What is your Religion?

[Eva10]

[QUOTE=Shadow Blade][SIZE=1][COLOR=SlateGray]Religion?

Easy question.
I put my faith in Christianity.

Oh yeah, I'm also wondering whether anyone has heard of "Left Behind".

A question out of curiosity.
Nothing Special.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE]


Left Behind, do you mean the book series that was made into movies with that guy from the show "growing pains". If so have you seen any of the Omega Code movies.

[Pandy]

[QUOTE=RiflesAtRecess][font=trebuchet ms]^^ Not bothered at all.

What you're asking me is similar to a question that I could ask you. What if there is no God? What if there is no heaven, and you just stop existing other than a rotting corpse in a coffin somewhere? You have accepted heaven and you have demonstrated in the above quote that you can't fathom it any other way. I am in the same place as you. I have accepted a cold, dark death; I feel that my life has/is/will be good enough to where heaven would be excessive. I see it as a form of greed. I suppose that if there is a God, and there is a heaven; sure, I'd like to be invited to the party.

:) Happy thoughts.[/font][/QUOTE]
[SIZE=1]
Oh.. Okay. Then I can understand and respect that ^__^ But.. I don't agree with what you said about it being greed. Many people have experienced something that [i]proves[/i] to them the existence of heaven, myself included. There's no doubt in my mind that if I lead a good life, I'll end up there one day. So it's not greed, not for me at least.

'What if there is no God?' you say? Well, if there [i]was[/i] no God, I still haven't lost anything in believing in Him. In fact, if anything, I've gained things from it. Not to say that being Christian makes me better then anyone else, just that I can do things daily that improve the life I live. If the end of my life comes, and I'm just a rotting mass of carcass six feet under, then at least I was happy with my life. Guess it all depends on the way you think. But that's hypothetical, of course. I truly believe He exists X3

Thanks for the input ^.^[/SIZE]

[AlishaKitten]

[FONT=Arial][COLOR=Plum][SIZE=2]I'm Christian. I have no problem with it I just dont like my church. The way it preaches seems wrong to me. I think that seems to be the problem with Christians is that the way some churches preach makes people pissed or get the wrong idea but when really they lost the whole point. I dun blame the religon I blame the church.[/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[++alice++]

I was born into an atheist family. I didn't have much time 4 God and stuff, and didn't really care.

Then I went along to an Eastercamp and the speakers there changed my outlook on God and life. The message was broken down to its core, it wasnt do this, act this way, say a few prayers, ritualise thyself, it was Jesus came to die for my sins, and all I had to do was accept him, and turn from sin. What a great love our God has!

I became a Christian, so yeah, that's what I have chosen to believe in. I was even baptised early this year.


Side note: wow, it's been ages since I've been here, anyone remember me?

[James]

[quote name='AnimeFront']HEY EVERYBODY THIS IS JUST A THREAD TO TELL WHAT YOUR RELIGON IS, I AM TIRED OF EVERY THREAD LIKE THIS GETTING TURNED INTO A FRONTLINE FOR RELIGON VS ANTI RELIGON. SO JUST STATE YOUR RELIGON AND MOVE ON GODDAMNIT. THIS THREAD WILL GET CLOSED IF YOU GUYS CONTINUE TO SPAM IT UP (THAT GOES TO BOTH SIDES OF THIS ARGUMENT)!!!!! Ah now that thats over lets continue shall we.[/quote]

[font=franklin gothic medium]First of all, all-caps isn't flattering on you. And secondly...I don't really see any "argument" here. As soon as people disagree, people get into this knee-jerk mode where they think all hell has broken loose (pardon the pun). But you know, people are [i]allowed[/i] to disagree. And from what I've seen of this thread, it's been pretty darn pleasant so far. Of course, we'll always get the hot-heads on any side of an issue, but I think most people are just responding to the question.

Anyway, my answer is annoyingly vague in a sense. I am not an athiest, nor am I agnostic.

An athiest totally denies any kind of god. I don't fall into that category - I don't [i]know[/i] if there is a supreme being, so how can I flat-out deny the possible existence of one?

An agnostic doesn't believe that god's existence can be proven. Well, as far as I'm concerned, that's equally as short-sighted as being an athiest - how can anyone form a conclusion about that with 100% certainty?

I'm also not religious. I find that just as nonsensical as being an athiest or an agnostic. Once again, it relies on making a judgement or a conclusion without [i]really[/i] knowing. It relies on having an answer and trying to fit the question into place.

So what am I? Well, perhaps there is a word for it, I don't know...I'm a human being and I am open to ideas and evidence. No, I can't say that there is a god, because I don't know. And no, I can't say that there [i]isn't[/i] a god, because I also don't know that.

My position is simple - I am fine with not knowing. I am fine with the idea that I may never know. So, aside from general philosophical moments, I really don't think about it. I don't know the answer and I probably never will. The only thing is, I am unwilling to force an answer. I think that for me, it would be a mistake...it would not be intellectually honest.

I will say, though, that even if I entertain the concept of a god...I simply do not accept any existing human ideas of god. There are many reasons for this, but fundamentally I think it's obvious that we create our gods and not the other way 'round. The mere fact that we have many different religions is a demonstration that there is no clear answer - and when one actually traces the history of various religions, one can actually map out where they changed and how they have been used to guide politics and culture in various societies.

So, I view religion as being completely man-made. I do think that religion in general has some great concepts in terms of how we can live our lives and what kind of values we should have - I think that this angle of religion is just fine. But in a factual literal sense, most of it has already been disproven and most of it is quite obviously a creation of minds that were far less advanced than our own today.

Despite the fact that I am not religious and not an athiest (perhaps I'm just one big question mark?), this does not mean that I don't have a moral compass or whatever you want to call it. I have my own theories about how morals develop, but I'm aware that morals are largely subjective things. We all have our own ideas about what is acceptable and we all live our lives slightly differently.

My morals come from many places and fundamentally, I do my best to assist others and to be a help where possible. I don't do this for some kind of spiritual brownie-point; I do it because I feel that it is the right thing to do. It's right because it creates better relationships and it is constructive (versus being destructive). At least, that's my view on it, in a nutshell.

There's so much more I could say and I'm happy to elaborate on my views, but I guess this is basically how I'd describe my attitude toward religion in general. I'm not religious, not atheist and not agnostic. If there's a word to describe "I am a human being who doesn't know whether or not there is a god and is fine with that", then that word would describe me.[/font]

[Guest Illy_the_vamp]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]undefined[/FONT][SIZE=3]undefined[/SIZE][COLOR=MediumTurquoise]undefined[/COLOR] I think this is awesome because it helps me see who are all in my religious area. I'm a wicca and I'm proud of it.

Illyria the Vampire

[Eva10]

If you think of it, if their is no God that told us the difference between good and evil than their is no good and evil. So you would be saying that people that have comited unthinkable crimes could have bin right. If you were to tell me that Jesus dosent exist is like holding a video game in front of me and saying its not there.

[Lafleur]

[quote name='Eva10']If you think of it, if their is no God that told us the difference between good and evil than their is no good and evil. So you would be saying that people that have comited unthinkable crimes could have bin right. If you were to tell me that Jesus dosent exist is like holding a video game in front of me and saying its not there.[/quote][COLOR=DarkRed]

Not one to let historical fallacy slip through...

If you think about it, that makes no sense. For the longest time we didn't know the difference between good and evil. It wasn't until Hammurabi's Set of Laws that murdering was considering wrong, and even then it was just a massive fine. Good and Evil is a very human concept.

Oh, and about the Jesus comment: Do you know how many credible historic sources have made mention of a man named Jesus Christ? Not one. No, the Bible is not a historical source. The only times when he's mentioned is in documents so brutally doctored by the Catholic Church/Holy Roman Empire its damn-near laughable (Sometimes names were just crossed out and 'Jesus H. Christ' was written above it).
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[Pandy]

[QUOTE=Lafleur][COLOR=DarkRed]

Not one to let historical fallacy slip through...

If you think about it, that makes no sense. For the longest time we didn't know the difference between good and evil. It wasn't until Hammurabi's Set of Laws that murdering was considering wrong, and even then it was just a massive fine. Good and Evil is a very human concept.

Oh, and about the Jesus comment: Do you know how many credible historic sources have made mention of a man named Jesus Christ? Not one. No, the Bible is not a historical source. The only times when he's mentioned is in documents so brutally doctored by the Catholic Church/Holy Roman Empire its damn-near laughable (Sometimes names were just crossed out and 'Jesus H. Christ' was written above it).
[/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[SIZE=1]
Just because 'historical' documents never mention Him, it does [i]not[/i] prove Jesus never existed. What Eva10 said does make some sense, in my opinion.

Plus Good/Evil isn't a strictly human concept. It's a natural instinct, actually. Animals can tell the difference between a murderer and a bakery owner, ya know. Human beings just rationalize and anylyze everything.. they don't really know how to trust pure instinct.[/SIZE]

[AnimeFront]

[QUOTE=Pandy][SIZE=1]
Plus Good/Evil isn't a strictly human concept. It's a natural instinct, actually. Animals can tell the difference between a murderer and a bakery owner, ya know. Human beings just rationalize and anylyze everything.. they don't really know how to trust pure instinct.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]


Actually Lafleur is right about good and evil, to animals instincts just mean what things are dangerous to them or what is safe. Nature has no concept of extremes, there is no such thing as hot or cold in nature. And in humans what i think is evil maybe good to another, so we cant have standard concept of good and evil. Its relaive to the person.

[Pandy]

[SIZE=1]Okies.. My mistake. Maybe 'instinct' was the wrong word to use? >.< I'm pretty sure we all agree what's good and bad, right? Somebody who kills can't possibly think it's a [i]good[/i] thing.. unless they where seriously screwed up in the head.

It's different then thinking binge drinking is evil, cuz one person can be a proud alcoholic, and another could have an aversion to alchohol... If that makes any sense -__-U[/SIZE]

[Lafleur]

[QUOTE=Pandy][SIZE=1]
Just because 'historical' documents never mention Him, it does [i]not[/i] prove Jesus never existed. What Eva10 said does make some sense, in my opinion.
[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
No, it doesn't disprove Jesus existed. Also, there are 50-foot sharks in the Atlantic. Just because there is no possible way they exist doesn't mean they aren't there.
[/COLOR]
[QUOTE]Okies.. My mistake. Maybe 'instinct' was the wrong word to use? >.< I'm pretty sure we all agree what's good and bad, right? Somebody who kills can't possibly think it's a good thing.. unless they where seriously screwed up in the head.
[/QUOTE][COLOR=DarkRed]

4000 years ago we didn't think anything of it. 4000 years ago we didn't have a concept of right or wrong. 4000 years ago they'd think nothing of murdering an intruder and eating the persons remains. As I said, it wasn't until the time of the Bablyonians, Sumerians, Assryians, and Egpytians (A little earlier, but for the sake of arguements we'll use civilizations as markers) that we even thought any ill about rape, murdering, anything.. Good and Evil is human. [/COLOR]

[QuikSilver04]

I'm christian. To be more precise, (don't be offended) a [I]true[/I] christian. I am a Jehovah's Witness. And I say true christians because we don't make anything up or follow ideas that mankind has created (like holidays for example). It actually surprises me how much people don't know...it's understanable I guess since there's SO many false religions out there giving out false information.Which cause people to doubt God and turn away from religion completly. Anyways, whatever we believe in is in the Bible, we don't just make stuff up out of the blue.

[Lafleur]

[quote name='QuikSilver04]I'm christian. To be more precise, (don't be offended) a [I]true[/I'] christian. I am a Jehovah's Witness. And I say true christians because we don't make anything up or follow ideas that mankind has created (like holidays for example). It actually surprises me how much people don't know...it's understanable I guess since there's SO many false religions out there giving out false information.Which cause people to doubt God and turn away from religion completly. Anyways, whatever we believe in is in the Bible, we don't just make stuff up out of the blue.[/quote]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
Ah yes, the 'Everyone is wrong but me' creed. Just for your personal information, The Bible, all devine intervention aside, was written by man and therefore is a creation of man.[/COLOR]

[Eva10]

[QUOTE=Lafleur][COLOR=DarkRed]
Ah yes, the 'Everyone is wrong but me' creed. Just for your personal information, The Bible, all devine intervention aside, was written by man and therefore is a creation of man.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]


It seems to me like your being attacked by all different forms of Christianity at once and it seems like you passed by the Church at Corinth and the records stating that Pliate existed. I don't think you might understand this but most of the Christians here should. You don't need all this evidence to know Christ exist. You know after you turn your life over to him. Your life just gets so much better, you feel great, you feel clean, you get an unimaginable feeling like someone puts their hand out to you and comforts you. Im not trying to tell you something that you heard before. Im just trying to explain this to you.

[Lafleur]

[quote name='Eva10']It seems to me like your being attacked by all different forms of Christianity at once and it seems like you passed by the Church at Corinth and the records stating that Pliate existed. I don't think you might understand this but most of the Christians here should. You don't need all this evidence to know Christ exist. You know after you turn your life over to him. Your life just gets so much better, you feel great, you feel clean, you get an unimaginable feeling like someone puts their hand out to you and comforts you. Im not trying to tell you something that you heard before. Im just trying to explain this to you.[/quote]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
Yes, yes. I've heard it a million times before. That doesn't change the fact that the Bible was written by man. Doesn't matter if it was based on truth or inspiried by a divine being, it was written/recorded by man and is therefore a creation of man. I was just pointing that out to mr.everything-man-creates-is-unpure.

By the way: I've been a Christian before. I was for 9 years. It's all rubbish.[/COLOR]

[infern0fox]

I'm a Christian and I've been one all my life, I have no intention of changing...
Lafleur... I'm sorry to hear you used to be a christian, and I will pray for you.
Christianity is based on faith, so there can't be scientific evidence to prove it or disprove it.

[Retribution]

[QUOTE=infern0fox]I'm a Christian and I've been one all my life, I have no intention of changing...
Lafleur... I'm sorry to hear you used to be a christian, and I will pray for you.
Christianity is based on faith, so there can't be scientific evidence to prove it or disprove it.[/QUOTE]
[size=1]Don't. Why should you pray for him? Because he's not part of the faith? So what? It doesn't hurt anyone - not even himself.

I believe that he'll go to heaven if he lives a good life, no matter his religious views. It's my personal opinion that to think that any non-(fill in the blank) will go to Hell solely based off of religion is very Pharisaical (if that's a word). That would mean Ghandi is burning in hell now. I would like to think not.[/size]

[AnimeFront]

[QUOTE=infern0fox]I'm a Christian and I've been one all my life, I have no intention of changing...
Lafleur... I'm sorry to hear you used to be a christian, and I will pray for you.
Christianity is based on faith, so there can't be scientific evidence to prove it or disprove it.[/QUOTE]

Wow, so itis bad to not belong to a faith, I didnt know that. You shouldnt pray for him for be an athiest It is non of your concer, I cast out christianity and became an athiest when i was 13 and since then better things have happened to me. I have learned on thing from christianity "hell is reserved for good people"

[Pandy]

[QUOTE]
By the way: I've been a Christian before. I was for 9 years. It's all rubbish.
[/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1]Oh for goodness sake. You can disprove everything you like, but you don't have to call Christianity rubbish. No one has insulted your views, so you don't really have a right to insult ours.[/SIZE]

[DeadSeraphim]

[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]I'm agnostic. I used to be Christian, but felt the whole basis of the religion was kind cracked, and kind of left it behind. I have a more specific set of beliefs that I've formulated over time, regarding various things, but on the most basic level I'm agnostic, and short of divine inspiration that isn't going to change very soon. lol Human concepts of God right now aren't all that appealing.

On another note, I feel praying for a non-Christian, or ex-Christian to '(re)find their faith' is one of the ruder things you can do, especially if you tell them as much. It's about the same as saying "Hey, I think you're wrong, so I'm going to ask my God - who's right, mind, like you aren't - to make you see my way. Kthxbye." Or something like that. That thought isn't particularly well composed, but yeah. It shows a lack of respect for their views, and I really dislike people who do it.

I've also always had a problem with Missionary activity, especially in places where there is an established faith (Hinduism, Buddism, Islam, etc). Yet again, you're going to these people and telling them they're wrong - just saying it nicely. Then you tell them about how [i]your[/i] God is correct, and, obviously, it'd be in your best interests to throw your lot in with him. Missionary activity does have a lot of positive side effects (education, building, etc), but the core ideal of it is something I disagree with.[/font][/color][/size]

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=trebuchet ms]Lafleur, you can't just insult something because it doesn't work for you. Granted, I don't belong to the religion, but even I feel insulted by you calling it rubbish.

Retribution, I share your views as well. With all these religions having their own form of afterlife, it would make sense that they'd be connected to eachother and open to generally good people. This is, of course, assuming that there is an afterlife.

I also agree with James on many levels. He said things that I couldn't find the words to say, but I believe whole-heartedly. I cannot dismiss religion, I can't totally say that there is no God because we, as mortal humans who cannot know death until we experience it, will never know.

I also find myself questioning my own beliefs every once-in-a-while. It's a healthy thing to do. I can easily see supporting 'evidence' (for lack of a better word) for why people beleive in Creation. The world just seems perfect. Study biology, there is something in nature that perfectly counterbalances everything. From food chains to cell growth, everything cleans up after itself and just seems perfect. I can accept this, and this is the reason why I can't completely dismiss religion.


Oh, and post #300.[/font]

[Lafleur]

[quote name='Pandy][SIZE=1']Oh for goodness sake. You can disprove everything you like, but you don't have to call Christianity rubbish. No one has insulted your views, so you don't really have a right to insult ours.[/SIZE][/quote][COLOR=DarkRed]

I was calling the whole 'life gets better, comforting whatsit' comment rubbish. I've heard the line a thousand times and its never happened.[/COLOR]

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=trebuchet ms]Aha, now I see.

Yes, I dislike that saying as well. My life is fine how it is, I don't see how having another thing added to my self would do anything but leave me unbalanced. When people 'find God,' I would think it's exactly the same as finding a boy/girlfriend. Does it make you feel good? Does it better your life a little? Yes. Well, at least I'd hope so. The same thing could be applied to anything that makes you feel loved, I think that's part of -- if not the whole -- argument that people who say this are using.[/font]

[TheShinje]

[QUOTE=René][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]
On another note, I feel praying for a non-Christian, or ex-Christian to '(re)find their faith' is one of the ruder things you can do, especially if you tell them as much. It's about the same as saying "Hey, I think you're wrong, so I'm going to ask my God - who's right, mind, like you aren't - to make you see my way. Kthxbye." Or something like that. That thought isn't particularly well composed, but yeah. It shows a lack of respect for their views, and I really dislike people who do it.
[.quote]
[color=RoyalBlue]
I don't necessarily agree with praying for those who have lost faith to re-find it specifically, but I do like to pray for people and their lives, for God to be with them and strengthern them , particularly if they are in a rotten situation. I like to see God moving in peoples lives.

I only pray for those who say yes to my request to pray for them. I feel it's a waste of time to pray for those who will not want it/think nothing of it.

On the subject of religion beign somewhat cracked, I see where you are coming from, I found religion didn't really suit my views either, however, many churches of the protestan swing have more of a faith thing going rather than a religious order. Maybe you oughta try 'em out before dismissing Christianity all together. There are many facets of our beliefs.
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