[thetygerlily]

Interesting commentary so far. I'll go more into some of the theoretical stuff...

I'm in the agnostic bucket. I'm not one to tell you that your god/God doesn't exist, or that you're wrong for believing so. However, as hard as I have tried to associate with various religions ranging from Catholicism (my mom was pretty much raised by nuns) to wicca, as hard as I have tried to believe and communicate and feel, I just haven't. I haven't been able to cross the intellectual barrier into believing. I need proof.

There's a school of thought in the anthropological world that I would say I most closely align with- functionalism, or structural functionalism. Essentially the idea is that every aspect of society, including religion, is a way of dealing with, understanding, and acting on outside influences & events. A great example would be Rappaport's Pigs For the Ancestors. Essentially a tribe in New Guinea raised & enjoyed pigs- but they got to the point where they dwindled their supply too far. In order to put some structure around it, they made eating the pigs a religious taboo that could only be broken every 12(?) years during a massive ceremony & feast. After many years nobody remembered why eating the pigs was taboo outside of that time- it just was. Others have theorized similarly about the Hindu sacred cow. Think about the 10 commandments. They aren't that revolutionary, they're just common sense today- they address like adultury, theft, murder, lying, jealousy. Were they really spoken by God, or was this a form of social control & order to make life more civilized for all? Honestly, I see religion more as a coping mechanism. I know that sounds harsh, and it isn't meant to. It's something that has developed and evolved to meet the needs of society, to give higher purpose, to comfort and encourage as needed. It doesn't do that for me, and that's okay. I know it does a lot for many, many people.

I suppose I also see many religious texts as historical documents rather than the fact of life. Some of the books/stories could either be interpreted as allegories (meant to convey broader themes & messages) or facts (this really happened, exactly like this). What is often forgotten is that every single edition is an interpretation. Someone's interpretation, spin, lens, call it what you will, of the stories & ideals that have been passed down. Stories/books have been removed or changed, and the same passage has been interpreted differently in one century than another- or even by two churches in the same faith.

Some downsides to religion in my mind: just about every religion says that their God is the only true God. Well then, what about everyone else? Can't we agree to disagree? What if they all are the same God (let's be honest, there are a lot of fundamental similarities)? It drives me absolutely batty when someone thinks I am in need of saving, and so they preach, preach, preach... and when it doesn't work, I'm discarded like a piece of trash. Yes- this has happened on a couple of occassions. Doesn't seem very welcoming & encouraging, so why would I want to be a part of that? (and yes, I know not everyone is like that!). Also using religion as a crutch or excuse to say that you have no free will... like someone mentioned earlier, did God REALLY help you find your cell phone, or did you just rub the right brain cells together to either guess the right locations based on where you went or stumble luckily upon it? Not a fan. You do have free will. It is in your free will to believe in God- but don't just sit back and hope He will figure things out for you. You have to do some of the work too.

So... those are some of the reasons I am in Camp Agnostic. Note that I am not a religious scholar and have no intention to be, so debating individual passages & such won't really get me anywhere. I'm just throwing out some of the things that have led me on the path I'm on.