The Agnostic Wife

Hello and Happy Saturday!

I wish to thank Mano Singham for his wonderful interview! Thank you so much for sharing with all of us Mano!

Today we have a new interview so please welcome The Agnostic Wife. The  Agnostic Wife is an Agnostic and I know you'll enjoy her interview as well!

Here Is The Agnostic Wife's Introduction:


I go by the Agnostic Wife and I blog at www.theagnosticswife.wordpress.com. I was raised in central Oklahoma, in a non denomination church by Christian parents. My beliefs were more on the fundamental side. I fully believed in every single thing the Bible said, believing it was inspired by God and without error. I had no questions about that, that is until my husband became an atheist. While in the midst of trying to convince my husband otherwise, I began to realize that in fact there are errors in the Bible. With this realization a crack began to form in my faith and no matter what I tried to do to keep it from fully fracturing worked. I became an unbeliever in February 2010 about a year after my husband did.

www.theagnosticswife.wordpress.com

 

1) What religion do you practice?

I do not practice any religion. I am an agnostic/atheist.

2) Are you a convert/revert or were you raised within this religion? If you converted, what did you need to do to convert? And what did you practice prior to converting?

I deconverted from Christianity, which is the religion I was raised in .

3)Within your religion are there degrees of observance (ie. Orthodox,conservative, moderate, liberal)? What are the defining differences between the degrees of observance?

I am a moderate liberal. Everything gets it's own evaluation. However, I know that there are some non believers who are more liberal than I and some who are more conservative.

4)Within your religion what degree of observance are you ((ie. Orthodox,conservative, moderate, liberal) ? Why did you choose this degree of observance?

As I stated in the above question, I am a moderate liberal. I take each situation and evaluate it as it comes. I believe this is the best way to approach any situation. To gather as much information as I can and then draw my own conclusion.

5)What is the Afterlife within your religion? For example: what happens when a person dies? Are there places for reward/punishment? (such as a Heaven/Hell concept)

I think when a person dies, they die. They or a soul do not go to a heaven or a hell. They either are buried or cremated and at some point become part of the earth.

6) In your opinion, does everyone make it into heaven/paradise? If they do not, why?

I do not believe there is a heaven or paradise. I think it's a nice thought because the thought of going or being or doing nothing after we are dead is uncomfortable for a lot of people. I happen to find it comforting though to think that I'm just dead and I don't need to have the unnecessary worry if I did enough or was good enough to make it into someplace called heaven or to have kept myself out of some awful place called hell.

7) What makes your religion a good fit for you?

After studying and researching I feel that I came to the best conclusion that I could.

8) What are your holy days and what do you do to celebrate them?

I do not have any holy days. I do celebrate Christmas and Easter in a secular way, enjoying time with my family.

9) Do you consider people of other faiths to be your friends?

Yes, I do have people of other faiths as my friends. I try to see people as people and not as what they believe.

10) Would you ever join people of another faith to celebrate one of their holy days? Please explain why?

Yes, I have done so. I try to be respectful in others homes of their beliefs as long as they are respectful in the fact that I don't believe the same way.

11) What are your thoughts on the burka, and Shariah Law?

From what I know about burka's, and it's not much, it seems that they are demeaning to women. I have heard of Shariah Law and my state even passed a law that we will not honor it, even though no one has tried to use it before in my state to my knowledge. With that said I do not know much more about it than that.

12) Are women allowed to hold religious office (priest, minister, rabbi, iman etc) in your religion and how do you feel about it?

There are no office's in atheism.

13) Does your place of worship segregate? If yes, how does this make you feel?

I attend no place of worship.

14) How much does your religion affect your daily life and how much thought do you give it when making a decision? Does it affect in any way your decision on abortion, gay marriage, etc?

I give my lack of religion no thought in my daily decisions. I try to follow the golden rule of do unto others.

15) How would you react/feel if your child wished to marry outside your religion?

I hope at that point that I have taught my children to think critically and make their own decision. If they are in love and are happy then I hope I would be happy for them. I plan to be happy for them.

16) In your opinion, if someone is not of your faith, will they go to hell?

No, there is no hell.

17) Who do you think is not a practicing ----- in your religion and why? ie who in the public domain claims to speak for your religion? Do you agree with them or not?

I'm not sure I know exactly what this question is asking. With that said there are a few atheist in the public that I do not agree with their approach.

18) Have you ever been the target of a hate crime? Please explain.

No, thank goodness.

19) Do you ever feel like your religion devalues you?

I do not feel devalued by my lack of belief but I know for a fact that many people, some in my own family, feel like I am devalued because I don't believe in a god.

20) Does your religion give you peace of mind?

I find great peace of mind in not having to worry about if I'm doing enough or being enough. My core person did not change with my loss of faith. I no longer think I'm a dirty, sinful person. I know that I have but one life and I want to live the best life that I can in the here and now. As stated above I follow the golden rule. Due unto others.

21) Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?

No, I believe when you die you die. I've not seen any evidence for getting a second go at it.