Atheists & Agnostics

I was forced to attend a Methodist church (a pretty liberal-minded one) when I was a young child, but my parents were never really right-wing authoritarians about it. Their emphasis in regard to morals was the "Golden Rule", and basic reciprocation. The kind of behavior that even pet animals seem to grasp easily enough, without any religious teaching! "You're nice to me, and now I'll be nice to you!"

My thinking is strongly evidence-based, so my current understanding of "God" (if I choose to believe in one at all) is that it's extremely honest and consistent -- e.g., gravity doesn't just suddenly cease to exist because of prayers!

Another conclusion is that death is the ultimate equalizer, despite the people obsessed with STATUS who like to entertain the idea that they're special and they'll experience some kind of paradise after-life whereas others suffer.

Many people demand special status in this world. It's not just ancient people with that affliction, like when they imagined Earth at the center of the Universe!

If people demand "meaning" for this existence, then it seems most logical to me that they'd seek to better understand such a "God" the way scientists do! Not just blindly obeying what some charlatan proclaims to be the truth. That's the way of manipulators, seeking more power and authority over others.