I don’t consider myself to be a religious fanatic and yet I have attended every Sunday service at the UU for over seven and a half years. That is, I haven’t missed a single service since being fully settled into my new home here in Bend on May 1st, 2011. In addition to that I have been attending the 1st Presbyterian book discussion without missing a single event since beginning, and in addition to that I haven’t missed a single Atheist Saturday morning breakfast for years, and in addition to that I haven’t missed a single Socrates discussion and was a couple of times the only person to show up. Also, I always meet my old dudes at the Crows Feet Commons for coffee and discussion on weekday mornings. And, yes, I have written 4140 of these Probaway blog posts which sometimes discuss “religious” issues, like Jesus’ Beatitudes and his prayer. I do a lot more than just show up at these events, I participate in all the activities. For several years I attended an active Spiritual Awareness group and enjoyed it very much, and was even elected to the board and directed a few meetings, but I was forced to leave when I wouldn’t sign a document that went further than I was willing to go into belief in the supernatural.
A google search brought up Pew research on religious landscape and I discover that I am very unusual in my frequent attendance and probably very unusual in that I attend seemingly conflicting groups. My religious views are liberal but not particularly unusual and I attend these meetings because I just like talking about a wide variety of things from different points of view. What my personal religious belief boils down to is, treat everyone as well as I can by doing physical things that are helpful to them.
That way of helping people has had some strange developments. For example, I make a point of tipping the employees at restaurants, coffee shops and other places where people are working for minimal wages. I do this because they are doing work that helps them thrive and it helps everyone they serve. Those kinds of actions deserve reward and encouragement. However, I don’t give money to panhandlers because they are not doing something that I consider helpful to others or even to themselves. I feel that a gift would be empowering their inclinations to self-destruction and I want them to thrive. I do treat them courteously.
I’m still a kid trying to understand why the world and the people in it behave the way they do so I can help them get to where they are going.
Probaway - Life Hacks 