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Amica, Thanks. This gives me a lot to think about. Perhaps I should add the Qur'an to my reading list, after the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, which I have yet to complete. :rolleyes:

Interesting. What's the name of your group? Is it part of a larger movement?

I call myself an atheist because I don’t believe in an all-powerful, all-seeing, all-knowing, all beneficent, everlasting creator who has a plan for us and the universe. However, I do have an interest in religion and spirituality; that’s why I joined this forum. I’m not one to denigrate...

There are other Christian interpretations of Matthew that I have found on the internet. Sorry I don't have the sources handy. I know: not always the most reliable source but the authors sounded reasonably well informed to me. One said to interpret the word "look" as "leer." So I would think...

Amica, Thanks for your in depth response to my post. It sounds like the interpretation of the near-sacrifice that I was taught in religious school 50+ years ago was essentially the same as the traditional Muslim one. I like the interpretation you cite which states that Satan tricked Abraham...

Liking very much is a good start for defining love. There are many different kinds of love, as GK points out, each with its own special characteristics. I break them down into four: romantic love, love of one's children, love of one's other relatives, and love of friends. In romantic love you...

If you're an evangelical Christian, you would probably answer yes: you have committed adultery in your heart if you are aroused by making or watching a risque' film. At least this is what I gather from listening to This American Life which recounts the sexual and spiritual lives of two male...

I know only a little about Islam (although probably more than the average American.) Some years ago I learned from a co-worker that the Koran tells the a story very similar to one found in Genesis. In both versions God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son on an alter. The difference is that in...

When I try to conceptualize a God that I could possibly believe in, it is an either an idea, like beauty or love; or an impersonal force, like gravity. If it's an idea, then its form is in the mind of the beholder, and really there is no proof. If it's a force, it's like Einstein's God, a...

Hi Brian, Am I right that you are a moderator or administrator here? I have some questions about posts that require moderator approval. I submitted the first a few days ago but it wasn't posted because it needed moderator approval. Have you had a chance to look at it yet? I thought it might...

I agree that religion is an important part of the greater human experience, as it is so pervasive, but some of us never have religious experiences. That's why when asked "what constitutes proof of God" we ask for "evidence" and "definitions." I don't think we can prove the existence of God one...

Thanks for responding GK and Tea. I now have 10 posts so I'm going to explore what new privileges I have. BTW, I can be ML if you want to abbreviate my name.

And a repentant sinner, even if it's Hitler, would go to Heaven.

Apparently there were a variety of Lilith stories that circulated in ancient times and during the diaspora. Gnosis Archive gnosis.org/lilith.htm* provides a summary of relevant portions of The Hebrew Myths by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai (New York: Doubleday, 1964), pp 65-69. I’ve further...

...religious nerds and liberal activists who remember the anti-gay sign "It's Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve." Just as funny: at age 7 our daughter loudly announced at a family gathering, "Cain and Abel must have had sex with their mother," "Why?" we asked. "Because she was the only women...

As an atheist, a Jewish one at that, I'd like to see an atheist board or sub-board. It would be a place to discuss different kinds of atheism, hear personal accounts of “why I became an atheist,” or “why I returned to religion” and explore non-theistic spirituality. These things can be discussed...

Jayhawker Soule: Well, "Am I my brother's keeper," isn't a real question but a rhetorical question. But your observation is still interesting because it shows that at this point, the Hebrew Bible isn't asking the deep existential questions that might occur to us. Anyone out there: Does it ever...

Popeye wasn’t the first to say: "I yam what I yam.”According to Exodus 3:14, God said to Moses at the burning bush, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Popeye, as portrayed by Robin Williams, might have had some interesting contributions to...

Hello to All, I’m a Jewish atheist with an interest in religion and spirituality. My approach to these subjects is live and let live. I’m not interested in arguing or proving that I am right. I’d rather share ideas, learn from each other and perhaps find some unexpected commonalities. I’m...