantastic post Biker Dude.

[cckeiser]

As an Anti-Theist I too agree with everything BikerDude has posted.
It's just like my opinion dudes, but Dudeism itself Must remain neutral....not just neural, but Apathetic. Just like the Apathetic Agnostics...."We don't know and we don't care."
Dudeism doesn't care what your religious beliefs are....just leave them at the door before entering.
It would be a mistake to have any zealous pov dominate our dudeist discussions and take over the board.
Dudeism is simply about taking it easy and Abiding.
just my thoughts dudes.

[DigitalBuddha]

@BikerDude, a post par excellence.

@cckeiser, well said, dude.

@Caesar dude, agreed, mang.

[DigitalBuddha]

After a life of QUITE varied beliefs about god and religion, I've finally settled into what I feel is a very realistic and comfortable place.  One trip I did do was the whole born again thing, and oh gawd - what a trip THAT was.  I was the most uptight fucker you ever could have known.  When I finally dumped it, the popping sound from pulling the 2x4 outa my ass could be heard the world over.

So, finding Dudeism was cool, because I loosened up enough to not take myself so seriously.  After all, I get to call myself Reverend Jim!  (Think "Taxi" - Christopher Lloyd).  And through it all, I've engaged in on-line debates, forums, newsgroups, and created a blog... all about exiting religion.  But it was scattered all over the place, and I couldn't find a place where secular people could go for support.  There's the Clergy Project, which is JUST for professional clergymen who no longer believe in the supernatural.  So I thought, dammit, I'll make my own.  If anyone is interested, check out http://www.refugeesofreligion.com .  It's brand new, so the forum is kinda sparse right now, but I'm hoping more will join as news of its existence spreads.

I even emailed Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Daniel Dennett.  Daniel sent a response already! Pls check it out and let me know your thoughts.