Are You Religious?

Do You Believe In A Higher Power?

  • Yes

    Votes: 25 51.0%

  • No

    Votes: 24 49.0%
  • Total voters
    49
caritas08 said:
Well, Jesus had about thirty years or so to say that being gay was a sin and he never did so I don't think being gay and a Christian contradicts itself at all. I have all the Gospels basically memorized and he never says one thing against gays (although he certainly had a thing or two to say about people who judge and condemn others). I just think organized religion has corrupted a lot of what Jesus taught and tried to warp it into their own agenda (but that's another discussion).

I definitely believe in Jesus and everything he stood for but I agree with a lot of what Buddhism says too as well as aspects of other religions. That's kind of why I'm not real crazy about organized religion. I think it too often gets warped and twisted into saying something it's not.
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Amen! Amen! Amen! LOL! :biggrin4:

Some biblical scholars believe (and I believe this as well) that the stories of the relationship between Jonathon and David and Ruth and Naomi were actually love stories... :love0:
 
C
caritas08
Well David did say he loved Jonathan more than he ever loved a woman :)
Taake
Taake
I certainly think that about Jonathan and David. Love is in the air when you read about them...
VisionGirl
VisionGirl
[No message]
Deeply spiritual, no longer a member of organised religion (was raised Catholic, but started to seriously not fit in there around age 16 or so, and finally officially left the church around ten years later).

As the poll just speaks of "belief in a Higher Power", that's still a firm yes from me then. 🙂
 
Am I religious? Hell no.

Do I believe in a high power? Not really. But I don't deny the possibility that a higher power may exist. So I guess that makes me sort of agnostic. I've always struggled between agnosticism and atheism. So there wasn't exactly a poll option for me, but I picked 'no' anyway.

I barely gave a thought to throwing away the religious beliefs of my childhood. It was an easy decision. But I still struggle quite a bit deciding exactly what it is I believe. Am I an atheist or an agnostic? I don't know. I'd like to be an atheist, but I think I identify more as an agnostic.
 
As people have pointed out, the question in the poll and the question in the thread title are two different things. I voted yes, 'cause I do believe in a higher power, but I'm not religious. I guess you could say I believe in.... that the universe is aware of what it's doing and that we go some place else after we die.
 
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FetalPig
Conscious Universe karma!
Just to clear things up with the people complaining about the poll, I put it in there so I didn't have to make two threads.
 
VisionGirl
VisionGirl
I didn't mean to complain, just to point it out. I'm glad you started this thread, I love it!
FetalPig said:
we are not isolated individuals. That there is more to Life than these mundane physical bodies and circumstances. We are all part of something and we interact. We get happier when we work together (not just in the same room on the same task), and i wonder what we might do if we ALL worked together. That seems a long way off but it makes me curious.

I suspect that everything alive is in some way conscious, and the more we work together, the more inclusive we are, then the more we're all on the same side.
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Yes! Yes! Yes! Like you're speaking the words of my heart!
 
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FetalPig
I'm so glad to hear it! ;-)
I was raised catholic but would consider myself a nondenominational christian now. I go to church almost every week, I read my Bible and pray. But above all that, I have a relationship with God and Jesus.

That said, I think what people say and do in the name of God that is hateful, especially towards the LGBTQ community is horrible. The God I believe in and worship cares way more about your heart and being honest with Him than who you are or are not sleeping with.

One of my favorite verses is Romans 5:1, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." As a Christian, I don't think what I do makes me "better" than other people or deserve God. In fact, being a Christian should humble you. It means you believe you need Jesus. I have faith in what I believe and that's enough, my actions don't earn me anything.

Hope that doesn't come off Evangelical or anything! 😛 I sometimes get nervous about saying "I TOTALLY BELIEVE IN JESUS" because some people link that with homophobia and bigotry and I don't want that.
 
Taake
Taake
Nope, didn't find you evengelical :) I'm more curious about your opinion about the Old testament
I voted yes. I am religious, spiritual and I do believe in a higher power. I was raised in a Christian household and went to a Presbyterian church every Sunday. Growing up church was not an option, we went. I don't go to church every Sunday now but I do still go regularly; although I'm not sure which denomination I'd associate myself with.

I've also taken several religious studies courses and have attended many different religious institutions while in college. I find religions fascinating and really enjoy learning about and experiencing them.
 
Taake
Taake
I actually had to look up Presbyterianism to know what it was :)
[MENTION=11476]Mithol[/MENTION] agrees: There's an Eagle Scout mass? Wow
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Yeah, if the Boy Scout troop is affilliated with a Catholic Church. Most Boy Scout troops are affiliated with a church of some kind (not Cub Scouts though- mix of church and school-sponsored Packs).

[MENTION=11292]kittenpoker[/MENTION] agrees: I tried to pm you but your basket's all full. 🙂
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Fixed it, re-send it! 🙂

Kean agrees: You know, I'm really gona have to chat with you about how you deal with being Catholic but still having questions and issues. I'm curious about how others are handling it.
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Yes, we will definitely talk! I've been all over the map with my faith (I was Evangelical for awhile, too).

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Comments on this post
[MENTION=7585]Kean[/MENTION] agrees: I had a quick read of an article on the Cloyne Report. Very good, but I must remember to not read the comments ever again!
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Yeah, sometimes the ultra-conservative/traditionalist folks like to post stuff in the comments. But it's like any news article- I tell myself NOT to read the comments, I invariably do, and then I want to poke my eyes out with a sharp stick LOL!

This Year's Girl said:
As people have pointed out, the question in the poll and the question in the thread title are two different things. I voted yes, 'cause I do believe in a higher power, but I'm not religious. I guess you could say I believe in.... that the universe is aware of what it's doing and that we go some place else after we die.
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I do believe in some kind of afterlife. What it particularly is, I'm not sure. I do like to believe that I'll be reunited with my loved ones. I don't really believe in a judgement per se. At least I don't think I believe in an actual hell. Even though I'm Catholic, I'm more Universalist in my beliefs about salvation. In fact, I sometimes think that the Unitarian church is a better fit for my beliefs. But I'd miss the ritual/liturgy.
 
Kean said:
I'm in a complicated relationship with Catholicism.

I'm trying very hard to figure out where I stand within Catholicism and discern what is "The Church" (which I have oceans of issues with, if not down right disdain) and what constitutes my Faith, which I feel is where my real spirituality resides. I'd love to find the Josiah Bartlet balance of it all. I'm not capable of blind devotion, nor can I renounce my religion all together.
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This is basically exactly me.
 
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