TAR

[tar]

Hello all,

Followed ydoaPs here from the Science forum.

There was an attempt to start a religion discussion section that was nixed by the mods there. So here it can happen. Thanks ydoaPs.

I am a 56 year old male. Married, two daughters, three dogs, a cat, three fish, a rodent, a house, several cars and the bills and debt to prove it.

Work for a Japanese multi-functional copier manufacturer as a product specialist. I like solving problems, and am a rather good troubleshooter. Take the same approach toward the problems of the world, existential crisis, religion, faith, fathoming the universe or whatever. My favorite saying, when something is not working as designed is "its got to be something". That is to say, that there IS a solution, there IS a reason, something, that is causing the malfunction. It just a matter of sorting out when and where and what. No magic. Nothing in reality, that does not fit reality.

That being said, I am also a great believer in human imagination, and stand in awe of what we as humans have managed to bring into reality and maintain.

Looking forward to sharing my insights on this board, and gaining new ones.

Regards, TAR

[ydoaPs]

It's nice to see you here, tar. IIRC, the only other SFN member to jump over here was Tripolitan.

[My faith]

Oh, I forgot to announce my faith. I am an atheist, but with a difference, that will probably become apparent with my posts.
I was brought up Presbyterian and wandered away in my late teens, as I learned more about other religions, and realized there was a strong subjective nature to any particular religion, and God was probably not the way any one religion discribed it and an anthropomorphic god, one that resembled man, was not very sensible to expect. In college I came up with a simple definition of God, as that which is beyond our comprehension.
I question Christianity because its founder, Jesus, said that no one could enter the kingdom of heaven, but by him. This is not right in my estimation, and I believe that all have access to the same reality, without any special key.
I question Islam, because the founder said he was but a simple messenger, but usurped the power of the universe and called it his. That is to say, if you made fun of him, or did not believe his teachings, you were going against the creator of the universe as well. That, put together with the hypnotising repetition of the Kuran required by adherents, and the fact that more importance is put on a non-existent after life, then this life (which appears to be the only one TAR is going to get,) makes me feel strongly that I should resist any attempts of people that will not rest "til all the world is for Allah". (it already is, and cannot be otherwise, in my estimation.)
Eastern Religions seem to strike a good balance between reality and our subjective experience of it, but there seems to be too much talk of reincarnation and such in Hindu. And superstitions and astrology seem a bit to prevalent in Chinese religions. Japanese religions seem pretty sensible, but there is a lot of ancestor worship, which is fine from a realistic point of view, but questionable from a mystical magical point of view, due to the lack of a mechanism for ancestors to still have any effect on us, but through what they have passed on to us.
I question rationalist and scientists, primarily because of their worship of "objective reality" as if it is any different, from the God that everybody else worships.

All that being said, gives you a general idea of my faith. I believe in reality. Same as everybody else. Just don't think there is any particular entity controlling it. Just us, trying to.

Regards, TAR

[AdrenalinTim]

Welcome, TAR. I enjoyed reading your thoughts, and look forward to discussing more with you. I identify with several of your thoughts.