My Personal Creed (updated)

David Suhor, Statement of Creed:

I don't like the word belief.  It implies accepting something on faith alone.  I have very strongly held suspicions on the nature of the life beyond mortality, mostly based of my own experiences.  I believe, but cannot prove, that there is some greater consciousness (some call a god) permeating life.  If there is, I've come to think that all 'gods' exist equally.  In my ethos, such extra-sensory spirits are manifested by our own thoughts.  They exist beyond science or proof, but are not beyond the reach of feeling.  Since these 'gods' are individual and subjective creations, one is no greater than another - though some are similar due to religious influence.

Some of us follow a particular, perhaps popular god-image.  We shape our lives by the teachings we attribute thereto.  Because we GIVE this god power, she/he/it exists for us and we put faith in the lessons taught by our chosen tradition.  We also GAIN power by our faith - mostly from the fellowship it brings us with like-believers.  As we grow and evolve, we may realize our own power and no longer have need of gods.  I'm not there yet.  In the meantime, there seems to be something positive to learn from them all godly manifestations.

I reject all religions that teach or require exclusive faith or allegiance to their deity and/or dogma!  That is like trying to pub limits on infinity.

Officially, I have adopted the religious label APPLE Biter, an acronym for Agnostic Pagan Pantheist Living Existentially (and biting apples).  I'm Agnostic because I don't claim to know for sure that any type of god-consciousness exists.  Pagan because that term was used by Jews and Christians to describe those who reject the Bible-inspired pathos and embrace earth-centered traditions.  Pantheist because I think that the spirit of life (aka god, aka karma, aka the soul, aka the mystic) permeates all living things.  Unfortunately, I've come to believe that no form of god can be shared exactly or proven objectively.  Existential means I am an individual, free to live how I choose and taking responsibility for my own development through acts of will.

You can check out more on these labels on Wikipedia.  They are interesting, as are the descriptions of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, LeVayan Satanism, Scientology, Humanism and about any other belief system you might choose to study and/or follow.

With this creed, I claim the right to honor, study, follow or reject any form of god I wish, as the occasion demands.  You could call me religiously promiscuous and I would not object.  I believe all religious traditions (and the lack thereof) have something worthy of learning.  I choose to keep biting spiritual apples, enjoying their differences and spitting out that which doesn't nourish me.