I always find it odd that people conceptualize bodily autonomy as allowing the death of a separate individual. To actually support bodily autonomy you would be against abortion as a fetus is the one defenseless and not given the bodily autonomy. The overwhelming majority of pregnancy is due to choices of the individual. To say someone who has made a choice that develops a new life now has autonomy over that life is denial of bodily autonomy.
I used to be an atheist. I still don't go to church (though the wife and I should), but I don't describe myself as an atheist.
One of the big realizations I've had in the past 10 years (the span between edgy atheist teen and cynical 30-something) is this: while I don't need a church to have a conscience and morals (something I assume is true for you as well), there's a LOT of people in this world who DO need that framework.
I am very reluctant to sound like a priest or pastor, because I am definitely neither or those things -- but look at the degeneracy around us. Look at the lives people are living that will leave the next generation worse off than ours. Look at the hedonism, the nihilism, and the apathy. These are not pillars on which to build or maintain a society.
So yeah, I believe there's some sort of God out there -- not because I am trying to curry favor or get in to heaven, but because I think a society-wide moral framework is important. That may sound incongruous to you -- probably because it is.
I'm still working on it - I just see a lot in this comment and the comment above it that make me think you're kind of in the same mental vortex I was in for a while.
One of the big realizations I've had in the past 10 years (the span between edgy atheist teen and cynical 30-something) is this: while I don't need a church to have a conscience and morals (something I assume is true for you as well), there's a LOT of people in this world who DO need that framework.
Same with comfort. I'm also not religious and I totally understand why many people need that sort of a positive, structured cultural thing.
I don't understand what's so hard to get about it. I know people who are addicted to going out to drink, to go on Tinder fuck dates. To go to the gym, do many other things. But they act like it's baffling that others fulfill their social needs through church.
I always find it odd that people conceptualize bodily autonomy as allowing the death of a separate individual. To actually support bodily autonomy you would be against abortion as a fetus is the one defenseless and not given the bodily autonomy. The overwhelming majority of pregnancy is due to choices of the individual. To say someone who has made a choice that develops a new life now has autonomy over that life is denial of bodily autonomy.
I used to be an atheist. I still don't go to church (though the wife and I should), but I don't describe myself as an atheist.
One of the big realizations I've had in the past 10 years (the span between edgy atheist teen and cynical 30-something) is this: while I don't need a church to have a conscience and morals (something I assume is true for you as well), there's a LOT of people in this world who DO need that framework.
I am very reluctant to sound like a priest or pastor, because I am definitely neither or those things -- but look at the degeneracy around us. Look at the lives people are living that will leave the next generation worse off than ours. Look at the hedonism, the nihilism, and the apathy. These are not pillars on which to build or maintain a society.
So yeah, I believe there's some sort of God out there -- not because I am trying to curry favor or get in to heaven, but because I think a society-wide moral framework is important. That may sound incongruous to you -- probably because it is.
I'm still working on it - I just see a lot in this comment and the comment above it that make me think you're kind of in the same mental vortex I was in for a while.
Same with comfort. I'm also not religious and I totally understand why many people need that sort of a positive, structured cultural thing.
I don't understand what's so hard to get about it. I know people who are addicted to going out to drink, to go on Tinder fuck dates. To go to the gym, do many other things. But they act like it's baffling that others fulfill their social needs through church.