In Hinduism, a belief in God is not required, and one can even be a disbeliever and still follow the path of Vedanta. There are Hindus at our Temple who are students of Vedanta and do not believe in "God" - I realize this may not be the case with most religions, but it is not uncommon in Hinduism. It is certainly a small minority, but they are certainly respected, and they do not hide the fact at all - it fits quite fine with our teachings if that is the perspective from which someone comes.

__________________
Advaita Vedanta information

It would not bother me at all. I would be happy that someone is open minded enough to take it upon themselves to learn about as many religions as they can.

And you don't have to believe in a deity to want to be with a group of presumably educated people in a safe location.

__________________
- Wisdom comes when you stop looking for it. -
"If God were alive today, he'd be an atheist" - Kurt Vonnegut

Please visit my foster dog blog: The Colbert Report.

First of all, I'm not terribly fond of being called a "hypocrit". Even though I'm non-theistic, I do not deny the possibility that a god or gods may exist.

Secondly, I do not pray in a synagogue or when I go to church with my wife, but more use the time for meditation and contemplation, and the synagogue and church settings are very conducive for that in my experience. For me, it's very important to contemplate if our past and future actions were/are moral or not, and religious concepts, I do believe, have their place even if there are no deities.

Thirdly, the synagogue's main role is not so much for prayer as it is for education since people can easily pray on their own. And, as for me, I enjoy discussing theological matters, which is why I'm here at this website.

__________________
"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein

I attend a UU church, and we have agnostics and atheists aplenty. All are welcome.

__________________
We do not fear the night, who have loved the stars so fondly.

I rarely attend church these days (I guess I'd classify myself as a ACIM student/New Age Christian/Eastern Buddhism & Hindu wanna-be/free spirit). But I love singing in the Episcopalian church in a nearby community where I know the music director. The music and reverence is transporting for me. I even take part in the Sacrament, which has a deep and personal meaning for me, resembling surrender.

I think everyone should feel free to follow the spirit within them. Churches are always going to try to define themselves and increase their attendance because they have to pay the bills like everyone else, but in the end, that's not really what they're about.

Yes, I'm at least somewhat familiar with UU and, as a matter of fact, I recommended about a dozen years ago that our oldest daughter check UU out because she and her husband, both brought up Catholic, were at a stage in their lives whereas they didn't really know which way to go, and some of their ideas were different from each other as well. I recommended UU because there's much openness in the denomination. However, they decided to join my synagogue instead.

__________________
"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein

The Episcopalian church is another one I have deep respect for because of its openness, and I have long appreciated the Anglican/Episcopalian scholarship found amongst many of its theologians, especially William Barclay, who still is my favorite Christian theologian. John Spong also is a man with many ideas, which often rub against those of a great many Christians, but he also presents ideas definitely worth throwing around.

__________________
"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein