Quote:
Originally posted by Kitsune
I'm a pagan, so all that christian stuff doesn't apply to me
Is that how it works? If I just drop the whole "religion thing" or change to another one, the rules no longer apply? Hot damn!
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Without making this sound meaner than it's intended -- well, DUH.
I am an atheist. I do not feel bound by the "rules," beliefs, moral/value systems and/or Lists of Things That People Shouldn't Do that various religious organizations have cooked up. They simply do not apply to me, because I am not a member of any of those groups, nor do I feel the need to structure my behavior according to the standards of J. Random God in hopes of attaining salvation, reaching enlightenment or avoiding eternal damnation.
Am I actively working _against_ those things, or deliberately thumbing my nose at them by doing what major religions denounce? No. Whether or not (let's say) the Catholic Church disapproves of my behavior is as irrelevant to me as whether or not my neighbor's ferret disapproves. Their "rules" aren't my guidelines, much less something I should feel compelled to follow. Sometimes my behavior matches up, sometimes it doesn't, but worrying about whether I'm acting according to religions' "rules" or not isn't one of my priorities.
Can a religious person look at my actions, feel that I am in violation of his or her own moral beliefs, and disapprove accordingly? Of course. But I can do the same in return, and neither of our denouncements should mean much to the other.
The same analogy can be applied to competing religions -- should Baptists be concerned if the Unitarians follow different rules? Should Catholics adjust their doctrines to accommodate Islamic dissent? Should pagans give a rat's ass what the Jews or the Buddhists or the atheists don't like about their beliefs?
Nope. Because nobody "knows" for sure which group is right, and anyone who says otherwise is either deluded or selling something.