Christian ... or Not?

[Hells Angel]

[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=Orange] I just want to ask a random question, Which are you Christian or Not or other? and please if you would explain why. =)[/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/B]

[B][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=DarkOrange] I am not a christian, But I do believe in God, I dont go to church because I hate hyprocrites, I smoke and cuss, so until I can get over these habits I wont go to church. But thats just me. What about yawl?[/COLOR][/FONT][/B][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=DarkOrange]

hah im listening to D.H.T Listen To Your Heart Dance Mix, I love this song lol..okay sorry..anywho .. :animeswea

[Rasetsutaisho]

i used to be christian... i used to be a jehovahs wittness to be exact... i used to be really hardcore with it too... i used to go out 3 or 4 times a week and evangelize in my neihborhood... and in seatle and tacoma washington...

i had really strong faith in god... and i still do. but one day something stuck me while i was reading the bible... no matter how strong your faith is, no matter how closely you try to model you life after jesus christ (which is the true meaning of the word christian, no matter what sect you're in) you're still depending on god... waiting like a soldier for him to give orders or act... you're still relying on someone else...

maybe its just me but i prefer true selfseficiency when it come to life... and life is so closely tied to spirituality that it didnt make sense to me why i was so relyant on something other than myself... i mean i know i (most likely) cant go around preforming miricles or stuff like that but i think i could d something... be cause honestly i know that if jesus came back to earth now and saw what christianity has become he would not be pleased...

but whatever... evere scince i moved out of my moms house i've been buddhist... and in buddhism everything is up to you... everything from how much you want to be enlightened to things that actualy do seem like miricles


it was funny... im currently learning kundalini yoga from a friend who family has been in the stuff for ages and while learning... even though it hasnt been that long... i can see how some of the miricles jesus preormed could actualy be done... such as healing the sick...

with healing the sick it seems you could do the samething as jesus if you combine reiki (a japanese form of healing by making bioelectrical energy flow out your hands) and kundalini yoga (which if you dont know is a yoga in which you learn to align and multiply the bioelctrical energy flowing in your spine. this results i a freakishly large amount of access energy, which if manipulated can be used to perform 'miricles')

anyways... i guess regaurdless of what religion im in, im still holding on to the same philisophical ideas as just about everyone else has... only difference i'd say is that im goign to try and prove to god that man kind can change themselves, evolve a bit, and bring about their own salvation

[Corey]

[QUOTE=Rasetsutaisho]i had really strong faith in god... and i still do.

evere scince i moved out of my moms house i've been buddhist...[/QUOTE]

[size=1]Not to piss you off or anything, but you realize that you're contradicting yourself here, right?
Being a Buddhist doesn't exactly allow for belief in a God. Unless you're being very lax with your followings and, forgive the term, 'semi-buddhist' it seems you might be a little confused.
[url=http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/buddhaintro.html]Buddhism Basics[/url] for everyone to refer to.

I was baptized Christian. I was never taken to church. I was never made to read the bible or pray before bed. In fact, in my entire life, I've heard more "Jesus Christ" from my mother than anyone else. And she always said it when she was angry.

Four years ago I dropped my 'religon' and became an anthiest. As Rasetsutausho said, I prefer to rely on myself. I've never felt the spiritual need. I've never felt any sort of binding to God, or any number of other gods.

I believe in myself, and that's good enough for me.[/size]

[Osaka]

I was born into a christian family.
And the church that I used to go to was very fake and was full of hyprocrites.
I got so sick of it one day and switched over to being an athiest.
and I did that because of many reasons. one day during church and it was time for offering the pastor got up from his seat and announced " stop being cheap putting only penneis and dollers in this plate I know you got more than that."

I know your all probably like no way!! But yes way.
and after that me and my mom stopped giving money.
I could go on four hours but Im not but I'll end saying this

It's hard being athiest when your african-american :(

[Rasetsutaisho]

what does being african american have to do with that?

i probably have darker skin than you do! it changes nothing...

honestly faith boils down to the strength to belive in something you're not sure about... and i suppose if its god's will he'll bless you for it... but for those with out faith... for whatever reson...

...um

i forgot where i was going with this... dang... oh well
just dont use race as some sort of something!

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1]I'm a Christian, and I've always been one. I was baptised when I was a very small baby. However, I'm puzzled by your statement, Hells Angel.

[quote name='Hells Angel']I hate hyprocrites, I smoke and cuss, so until I can get over these habits I wont go to church. But thats just me.[/quote]
What do hypocrites at church have to do with [I]you[/I] smoking and cussing? I would also recommend finding a new church -- it's sad when people's view of a religion is automatically tarnished by one bad run-in with the religion. Give it another chance. Ask yourself... what can it hurt?[/SIZE]

[Rasetsutaisho]

[QUOTE=Retribution][SIZE=1]I'm a Christian, and I've always been one. I was baptised when I was a very small baby. However, I'm puzzled by your statement, Hells Angel.


What do hypocrites at church have to do with [I]you[/I] smoking and cussing? I would also recommend finding a new church -- it's sad when people's view of a religion is automatically tarnished by one bad run-in with the religion. Give it another chance. Ask yourself... what can it hurt?[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

i may not be christian... and i may not exactly like christianity... but i do agree with what he's saying... its human nature to need spirtuality of some sort... regardless of any search for truth you could on... its good to at least have some sort of spiritual belife, outline or something that effects your daily life... there really is a difference... between ppl who think on some sort of spiritual level and those who dont... its actualy really obvious

[Goodbye, Face]

I had every curiosity of mine about religion beaten out of me in seventh grade. I am athiest, simply because of the people where I live who use God as a fashion statement. I refuse to be in the same group as them, even if I did have faith, there would be no way I'd act upon it.

I was born and raised religionless. I [i]was[/i] given the choice though, my parents are still leaving the option to me. I know a lot of Christians are raised in well... a very Christian setting. My dad was, he was put through Catholic school, I believe. It just made him hate his religion, so after school, he never wanted to be in a church ever again, and he basically raised me as such. Mom's a little bit nicer about it.

My peers really don't believe that I possess a freedom of being without a religion. There's a Satanist around my school whom everyone's friends with, but I can't be athiest?

There's one thing I've never understood. If I'm athiest, why would it affect (you)? Am I so wrong to have my own personal beliefs than to have (yours)?

[Kato_Ama]

Hmmm, I was baptized a christian but I'm really not. My mother always hated the church, thought it was too changed and modernized, so we never ever went. Dad never went either, but I don't really know why. The both claim to be strong christians though, which I think is a load of crap. Another thing is that I don't think Jesus was the son of god and blah blah blah. I thought about converting to Judaism since I do beleive in god, but I realized that I really wouldn't be a good Jew either because I still wouldn't go to temple or follow the "rules". I realized what does interesting me in religion is ritual and symbols, so it would make perfect sense that I would start to follow a beleif system with little to no ritual and only one well known symbol. Taoism. A lot of my friends told me that a lot of what I would be saying reminded them of that. So, I checked it out and realized that it pretty much was what I beleived in already. I'd always liked the Yin Yang anyway :animesmil

[Kamuro]

[SIZE=1]There's other posts to discuss religion, shouldn't this discussion be held there? Or should I open up another thread for cults? Hmm, oh well.

If it wasn't already blatantly obvious I'm not a religious person, and rightly so. However, I don't belittle those who decide to have something to believe in, yet even so I have yet to find the same kind of respect in most cases. People of the church (speaking from personal experiences), believe themselves to be better then others who aren't of the same religious state. It's even written in the bible that judging another who isn't Christian is a sin, since they aren't on identical spiritual levels. If people of the church don't altogether shun you for not believing in God, then they'll be reluctant to treat you as an equal. People have told me it doesn't bother them, yet now and then make subtle condescending remarks in my direction.

I assure you I am informed on various religions and the bible, so my opinions are not simply mindless babble, for all of you assuming I'm a directionless rebel. I've found that most people of the church find sinning to be ok, since every Sunday they go to church and apologize for what they'd done, yet in my opinion this doesn't make it ok. They accept that they sin, which prevents them from truly trying not to. Sure, they might attempt to, or put on a front for their holy peers, but in the back of their mind there is always that thought of reassurance. So what if I do something wrong, I'll ask for forgiveness from God and it'll be alright. But what about the people who pay for [I]your[/I] consequences? Perhaps it doesn't even matter, they're not Christian anyway.[/SIZE]

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Kamuro][SIZE=1]I assure you I am informed on various religions and the bible, so my opinions are not simply mindless babble, for all of you assuming I'm a directionless rebel. I've found that most people of the church find sinning to be ok, since every Sunday they go to church and apologize for what they'd done, yet in my opinion this doesn't make it ok. They accept that they sin, which prevents them from truly trying not to. Sure, they might attempt to, or put on a front for their holy peers, but in the back of their mind there is always that thought of reassurance. So what if I do something wrong, I'll ask for forgiveness from God and it'll be alright. But what about the people who pay for [I]your[/I'] consequences? Perhaps it doesn't even matter, they're not Christian anyway.[/SIZE][/quote]

This reminds me of the "presto-chango-death-bed-repentance" thing on... The Simpsons. I watch it too much obviously lol. It's obviously very questionable in practice. I'm not religious myself, but I've just come to the realization (I guess you could call it that), that I can't do much more than try to be a decent person in my every day life and try to help out with other things as I can. If that's not enough, eh. I don't know that I want to exist in some form forever anyway lol.

[eleanor]

[color=darkslateblue] Ha. I have always had a hard time with religion.

I was born in a Christian family, and had believed in God and Jesus Christ and everything else until I hit middle school. I became agnostict, then athiest, and now I'm just something totally in between believing and not believing. For the last half-year, I have tried to believe in God, but there is just something that blocks me. I drift in-between believing that the world we see today is a product of evolution and believing that it is God that leads everything in the world.

I hate the idea of fate, but I love the idea that you have a faith to follow for the rest of your life.

I wish I could believe, anyway.[/color]

[Zhara]

[COLOR=Purple][FONT=Garamond]I ceased believing in God somewhere around middle school, probably early eighth grade. Before then, I was Mormon. Yeah...I was raised by my father, a semi-practicing Mormon, and he would take me to church with him sometimes. But after elementary school, I was raised by my mother, and though she too was Mormon, she never went to church.

I was baptized at eight years old, the standard age for Mormons. But at that age, is there really a need to "wash away my sins"? Seriously, I think it's just some bizarre, frightening ritual to bind you to the church and your religion...

My mom wouldn't even know that I don't believe in God if my sister hadn't blabbed...But she still doesn't know that I consider myself to be Buddhist. A bad Buddhist, though, considering I can't look up any websites on it or get any books on it for fear of my mom and step dad finding out. They found out that I bought a book at Hot Topic one time...The book was [U]Vampires: The Occult Truth[/U] or something like that, and the author was Konstantinos, a Dark Neopagan. Well, needless to say, they made a huge big deal, and I think they thought I was a Satanist for a while, because I started to really get into the Goth stuff. And they said that Dark Neopagans are just Satanists with a different name...If the guy was a freaking Satanist, that's what it would say, not "Dark Neopagan"! Seriously. My parents are retarded.

[I]But how can someone be a Satanist if they don't believe in God?[/I] :animeangr[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1][quote name='Rasetsutaisho']its human nature to need spirtuality of some sort[/quote]
And you can say that with such certainty...why?

I am not religious in any aspect of my life. I'm open to the idea that there may be a God, or gods, or an afterlife. Nirvana, whatever you'd like to call it. But I don't practice religion in my life, and I don't feel any less complete without it. I think that people who are religious, perhaps overestimate what it provides them, or underestimate those without religion.

Oh, and Zhara...Satanists worship Satan. By not 'believing' in God, they don't worship Him or pay any acknowledgement..[/size]

[Retribution]

[QUOTE=Baron Samedi][size=1]
I think that people who are religious, perhaps overestimate what it provides them, or underestimate those without religion.[/size][/QUOTE][SIZE=1]
How can you overestimate what you have faith in (this being God)? This is why Christianity is a [i]faith[/i]. This is putting trust in Him that God actually exists -- so it's only natural for it to look like they're 'overestimating.' To you, they're overestimating something nonexistant, which is quite easy to do.

I don't believe there's any [i]underestimation[/i] of those without religion's abilities, but of their spiritual life and afterlives. And since you don't have belief in that, I fail to see your point.[/SIZE]

[Annie]

[QUOTE=Zhara][COLOR=Purple][FONT=Garamond]
[I]But how can someone be a Satanist if they don't believe in God?[/I] :animeangr[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]


[size=1]They believe that there are higher powers, and that there may be a God, but as Baron said, the don't worship or acknowledge God's existance.

Why? To Satanists, they feel that "God" [and all his worshipers/followers] is/are conniving and casting false hopes over people. Satanists are people who feel that God has failed them, and they feel that Christianity shouldn't be pushing their beliefs onto people just to lead them into disappointment and pain. They worship/follow Satan because they feel that he is honest and accepts you for whoever you are. IE, Satan doesn't care if you fell in love with a member of the same sex, or whatever God tells you you can't/shouldn't do. To Satanists, they are free.

[b]Edit[/b]- Silly me, I strayed from the topic. I am not Christian, I am not a Satanist, nor am I in the belief that there is no God. I guess if I were to be labled, I'd call myself "agnostic". I feel that there is something there, but I don't believe in "God" or "Jesus". My reasons are too complicated, that even I'm not sure if I believe what I believe. I'm going through a rough time religiously, and I'd rather not label myself as anything, even as being agnostic. [/size]

[John]

[quote name='Hells Angel][b][font=Times New Roman][color=darkorange]I am not a christian, But I do believe in God, I dont go to church because I hate hyprocrites, I smoke and cuss, so until I can get over these habits I wont go to church.[/color][/font'][/b][/quote]Just f.y.i., don't let anyone tell you cussing is a sin. It isn't. That's an old wive's tale that some 18th century redneck mother stuck to a then-obscure Bible verse to stop her children from saying words that she didn't like. (This is coming from a Christian, mind you.)

[Sage Kaley]

Hm well I can tell you I'm not a Christian, that's for certain. I don't talk about my religious beliefs because well, I don't really have any. I don't have a religion although my friend says I am Agnostic because I don't know if I believe that God exists or not. He might but I don't know if I can honestly say that I believe that.

Another friend has been telling me about Buddhism lately and I must admit, parts of that do sound nice. At the same time, I believe in things like ghosts and tarot and things that might be considered occult. Part of the reason I think Agnostic fits me better. My 'beliefs' are a bit scattered.

I don't know...I suppose my feelings are just to be the best, kindest person I can be. If there is a God, then that should be enough in my book. If not, well then at least in my life I did my best and made others happy. That's all I want. That's my belief. I don't mix it in with God or Jesus or anyone else.

Oh and I was raised by three people...my Grandma who was always talking to spirits and doing tarot, my Christian mother and my Atheist father. Heh.

[Drix D'Zanth]

[quote name='Who?']Just f.y.i., don't let anyone tell you cussing is a sin. It isn't. That's an old wive's tale that some 18th century redneck mother stuck to a then-obscure Bible verse to stop her children from saying words that she didn't like. (This is coming from a Christian, mind you.)[/quote]

Well considering that to be a good Christian one should try to honor God through his/her actions, including speech? If so, is a loose tounge really honoring God? In fairness, cursing is usually subject to the vernacular of the culture... so I think that "cursing" sinfully falls under one's intentions. Cursing someone is a sin, but is saying "I bite my thumb at thee" at your friend a sin? Probably not...

I'm speaking from a Christian perspective...

[Baron Samedi]

[QUOTE=Retribution][SIZE=1]
How can you overestimate what you have faith in (this being God)? This is why Christianity is a [i]faith[/i]. This is putting trust in Him that God actually exists -- so it's only natural for it to look like they're 'overestimating.' To you, they're overestimating something nonexistant, which is quite easy to do.

I don't believe there's any [i]underestimation[/i] of those without religion's abilities, but of their spiritual life and afterlives. And since you don't have belief in that, I fail to see your point.[/SIZE][/QUOTE][size=1]
I think you missed my point Retribution... I said that I think those who have a religion are overestimating what it gives them, or underestimating the capability of those without religion to survive quite easily without it. You completely missed what I was saying. Often, it seems that religious people think that 'everyone needs spirituality', as Rasetsutaisho said. And that is rubbish. I'm doing fine without it.[/size]

[Sandy]

[QUOTE=Baron Samedi][size=1]
Often, it seems that religious people think that 'everyone needs spirituality', as Rasetsutaisho said. And that is rubbish. I'm doing fine without it.[/size][/QUOTE]


When I went to the local church's office to resign myself from the institution as soon as I turned eighteen, a minister came to talk to me, as if to direct a stray lamb back to the right path. I felt a bit uneasy, but we talked about my decision for a good five minutes or so. At the end, the minister had nothing else to say than (free translation to English) "you think like this now when everything is alright in your life, but you will surely need spiritual guidance when you face sickness or death".

It felt a bit odd to me, as if the church was only there for desperate people. What the minister didn't know was that I had already gone through hell in my past life, and not once did I kneel down and pray to some higher powers to save me.

That's because the hell I lived in showed me that there was no benevolent higher powers, there was just life in all of it's quirky coincidences.

Of course some devoted Christians might see my suffering as a trial from the God, but if God's such a *****, I really don't want anything to do with him/her/it, even if God existed.

I'm not bitter, it's just that higher powers don't fit into my view on world and life. And mind you, my views aren't pessimistic or depressive at the least. I believe that in every human being there's some good and some bad - the balance might just be way off at some cases. ;)

[Killer7]

OKay this might get a little controversial:

Personally I used to be a Christian. I quit recently when I realized what God really was. God is just an excuse for somebody to have meaning in thier life, when in reality thier is no meaning in thier life. He is their to make people feel special about thier religion, and feel like they are better then Muslims, Jews, or whatever other religion you are. I was never really a big, Christian, I only went to Church on holidays, and an occasional Sunday.

THe Bible:

Come on, how can you listen to this? First off, their is a good chance everything was taken out of proportion. Also alot of Christians say that alot of the Old Testament is supposed be taken figuretively. Couldn't the same be true for the rest of the bible? For people who actually believed Genesis happened, I have one word: dinosaur, or did they not happen, just like Galileo's theries.

So if you are still Christian, think about it. DOes a simple 2000 year old book mean a entire religion is true? NO, just like Aesop's fables don'tmean the Grim Reaper exists.

[Sapphire Flare]

[quote name='Killer7'] So if you are still Christian, think about it. Does a simple 2000 year old book mean a entire religion is true? NO, just like Aesop's fables don't mean the Grim Reaper exists.[/quote]

I have one word: Faith

Aesop's fables were made so that they were not true. Hence the word: "Fable"
:animesigh

Just because you don't think he's real doesn't mean he isn't.

That's like saying:

God doesn't believe in you, so you're not real. ;)

[Hells Angel]

[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=DarkOrange] Wow getting heated over this religion issue. Well I respect everyones religion, who am I to judge whom you worship? I think that everyone has the right to worship who they want to. And I think that others shouldnt critize that. At least they have faith in something, instead of nothing =). But thats just my opinion..*shrugs*[/COLOR][/FONT][/B] :D

[Retribution]

[QUOTE=Sage]When I went to the local church's office to resign myself from the institution as soon as I turned eighteen, a minister came to talk to me, as if to direct a stray lamb back to the right path. I felt a bit uneasy, but we talked about my decision for a good five minutes or so. At the end, the minister had nothing else to say than (free translation to English) "you think like this now when everything is alright in your life, but you will surely need spiritual guidance when you face sickness or death".

It felt a bit odd to me, as if the church was only there for desperate people. What the minister didn't know was that I had already gone through hell in my past life, and not once did I kneel down and pray to some higher powers to save me.[/QUOTE]
[SIZE=1]I think what he meant was that "You're okay now, but in the tough times, you will need God to help you through." Now, he shouldn't've said that, but he definitely did not mean that the church is for desperate people.

As for the adversity in your life -- evil inflicted upon humans has nothing to do with God's actions. He gave us free will (or so I believe), and so things like the Holocaust, the dropping of the atom bombs, etc were all deeds done by humans alone. God's not being a ***** -- and I kind of resent that you said that -- he's giving us humans free will, and you're seeing the evil come out in us.

[QUOTE]Come on, how can you listen to this? First off, their is a good chance everything was taken out of proportion. Also alot of Christians say that alot of the Old Testament is supposed be taken figuretively. Couldn't the same be true for the rest of the bible? For people who actually believed Genesis happened, I have one word: dinosaur, or did they not happen, just like Galileo's theries.[/QUOTE]
Alright, I'll start off saying I believe that Genesis was a metaphor for what actually happened. Genesis was either an account of things that people could actually understand (imagine teaching peasants more complex things...), or that Genesis did happen -- but not in seven days. But really, who knows... maybe seven days was God's time -- I really don't know. As for the rest of the Old Testament, Christians believe that actually happened pretty much word for word. Alot of it is historical documentation, and you can find proof of the Bible's accounts in other ancient texts.

Yes, I could see where you might say 'if it's that way here, why not everywhere?' But I have faith, which is most of religion, and most of all, it's the message that should be digested by people. If people would at least understand the 'Love thy neighbor' stuff, I would be satisfied. I don't believe that you have to follow Jesus, I believe that you have to be a good person (ten commandments minus the two about God, golden rule, etc) to go to heaven. The notion that non-Christians can't get to heaven seems absolutely ridiculous. Does that mean that Ghandi would be in hell? I hope not, and I think that God is just.

Heh. Sorry bout that tangent, but it's all somewhat related. [/SIZE]