In Reply to: Re: Some answers posted by susie on July 19, 2006 at 21:17:17:
Nope, it's not about labels.
I hope you didn't get the impression I was suggesting that belief in God is a necessity to lead a sane, ethical, meaningful life, because I don't believe that and I don't bother to argue with people who do. I'm just enjoying reading Anne LaMott so much right now--it's a breath of fresh air to find a self-identified Christian writer who doesn't make me want to hide under a rock and deny any association with "those" people.
If you read the story of Anne's conversion, she talks about growing up in a nonreligious household of humanists. She had the humanist worldview long before she converted. So the question is always, "Why do you need God?" (You've asked me that question yourself on occasion.)
At many levels of my conscious mind, I don't believe in God or anything that looks like the supernatural, supreme being that theistic believers worship. Truth of the matter is, I'm generally much more comfortable talking & sharing ideas with humanists, agnostics & atheists than with self-identified believers. So maybe I'm just a bad Christian. That puts me in the same boat as George Bush, and this awareness of being a bad Christian allows me to have some compassion for other bad Christians, even if they are responsible for the deaths of many innocent people.
What I cannot deny is this place inside me that loves Jesus and finds him to be a real, living presence who "speaks" to me in a personal way. As long as I can remember, I've loved this Person, whoever and whatever S/He may be. I can accept the possibility that S/He's something I've made up in my head, yet still conceive Her/Him as something greater than myself alone. That makes God a paradox & a mystery, which is not the same as a supernatural supreme being who is "out there" somewhere in the cosmos manipulating the events of human history.
For me, it's kind of like trying to deny you're homosexual if you find yourself erotically attracted to members of the same sex. People who suppress, repress, or deny elements of who they are do so at a great personal cost. I have this notion of mental health that suggests it's a good thing what people see on my outside should match what's on my inside.
I think your humanist philosophy & worldview is an important contribution to the Journeys board, and I hope you'll always feel free to share your thoughts and irreverent sense of humor. I guess that's why I'll go to my grave believing in God's grace: Because there is laughter and humor and people who say "up yours!" in this sorry-ass world.