A Chanson delight! In my meandering inline I ran into this:

www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201005/why-atheism-will-replace-religion

Hope y'all find this interesting----

I have come, after much thought, to the realization that there is (for me at least) a fundamental flaw in the atheist-theist debates that rage on Wondercafe and elsewhere. The problem, as I see it, is that both positions, especially in the extreme forms that tend to start and get involved in these debates, are based on an old-fashioned notion that one's faith is binary: one either believes in God or doesn't. In computer interface terms, it's a checkbox labelled "God" that you click or you don't.

What do you think of this???

I had hope that I would, somehow, deepen a faith I was raised in and nurtured myself for many years.  After a period of searching other faith traditions, a deep disillusionment with Christianity, I returned again about 8 or 9 years ago, this time with a different openness and far less literalist interpretation of the traditional teachings.  I was never a literalist or a fundamentalist (except as a child raised in the Roman Catholic Church).  Over the past 8 or 9 years, I struggled mightily to find a way to believe.  

Hi,

I'd like to talk about aethiesm and spirituality and life after death.

Right now, today, I feel a bit lost. I tried to connect to athiests in my area, but they didn't have the same values as me. I still believe in respecting my elders, helping the less fortunate, etc. I just don't believe that I owe this service to a higher being. It would be a lot easier if I did believe. I wish I could. Maybe you can help me?

I have found myself wondering if there is any point in actually trying to discuss faith and religion with atheists and anti-theists.  I'm not talking about trying to convert them or convince them to believe - I am an Agnostic, not a believer myself.  I'm talking about actually having a conversation with an atheist about their ideas about religion which they share here.

"I don't believe in Santa Claus," she said in a voice loud enough for every child within 15 feet to hear. "My parents put the presents in the stocking."

I found this article in Psychology Today magazine, and it resonated with me on a very visceral level, as I was in training for the ministry in back when I decided to leave Christianity behind me.

[quote]

An Atheist in the Pulpit