Judge ye not?

I have just made a discovery or maybe I just woke up. A burst of light. A gasp of breath. I was awake. 

As much as I think labels are used entirely too much, I am about to label myself. Agnostic/atheist?  This is not a new discovery. I can't make myself believe in a boat big enough to hold two of all, walking on water or someone whose decisions are quoted to me as being for the best. Supposedly, the child that has died was attributed to a god calling that child to heaven and he has his reasons. All good things are attributed to 'him' while the sorrowful events are 'his will and he has good reasons.'  Of course we aren't supposed to question his reasons. I have  a problem with anybody that denies me questioning.

I had to explain some of my decisions I made to my daughter. She asked. I felt she deserved a reason on why she was denied.

 "No, you can't go to that drug party." "Drugs are bad for your brain. Just look at me!"  or

"No, if he has a prison return address, you are not allowed to have a relationship with him. A felony is not a good thing."

See what I mean? An explanation and one that didn't involved smoke and mirrors.

Now, let's see. Where was I?

Oh, yeah.  My discovery. I read other people's blogs. I have my regulars that I read. I started reading them not knowing how they felt related to religion. I read them because they were entertaining. I read them because they offered some insight. Because they could post a string of sentences together to form paragraphs which gathered themselves into stories. It was only after reading these bloggers that I realized that most of the ones that were on my blog list had one thing in common. Either they were agnostics or atheists.

Their blogs weren't about religion. Seldom was their lack of faith mentioned. Occasionally a post by these bloggers, as the one I was reading this evening, was talking about psychics. In the course of his post, he mentioned that he wasn't a believer in the supernatural. He was an atheist. Boom! There it was. Another of my favorite bloggers, a disbeliever in the supernatural. I have read this blogger for over a year and this was never mentioned until tonight.

From all professions, I seem to brush up against them. A common thread among them is their acceptance of others. 

The faithful might find this difficult to comprehend. A dry acceptance of others. I won't list these bloggers but only because their blogs aren't a testament to what they believe or disbelieve. It flits through occasionally if it's relevant to the stories they tell. 

Supernatural? A sociology course that was a requirement during my college days, was most interesting. A few days into the course, the professor asked for a show of hands of everyone that did not believe in the supernatural. My hand shot into the air along with most of the class.  His next question "Now show me how many of you believe in god?" and again most of the class raised their hands. I sat with hands folded in my lap. 

His next remark caused an uproar. "You cannot deny the supernatural and still believe in god."

It was riot time in the classroom. He let the masses roar. I sat quietly waiting.

He explained. "Have you seen god?" "Can you prove he existed?" "Your believe is based on something you haven't seen or heard."  What is your definition of the supernatural?"

This was from a devout instructor. He was not an atheist nor an agnostic. He was a believer along with most of this class. He believed without explanation. He accepted blind faith. I have never forgotten this instructor. He presented this class with a view alien to them in an attempt at explaining  acceptance of others. I don't know how many of these students got "the message".  "Go forth and accept. It is not your job to judge."

This course ranked right up there as one of my all time favorites. It only got better as the year progressed. He presented social problems that conflicted with his own beliefs. Class discussions were loud. I've heard people talk about how boring their Sociology classes were. I'm ever grateful I didn't have that class with them.

I can hear the silent roar of disapproval from  some that stop by to read this. I can also hear the acceptance by those who accept without judgement. You are my friend.