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I Am An Atheist

Word of warning to the zealots: I'm happy to have a calm and rational conversation. I will delete rude or "I'm offended!" comments without a second thought. If you don't like what I have to say below, please kindly move along.

While I don't believe in either of the Judeo-Christian mythological characters mentioned below, I find the hypothetical conjecture and story telling to be fun. Besides, I love Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Norse, and other mythologies too, and am always intrigued by imaginative retellings and appropriations of such characters.

My husband and I like to have discussions about how misunderstood poor Lucifer is. We know that history is written by the winners, regardless of who is right. We know that, until very recently in American history education, Custer was painted as a hero. And every villain is the hero of their own story.

What if the bible is actually the false recounting from the perspective of the villain, Jehovah, who was jealous of the beauty of and love received by Lucifer, one of several creators.

On the 5th day:
"Let US create THEM in OUR image."
Lucifer and several other gods created many men and woman, who walked the earth freely.

Jehovah plotted with a few others to plan to overthrow Lucifer. Then on the 8th day, Jehovah created the Garden of Eden, Adam and Lilith as his own little side experiment. Lilith was too smart to be subservient, and she left. Jehovah made Eve from Adam's rib so that she would be subservient. But she was too subservient, and when Lucifer showed her the path to knowledge (The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge), Jehovah was mad that his pets weren't following his rules.

Also, consider the story of Job. It describes the interactions between Jehovah and Lucifer as though they are old friends having a drink and placing bets. Lucifer was clearly not banished to hell. He can visit heaven whenever he likes. In fact, Lucifer was not the one inflicting pain and suffering upon Job and his family, Jehovah did it.
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lasergraph · 70-79, M
I thought Lilith was married to Frazer for a while.
Northwest · M
The OT is interesting reading. To me, it is a work of fiction, not much different from Phoenician/Greek/Roman mythology. The only difference, is that there may be some historical truths in it, mixed with acts of God/Prophets/Angels, etc.

As long as they are peaceful, do not subscribe to zealotry, do not infringe on my right not to pick a religion, I think people should be free to believe what they want.

It's not like anyone has a definitive answer. What if Scientology is right, and our seeds were planted here, millions of years ago, by B-52s, dropping people into volcanoes?
frostyflower · 36-40, F
Zealot: a person who has very strong feelings about something (such as religion or politics) and who wants other people to have those feelings

If I wanted others to not believe, I would be aggressively posting much more logical, strongly worded statements against God's existence in other forums rather than quietly sticking to my own little corner. I support freedom of religion, including the right to not practice one, and the separation of church and state. Also note, I in no way said that all religious people are zealots, I made a note specifically to zealots, because I've had my fill of them for one day.
Northwest · M
@jillluvsgirls: pretty impressive for an 18-21 :-)

You mean the earth, not the universe? I am not well versed in Scientology, given how secretive they are. Oddly enough, though, it turns out the ancient world, looked exactly like the USA, at the time Hubbard wrote his top level.

I remember watching the documentary, when they interviewed the guy who was a top Scientologist at the time. He said that when he read the final chapter, he thought it was some sort to test, to see if he's gullible enough to believe the stuff. No, they really mean it.

Reading different texts, it seems as if Satan and Lucifer are two different entities. Ba'al Zbub, Lucifer, Satan, Mammon, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Belphegor are the seven classifications of demons, corresponding to the seven deadly sins, and possibly the inspiration for the GOT Seven Gods.

More realistically, they represent different name used by the Phoenicians, Egyptians and Greeks (and a couple of other ancient cultures), to refer to the overlords of the dark underworld, where it was not always meant to be hell, but simply a dark underworld, where all sorts of weird shit happens.
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frostyflower · 36-40, F
Jill, interesting thoughts. I'll have to do some serious reading, because on first search, I'm finding mixed answers on both side. Some insist Satan was Lucifer's name after he was cast from heaven, while others draw a strong distinction between them. Thank you for the homework assignment.

As for being gnostic, no:
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
~Aristotle
frostyflower · 36-40, F
My apologies, Jill. We had a small miscommunication. There is gnostic and then there is Gnostic.

Little g: gnostic is just an adjective, modifying theism or atheism, in which one claims knowledge and certainty, in opposition of an agnostic, claiming no certain knowledge.

Big G: Gnosticism is, as you allude to, a belief system in-and-of-itself.
frostyflower · 36-40, F
Goralski, Take from it what you will. Some of us simply enjoy sharing thoughts and opinions, bouncing ideas off of one another, and sharing camaraderie with like-minded individuals. You make a statement about who you are and what you believe in simply by your choice of avatar.
jillluvsgirls · 26-30, F
I'm smarter than I look (happily), I'm older than I look (inconveniently), but I'm just as skinny as I look (sadly).
frostyflower · 36-40, F
Goralski - why not publish it? SW is about sharing with others. I'm not posting it looking for a fight, or I would have posted it within the "I believe in God" section.
jillluvsgirls · 26-30, F
Scientologists' mythology has the universe being way older than it really is. The OT has it being way younger.
Goralski · 56-60, M
You start your sentence off by calling people zealots and it seems to me you sure one yourself
jillluvsgirls · 26-30, F
lol Not agnostic. Gnostics had a whole pantheon with the creator of this world being pretty close to the bottom of the heap.

You might find that Lucifer and Satan didn't become the same thing until very recently.
Northwest · M
Ok, pretty impressive at any age.
JustNik · 51-55, F
It's all fascinating stuff.
jillluvsgirls · 26-30, F
You seem kinda gnostic. Anyway, Lucifer wasn't in Job, Satan was. "The Adversary" was not god's adversary but the adversary to god's enemies or possible unfit followers. Satan inflicted Jog's suffering under god's supervision.
Goralski · 56-60, M
So why publish it
Goralski · 56-60, M
It's like you need validation with your atheism no different then d religious nut jobs that come on here
jillluvsgirls · 26-30, F
I'm not as dumb as I look.

 
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