The trigger warning here is because I am an agnostic who is vehemently opposed to organized religion. I don't believe in God because no one has ever shown me any proof, and I don't believe in atheism because...well...no one has ever shown me any proof.

The following is a portion of a letter I wrote to my sister recently that pretty much sums up my belief system:

Thanks for posting. I'm more than happy to engage in rational discourse concerning spiritual beliefs, but if someone obviously won't let it rest until i agree w/ them, i'll withdraw from the discussion, or humor them. I don't care if you're a deist, a theist, muslim, wiccan, mormon, scientologist, or if you believe the Divine Will may only be properly ascertained through careful analysis of Oprah's hairstyle changes over the length of her career; if you don't attempt to convert me, i won't attempt to disillusion you. This isn't meant to be snarky or inflammatory, or to insult or demean anyone else's beliefs- but if you want to argue about it, there are plenty of other websites and people more than happy to wrangle for hours about religion, or politics, or any other hot-button issue you can think of. I'm here to heal myself, not to play "my belief system can beat up your belief system". I haven't experienced any problems around this yet, this just my way of pre-empting the possibility of mistaken assumptions, as well as letting Bryan know publicly he's not the only agnostic male survivor here

I can respect that

Oh, and I love the word "snarky". Gonna have to figure out a way to use it in a sentence one of these days!

I'll put my name down for that, too.

Put me down for that too guys!

"I never told my religion, nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change anothers creed. I have judged of others religion by their lives, for it is from our lives, and not our words, that our religions must be read." - Thomas Jefferson

I do not believe in a higher power, but i respect those that do.

I was in AA for almost 5 years. I just cant do it anymore, I am not powerless, I am not hopeless, and I have the right to express my anger and emotions. I do not wish to convert to any system of belief HP God collective conscience....I also don't have to live with guilt, shame , and fear that one 12 step program instills in it's members. It's my life and I made it this far by a strong will to survive, and I'm not giving my will to anyone or anything ever again.
A pedophile took my will for a year and it was hell getting it back. So I have always had problems with the HP thing. Sorry for venting, didn't think it would trigger so much in me.
Rick

Rick I can relate totaly to what you say about the 12 step ideas.

One thing that I found helpful was what my advocate told me about that word, GOD

Mark told me to think of it as GOOD ORDERLY DIRECTION

wHICH MAKES IT A LITTLE EASER TO ACEPT

Muldoon,
My issue with the word God is I can't seem to erase the negative concept that has been repeatedly pushed on me since childhood and still gets promoted today. Living in the south does little to help.
Creating acronyms to change the meaning of words is to me deceptive.
Was it not deception that kept us isolated for so long? I know this is true for me.
To an outsider Good Orderly Direction means just that "Good Orderly Direction" not GOD. When I hear those words today I think of God. Do you see what has happened here?
It's still God but the definition has been changed. This is just a little to freaky for me.
Rick

I believe that there is a God, but one thing is for sure, God helps those who help themselves.