What religion are you and why?

[DoPeY5007]

NO FLAMING PEOPLE FOR WHAT THEY BELIVE!!!




I am athiest personaly because, well I feel there is no god of any kind.

[latingirl]

You know what Dope (heh...j/k :P ), I totally respect that. You have a right to believe what you want.

But, you didn't give a "why"...not that you have to, but I thought that was one of the points of this thread. Hey. you might enlighten someone.

[DoPeY5007]

Originally posted by latingirl
You know what Dope (heh...j/k :P ), I totally respect that. You have a right to believe what you want.

But, you didn't give a "why"...not that you have to, but I thought that was one of the points of this thread. Hey. you might enlighten someone. I did say why, I belive that there is no god :shrug: and that is what an athiest belives

[ZrEo0]

i think my parents are christan but we dont go 2 church regularly. i myself belive there is no god but there is a after life, and your soul has been in many different bodies. ur soul stared as a rock and once that rock was broken you moved up the line to plants, and once lived the life of many different plants you get to different animals. as each animal you had to live a life and leanr many lessons as each animal, there is a long order of animals but your soul has to become all of them. after all of thaat you become human where you have to live hundreads of lives to leanr all the things that one should know. and if you do bad things in one life it will come back to get you in another, example, you put toxic waste in a lake and posien it, in a next life you will get cancer from something toxic. after these hundreads of lessons have been learned you will be finished and move up the chain of life once again, and become alians from a far planet, who dont have crime, everbody works with each other. and a perfect communiusm works with no head person (if that is a different kind of government please correct me)

thats what i belive

[latingirl]

Originally posted by ZrEo0
i think my parents are christan but we dont go 2 church regularly. i myself belive there is no god but there is a after life, and your soul has been in many different bodies. ur soul stared as a rock and once that rock was broken you moved up the line to plants, and once lived the life of many different plants you get to different animals. as each animal you had to live a life and leanr many lessons as each animal, there is a long order of animals but your soul has to become all of them. after all of thaat you become human where you have to live hundreads of lives to leanr all the things that one should know. and if you do bad things in one life it will come back to get you in another, example, you put toxic waste in a lake and posien it, in a next life you will get cancer from something toxic. after these hundreads of lessons have been learned you will be finished and move up the chain of life once again, and become alians from a far planet, who dont have crime, everbody works with each other. and a perfect communiusm works with no head person (if that is a different kind of government please correct me)

thats what i belive

Sort of like a darwinistic/buddhism(I think)/socialistic type belief. :)

[ZrEo0]

Originally posted by latingirl


Sort of like a darwinistic/buddhism(I think)/socialistic type belief. :)
call it waht u want, there is a whole reasoning y i belive this as well, and i guess i must explain it now

my friend from high schools' mom was someone who could channel spirts, and she did a "seesion" with me and a few friends, well she started told me exactlly how my house is fun, the drama that was happening betteen dopy and his ex, the feelings i had for some1 at the time, how my mom doesnt like cats and did all of this with 4 other people in the room, all this information has never left out moths or if it has it wasnt to this friend or his mom, but after that, it changed the way i looked at afterlife and life in general. after the session they exp;ained to me what i just said above and since then, that is what i belive, some ppl think im carzy for thinging ur soul was once a rock and your soul has to learn lessons of life as plants, that is a lil strange but somehow makes sence.

[CornMonkey]

i'm christian. why wouldn't i be?

[g222leav]

i'm believe in the force, i'm a jedi knight...

...because, i'm cool and i was the young apprentice of lord skywalker...

buy seriously, my parents were buddists, and then when they were sponsered here to america they were endorsed by a lutheran church in which they attended regularly for a while. now i'm dating a very nice catholic girl...so i'm all across the board...i'm personally searching for my own conclusion about religion, and i kinda don't appreciate when some groups force their religion onto others.

one important question that nobody ever has an answer is...

if your particular religion is the right one, and anyone who does not believe in your god is going to hell, does that mean the other 3 billion people (hypo #) are going to hell too?

i've never i'm my life flamed anybody for their beliefs. i have many christian friends, my catholic friends, my muslim friends and my buddists friends. i appreciate people even more when they have such compassion for their beliefs. i just don't feel comfortable when they think it's their duty to "recruit" me. that's why i hardly ever talk about religion. i see it as a personal journey, that only i can figure out on my own without any help.

[coleslaw]

Originally posted by CornMonkey
i'm christian. why wouldn't i be?That's the whole point of this exercise. Tell us why you wouldn't be a Christian... Some of us would like to hear the answer - and some would like to hear why they SHOULD be a Christian.

[NuTs62]

I'm Christian, as of 1/2/01 if I remember correctly.

Why am I? I felt as if though all my life, before accepting Christ, that I was living my life in many ways much like what is asked of within the bible. My views on life in general were very much on par with what I've been told and what I've read from the bible. Say what you may, perhaps I was influenced or persuaded by my friends. But the important thing, to me, is that I am a believer. Thats probably not a good 'nuf of an explanation for some of you, but eh, I can't seem to think straight right now. :P

[Napoleon54]

I don't align myself with any particular religion, but if I were required to name the dogma that is most similar to my own personal and unique beliefs, that'd prolly be Buddhism. I don't believe in the idea of a supreme creator and ruler, such as is integral to Christianity, Judiasm, and Islam.

I think the idea of an omnipotent entity arose because most people want to have answers for the unanswerable questions "Who are we?", "Where did we come from?", and "Why are we here?". Many people are uncomfortable not knowing their purpose. The Bible and Koran basically say "here's a set of answers, this is how it is. Don't question it, have faith and accept it because God/Allah said so." This answers the questions quite well assuming one can forsake all curiosity and open-mindedness in favor of blind and unquestioning faith. This still leaves a lot of unanswered questions, such as: why did God make us, to amuse Himself? Where did God come from?

I personally would like to believe that the human mind, consciousness, and spirit are too special and unique to have been created on a whim by a greater power. I like to think that there's nothing that our minds can't do or conceive of. I absolutely love the idea that I can't answer all the questions. If all the questions were answered (ie. by the Bible) then what's the point of life? What's left to figure out? I want to believe that I have the ability to figure it all out for myself.

I think everyone owes it to themselves to give meditation a chance. Nothing compares to the peace and relaxation that comes from clearing one's mind and concentrating on absolute nothingness. Try to concieve of yourself as being not necessarily connected to your body. Think of your mind, your consciousness, your thoughts, your feelings, as being a separate entity, not confined to a physical existance.

I've been told that I'm a Buddhist and an existentialist. To be honest, I have little academic or learned understanding of what the different religions and schools of thought are. What I do know is what I experience for myself when I let my mind wander. And it's suprising what I have learned about myself and what it means to exist on a spiritual level, all by thinking about nothing at all. I have a sense of purpose because I know that there are things I don't know, and I know that some day I'll figure it out for myself. I'm patient, I'm calm, I'm content, and I'm at peace because I know there is an answer and I know I will find it some day.

I wonder what it really means to exist? Is it a physical "here is my body, here is my hand" type of thing, or does existance happen on a spiritual level, like being self-aware and conscious of one's thoughts? I don't think the spiritual self- the thoughts and ideas that make us who we are- has much to do with a physical existance. I think this type of thought, this energy, exists on a level far above mere physical existance, mere chemicals in our physical brains. I think that in order for us to get anywhere on the spiritual level, we need to recognize how irrelevent the physical world is. We need to transcend our physical selves in order to advance beyond this physical reality. I think the way to do this is to escape our physical selves through meditation and thought, and realize that true existance occurs on a much higher level.

[Cheesypuff]

I'm a 7th day Adventist! This is part of the Christian Church...moreover, I believe this denomination teaches more of what the bible teaches, and wants us to know...which is why I stick with this church!

[Nanotech9]

Originally posted by DoPeY5007
I did say why, I belive that there is no god :shrug: and that is what an athiest belives

you may not believe in a god, but i'll gurantee you sure as hell fire that if you were ever riding along on a bike doing about 120, and hit an orange marker cone, that as you were flying over it, and the front tire was starting to make contact and you started tank slappin so hard that your hands flew off the handle bars, that somewhere in the back of you mind you start praying "dear god let me make it through this alive"... or maybe a more simple "oh god nooooooooo...."

yeah, i'de bet you'de do that. Odd huh?

BTW, i was born and raised Independant Baptist. My dad was a preacher / missionary so Spain. I'm still a Baptist, but i dont get to church much anymore... mostly cause i ride or race the car on sundays.

And yeah - i've been there done that flying over a cone with the back tire 2 foot up in the air and the handle bars just flying back and forth thinking:

"Damn... This would REALLY hurt if I go down... The bike will be totaled... I hope i make it through this alive... Damn, i hope i dont fly over the cement barrier and fall 200' to the highway below... I hope the guy behind me doesnt run over me... I'de better hang on... I wonder how much damage that just did to my undercarriage... If i dont fly off, i need to stop and check the tires..."

all that in a matter of less than 3 seconds. And i'm sure in there somewhere i thought "Dear God, get me out of this alive please".

[Nanotech9]

to answer G222leave...

basically it works like this in my mind.

Personally i believe in GOD. God will save a certain number of people he has elected to save. You do NOT have to be a "baptist" to be saved, or to be part of the "elect".... For all i know you could be a catholic, J/W, or Mormon, but if you Believe in Christ adn that only HE can save you from your sins, then that pretty much takes care of it. You can't save yourself, but you can believe that God can and has saved you.

Yeah - the non elect are basically "doomed". imagine that.

[Hopper1]

Agnostic

I don't know if there is a god or not, I just know that there hasn't been any proof to me that there is or is not one. I have a hard time believing that something that is so great and powerful exists just because a book written by humans says so. Personally I look at religions in the same light as greek or roman mythology, another way for humans to try and put meaning to their lives and explain things that they cannot or don't understand.

[DoPeY5007]

Originally posted by Nanotech9


you may not believe in a god, but i'll gurantee you sure as hell fire that if you were ever riding along on a bike doing about 120, and hit an orange marker cone, that as you were flying over it, and the front tire was starting to make contact and you started tank slappin so hard that your hands flew off the handle bars, that somewhere in the back of you mind you start praying "dear god let me make it through this alive"... or maybe a more simple "oh god nooooooooo...."

yeah, i'de bet you'de do that. Odd huh?
yeah, that is strange, the word "GOD" is just used to loosly in the english languge

[Napoleon54]

Originally posted by Nanotech9
to answer G222leave...

Yeah - the non elect are basically "doomed". imagine that.

God's quite the bastard aboot that, isn't He?

I often wonder what He thinks about humans who believe they have Him all figured out. Isn't it a bit bold of us to think that we can understand God? Hmm...

[Hiro]

I am Agnostic myself.

[Kevster]

Born, raised and still practicing Roman Catholic. I have the Jesuits (The Society of Jesus - also known as the Green Berets of the Catholic Church)to thank for keeping me in the faith and on the path when I was adrift with no sense of direction.

[GraingerGuy]

I'm Seventh-Day Adventist

At first...it was because my parents were.

Now...it's because I've actually started reading the bible and comparing it to things that SDAs believe...and I do believe that it is in accordance with the bible. :)

[hapoo]

Born and raised as a muslim. But i feel its not enough to call yourself a religion unless you practice it. From the time i was about 10 i started to read and ask more and more about my religion to see if it was something that i could belive in. I have found it to be one of the more logical religions. It makes a lot of sense to me.



why did God make us, to amuse Himself? Where did God come from?


Questions like this come up in many religions.
As for why he made us... well i feel that it would basically defeat the purpose of this test to give away what you want the answer to be. Lets put it this way, when your girlfriend asks you if she looks fat, you know what she wants to hear and you'll probably fib to make her feel better, this is the way i view life. We're not supposed to know why we're here, but we're given a set of guide lines so that we can do our best while we are here.

As for the second question, my religion puts it this way, God was never born. He has neither a father or mother, or son or daughter, he is one and one alone, he is everything and he is nothing, to try to define him or relate him would be to limit him to a human potential. We will never know where god came from just as your dog will never know where you came from. It is belittling and futile to wonder such things.

Of course i have some intresting viewpoints as to why we're here based on my religious teachings, but i'll stop now. If anyones intrested maybe i'll go on.

[kimchicowboy]

christian
b/c
i read the Bible and find truth in it. (simply put - see the sig)

[nickel]

roman catholic and up early for church :)

you can be a part of whatever affliation you want, but when it comes down to it it's all between you and God.

[jase71]

Born and raised Lutheran.

But now I'm agnostic. There might be a god, there might not. I haven't seen any evidence of one (and by evidence I mean a reproducible phenomenon, something verifiable in a lab setting). And since it's impossible to prove something DOESN'T exist, I'll have to wait for positive evidence.

Until then, I'll just focus on being the best person I can be, treating people the way I'd like to be treated, and leaving the world at least a little better place than it was when I came into it. Doing the right thing is still important, even if no one is dangling eternal life as a carrot in front of me.

I'm happy for those who have "found religion". More power to them. I'm just too much of a doubting Thomas to follow that path.

[Burzhui]

JEWISH by blood

But i don't believe in religion, God on the other hand is a totally different subject

[revil]

Originally posted by Burzhui
But i don't believe in religion, God on the other hand is a totally different subject
Well said!

On another note... if i said i didn't believe in god, i wouldn't belive in myself. :dodgy:

actually I'm an athiest, dopey's reasoning behind this is good enough for me.

[Cantacuzene]

Originally posted by Nanotech9
You do NOT have to be a "baptist" to be saved, or to be part of the "elect".... For all i know you could be a catholic, J/W, or Mormon...

Its amazing how people that are biased try to make an effort and attempt an inclusive statements but only serves to make them seem more biased. Sorta like the classic, "Some of my best friends are black," line.

Don't worry about whether or not you agree with other denominations/religions and worry about your own.

[Nanotech9]

Originally posted by nickelback
roman catholic and up early for church :)

you can be a part of whatever affliation you want, but when it comes down to it it's all between you and God.

I'm up early to... but i'm "worshiping" pavement, smoked rubber, excessive speeding, WideOpenThrottle today. Shame on me.....


http://www.nanotech9.com:1088/images/avatars/vespa-wheelie.gif :D :D :D :D :D

[faither]

Roman Catholic, born and raised. Still one today, many years later, because I choose to be. Raising my children in the same manner.

I dig the structure and traditions, sometimes scratch my head at the intransigence but I guess there's something to be said for refusing to change with the times. I beliive that God takes care of those that do the right thing. Not that you have to be a certain denomination or faith but rather just that you believe.

[g222leav]

Originally posted by Nanotech9
to answer G222leave...

basically it works like this in my mind.

Personally i believe in GOD. God will save a certain number of people he has elected to save. You do NOT have to be a "baptist" to be saved, or to be part of the "elect".... For all i know you could be a catholic, J/W, or Mormon, but if you Believe in Christ adn that only HE can save you from your sins, then that pretty much takes care of it. You can't save yourself, but you can believe that God can and has saved you.

Yeah - the non elect are basically "doomed". imagine that.

yea, well, here's the thing, i don't deny nor rejoice his existence. i believe in my heart that i'm not a bad person, i don't "sin" as i know others do. i'm not out and about being a little deviant bastard. i feel that at one point i will come to understand for myself what is beyond our grasps. i don't want to be cliche, but i'd imagine it'd be kinda like in "signs" where the proof for ME would be undeniable. i just believe that nobody can TELL me what to believe, i have to find it myself.

[Pinkgirl36]

lesse....I was raised catholic...I went to the church ever sunday...was really active in it...was going to be baptised cahtolic ( I was about 8 years old and it was my choice because my parents never did it ) my dad was even going to send me to a catholic school, but then he met my stepmonster, she was christian and all of a sudden I ended up going to a christian church. Around that time I became friends with someone who's dad was a rabbi. My friend and I ( she was raised christian and went to a private christian school ) would talk to him alot about religion and we found out alot about the jewish religion and during that time period we thought about becoming jewish. So right now I don't think I believe in one specific religion, but I do believe in god from everything I was thought growing up, and that's about it.

[topane]

Once a Catholic, now no religion. I'm agnostic because I don't think that a god can be proved or disproved. And despite centuries of trying, no one has shown a god exists. I guess I could be called a "weak" atheist as well since I don't believe a god exists. The concept of an afterlife is a means of man's dealing with his own mortality. Organized religion has also been used throughout man's history as a means of controlling others and as an excuse for intolerance, oppression, and hate. I try to be the best person I can be and treat others as I would like to be treated. I don't need a religion to tell me common sense.

Dopey and revil -- are you "weak" atheists (don't believe in a god) or "strong" atheists (assert no god exists)? Just curious.

[g222leav]

Originally posted by topane
I try to be the best person I can be and treat others as I would like to be treated. I don't need a religion to tell me common sense.


that's the way i feel...:angel:

[Cantacuzene]

Originally posted by Pinkgirl36
my dad was even going to send me to a catholic school, but then he met my stepmonster, she was christian and all of a sudden I ended up going to a christian church.

For a one time Catholic you sem pretty ignorant of what it is. Catholics Churches are Christian Churches. What you call a christian church is a protestant church. They are both christian churches. I'm so sick of how ignorant some people are.

I really apoligize for making all of you read this again, I feel like a broken record being that I have to make this same post everytime the subject comes up, but it just keeps happening.

[Pinkgirl36]

Originally posted by Cantacuzene


For a one time Catholic you sem pretty ignorant of what it is. Catholics Churches are Christian Churches. What you call a christian church is a protestant church. They are both christian churches. I'm so sick of how ignorant some people are.

did you read the part where I said I was like 8 years old.....

[Ladogaboy]

Well, for me... I am... well...

Yeah, that's it... I am.

[Cantacuzene]

Originally posted by Pinkgirl36
did you read the part where I said I was like 8 years old.....

You're still 8 years old and don't understand what a Catholic and a protestant is?

[g222leav]

umm, she said she WAS like 8 years old, she isn't anymore.

besides, a lot of people don't realize that catholics are christians, and on the same token, a lot of catholics don't agree with a lot of christians, leading people to believe that they are two different theologies (hopefully i'm using hte correct terminology..don't flame me for not being technical enough...:P )

[Cantacuzene]

Originally posted by g222leav
umm, she said she WAS like 8 years old, she isn't anymore.


I understood that. But the way she worded her post made it sound like she hasnt learned from when she was 8.

[psycho-]

Christian (but, I don't want be called religious).

-I believe in the salvation, since I think that nobody is capable of achieving the level of God on their own free will. I mess up, and I am happy to know that no matter how much I jack up, I'm still saved
-I think it's a personal relationship, not something you do weekly. If you relegate it down to that, then you're only going thru the motions and not understanding why you're doing it.
-To have no place in eternity would mean I'm currently living for no apperant reason but only to propogate.
-MOST IMPORTANTLY, in the end, I think I don't have to reconcile with anyone but God. I don't have to answer to anyone but Him. What other people do, it's between them and God.

[Freelance Superhero]

at the risk of raising the eyebrows of CornMonkey, kimchicowboy, and Brain (well, maybe not Brain), i am Christian, BUT...

i'm still workin out the kinks in the "WHY" part of the question...
i will say that i am in agreement with psycho, right above me, but most especially so with the following statement:

...in the end, I think I don't have to reconcile with anyone but God. I don't have to answer to anyone but Him.
that's all i have to say about that.... for now...

[johnnymk]

I am a Born Again Christian, which means that I have accepted the free payment of Jesus Christ of salvation, which he made when he died on the cross for my sins.
I accepted his gift over 30 years ago. Why? Because the Holy Spirit was pursuing me for several years, reminding me who Jesus was and is, and also convincing me that I was a sinner bound for Hell. I realized then that there was nothing I could do to merit salvation, and that he had done it all.
The Bible says that we don't go looking for God, but he continually seeks after us. Some people accept his free gift while others continually reject him and die in their sins.
History proves that there was a man named Jesus and that he died on the cross. Even our calendar is proof that he lived and died. However, there is an empty tomb where he once laid after he died. He conquered death like no other living man ever did and he promises eternal life to everyone who believes in Him.

[WhiskeyPapa]

I am a Christian, I don't belong to any particular denomination - we just seek out a fellowship that sticks as close to the literal Word of God as possible.

You'd probably consider us just a little to the left of the Mennonites. We have lots of kids (the Bible says children are a blessing from God, and why would you want to refuse any of His blessings?), my wife and daughters wear dresses all the time, I always wear a beard, and we homeschool our kids. Why, if it wasn't for my love of Hawaiian shirts and my wife's dislike of a headcovering, we'd probably look like we're Amish!

I wasn't always like this. I used to smoke, drink, swear and other stuff I'd rather not mention. I was a wild and crazy morning radio DJ and I lived that lifestyle. But like johnnymk said, one day I realized that God was after me. I felt in my spirit that the way I was living was not right. I also knew that there was more beyond this world, and that I had something missing in my life. Both my wife and I realized at the same time that we needed a relationship with God (the Father) through Jesus Christ (His Son.) That was 9 years ago.

I just wanted to point out that when a Christian starts "witnessing" to you, it's not becuase they are recruiting, or want to earn some cosmic brownie points with God. Imagine it's like this - we're all trapped in a burning building, and you know the only way out. Are you just going to run out and let everyone else burn, or are you going to point as many people as you can to the door?

You may not think you're in a burning building, but we do, and that's why we talk about Jesus so much...

[Burzhui]

my god can kick your god's ass :D

[Blu]

My mom's a lapsed Catholic, and my dad a lapsed Jew. So I don't have any particular faith. I've been to services for both a few times, but never with any regularity. I don't know about God or gods or any of that, it's still not a clear concept for me. I'll probably get it someday, but then again, maybe not...


Blu

[topane]

Originally posted by Burzhui
my god can kick your god's ass :D The basis of all religion ;)

[mcs328]

Went to Catholic school but I'll say I'm devoutly agnostic. :P
I'll let science do it's science thing so I can live longer and listen to mp3 on devices smaller than my hand. I guess it's comforting to "know" there's a spiritual being overlooking everyone that doesn't ask you to belong to one religion but just to have faith and do your best...hmmm...sorta like Santa Clause. Is Santa Clause universal?

[hapoo]

Well, my god is version 3.0

Features
- Bug fixes
- Backwards compatability with Gods version 2.0 1.0 and beta
- Totally rewritten


:D

[ufcrusher]

I am jewish. If you were to ask me why, quite simply its because this is how I was raised. I went through hebrew school, had my bar mitzvah, etc. In terms of my level of belief, I was an ultra conservative. But for the fact that I havent gone to schul in about 4 years, I would say that I still am an Ultra conservative. Then again part of the reason is that I cant find a decent synagogue where I am, and I would rather practice on my own then belong to somewhere that doesnt feel right.