Festivus for the rest of us
My attitude towards religion and the paranormal is best described as "deeply skeptical". While I value the social and moral benefits bestowed on society by religion, I don't believe the core tenets of any of them.
I grow tired of those who believe so whole-heartedly that they think anyone without their faith must be either ignorant or evil. Even the more tolerant religious people I interact with think that I just haven't been exposed to it enough yet, or didn't understand it, or refuse to accept it even though I "must know" it's real. Some of those may be true - but only in the sense that I long to have meaning in my life and might eventually tell myself that the meaning they believe so strongly might be real, even though the only evidence is the mental peace and purpose that they've found by buying into the belief.
Maybe that's all there is, is to find a purpose you can really buy into and gain solace from it. Purposes that don't involve invisible pink unicorns are preferable to me, though.*
There's a Festival being planned for atheists not too far from me (I'm probably not going, but might...) I have mixed feelings about it; on one hand, it may help foster a sense of community and grant some of the same social benefits that religions give to their members. The negative is that it may just be a venue for bitterness and recrimination against those who disagree with the attendees' philosophy; I think that such a negative gathering would do far more harm than good. I have attended enough "social outsider" events to know that both can happen, and often do happen in varying degrees within the same event.
I have high hopes that those who attend will focus on the positive and come away from the event feeling at peace, and feeling that they've made the right choices in life - again, the same real-world benefits that religious people would gain from attending a church service or religious retreat with like-minded individuals. This may be the reason why some people accuse atheists of following their philosophy "religiously," because they think the social benefits are a core part of religion.
* No offense is intended to the Invisible Pink Unicorn (MHHNBS) or her followers. Please don't steal my socks.
I grow tired of those who believe so whole-heartedly that they think anyone without their faith must be either ignorant or evil. Even the more tolerant religious people I interact with think that I just haven't been exposed to it enough yet, or didn't understand it, or refuse to accept it even though I "must know" it's real. Some of those may be true - but only in the sense that I long to have meaning in my life and might eventually tell myself that the meaning they believe so strongly might be real, even though the only evidence is the mental peace and purpose that they've found by buying into the belief.
Maybe that's all there is, is to find a purpose you can really buy into and gain solace from it. Purposes that don't involve invisible pink unicorns are preferable to me, though.*
There's a Festival being planned for atheists not too far from me (I'm probably not going, but might...) I have mixed feelings about it; on one hand, it may help foster a sense of community and grant some of the same social benefits that religions give to their members. The negative is that it may just be a venue for bitterness and recrimination against those who disagree with the attendees' philosophy; I think that such a negative gathering would do far more harm than good. I have attended enough "social outsider" events to know that both can happen, and often do happen in varying degrees within the same event.
I have high hopes that those who attend will focus on the positive and come away from the event feeling at peace, and feeling that they've made the right choices in life - again, the same real-world benefits that religious people would gain from attending a church service or religious retreat with like-minded individuals. This may be the reason why some people accuse atheists of following their philosophy "religiously," because they think the social benefits are a core part of religion.
* No offense is intended to the Invisible Pink Unicorn (MHHNBS) or her followers. Please don't steal my socks.