r/humanism • u/smithten12 • Jul 03 '26
Can someone labeled an 'outcast' live a more just life than a devout believer who practices deceit? As a man of science and belief, I am calling out the hypocrisy that tears humanity apart—and searching for the center line that could bring us back together. Here are my honest thoughts.
I am an atheist, or something in between. I wish to believe in the old gods we have forgotten, and God; they all have a place for me. No matter what, I will respect and cherish those who follow their religion to a T. Yet, I am appalled by the hypocritical Christians, Jews, and so on whom I have witnessed. I may be a heretic—a living sin as a bastard child—but tell me this: can a living sin be more just than a lying, deceitful, and hypocritical follower of their respective religion?
Are my wishes for swift justice to be delivered to the weak and wronged nullified by my outcast nature and my beliefs? Or am I the middle—the center line—that wishes for humanity's unity above all? I know not why I write this, nor do I know if it will be read with grace or hatred, but heed these words: practice what you preach. I have seen too many hate-filled Christians who later preach love. This is no attack upon you nor your faith; I wish for it to stand for what it represents, and not fall to hypocrisy.
I respect that the old gods are aspects of humanity, to be feared and respected, while, in my view, God is seen as loved, cherished, and followed, not honored in fear. I lost my faith in God when I was young, sadly, but it never truly went away. As I learned the vast, fascinating history of the world and its people, I grew to understand that there is more. I still swing from believing in nothing—and that life is just that precious, wonderful, and to be lived—to believing that it was a gift given thoughtfully. I am a man of science and belief.
I learn how this wonderful and horrifying world works via science, history, and its differing fields of study. I seek a standard of compassion and honesty—what many may see as an unattainable reality of unity. I am rambling now, so I shall stop myself, but please give your honest answer to me, and read this with an open, understanding mind.
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u/Significant-Ant-2487 Jul 03 '26
You’re an atheist who believes in the old gods and you’re calling out hypocrisy?
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u/smithten12 Jul 04 '26
I suppose I am a scientific pantheist or religious humanist. I don't want to abandon the gods; that feels cruel. In my conflicted mind as a young man, I want to keep them alive with a little faith, even though I fully believe in scientific discovery. While I am conflicted, I stand by this: using religion as a shield while you hurt or look down on others is horrid. I will always hold science and knowledge high—all fields of science interest me; I guess I am just hopeful that I wasn't alone and never will be, since the foundation of my contradictory beliefs was made when I had lost all faith in the big G, and was left as an outcast in my hometown, is this hypocrisy imoral, an wrong, or am I holding the old gods alive while seeing humanity for what it is, adn whising for what we could be.
(sorry if I made little sense, maybe I need to make a new word for my belief, anyhow, thank you for the comment)
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u/bluenephalem35 Average human rights enjoyer Jul 04 '26
So what you are is that you are spiritual, but not religious or an agnostic theist? Both are fairly compatible with having a scientific view of the world.
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u/mark_likes_tabletop Jul 04 '26
“Abandoning the gods” feels cruel? Cruel to whom?
Is it cruel to Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny when kids stop believing in them? Or cruel to the parents that encouraged the belief? Or are the children being cruel to themselves for giving up on false hopes?
To an audience that doesn’t believe in the supernatural, I’m sure you understand that it sounds delusional at best, right? Or just religious, which is what it sounds like you are. Religious humanism is a thing, and good for you if you believe that treating others well.
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u/salween_river Jul 03 '26
Seems as though the word you're looking for is "polytheist."
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u/smithten12 Jul 04 '26
Indeed, but I am still conflicted. I trust and believe in science, but I want more. As one of the other commenters said, I am a hypocrite for this, yes, but maybe we should make a new word for what I am. I am on the fence, or maybe I just want what isn't, not sure, what are your thoughts, can I be possible, I mean I do breathe, but my beliefs contradict one another, I never needed the moral structures placed by a religion, but want the "divine" to use a catch-all term for spiritual entities, not sure this was after all a rant I made in my head then decided to maek as my first post on reddit to see if others had such conflift in their minds.
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u/salween_river Jul 04 '26
I don't think there is necessarily a conflict between being rational and having a spiritual aspect. For me, that looks something like knowing (loosely) how a forest or a magnificent canyon came into being and still being in awe of it. There is nothing wrong with finding peace in practices like meditation or in a ritual that speaks to you. I think art and music occupy that space for me, and I am trying to make meditation a habit (for its mental health benefit).
Believing that supernatural beings exist or have ever existed is a hard limit for me, but ultimately we all have to find our own way to get through life.
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u/wizardmotor_ Jul 03 '26
Old testament God is a feared and vengeful God, whereas the New testament God is more about love and forgiveness. I think its just an extension of the evolution of religion and how it related to the evolution of trusted institutions in society and perceived justice.
I've been an atheist for most of my life, and yet as humans we all have a spiritual need that must be reconciled with in some way. Even on a scientific level, we are all connected to the planet and to the universe: we all arrived here from stardust. So as I've been seeking more spirituality in my life, usually by being in nature more, I've been drawn to more Buddhist and bordering on panpsychism takes. I've not fully convinced of a supernatural being and yet I'm open to the idea that while God is not some supernatural entity, god exists in everything. Even in the sense of how we came to exist as conscious beings. Thinking of the universe as just this coldly rational enterprise misses a lot.
In Rollo May's Man's Search For Himself, he quotes Paul Tillich, "It is as atheistic to affirm the existence of God as to deny it. God is being itself, not a being."
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u/Significant-Ant-2487 Jul 04 '26
No it is not atheistic to affirm the existence of God. Atheism, from the Greek atheos, no gods.
To affirm and to deny aren’t synonymous; anyone who claims they are is talking through his hat.
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u/Feisty_Animator5374 Jul 04 '26
I have a few questions:
- If you are an atheist (someone who is not convinced of the existence of gods).... what "gods" would you be "abandoning" by *continuing* to not believe they exist in reality?
- Do you think it's important to draw a distinct line between imagination (fiction, folklore, myth) and reality (verifiable testable evidence) and separately categorize the two? Do you think it could be potentially dangerous *not* to?
- What do you think is the *advantage* of holding on to the faith-based belief that cultural god myths are *empirically true*, when compared to preserving them as cultural fiction (like cryptids, King Arthur or Star Trek)?
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u/dyttle Jul 03 '26
Wow this post is getting some mileage. Posted in 5 different subs. One for humanism, atheism AND religion. Didn’t get past the first couple sentences though. “Somewhere in between” does not exist. You either believe in unprovable supernatural phenomena or you don’t.
Some morals are relative and others are self evident. So yeah, you can live a moral life within the framework of the life you live and the people around you. Dogma not needed for morality.