Religion

[Epic Fail Girl]

I am halfway dreading the outcome of this thread already. Don't disappoint me by flaming each other, ok?

What religion are you?

How long have you been in this religion?

Why do you believe in this faith?

What do you hate about other religions?

If you are agnostic/atheist please tell us why?  

[lily_bunch]

I am a Christian and have been my whole life being Baptised, Having communion and confirmation. I believe in this faith because it is not too strict and this is the path for me.

I don't really hate other religions, I love learning aobu tthem!  

[Epic Fail Girl]

lily_bunch

I am a Christian and have been my whole life being Baptised, Having communion and confirmation. I believe in this faith because it is not too strict and this is the path for me.

I don't really hate other religions, I love learning aobu tthem!

What other things do you like about your religion?

Is there anything you dislike about it?  

[TsumetaiHinote]

Atheist
long time, officially only 8 months though
i will not explain the unexplainable with a belief in a being that cannot prove he exists
I don't hate other religions i hate people that blindly follow them and are not open to other ways of thinking.  

[Epic Fail Girl]

Kataton

Atheist
long time, officially only 8 months though
i will not explain the unexplainable with a belief in a being that cannot prove he exists
I don't hate other religions i hate people that blindly follow them and are not open to other ways of thinking.

As an atheist, are you open to other ways of thinking?  

[TsumetaiHinote]

Open to other ways of thinking yes. i choose to be atheist because if i were to join a mainstream religion I would be pressured by the more devout to become like them. Also i would be made to feel guilty about things i do not think deserve guilt.  

[Epic Fail Girl]

Kataton

Open to other ways of thinking yes. i choose to be atheist because if i were to join a mainstream religion I would be pressured by the more devout to become like them. Also i would be made to feel guilty about things i do not think deserve guilt.

I agree with this. I am pretty much the same way, but I don't refer to myself as an atheist. Being an atheist means you believe there is no god period. I am not comfortable making that assessment on what little I know.  

[chicken_soup]

I am an Atheist.

But being Jewish by heritage, and surrounded by religious people, I have developed a deep respect for all religions. They are important to the majority of the population, so even if you don't agree, there's no reason to shun.  

[fluteboy1992]

Well I am a Christian and I have been one for as long as I could remember. As Christians believe, I believe that the Lord Almighty is our God and that his Son, Jesus Christ died on the Cross in order to cleanse our sins. And even if I'm a follower of God, I respect every religion that doesn't, because at least they believe in something (and I even respect atheists because they're beliefs are extremely firm, and I honor that.)  

[fantasier_xp]

I don't know, I guess I am atheist. I am really open to others beliefs, I find them fascinating, why people believe what the do, all that stuff. I cannot stand people who aren't open to others beliefs. My parents are atheist, so I guess that's why I am, so there has never been any sort of religion in my life, and I suppose because of that, I am so interested in other peoples religions. People just want something to believe in. Including me... I don't know what to believe in. Not nessessarily a god or goddess, just something I can hold onto.  

[Nerdgasm`]

I am agnostic, because we obviously cannot prove a god's existence. But I also have some other firm beliefs about religion.

I believe that religion was created to bring hope to the people in ancient times. If they went into battle, they would have nothing to worry about, because God was on their side. However, this way of thinking has also caused many more people to die in religious battles than in both world wars put together.

There is also the Holy Catholic Church, whom I have grown a great dislike for, and I shall tell you why. The Catholic Church has taken many books away from the bible, due to their inability to coincide with one another. For example, there were dozens of gospels written about Jesus, but only four were chosen to be published in the bible, not only because some contradicted others, but because the four chosen were the ones that everyone wanted to hear as a Christian. Long ago, there were secret Christian meetings, due to massive slaughter of the people during a long period of time. During these meetings, gospels were read, and it just so happened that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were the most popular. More people knew the stories and enjoyed them, so the church had to make sure they had the most exciting and interesting tales for their elaborate storybook. But with all of these missing books, there is much "faith" left behind. If there is indeed one God, and he intended for these people to write the books, would the church not publish them all? Or was the church simply not encouraged by God to publish these books and instead followed his own will? Nonetheless, the Catholic Church is hold many stories back from its Christian people, so I decided to break away from the religion myself.

I also believe that these people who run the church are not influenced by God and are indeed using the religion to make money. In our church, we had offering every Sunday, and my mother would sometimes drop $20 in the plate as the sharply dressed Usher walked by, sometimes $5, sometimes a check for a much higher sum of money. One week, she had forgotten her pocketbook, and therefore could not offer that Sunday. Later in the week, we recieved a letter that told us that our donations were becoming slack and encouraged a monthly sum of offering. Does that sound like the work of the Almighty and Powerful God? He himself said not to offer your gold, but to offer your very lives to God, so then why would the church be so intent on recieving offering, especially a certain amount every month? Perhaps, if there is a God, then the people who run the church have closed their view of him/her from their lives and running the church on their own intentions.

Therefore, I believe that there is no way to know if there is a God, expecially in today's society, and I am against the Holy Catholic Church and its teachings.

 

[Epic Fail Girl]

fantasier_xp

I don't know, I guess I am atheist. I am really open to others beliefs, I find them fascinating, why people believe what the do, all that stuff. I cannot stand people who aren't open to others beliefs. My parents are atheist, so I guess that's why I am, so there has never been any sort of religion in my life, and I suppose because of that, I am so interested in other peoples religions. People just want something to believe in. Including me... I don't know what to believe in. Not nessessarily a god or goddess, just something I can hold onto.

I agree, people do want something to believe in that gives them hope of some kind. I just don't like when they take those beliefs and magnify them to what they never should have been.  

[Epic Fail Girl]

xMr.Neurotic

I am agnostic, because we obviously cannot prove a god's existence. But I also have some other firm beliefs about religion.

I believe that religion was created to bring hope to the people in ancient times. If they went into battle, they would have nothing to worry about, because God was on their side. However, this way of thinking has also caused many more people to die in religious battles than in both world wars put together.

There is also the Holy Catholic Church, whom I have grown a great dislike for, and I shall tell you why. The Catholic Church has taken many books away from the bible, due to their inability to coincide with one another. For example, there were dozens of gospels written about Jesus, but only four were chosen to be published in the bible, not only because some contradicted others, but because the four chosen were the ones that everyone wanted to hear as a Christian. Long ago, there were secret Christian meetings, due to massive slaughter of the people during a long period of time. During these meetings, gospels were read, and it just so happened that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were the most popular. More people knew the stories and enjoyed them, so the church had to make sure they had the most exciting and interesting tales for their elaborate storybook. But with all of these missing books, there is much "faith" left behind. If there is indeed one God, and he intended for these people to write the books, would the church not publish them all? Or was the church simply not encouraged by God to publish these books and instead followed his own will? Nonetheless, the Catholic Church is hold many stories back from its Christian people, so I decided to break away from the religion myself.

I also believe that these people who run the church are not influenced by God and are indeed using the religion to make money. In our church, we had offering every Sunday, and my mother would sometimes drop $20 in the plate as the sharply dressed Usher walked by, sometimes $5, sometimes a check for a much higher sum of money. One week, she had forgotten her pocketbook, and therefore could not offer that Sunday. Later in the week, we recieved a letter that told us that our donations were becoming slack and encouraged a monthly sum of offering. Does that sound like the work of the Almighty and Powerful God? He himself said not to offer your gold, but to offer your very lives to God, so then why would the church be so intent on recieving offering, especially a certain amount every month? Perhaps, if there is a God, then the people who run the church have closed their view of him/her from their lives and running the church on their own intentions.

Therefore, I believe that there is no way to know if there is a God, expecially in today's society, and I am against the Holy Catholic Church and its teachings.

I am very angry with the Catholic Church and their distortion of the Bible. I am not a Christian, but the Bible influence many people and because of this peoples ethics have been vastly changed over the centuries. I don't think Homosexuality, women's rights, or war would be as big of a problem if it weren't for the Bible. You can't just take what someone else wrote take it apart, rearrange it, and burn all the evidence. It just isn't right.

I agree with you about Church groups and their money. If I ever got a letter like that from my Church group (if I were religious) I would take it immediately to the Pastors, Deans, and Elders and tell them what they did wrong. Afterwards I would probably leave the Church.l  

[fantasier_xp]

Wow, yes, I totally agree with all of that...
I recently read the Da Vinci Code, it was so full of information about the church, but I haven't a clue what is true and what isn't. Amazing what people have done in the names of their deities, whether falsely- for their own personal gain, or just misled...  

[MarineManiac]

I'm an athiest.

As a child of five years old I was Christian since most of my family is. I have never read the bible and when I could read I ws encouraged. My family told me, "When you think you need someone to talk to and it's not one of us, ask Him." well I never did until a year later. I was visiting with my grandmother and we where going to take our dog for a walk down to the old baseball diamond so she could be off the leash and run around instead of the apartment. 'Sheena' (the dog's name) wasn't acting strangely since we did this often.

As soon as we open the door, I've got a firm grip on her leash, she jolts out the door and I'm running with her or I'd be dragged with her. The leash snaps and I never saw her again.

After a year or praying and looking I give up and say to myself 'There isn't such a thing.' I turn to my father and he tells me why he's an athiest and I believe his theory.

To this day I am an athiest and even though I am riduculed for it I still hold on to it.
_____________________________________________________________

I am willing to listen to others talk about thier beliefs but am not so open minded in general. I don't know why, it's just the way I am.

I guess if it's one thing I hate about the other religons (don't take it personally please it's my opinion) it's the fact they worship a being that we areselves don't know exists?

'I won the lotto thanks to the Lord!' Well the lotto is based of chance anyone can win.
'If it wasn't for the lord I wouldn't be here today.' No it was your hard work and dedication not someone else. YOU.
'The Lord created man.'

That one is the one that really ticks me off. I am dreading saying this but please pick up a high school text book, where in it does it say 'The Lord created man' and no not the Sunday School text. We have the proof, we have the technology and evolution is almost a sure thing. Can you explain the 2% difference in Sapien DNA from homo sapien?

Did I leave anything out?

Also as a side note, as much as I would like to post what Andy Rooney said in the is guild I fear it would blow the ToS up in flames with extra sticks of dynamite.Do to the amount of cursing,racisim,religon bashing,etc. Though he proves a point.