In an article recently regarding science and what alien life may be, at the end-- the phrase, " Until the first encounter, though, theorists will be free to float through an atmosphere unweighted by evidence."

Not only alien theorists, or any theorists, but also Mormons and others enjoy this lightness, this floating through "unweighted by evidence." Not very grounded, that, but sure does feel good to have the truth be whatever you want it to be--like Mormonism and others, and they sure want to hold onto it. Desperately.



And, the opposite is true. Levitating as an atheist? Why not? I didn't choose to be atheist. Just realized one day I was. I was surprised actually. What I found there was weightlessness. I was finally able to float through an atmosphere unweighted this time by evidence-less beliefs, dogma, commandments, and control." So this time the weight of evidence felt good, freeing. The perceptions had changed.

Well, "float" is not the right word, but the navigation that ensued gave me a real sense of purpose like I had not had before. I suddenly felt connected to others in a way that I never felt as a Mormon or as someone who gave religion the ultimate validity. The floating seemed to have a steering wheel this time instead of being pulled in a trailer by another vehicle.

There is a choice in life it seems and it's more than "window or aisle?"

Grounded or Untethered?


For me, though, lack of evidence was never weightless. Mormonism felt heavy. Very very heavy. I have never felt so light in my life as the day I realized the lie.

I guess it comes down to personal preference. Both grounded and untethered seem to work depending on what you really want out of life?

I'd like to be untethered from my keyboard for a minute--otherwise I know what you mean. I'm not an atheist, but still unencumbered by any religion. I felt the “floating” when I threw those overboard. That alone feels like breathing fresh air maskless (figuratively, not literally--Right now, I'm happy to have the mask.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2021 03:22PM by kathleen.

"Oh, you're so cool, carrying the knapsack of mormonism. You look so impressive!"

  And we believed this input.

And the knapsack turned into a day-pack, and then a full-sized backpack.

It felt so good to ease it off, throw it aside, and move freely.

Sure, I'll grant you that some of the free-flowing moves weren't the best in the world, but not even mormons promise you a rose garden.



Wouldn't that be an interesting move? "We, the mormon church, promise you a rose garden if you keep the commandments!!"*





*Offer not valid for converts, Gays, and anyone seen on YouTube doing naughty things or showing naughty bits.

I feel the same sense of lightness as an agnostic. I don't know, and I'm okay with that. I no longer care if someone else might know more about it than I do. I have some ideas about how things might work, but it's not important to me whether or not those ideas are verified. If there is an afterlife, I'll find out about it in due course.

And I'm not confessing anything to anyone. It's simply not their business. If the law has a beef with me, I'm sure I'll hear about it. lol

When I went to work at Thiokol and became close friends with many nonmormons. I had never been exposed to many nonmormons. And some of the mormons I met were different than any I'd ever met before. They still treat me well and love me like a daughter. I remember feeling like my life had changed in ways I couldn't put into words.

I had started to go inactive. I had questions about life that mormonism wasn't answering. Then I found out the mormon guy I was finally dating (never dated many mormon guys as they didn't like me much) was gay, a load as big as Mt. Everest as they had not just no answers, but the wrong answers. And I knew nothing else, so I turned to mormonism for help. And then all that happened after we got married. I remember walking at the track one day and I realized that it was okay that he is gay, that I was happy he had left, that I had another chance at being happy. I just remembered--my friend's daughter was getting married and every time something went wrong with the plans, her daughter would say, "the church is still true, so why does it matter." And that day, I realized IT MATTERED TO ME, and that was it. I was done.

I've never wanted the burden of mormonism back. The whole idea makes me SO WEARY.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2021 11:51AM by cl2.

This is a false dilemma.

You can make educated guesses with basic facts even if you don't have direct evidence.


Oxygen reacts with lots of things. Chlorine even more so.

Helium doesn't react with anything. It's inert.

Therefore, you can make a good guess that potential alien life isn't going to breathe helium, argon or another inert gas.


So, instead of just leaving things up to "authority" and thinking that an "authority" is "right" just because, you can think about things yourself.

Did the concept mess up your hair as it zoomed overhead?

There is no statement here. There are questions and opinions with regard to how we choose to navigate through life. Am not pushing any agenda here, so, no need to make sure I know I'm dead wrong. But thanks anyway.

I thought you were talking about believing in something just because of the prestige or gravitas of the authority saying it.

Done & Done is PURE Gravitas, but he refuses to believe in himself, or in Himself, as the rest of us name him...

I may have taken the "This is a false dilemma," differently than how you intended it. All good.

My point isn't really the point you got but that is the fun of threads. We always know what we meant. Right? :)

Silicon-based life (computers) would like a helium atmosphere because it would be an outstanding fire-suppressant. It would, however, make them sound funny.

I worked for chemists for years and one of them assigned me the name of chlorine as I wouldn't let him call me calleen.