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 Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:54 pm
I'm curious as to what the religious majority is here. Catholic? Christian? Atheist? Buddist?
Personally, I'm an athesist, but not because it's the,"In" thing, like so many people seem to believe. I merely believe that, at this point in time, rather then stick myself to one religion that has just as much chance of being the one true religion as any other. I'm just going to wait it out until I see some real, honest proof. For example, if the Rapture were to happen, (A bit extreme for an example, I know, but it's the best I can think of right now) I would confirm that Catholicism (Is it catholicism that believes in the Rapture?) that is the one true religion, and wholeheartedly believe in it.
I'm sorry to say, that it's more a matter of proof, rather then faith, for me. I don't regard faith as a weakness of any kind. It's just...not for me.
What about you guys, though? What're your takes on religion, and how you see it?
Oh, and this topic is just for expressing your views, not arguing about them. If you pick fights with me or others because of their religious views, then I WILL report you. You want to argue? Do it over PM.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:14 pm
Well, I think along the same lines as you do, and I believe it's Agnosticism that describes me. I don't "deny" that there's a higher being, but I want and yearn for proof that there is. It's not that I don't believe, it's just that there's so many different things to believe I have a hard time choosing.
One main reason for that is because I don't want to be "scared" into believing in God. I don't want to think that if I don't go to church every sunday or if I masturbate I'm going to hell. Obviously this means I believe in purgatory of some sort, because the two extremes "Heaven" and "Hell" are a bit white and black to put the gray humans in. smile
I'd much rather believe in a God that offers forgiveness and learn about it from my own experiences rather than what someone tells me. Through my own mistakes and triumphs I will find my own truth, and I don't think any higher being could argue against that. smile
I guess in the end I'm still not sure. I'm looking for that one experience of mine that makes me stop and think, "Wow, this is something that's paranormal." Not paranormal as in ghosts, (though that would make me believe in something else totally) but rather a paranormal meaning something above the normal. Something that can't be relatively explained without some sort of miracle.
Wow, I went on talking too much. XD Just my small philosophy.
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:29 pm
religion is an intersting topic..
risky
but intersting.
im from a "christian" back ground. I say it like that becuase i was christined but never went to church, my parents left it up to us to decide our own religion..
I am Pagan. I love the beliefs and everything with it.
my brother is atheist.
my sister (who is 13 btw) wants to start going to church.
and for my other brother... i do not know.
so yeh, its bizare, but thats that.
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Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:53 am
I'm from a christian back round. I'm wiccan.
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:25 am
I'm a protestant Christian, Methodist. The denomination and its specific rules aren't very important to me though, what matters to me is the relationship with God.
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:47 pm
Luz Oscura I'm a protestant Christian, Methodist. The denomination and its specific rules aren't very important to me though, what matters to me is the relationship with God.
Just because I don't have faith doesn't mean I don't respect people who do. I don't respect, however, people who just pick a religion for some shallow reason, like their friends are in it, or because someone just shoved it down their throat. Living in America means you should be free to pick your religion (or lack thereof) without fear of persecution or discrimination. We haven't quite gotten the latter part down, sadly, but we do have freedom of religion, and I just wish people would take it more seriously.
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Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 12:21 pm
Jack - Yeah, I don't like the formal type of Christians either. I am Czech and the majority of people here are atheists. And even among people who are a part of a church for many of them it's nothing more than that they were baptized as children and thus became members of a church, but they don't really care about God or they just go to the church once a year because of a tradition. To me it's not even important if a person is a member of a church and follows its traditions to be a real Christian but it's the genuine faith. For me the person of Jesus is the main factor that makes me be a believer; the people who wrote the New Testament were either people who knew him personally or people who knew some of the apostles, also considering the early history of the Christian church, how it began and spread in spite of all persecution, also the old prophecies about the Messiah and other factors; it all just makes perfect sense to me and I can't explain to me why and how the New Testament would be a lie. So like you said in your first post, I also agree that just faith itself isn't enough; it's important to have some basis in the reality, in the history, otherwise there would be no reason why to believe in just one particular religion and not another one or none of them.
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Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:50 pm
I'm just glad that there's people in this guild who are spiritually open. I mean, I know there's tons of spiritually open people out there, but living in a small, hick town in Texas....eh...sometimes it's nice to talk with them too. To be perfectly honest, there are some aspects of religion I don't like, or rather, there's people out there who focus on the aspects I don't like. Such as Hell, for example, I know that anyone who's christian or catholic is well aware of Hell, but I have problems with pastors, priests, and ministers who focus on it, who only tell of what will happen to you if you're bad, or not faithful enough, or something else negative. I know that it's important to teach people to be kind, but to only emphasize the punishment part shows a subconscious sadistic nature that makes me question whether that specific person should be a spiritual leader.
Instead, I think a balance would be better. To show them what will happen if they don't correct their errors, but also to show the rewards they can receive for their good doings, or at least their good intentions. Maybe it's just naive of me, but I believe that people are probably more receptive to preachings when they aren't inside their heads, imagining the horrors that can happen to them if they slip up one time too many.
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Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 5:38 am
Yes, I don't think that constant focusing on hell can make any good job in bringing people closer to God; that's a totally wrong approach... I have been lucky to belong to a church community that has such a good pastor, he's very educated and insightful and also considerate and sensitive, able of individual approach to different persons. His sermons have often been inspiring for me and my spiritual life, they are also challenging and making me think of what I should try to do better, but I don't recall ever hearing him preach exclusively about hell.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 6:50 pm
Nondenominational, (I spelt that wrong...) Christian.
As stated before, I'm more about the relationship with God, than nit-picky rules that seem to come with denominations. Besides, I can’t really find a denomination I fit well in. I don’t care about the gay marriage issue, I believe love is love and that attention needs to be given to world hunger and other more important topics than who is marrying who. I’m ProChoice, simply because I believe it is the woman’s right to decide. Whether or not a woman gets an abortion is her own business and those who butt in are violating her constitutional right to privacy. ((All in the US, sorry to our international friends)) I’m rather private about my faith, living in the Bible belt will do that to ya. With so many people pushing their faith on others, I don’t want to be the last straw that turns someone away from God, you know?
You see, I could care less what religion someone is, most religions all come down to one god anyway. That and I really, really hate intolerant people. Hate is a strong word, yes, but it’s the only way to express it.
Oops, kind of ranted for a second… lol
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Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 7:50 pm
No, it's good, this is the sort of thing I like to hear. People who are flexible enough believe in good things when they see them, but also faithful enough to still...well, have faith. Don't be sorry that you ranted...sorta. That's the sort of thing I made this board for. So people could talk about their views on religion, god, and faith without persecution or prejudice. God knows, maybe it's just me, but it's not easy to find places like that. Especially since I live in the bible belt as well.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:08 pm
I am a Christian and within that I am a Lutheran. Martin Lutheran was the man who saw the problems in the old Roman Catholic Church (Such as buying indulgences) and there for started to reformation, we believe we are saved by the grace of God, rather then having to pay and do deeds.
Plus Lutherans are known for good coffee biggrin
anyhow thankfully we have an amazing pastor, this is his last year sadly. however he WANTS us to experience other religions not just other denominations but he wants us to go to a synagogue, or practice Islam with Muslims.
I took that to heart, I enjoy learning about other religions, in fact I study the teachings of The Dalai Lama intently, and if I were to go to another religion it would be Tibetan Buddhism.
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:56 am
I am Christian, currently Catholic, but many people have forced Catholicism on to me, which has made me try to "escape." When I get older, I plan on converting to Baptism. x3
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:15 am
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Reply
