What is your religion?

[Kean]

A lot of us have said that we were brought up in a certain religion but now are atheist or we believe in God but not organised religion.

Do any of you miss being active in your religion? For years I have done everything in my power to pull away from the Catholic church bit lately I have really really wanted to just go and sit in the Cathedral and feel part of it again.

Has anyone else felt this pull of their past?

 

[Tillow4ever]

I'm really just spiritual. I believe things happen for a reason... I don't really know if I believe in god. I'm just very spiritual. I don't know how to explain it. haha

 

[FetalPig]

I was raised Catholic, but during my teenage years realised that this was mostly about rules and guidelines so I abstained. I thought I was atheist and it took me a while to realise I was agnostic ... that i still had unanswerable questions. I read a lot and travelled, and met a wide variety of religious/spiritual/non-spiritual people. Buddhists and Wiccans and Sufis particularly seemed to have large parts of the puzzle figured out, but I never affiliated to any of these groups.

The experiences I have had which confirm to me the relevance of spirituality in my life are transcendent. It is the experience of part of something so much bigger, and in the context of which all questions are answered, everything is obvious. There are no problems, only circumstances and it will probably take forever to resolve all the circumstances to everyone's satisfaction but Hey! Life is good.

These experiences are somewhat fleeting but the memory of them is inspiring. When i first began to get this I became quite evangelical about my insights which created more confusion than peace for me. Anything was possible but i couldn't make it happen sort of thing. It took (is taking?) a long time to get over that. Life is way simpler than we think. Thinking makes things more complicated, makes us forget the simplicity, the connection.

I think most organised religions are based on these kind of experiences where there is an understanding of the connection we all have, guidelines for staying close to it, and practices to inhibit our thinking so we can experience the vastness and the support of 'God'. Unfortunately once those guidelines and practices are taught by those without the underlying experiences they become mis-interpretted. A lot gets lost in the translation.

I like the term Ignostic that someone mentioned. The more i read this thread the more i realise that I have no idea what any of you mean by the word God. Even those of you who have tried to explain.

Personally i believe that it God works a bit like we do. We are each made up of myriad cells that interact with a phenomenal range of different purposes and intentions which are often in harmony yet sometimes conflict with each other. These cells form a body which is able to think feel experience and act, but an individual cell probably has very little concept of, say going to the shop to buy a comic. I imagine the planet is alive in a sort of vaguely similar kind of way. And by extension the Universe is probably God, or at least part of god.

I have no name for this and nor do I want one 😉

Humans have learned that the more we work together the more influential we are and the more our efforts come to something, and we are at the stage where there are large groups of people able to do this (goverments, religions, corporations etc). Still got a ways to go though.

I haven't done a kind of summary of what i think like this for a long time. Thanks to anyone who manages to read the whole thing.

 

[Username]

I have a question, how many people here believe in intelligent design? is there anyone who believes in god but also in evolution? where do you guys stand on that?

 

[Kean]

I have a question, how many people here believe in intelligent design? is there anyone who believes in god but also in evolution? where do you guys stand on that?

I do. The way it was taught to me in school, I always got the impression that the Bible version was more like a story where as the truth was in the science.

I honestly take Catholicism, as I was brought up in, with a pinch of salt. I will never believe something just because some man in a pulpit tells me I should. I have a mind of my own and I intend to use it.

 

[Username]

I do. The way it was taught to me in school, I always got the impression that the Bible version was more like a story where as the truth was in the science.

I honestly take Catholicism, as I was brought up in, with a pinch of salt. I will never believe something just because some man in a pulpit tells me I should. I have a mind of my own and I intend to use it.

So you believe in god but not that he created us?
If he didn't create us why does god even care about us or what we do ?

 

[NY State of Mind]

I'm Lewish 🙂 .............

 

[Kean]

So you believe in god but not that he created us?
If he didn't create us why does god even care about us or what we do ?

Why does God have to create us to care? How many people are in your life that you care about but are not blood related? I'm betting a lot.

I honestly can not give you a tidy answer to that question, I don't know if I have any answer at all. I just know I believe. I tend to think that Science is responsible for the body and God is the responsible for the soul. Again, I have no reason to believe this other than the fact that I just do.

 

[Username]

Why does God have to create us to care? How many people are in your life that you care about but are not blood related? I'm betting a lot.

I honestly can not give you a tidy answer to that question, I don't know if I have any answer at all. I just know I believe. I tend to think that Science is responsible for the body and God is the responsible for the soul. Again, I have no reason to believe this other than the fact that I just do.

Sure there's people I care about that are not related to me by blood, but i don't give them rules on how to live their lives, I don't say "if you do this you're going to hell" , that's what god does, or that's what people who believe god says he does, but if we were not in god's great plan why does it matter to him what we do, that's what I'm wondering because it doesn't make sense to me.
And you don't have to answer it, no one does, and no one ever will.

 

[Kean]

Sure there's people I care about that are not related to me by blood, but i don't give them rules on how to live their lives, I don't say "if you do this you're going to hell" , that's what god does, or that's what people who believe god says he does, but if we were not in god's great plan why does it matter to him what we do, that's what I'm wondering because it doesn't make sense to me.
And you don't have to answer it, no one does, and no one ever will.

See to me, the rules are man made. They are there because man deigned to put them there. I suppose I think God is given too much credit. That's gona sound blasphemous but I don't believe our lives are mapped out for us. I don't believe our lives and the way we live them are pre-determined. I think the soul is created with the capacity of both good and evil and it us, humankind, that make the choices that shape that life. So when something terrible happens I don't blame God as if it was their job to stop it.

I know I'm picking and choosing with to believe and what to discard but I think that is the only way you can approach religion with being smothered by it.

 

[zobothehobo]

A lot of us have said that we were brought up in a certain religion but now are atheist or we believe in God but not organised religion.

Do any of you miss being active in your religion? For years I have done everything in my power to pull away from the Catholic church bit lately I have really really wanted to just go and sit in the Cathedral and feel part of it again.

Has anyone else felt this pull of their past?

Actually yes, a little. I was never really big on church when I was little. But I was raised in the Greek Orthodox church and my friends talk about their churches and the modern (or way more modern) things they do and it makes me want to say "Wait a sec" and go back to church... then I remember how boring it is and how everyone there just wants to touch my hair and ask me how my mom is doing and I say "never mind." I do still say "we" and "our church" when I tell my friends about the differences in their church and mine. (see, I did it again, "mine.")

 

[mayfever]

I have a question, how many people here believe in intelligent design? is there anyone who believes in god but also in evolution? where do you guys stand on that?

I do, too. If you look closely at the evolution process, there is still a part where it takes a quantum leap from inanimate to animate cell matter, and that leaves ample room for divine intervention, if you choose to believe in it (like I do).

I was born and raised Catholic, but as Kean said, I take it with a grain of salt. I wouldn't say I'm a practising Catholic (I go to church every once in a while, but I haven't been to confession in ages), but I help myself at the pick'n'mix of all religions. There's probably more to Catholicism that I disagree with than that I agree with (it IS a fairly misogynist religion), but I found time and again that I can't escape the effect that the traditions, the rites and simply being in a cathedral have on me. If pressed, I'd probably admit to being spiritual rather than religious, but I very decidedly believe in a godlike presence that loves and guides us if we let it, even though I don't find all my answers in my faith.

 

[xfivebyfive]

I have a question, how many people here believe in intelligent design? is there anyone who believes in god but also in evolution? where do you guys stand on that?

I believe in evolution as well as god, I was raised Catholic. I believe God put everything in motion. Set the big bang off creating us through chain reaction. Watching over everything as it evolved. That's just my personal theory though. I dont believe every story in the bible but read them more as though they have a message. And the actual events being true isn't the point. The later stories about Jesus I believe in though.

Sure there's people I care about that are not related to me by blood, but i don't give them rules on how to live their lives, I don't say "if you do this you're going to hell" , that's what god does, or that's what people who believe god says he does, but if we were not in god's great plan why does it matter to him what we do, that's what I'm wondering because it doesn't make sense to me.
And you don't have to answer it, no one does, and no one ever will.

It's not God saying that. Its man. Its man interpreting what God says. What Jesus says though is "Let he among you without sin cast the first stone." So man isn't supposed to go around casting judgment and playing God. But some people choose to ignore that passage in favor of more harsh old testament quotes.

I personally believe that God loves all his children, regardless of who they are or what they believe. If he can forgive a murderer that has repented I can't see him sending a man to hell for loving another man.

Also I'm not trying to sound preachy I'm just stating my opinion, only what I believe.

 

[brinkster130]

I have a question, how many people here believe in intelligent design? is there anyone who believes in god but also in evolution? where do you guys stand on that?

I personally believe science and religion can go hand in hand when it comes to intelligent design and evolution. The Bible isn't specific on how things were created, it simply states that they were. Who is to say that God didn't use evolution when creating?

Oh and to answer the threads original question: I grew going to a Presbyterian church every Sunday. I do believe in God but not currently active in a church.

 

[MRNewman]

Original Response: I was raised United Methodist. Currently my wife and I attend a Southern Baptist Church with our son. I believe in God, the concept of the trinity, and have no doubts in my faith.

That said, my faith is not 100% the same as the dogma of the church I attend. Examples: I believe in evolution. See no reason why evolution has to contradict the concept that there is a God who set the universe in motion in, according to the Bible, 7 steps. I'm also not convinced that my God is the only one to ever exist or who currently exists. The Bible almost feels like a henotheistic document, in that it acknowledges that other gods exist, but informs its adherents that their God is the God above them all. For example: In Exodus, it explicitly calls out that during the first Passover that God passed judgement upon the gods of the Egyptians. That could not happen if their gods did not exist in some form. Again - I don't worship other gods, but I do acknowledge that some others may exist and their existence has no bearing on my faith.

 

[Username]

It's not God saying that. Its man. Its man interpreting what God says. What Jesus says though is "Let he among you without sin cast the first stone." So man isn't supposed to go around casting judgment and playing God. But some people choose to ignore that passage in favor of more harsh old testament quotes.

I personally believe that God loves all his children, regardless of who they are or what they believe. If he can forgive a murderer that has repented I can't see him sending a man to hell for loving another man.

Also I'm not trying to sound preachy I'm just stating my opinion, only what I believe.

So everybody is going to heaven no matter what ?
I don't even know why I'm asking that..

 

[MRNewman]

So everybody is going to heaven no matter what ?
I don't even know why I'm asking that..

Some people believe that. Example - in Mormonism, unless you know of the existence of God / Christ and actively reject it, you get into Heaven eventually. In the Latter Day Saints' faith, there is a multi-tiered concept of Heaven that is easier to ask a member of said church to explain 🙂

 

[xfivebyfive]

So everybody is going to heaven no matter what ?
I don't even know why I'm asking that..

Thats not exactly what I was saying. What I meant is that, I don't believe God will hold things against you like your sexual orientation. When in theory if Hitler had repented before he died (well and hadn't killed himself) he supposedly could go to heaven. Now if a man as evil as hitler can go to heaven by just repenting then I believe that God wouldn't turn away a good man or woman because of who they slept with.

 

[girlonfire]

I was raised to believe in God but growing up, I am finding many things to question. I don't want to admit to my parents that I am a reluctant, skeptical 'Catholic' and I despise going to church, because it makes me feel so guilty and bad.
I believe that there are different Gods out there for different things. Maybe it's just mere mythology, I don't know but I'm fairly certain that there wouldn't just be one God. It's what I believe in. I can't be an athiest because I believe that there is something out there. I'm just not sure whether or not it's one God.
I can't trust the Bible because there are so many cracks in it and it just contradicts itself too much to make me believe.

I detest Scientology. I don't think it's a religion. No offence to any Scientologists on this board or any where else but, I just don't see how it can be a religion like Christianity or even Buddhism.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Username]

Thats not exactly what I was saying. What I meant is that, I don't believe God will hold things against you like your sexual orientation. When in theory if Hitler had repented before he died (well and hadn't killed himself) he supposedly could go to heaven. Now if a man as evil as hitler can go to heaven by just repenting then I believe that God wouldn't turn away a good man or woman because of who they slept with.

So god does send people to hell if they do things that are against his rules and don't repent?