| Spiritual meanderings |
| My love of nature and the natural world as well as my respect for science and logic is very much a part of my spiritual beliefs. I tend to fall into the extremely broad category of pagan. I can't be considered wiccan simply because I don't believe in a god or goddess as a living being who has any interest in me. I believe that the gods and goddesses of mythology were ways for people to identify with the world around them, but I do not feel the need to personify aspects of life nature to identify and appreciate them. I was attracted to paganism because I have always worshiped nature and its changing seasons. I have an intense dislike artifical holidays like Mother's day, Grandparent's day and New Years, and I'm not fond of the ones that have "borrowed" rituals and made them their own, like Easter and Christmas that are so blatent. I much prefer to celebrate the full moon, the solstices and equinoxes since they happen regardless of what "religion" you practice. I believe we are part of something larger. Just as the atoms in my body make up the cells for my heart or my brain, I view myself as a small aspect of something even greater. Do I think that the "something greater" is aware of me? Not any more than I am aware of a each blood cell. Do I believe that the "something" is aware of itself? There is no evidence to convince me that it is... nor is there any evidence to convince me that there isn't. I'm here regardless of the answer to that question, and try to make the best of each and every day that is given to me. Personally, I don't care what the exact label is. I already know what I believe, finding a name for it merely allows people of similar beliefs to find one another. The best definition that I've ever found for me is Pantheist. But that still isn't quite all there is to what I believe. Just keep in mind that like Christian or Muslim, it's a broad term that includes a great number of people of differing beliefs. Since every single living person is different, what one Christian believes isn't what all Christian's believe.. What I believe is not necessarily what anyone else believes either... so what. I like being different. It's what make me, me, and not you! :) I have no objection to anyone who has differing spritual beliefs, and respect those who state that they have no spritual beliefs at all. I just expect the same in return. Unfortunately, many of the more mainstream religions honestly believe that their way is the only way and everyone else is going to burn in hell. My usual comment to Christians is that God is much to vast to ever be sufficiently worshipped in one way only. That's why he made so many different people that believe so many different things. My grandmother always said, "God made me and he don't make junk." I think that pretty much wraps it all up, don't you? |
| The belief statement of the World Panthiest Movement courtesy of http://www.pantheism.net/ 1. We revere and celebrate the Universe as the totality of being, past, present and future. It is self-organizing, ever-evolving and inexhaustibly diverse. Its overwhelming power, beauty and fundamental mystery compel the deepest human reverence and wonder. 2. All matter, energy, and life are an interconnected unity of which we are an inseparable part. We rejoice in our existence and seek to participate ever more deeply in this unity through knowledge, celebration, meditation, empathy, love, ethical action and art. 3. We are an integral part of Nature, which we should cherish, revere and preserve in all its magnificent beauty and diversity. We should strive to live in harmony with Nature locally and globally. We acknowledge the inherent value of all life, human and non-human, and strive to treat all living beings with compassion and respect. 4. All humans are equal centers of awareness of the Universe and nature, and all deserve a life of equal dignity and mutual respect. To this end we support and work towards freedom, democracy, justice, and non-discrimination, and a world community based on peace, sustainable ways of life, full respect for human rights and an end to poverty. 5. There is a single kind of substance, energy/matter, which is vibrant and infinitely creative in all its forms. Body and mind are indivisibly united. 6. We see death as the return to nature of our elements, and the end of our existence as individuals. The forms of "afterlife" available to humans are natural ones, in the natural world. Our actions, our ideas and memories of us live on, according to what we do in our lives. Our genes live on in our families, and our elements are endlessly recycled in nature. 7. We honor reality, and keep our minds open to the evidence of the senses and of science's unending quest for deeper understanding. These are our best means of coming to know the Universe, and on them we base our aesthetic and religious feelings about reality. 8. Every individual has direct access through perception, emotion and meditation to ultimate reality, which is the Universe and Nature. There is no need for mediation by priests, gurus or revealed scriptures. 9. We uphold the separation of religion and state, and the universal human right of freedom of religion. We recognize the freedom of all pantheists to express and celebrate their beliefs, as individuals or in groups, in any non-harmful ritual, symbol or vocabulary that is meaningful to them. |