First Church of Doug

I am preparing a long article on religion. I thought I should start out by revealing "beliefs" that I have come to accept as a part of my religion. There is no way, scientifically, to know if God exists. I can't truly say one way or another. I guess you could label me a scared atheist; however, I am certainly not relying on a god to give my life meaning. So here goes.

Statement of "Beliefs" of the First Church of Doug

I believe that the bible was written by man and is therefore fallible.

I believe in a God who will not judge people based on "beliefs", but on deeds.

I believe in a God who would "save" a good person who calls him or herself an atheist before a bad person who prescribes to the tenets of Christianity or any other religion.

I believe in a God who has set the universe in motion simply to watch what happens.

I believe in a God who may have "seeded" life in the universe, but nothing more.

I believe in evolution as it pertains to the species of this planet.

I believe in a scientific approach to religion. Blind faith is not in my vocabulary.

I believe in a God who does not, nor did ever, perform miracles*. A God who picks and chooses to perform miracles* here and there would be a sociopathic God, not worthy of worship anyway.

I believe that while Jesus was a great human being he was not God's son, nor did he perform miracles*.

I believe that no one religion has it right. There are no "chosen" religions just like there are no "chosen" people.

I believe that no person's life is predetermined in any way. We all make our own choices. And while free will may not be so free, there is no higher power directing our lives. No one dies because of "God's Plan".

I believe that all of the above are open to change based on my personal life experiences. Nothing is set in stone.

*Note that something is not a miracle simply because science cannot explain it.