[Sin]

For me its easier to just paste the summary of my personal beliefs.
(This is from another forum, non-adult, where a similar discussion was taking place)

Alright, since I do not believe in "a form of overseer or creator" I will start by trying to outline my own personal beliefs...

I really have no real recollection of when specifically I decided that I simply did not believe in a singular higher power. I was baptized, grew up in a religious family, went to church camps in the summer, was a member of CGIT... etc. At some point, however, I concluded that the notion of a singular higher power simply did not fit. I would rather use the terms "singular higher power" than "God" because for me "God" is associated with Christianity & to only acknowledge "God" is to disregard the existance of other organized religions which have existed just as long, if not longer.

When I look back at the theories of evolution, scientifically proven, they make sense. When I look at other science theories, how smaller pieces interact with one another to make a greater whole, it makes sense. Nowhere in our world, in any kind of level, does it make sense to have a singular higher power. Physically, we have protons & neutrons which make up the nucleus which is a part of atoms which compose molecules which compose matter, which plays whatever part it happens to have, in our physical realm, even if its as seemingly insignificant as a trashcan, it has its place in the room in the building the building has its place in the community, the community has its place in the country, the country has its place in the world/on earth, earth has its place in the universe... it goes on as so. Politically we have the children which are a part of the family which is a part of the community which leads up to the municipal government which leads up to provincial/state/whatever the system is level of government, which leads up to national government, which has its part in the global society again... everything interacts, everything plays a part of something even bigger. To me the idea of a single higher power that is due credit for 'creating' and then stepping back & having nothing else to do with us but play chess with our destinies, doesn't fit in the way nature itself, works. So many more examples could be brought up than the 2 I detailed above, which are extremely basic.

I do believe in a soul. I believe that yet again, our very presence here on earth is an integral part of a soul's development. Think back to the days when a classroom was not segregated by age rank, and everybody was in one room, one instructor, learning together. Enlarge that now.... Earth is our classroom, we are all the students, and we are all at different levels. We have all encountered people who without even trying can manage to somehow unintentionally make us feel small in comparison, or look up to them, and we've also on the other hand met or heard stories about yet other people who do things which shock and appall us because "Don't they know that's wrong?" --Chances are they don't know that's wrong. Chances are (in my personal belief system) that we're shocked & appalled because their behavior is something that our soul has already learned, in a past life. There are some things that parents, teachers, other mentor figureheads in our lives, don't tell us that we just KNOW is wrong. That knowledge, comes from our past experiences in this classroom we call earth. From other lives, from other lessons. Our soul will come back life after life after life, until it has grown up enough if you will, to move on past the classroom, past this earth, into yet even a bigger picture, a larger more matured 'soul system' if you will. Much like children go through school, to graduate, and become members of the community, each fulfills a different purpose.

I do believe in Karma. I'm putting this in a seperate paragraph because its a bit of a sidetrack. Lessons for a soul are not always going to be learned in one lifetime, I do not believe. I'll use Clifford Olson as my example... I do not believe that jail is karma for him. I do not believe that being in jail is teaching his soul anything, that he is truly learning the err of his ways. I believe that when he passes from this life, the particular lesson he's here to learn, will carry on to the next life, possibly lives. When he is here as a child, and dies a horribly violent death, perhaps one for each child he killed, when his soul comes back and is the parent of a child who is killed, that is when his soul will truly understand, when it will truly have learned, when it will come back & live a life & not kill again, it'll know not to... it will be here for another lesson, a different one.

That’s a summary

I could probably add plenty more detail to that if I felt like typing it all out, but hopefully that gives you all a general idea.