The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

[newking70]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

salted nut roll or payday?

[idsnowdog]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

salted nut roll or payday?

I like chocolate, so I would say payday. I used to like salted nut roll's, but now they give me heartburn.

[idsnowdog]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

I wonder how many people got that.

So why did you choose the plaque above the gates of hell for your well title?

And are we to expect wailing and gnashing of teeth if we open this thread and have our sound up?

Or considering that the well shifts from person to person is the torment to be temporal?

I've also noticed many of your images and metaphors are laced with belief oriented content.
Is this conscious or based on some form of interest that manifests visually?

You asked all the right questions! I will answer them tomorrow, even if it means the death of this thread.

[idsnowdog]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

I wonder how many people got that.

So why did you choose the plaque above the gates of hell for your well title?

And are we to expect wailing and gnashing of teeth if we open this thread and have our sound up?

Or considering that the well shifts from person to person is the torment to be temporal?

I've also noticed many of your images and metaphors are laced with belief oriented content.
Is this conscious or based on some form of interest that manifests visually?

I am an atheist and I completely reject the entire Judeo/Christian tradition. The goat in my signature is a picture and a persons beliefs give it meaning. I don’t believe in Satan or hell, because they are Judeo/Christian concepts. I would never accept Satanism, because for so many people its expression is merely Christianity inverted. If I use religious lingo it is a tongue in cheek expression of contempt, not piety.

I was raised Christian (Lutheran) and from an early age absolutely none of it made any sense to me! Religion to me was against everything I believed in truth, justice, reason and free will. Guilt/shame was a big motivation in my family and guilt/shame was a form of control. My parents were guilted/shamed by their parents and so on, so on. The message was always you won’t do this, because you are a good boy and you don’t want to bring shame upon your family. The absolute worst thing anyone could do was to be talked about and judged! I saw how my grandmothers manipulated my parents and I experienced the same manipulation through my parents and grandmothers. Everything was predicated on the presupposition of guilt/shame! I was suppose to feel bad about what someone else had done and use it as a lesson for me not to do the same thing. I could never figure out why I should be judged for someone else’s actions?

The church I was raised in was about materialism and classism not about religion, religion was a product to be purchased. The church I went to actually segregated seating with velvet ropes and ushers. The first five rows were for old money families; the next five were for new money families. The segregation also extended to Sunday school where the children of wealthy families were seated in the front rows and everyone else had to stand.

As an adult I have had to deal with a lot of people trying to categorize and label me. Beliefs have always been a big topic of discussion among my friends and they have labeled me as “religious” even though I categorically denounce all the children of Abraham. They can’t believe a person could be moral, fair or compassionate without religion. Really it’s not about me being religious as much as their inability to understand anything outside of the context of religion.

As an adult I tried to reconcile what I had been taught versus what I believed. Eventually it just boiled down to religion was a choice that was made for me! I didn’t consent to be baptized, I didn’t choose my religion, I didn’t choose the church and the church didn’t represent my values. When I reached that level of understanding I resolved to rethink everything I had ever been taught or learned. I was going to make my own choices and I was going to form my own beliefs. Do my beliefs make any sense? Probably not, but their my own!

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

So, you are not religious?

[idsnowdog]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

So, you are not religious?

Nope.

[loudriver23]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

I for one share a great deal of your beliefs.
Have you suffered any discrimination as a result of following a non-standard belief set? Be it in personal relationships, or in the work place?

[idsnowdog]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

I for one share a great deal of your beliefs.
Have you suffered any discrimination as a result of following a non-standard belief set? Be it in personal relationships, or in the work place?

I don't look down on people for having faith. I just know it doesn't work for me. I don't believe that faith should ever be an issue discussed at work, people get sued for that. So no, not at work.

I have had interpersonal problems though. I have had problems with girlfriends who think my lack of faith is an issue. They tend to play it down as merely a lack of understanding or a protest. Nevermind the closest they come to proclaiming their faith is an orgasm!

Also my best friends wife keeps on wanting to pound this square peg into a round hole. She finds my lack of faith inconceivable, but yet neither her or her husband ever go to church. Her husband could care less, but it is an issue for her. For her though it is really more of an issue of conformity.

[loudriver23]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

I don't look down on people for having faith. I just know it doesn't work for me.

I do wish people who affiliate themselves with certain organized religious institutions felt the same way. The world would certainly be a better place.

[newking70]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

2012 what's going to happen?

[idsnowdog]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

2012 what's going to happen?

I am not sure? People have been talking about the "end times" for centuries, but what makes 2012 more plausible than 1967 or 1953 was?

I don't put a lot of stock in prophecy. However if the world does end in 2012, I would be glad that I screwed over the banks that guarantee my student loans!

[Zerberus]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

How do you manage to stay sane in the Griffin house?

[idsnowdog]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

You have an amazing dry wit,(I don't know how many times I've found myself howling at some of your responses) but I have to admit that at first I didn't always know how to take it.
Is this something that you run across from time to time?

People often don't get what I am saying. I don't blame them, a lot of what I am saying is a stretch and probably only makes sense to me.

Any story behind your user name?

Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and people had dial-up Internet I needed a user name for AOL. I was listening to some old Rush "By tor and snowdog", so I chose Id=identification+snowdog.

[idsnowdog]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

How do you manage to stay sane in the Griffin house?

I drink a lot, I have my own interests and I ignore the rest.

[nhspike]

Re: The Well LXIII: Abandon faith, all ye who enter here!

A very interesting read.

I also enjoy your wit, and share many of your thoughts on religion (having been raised Mormon).

It's been interesting, trying to strike a balance with my own children.

I really want them to discover their own way, and not brainwash/condition them.

So far, I think setting a good example (fair, loving, trustworthy) has worked wonders.

I bid you good day, Sir.