to rants page.

(taken from a conversation in my LiveJournal).

What is religion?

• a set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to supernatural power;
• A set of rituals, beliefs, and rules based on a specific philosophy;
• System of beliefs and practices concerned with sacred things and or symbols uniting individuals into a single moral community..... ;
• Sacred beliefs reflected in the daily conduct of an individual.

{Yes, atheism, and antitheism are both religious in nature. So is agnosticism.}

1. The universe is infinite, complex, and beautiful.
2. There is or should be a mind capable of comprehending the infinity, complexity, and beauty of the universe.
3. If such a mind does not exist, it is the duty of humanity to eventually provide it.
   1. If such a mind does exist, it does know and understand the purpose/function/duty of humanity along with everything else.
   2. If such a mind does know our purpose, it may very well communicate it with us through various paths, possibly including those which 'religious leaders' have told us they do.

After years of believinig that morality is completely relative, I have encountered 'evil' in one form (or, at least, something which I had to recoil from in spiritual self preservation to the extent that 'evil' is a fair term for it).

Once I recognized evil, it was far easier to recognize good.

Note that it is not particularly easy to define either good or evil, but recognition, at least some of the time, is a start down that path. My observations lead me to believe that different react very differently to the same belief set, and that the same influences which lead one to being evil may lead another to being good.

My personal observation is that there is far more good out there than evil, and I have enough second hand evidence to be hopeful that this is not a local condition only.

...and that's about where I am spiritually.