Howdy, I believe in a god. Or supreme deity if you like. However, my god isn't the same one preached by any of the known religions. He's neither vindictive like the Christians, hateful like Islam nor wishy-washy like the Jews god.

So, I must be an anomaly because I not only believe in a god but I also enjoy your site.

First. By clicking the "submit" button I affirm nothing except that it is the button required to send you email. lol

Second. I am like you in one respect. I am a free thinker. My beliefs aren't based on the opinions of others because I have a brain and I use it regularly.

In my opinion, to pigeon hole someone into a culture, like atheism, because they think freely (outside of popular opinion) is to be as religiously arrogant as the predatory religions.

Let me quote you: "I believe that any system of thought should at least obey two rules: It should be self consistent, and it should not condemn those who think as I do."

I whole-heartedly agree with the first part of being "self consistent". The second part should be absent of the words "as I do".

To judge someone by their thoughts or how they think is simple minded because thoughts change with every ounce of stimuli presented. And thoughts are nothing but a "drawing board" for actions.

Example: I have friends who are Christian, Jew, Satanist and Atheist. When the five of us are together our thoughts are continually being "altered" by the opinions of the others. Yet our actions are consistent because of our chosen beliefs. If I were to judge any of them by their "thoughts or thinking", I would see them just as insane as they would see me.

However, our friendship isn't based on "how we think". It is based on what we "do" and "how" we act towards each other.

I am going to post this comment on my site which is www.livenfree.com. I also hope you will post a response to this as I really enjoy your responses to others and your site in general. I will also add a link to you for my friends and visitors. I believe a somewhat opposing point of view adds a little spice to life.

In my opinion, it's too bad that most people believe that one can only have friends who "think" like themselves. To be truly FREE, one must allow others the same choice to think freely and to espouse any opinion they choose based on whatever their beliefs may be. Even if it is considered popular error.

You have a good site and very well done. Thank you for your time.

Good news -- we actually agree on more than you realize!

I don't feel that I pigeon-hole people into the culture of atheism, because I don't consider atheism to be a culture any more than theism is a culture. Sure, there are cultures that are atheistic, but not all atheists are members of those cultures. I use atheism to simply mean "without theism." I certainly agree that saying that all people who think freely are atheists (or saying that if you are not an atheist that you therefore must not think freely) is wrong.

Regarding my second rule about not condemning those who think as I do. Unfortunately, I did not make myself clear. What I mean is that anyone -- whether they are me or not -- should be able to say, "I do not condemn those who think as I do." I am not saying that everyone should think like me, I am saying that nobody should condemn those who think as they do.

For example, Person A who believes in the Christian god because they deeply feel that He exists should not say that Person B is stupid for using their feelings as a basis for believing in the god of Islam. Another example, if you never make a full stop at a stop sign, you can't yell at someone for not making a full stop at a stop sign.

You say that it is simple minded to judge someone by how they think because thoughts are always changing. I would tend to disagree with this. There is a difference between judging someone's thoughts and judging someone's thought processes. I would never condemn someone just because they are incorrect -- opinions and knowledge change, as you say. But thought processes very often do not change and people are often very unwilling to change their thought processes. I think that "whatever my religious leaders say is true" is a dangerous thought process, and I condemn it as dangerous even if it only leads to good behavior in a specific case.

I agree with you that it is sad that some people will only associate with those who think like themselves. I don't want you to think that I, in any way, mean my two rules (don't contradict yourself, don't condemn those who think as you do) to imply that I only approve of people who agree with me. In fact, one can be very religious and still obey these rules with ease. I think it is more important to help people discover whether their beliefs meet these two simple rules than it is to try and "convert" them to my way of thinking, because it has been my experience that those whose philosophy is rigorous and self-examined are more likely to consistently treat others well.

By the way, I would disagree with your characterization of the Christian god as hateful, etc. These statements seem based on a very surface reading of the respective religions, and I don't think that they represent the beliefs of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.