Welcome to Gaia! ::

Introduction
This would almost make a suitable bio for me, due to the strength with which I hold to my arguement. I often feel as though I cling to a raft of reason, adrift in a sea of blindness, ignorance, and religion.

General
My philosophy is one of doubt, tempered by open mindedness. Probability is second only to science. In regard to this, I put science, reason, and logic above all when it comes to my perception of the world around me and when science cannot give a definite, certain answer, I resort to what science, reason, and logic suggest to be most probable.

God
Needless to say, the existence of an omnipotent, omnipresent being who is filled with mercy and compassion doesn't exactly synchopate with any of my three ideals. This, however, is where open-mindedness comes in. While I wouldn't say I believe in any deities, I will not state with certainty that there cannot possibly be one, thus I am and shall remain an agnostic...Unless of course science one day finds a way to disprove, beyond all shadow of doubt, that there could be a deity of some sort. It has made it apparent that said being is not responsible for most of the things that it is credited for.

Supernaural
Notions of magic, faeries, dragons, vampires and other such things existing in the real world are complete garbage as far as I'm concerned. None of my ideals are anything but dead-set against the possibility of any of these...But should someone show me something that cannot be chalked up to trickery, optics, or coincidence, than I shall readily revise my views.

Fantasy
That being said don't think that I don't enjoy notions of fantasy (in case my contributing to the genre in the form of a graphic novel was not enough). Indeed I quite like them, so long as two conditions are met. For one they must be kept within the realm of fiction and for another, they must follow their own rules, thus my hatred for the modern vampire...But I've already covered that.

Psychic Phenomena
Psychic phenomenon is within my belief system, for I have experienced it and so have you, though not in the form of anything outstandingly memorable. Indeed it is very simple...Nothing more than eye contact. I someone standing behind the room is looking at you and you turn and return their gaze just in time to see them look away, what other answer can it be? You could see no part of them, its too frequent to be a coincidence, and the timing is too perfect for it to be a matter of simply looking over upon having heard them. As for whether or not anyone can do anything more with psychic abilities I cannot say. Insight is given too little credit these days, as much as people want, so desperately, to believe in the unknown. Furthermore, if nothing more solid has been discovered, yet, it seems unlikely that it would have simply remained hidden; more likely it is simply not existent, save the possibility of the occasional moments where something non-physical and not entirely explicable occurs.

Religion
In regard to religion, I loathe it. I'm not sure that there has ever been a single one that wasn't based upon fear. While capitalizing on the fears of fools is something that I find entirely acceptable, adopting a self-righteous demeanor is completely loathsome, abhorrent and abominable. If individuals want to follow a religion, I am tolerant of their decision to do so...Right up until they try and convert me or show intolerance. If they are able to respect my beliefs and the beliefs, lifestyles, and choices of others, however, there are no problems.

Afterlife
As for the afterlife, I would not say I believe in it, per se, but the notion of there being nothing but a yawning abyss of nothingness and oblivion after our death is indeed a terrifying notion. Needless to say, I would prefer to live forever, but since all of my ideals suggest that this is thoroughly impossible, I put my hopes that there is afterlife, but the idea of living my life to better my position in what may not exist is patently absurd.

Society
When you work in fast food, you realize something...There are a whole lot of people out there who truly deserve to die, and the world would be better off without nearly all of them. For example Jerry Falwell. The best thing that he ever did for/in/to this world was to leave it and he is by no means alone. Bigotry, undiscriminating rudeness, willing ignorance...How many people exhibit all of these things with few or no redeeming qualities? Their number is truly countless. These are the people that make up the vast bulk of societies.

Belonging
Belonging is something of a rare and precious thing for one such as myself. Only around urban souls, teenage girls, artists, intellectuals, philosophers, agnostics, and the like have I ever felt at home. Even then, specific elements of my personality are focused upon more heavily. One or several common interests or other commonalities is how all groups are formed, so too with society. Since most people (even most of the truly worthwhile ones) aren't (based upon what they have shown me) very complicated, the system works fairly well...Especially for the most exceptionally simple. So the question becomes "Is it worth it to simplify your personality, simply to fit in?" In society at large, the answer is invariably an emphatic "No," but with smaller groups that one may actually identify with...Sometimes. One need not forever set aside their complexity and sophistication simply to have a place to call home. It isn't wrong to have a different face for every occasion, just so long as the ones you use around those you hold most dear is one that is true. Let it also be remembered that there can be more than one face on a person and one face need not make any of the others any less real.

Conclusion
And that about sums up my philosophy pretty well. My deepest thanks to those of you who read it all, though I only expect such devotion from my most loving friends. As for the rest of you...Well, east navigation was my reason for making the headings the way that I did. I hope you enjoyed it and that this inspires you to post your own ideas on the topic, though please don't let mine intimidate you; you needn't cover any of these topics much less all of them. Furthermore, I would be happy to take all questions and comments.

In response to Liutana's views on...
Magic
Magic has not been proven non-existent in all of its forms, but most of them have been exploded so thoroughly that the only type that most sensible people believe in is so incredibly vague and coincidence-oriented that it's impossible to disprove, as its already so flimsy as it is.

Religious Beliefs
Ah, Luther...Now there was a man who was ruled by fear...At least until he started his own church. Now please exlplain to me, how can you possibly hold Lutheran ideals while calling yourself a practitioner? Unless you're expecting to go to Hell I cannot fathom how the two could possibly mix. I don't mean to be rude, I am just completely at a loss.

Politics
Yeah, this older generation seems to be really into buying into Republican propoganda and it seems to be in no shortage on either rightist TV stations and especially talk radio. I wonder why they seem so more active these days...It really seems to me like the Republicans seem to want to keep pushing the world back.
Making platforms out of morality with strong religious undertones= religously-minded leaders= Theocratic government.
Tax cuts for the rich= rich get richer/poor get poorer= more sharply defined classes= caste system.
More powerful leader= less power in the hands of the people= more absolute ruler= monarchy.
I had better examples, but I can't think of them at present.

Forgiveness and Tolerance
Religion is another thing that separates people. There really only is one way in which people define themselves, and that is in relation to other people. It is in seeing how we are different from others that allows us to develop strength in out convictions. Were I not living in such a Christian nation, for example, I would probably simply have mild disagreements with religion instead of detesting it so powerfully.
That said there are two ways that people find their identity in their surroundings; that which they are a part of and love, and that which they are not a part of and hate. It is natural to want to destroy that which one hates, even more so if one can juxtoposition their own twisted morality into the situation, thus giving rise to self-righteousness and violence, one of which is ingrained deeply into the more primal facets of our nature and the other giving it a false veneer of civilization...Thus you have the crusades, the Inquisition, and all other manner of religious genocide.

Friends
In elementary school I had a minion (who I did value, but he was pretty much entirely at my bidding, so he really was more of a valued minion). Towards the end I also had a girlfriend. That was pretty much the height of my social life until my senior year of high school when I had 2 friends...Yes, the charming and witty Matasoga, with nothing more than that...I just detest small towns, don't you?


Isolation and Individuality
While girls face cattily being ignored and at worst a few unpleasant rumors, there is a good bit more pressure put on males to conform. With either relentless bullying at best and carried out threats of beatings at worst...In most cases that's the worst, at least. I understand how bad it can be...More than most in fact. While my cowardly ways kept me from ever being beaten, I did, at one point, wear their clothes and sport their brands, and it somewhat got me ignored, which was a far cry better than how they had been treating me. We all knew it was a lie though. I could dress like them, I could look like them, I could even act like them, but we all knew that I was smarter, I was more creative, I was, in short, better than they. Now that all of them are spending their time not in the NFL, holding low-paying jobs in small towns where most of them shall rot forevermore, with no plans for the future...It is immensely satisfying. ^..^

Misc
If I didn't reply on a topic, I had already said pretty much all that I had to on a topic. If anyone would like to view their statement of views as a reply to my own, they may, but I more had in mind starting your own thread. Either (or both) options are fine.

But if you do read and understand the Bible you must know that such pagan traditions are not only considered blasphemous, by the church, but at least border-line heretical, as well? "Thou shall have no other god but me." One of the ten commandments...How can any interpretation of that allow for any goddess?
Please understand that I really don't mean to pick on you. I respect your courage in posting, but challenging one's beliefs and engaging in intellectual debates on such matters are a great passion of mine. I appreciate your indulging me in the matter.

I am very, very glad that you have never had cause to experience the worst that females can do to one another. I mean that sincerely.

Butting out of conversation now! lol

And here folks, we see that Venus should not comment when she's about to fall asleep. She mis-reads things. Sorry 'bout that.

As an aside, I'm now tempted to write up my own blurb and post it, if I can get my thoughts together coherently.

Edit: Oh, and just an interesting take on the "thou shalt have no other gods before me," I had a fiance once who worshiped multiple gods, one being the Christian. He claimed that he was not breaking that commandment because he primarily gave worship to the Christian, and in his own mental hierarchy El was at the top. I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with his ideals, but that's one way I've heard someone get around that commandment.

Its quite allright, dear. My statement is now more clear to everyone for you r questioning of it.
As for what you're saying, my thing is this...What it really all comes back to is that people are far, far too hung up on labels. They seem to need them to identify themselves, to distinguish themselves from the masses while still remaining a part of them. Thus they cling to useless, meaningless words like "Christian" and attach them to themselves, in the hopes of avoiding ostracism now and hell-fire later. No matter how ill-fitted these titles are they cling to them with desperation.
Following any religion is at odds with thinking for oneself. After you have chosen one for yourself, that is where your free-thinking is supposed to stop. Then you are to be a good little puppet and worship their god the way that they tell you.
Am I saying free thinking should stop? Well, I suppose that was a bit of an inane question. If you've read any of this thread the answer to that is excrutiatingly obvious. What I'm saying is that people who believe in freedom of thought and finding their own answers should stop labeling themselves with things that relate to dogma that they disregard.

General

I like to think I'm reasonable in my thought process and the basis for my belief system. I'm pretty open minded though highly intolerant of stupidity and willful ignorance. I believe in the ever expanding theories and ideas of science, I trust in reason and logic, and every now and then I throw something crazy into the pot to see how it blends with the rest of my system.

God I'm of the mind that there's some higher power out there, maybe not an omnipitent perfect being, but something that our minds can't fully grasp as yet. I don't believe in the Abrahamic depiction of God, nor do I go much for Brahma or Satan or other such deities.

Supernatural I don't think magic or majick exists in the way that humans have described it for thousands of years. I'm more apt to believe that such creatures as dragons and fey might be planar creatures, in another dimension that holds no physical form but more spiritual. Science allows for the possibilities of infinite dimensional variation and I take this to include the possibility of a planar dimension. Vampires and werewolves don't exist, they're the product of an ignorant population trying to explain away human tendencies or their fears of dark places.

Psychic Phenomena I've had some experiences with this phenomena that go beyond deja vu or catching someone out of the corner of your eye because you can feel their gaze. That being said I don't claim that it's really paranormal so much as the brain engaging certain regions that are normally untapped. Einstein and other scientists have theorized that if enough of the brain was in active use we'd probably have telepathic and telekenetic skills. Just because we can't explain it with science just yet does not mean we should write it off as weird, strange, paranormal, or a power only the X-men can hold.

Religion Religions are stale ideas and tenets held by people that are afraid of change in my opinion. I happen to think that the Koran is one of the most beautifully written epic poems, the Baghavad Gita is an interesting story, The Bible is a nice collection of oral history and journals compiled into a story, but I don't take these books into my belief system. I do find certain teachings in Buddhism interesting but would like to research them more. I claim no religion as my belief structure, but this doesn't mean I'm not spiritual.

Afterlife I've had a few NDE's. These experiences lead me to believe that there is a soul, an afterlife, and that karma exists. I believe in an immortal soul or self, I believe in reincarnation, and I believe that what you do in this life time can affect lifetimes to come. I believe this allows a soul to evolve and reach an enlightened state and that once this state is achieved you go onto another stage. I'm not sure there's a nirvana or whether it's a never ending cycle of incarnations into physical forms, but I'm open to ideas.

Society I currently work in a service based company and happen to think that humans are selfish, close minded, and un-objective idiots. Humans are cruel to each other and tend to think that anyone that serves them in a service industry is both uneducated and not human enough to warrant good manners, common courtesy, or patience. These examples aren't even the worst our society has to offer. I find more and more I am disenfranchised with my own society. Should I ever find a place that would suit me better I will leave and expand my horizons elsewhere. That being said I think it is my responsibility and that of every other human to treat others well, to show patience and courtesy and to not disrespect one's parents, self, or others around them by being rude.

Belonging I'm a closet introvert. I put on the mask of an extrovert, but really do like keeping to myself a majority of the time. I tend to gravitate towards intelligent and quirky people. Generally speaking I don't associate with people my own age unless they can really make me think. I also don't generally hold the views or opinions of my generation.

Conclusion
And that is an introduction to the inner mechanics of my thought process.

I was planning on waiting until you had completed your review and response of my post but I'm guessing that's not going to happen anytime soon so I'll respond to what you've posted here.

Anyone who works in the service industry long enough generally tends to have the same sunny disposition on their species as we've acquired. I've been pretty jaded most of my life, it's one of the few things I've had people comment on consistently since I was about 10.

I think I'll enjoy certain aspects of the guild. Generally speaking I lurk most anywhere I go. Both IRL and on Gaia I tend to be fairly nomadic. I've always had a wandering nature, it's pretty fun.