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 Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:19 am
Most specifically, spiritually. What was it that really made you a true believer? I know that upbringing plays an enormous role in the beliefs and values we have as teenagers and adults, but most of us eventually reach the point where we realise that Mummy and Daddy are fallible, and not everything they say is automatically true.
So why do you believe, as a teenager or adult capable of independent thought? Have you ever questioned or doubted your faith? If so, what ultimately brought you back into the fold? Have you explored other religions or philosophies? If so, what is it about the beliefs you have now that has you convinced that they are the Truth with a capital T? Did you have an experience or set of experiences that led you to draw the conclusions you hold dear? Were you raised in the faith you have today, or did you end up taking a different ideological path from that of your family?
And just to be clear, this is a question aimed at all our members, Christian or otherwise. If you don't have faith, what led you to reject the notion of any sort of divine power?
I have a very long answer to these questions, so I'll give others a chance to share before I post my novella of how I've arrived at the answers I have.
*EDIT* I just realised that I have no idea how old many of you are, because it hasn't really been relevant to most areas of discussion, but since it is sort of relevant here, perhaps share your age, or if that makes you uncomfortable for any reason, maybe at least specify if you're still a teenager living with your parents or if you're an independent adult...or an adult still living with your parents (or primary caregivers if you were/are being raised by someone other than your parents). If you do still live with your parents or guardians, do you foresee living independently from them as something that might ultimately affect your belief system? Do you even share the same beliefs as your family now?
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 6:56 am
I have spent countless hours leading up to weeks researching other religions and philosophies comparing them to my own religion
But in the end the only religion that ever made sense to me is Islam
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:33 pm
Islamic Teacher I have spent countless hours leading up to weeks researching other religions and philosophies comparing them to my own religion But in the end the only religion that ever made sense to me is Islam So you grew up in a Muslim household? Did you ever doubt your faith, or was your research of other belief systems just done out of curiosity? Do your beliefs differ in any ways from those of your parents (or whoever was most spiritually/morally influential on you growing up)?
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:07 am
Age: 22
Because He just is. I feel like that's what was just put in my head. God has proven Himself in my life and I don't want nor need to prove it to anyone else. My mother has played a huge part in the things I've learned not because she's my mom and she's an excellent person, but she's pointed out things that churches are afraid to and backed it up with the scripture and the meanings of the words in the scripture. But she's not the reason I believe. That all started when I was younger and I was standing between God and suicide. But I'm beyond that and past the point that I have to wonder or doubt. I'm just constantly learning things from what my mom has taught me and seeing the truth by applying it to my life and seeing it actually work. It's how I face life's challenges and make difficult changes when most people would say it's a risk.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 1:22 pm
SinfulGuillotine Islamic Teacher I have spent countless hours leading up to weeks researching other religions and philosophies comparing them to my own religion But in the end the only religion that ever made sense to me is Islam So you grew up in a Muslim household? Did you ever doubt your faith, or was your research of other belief systems just done out of curiosity? Do your beliefs differ in any ways from those of your parents (or whoever was most spiritually/morally influential on you growing up)? Yes i grew up in a Muslim household I was merely being curious My beliefs are the same as my parents
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:05 pm
My church has a concept called "getting on your mark". I was under the impression that getting on your mark is admitting to yourself that you have a desire to know the truth about Christ. The pastor intended it as an alternative way of saying you got saved. Anyway, I decided to do my version of getting on my mark right away. Basically I was just excited to be there participating in what I at the time called "fun church". I really had no idea at the time that there would be anything for me beyond the "nice" feeling that my new church gave me.
A few weeks later, it was Easter and my pastor began the service by sharing a video clip with us. It was from a movie based on the allegory "To Sacrifice a Son". It was a foreign language film which told the story of a railway switch tender and his son. Basically, the son falls into the gear box as a train approaches. The father has to choose between saving the life of his son and derailing the train, thus killing everyone aboard.
The story itself is fictional and certainly isn't a perfect allegory, but it struck me in a very, very deep way. As the Easter service went on, communion was passed around. We don't celebrate communion at my church often, but when we do, the pastor makes it a point to ask us to reflect on the meaning of taking part in the sacrament. I decided I would keep my communion for later after I had time to reflect on the message.
Then I heard with my ears a voice that asked me why I was so intent on waiting. It said "You're so careful. I've seen that you choose to separate yourself from trust in order to control the suffering in your life, but I love you and want to claim you right now. What are you waiting for?" I recognized this voice, and I was immediately filled with awe and shame and incredible joy. I realized the truth absolutely and I broke down there in the middle of service. I know it's a pretty dramatic story, and may be hard to believe. If I were hearing this story without having lived it, I would have thought I was a weirdo too, and I don't really expect anyone else to believe it. But I swear it's completely true.
From when I was 12 to around 22, I practiced several different forms of paganism, but I was always more studious than worshipful. I had certainly never felt that I was favored by any of my pagan gods. After 10 years of reaching out to the gods I found in ancient history, the Lord I used to run from reached down and made me into a miracle. As an aside to that, I certainly don't regret the time I spent as a pagan, because the belief that I was personally able to control of my surroundings helped me get through a very dark chapter of my life. The following years helped me to tune in to the vibrations of the Universe as well as my own soul. For me, my experience with paganism helped gently guide me back to Christ.
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High-functioning Werewolf
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:13 pm
I don't know, really. I mean first I found Paganism, and then I narrowed my scope to the specific religions I follow today. It's different for us because there are many truths; being a Heathen doesn't mean Hellenic Polytheism is wrong. Many gods and realities can co-exist without particular issues. At the same time, the nature of things is something of constant discovery; one of my religious paths in particular is mystery-oriented, as opposed to revealed like Christianity.
Paganism as a whole I found in my teens, and it appealed because of the sacred-in-nature aspects, the gender equality aspects, and the polytheism. Polytheism was something I had mourned the loss of as a child - I thought it was awesome that people would have different gods than their neighbours - and it was a treat to discover it was still followed. After that, it was mostly personal experience and gnosis: I reached out to the gods, and They were there. They reached back. And in time I found a home in Heathenry - that is, Germanic polytheism.
And I think everyone doubts. It's a healthy part of faith. You can't grow without questioning and doubt. And there have certainly been times when I've felt not at all spiritual, when I've been cut off from the gods, and felt lost and cold and alone. It's part of the journey.
As for other religions and philosophies. I think it important to stay informed as to other branches of Paganism; I'm particularly interested in other reconstructionist religions and forms of religious witchcraft. I looked into Laveyan Satanism for a while in my teens; I thought it was philosophically very appealing but I was already a theist at that point so it wasn't for me. Catholicism and Anglicanism I find aesthetically appealing (the romanticism of damnation!) and the history in particular is very interesting.
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Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 10:42 pm
Long story short,
I grew up Christian. Bad stuff happened growing up and questioned my faith. Explored different options in particular eclectic neo-paganism since what was presented of Christianity was very off putting. After college, I settled for deism/bordering atheism. Eventually I had an experience back in 2008 that called me back to Christianity as a Gnostic and well here I am.
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Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:42 pm
I believe in my religion for the same reason I believe in the modern scientific theories I have been taught. Because it just makes sense at such a fundamental level.
Einstein puts it quite well:
"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. In our endeavour to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears its ticking, but he has no way of opening the case. If he is ingenious he may form some picture of a mechanism which could be responsible for all the things he observes, but he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could explain his observations."
There's no real way to prove, for example, that atoms really exist as we currently conceptualize them; we only believe that our theories are right because they so accurately and consistently explain what we observe in our experiments. I grew up learning science in school, but I believe that our current theories are correct because I've studied them and they make sense, not just because adults told me so when I was a kid.
In the same way, it is impossible to prove that there is a god. But to me, everything about his existence and his plan of salvation makes perfect fundamental sense. Everything I observe in the world testifies to me of the truth of the gospel. I've heard other beliefs and philosophies, both atheist and theist, but no matter what way I look at it the only teachings that accurately and consistently explain what I see in the world are those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is the church I grew up in, but for as long as I can remember I never believed what I learned just because the adults told me so--it always just made sense in every way.
By the way, I am 17, currently living with my parents, who share my religious beliefs. Since my faith is not dependent on that of my parents I know moving out will have no weakening effect on my testimony.
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 11:20 am
I know I said I'd respond to this, but I just haven't had the time or the attention span to do so lately, which is pretty pathetic.
Anyway, to make a very long story short enough for me to not get distracted and wander off...
I was raised in a Roman Catholic family. As a child I was very devout. I first came into conflict with my faith when I got old enough to have some concept of sexual orientation...and realised that what I'd always thought was perfectly normal and natural was, in fact, somewhat problematic. When my many prayers for God to "fix" me went unanswered, I began to think that I was so flawed and damaged that I was beyond salvation and that God had forsaken me completely. I sunk into self-loathing and self-abuse. Got myself into some really terrible situations with some truly awful people who pretty much treated me the way I felt I deserved to be treated. Eventually my best friend managed to throw me a lifeline and helped me get my act together a little. I kicked my drug addiction which allowed me to remove my extremely abusive, sadistic drug dealer from my life.
I met my partner when I was 17. He saved me from a suicide attempt and helped me find the strength to pursue my calling in life (music), and helped me to begin accepting my sexual orientation, even though it fractured my relationship with my family for a while (my announcement that I was no longer pursuing a career in medicine, combined with my confession that I was a homosexual didn't go over specially well).
I struggled for a while after first coming to the UK to study with an excellent violin teacher at a music conservatory here. I had to support myself for the first time in my life, which took some time to figure out. I spent six months in a horribly abusive relationship. But I also got to really explore who I wanted to be, free from familial pressure. I gave up my faith completely for a time and embraced existentialism, heavily influenced by the works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, among others. In hindsight, I don't think I ever really stopped believing in God, but the concept of God and religion had become so closely associated with my own inability to come to terms with who I was that I think the only way for me to have a positive relationship with God was for me to sort of take a break from religion for a little while.
In my third year of university, my partner accepted a teaching job here in London and we were reunited. Despite his lack of faith, it was a combination my conversations with him and his unwavering love and support that brought me to a place where I was ready to have God back in my life. For a time I sort of half-arsed the Catholic thing, mostly because it was just what I was comfortable with. My world came crashing down around me again when my best friend died. My partner rescued me from another suicide attempt, and I started using heroin again. Eventually I got clean again, and I also accepted that Catholicism just wasn't for me. I just had too many issues with Catholic doctrine for it to really make any sense to call myself a Catholic anymore.
So, that brings me to now. I don't count myself as part of any specific church or denomination. I'm still working out how I feel about a lot of theological issues. I know I probably won't ever have all the answers, and that's okay. I feel closer to God than I ever have been, I'm happy, and I'm so thankful for my many blessings. I've been able to let go of a lot of the anger I've been harbouring for myself over the years. I have a job doing what I love, I have a wonderful marriage with an amazing spouse, I have awesome friends, and a supportive family. God's got my back. It's kind of hard to argue with the results. xd
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