What's your Religion?

I didn't realize Ghandi was so perceptive. He called it as it is.

 

I wasn't raised around going to church on Sundays, and I'm also very logical about everything, weighing my options etc. My girlfriend is Christian and I'll go to church with her sometimes and I just can't grasp it. I'm not saying their isn't a God, but me being me I need more proof, more than just ONE account a ONE dude 2000 years ago, especially because, like mentioned earlier, that the bible has been translated and edited since. Who's to say that it wasn't just an epic tale with a lot of life lessons packed in? I also don't understand why the Christian god has to be THE god. What about the billions of Hindus and millions of Muslims and buddhists? Are they wrong? Are they going to hell? And what about the fackin dinosaurs?! If the earth is only 6000ish years old how did dinosaurs come and go so quickly and not even get mentioned in the bible? Idk man, maybe it's because I wasn't raised around religion or maybe it's just the way I think but I've got to have some more solid evidence before I can believe in something that could determine where I go after I die, otherwise why not be a Muslim, Hindu etc? I guess it really comes down to where your parents took you on Sunday mornings...(I went to the zoo bitches! )

 

Yesterday I became a Rastafarian yeah mon..

 

I actualy see it the other way around. I find it depressing that people can't enjoy the life they already have without looking for a better live after death.
I'm also a person who have no belief in the bible or religion. I'm enjoying my time on Earth every single day and believe when I die I will become worm food, and thats it

 

X2, why live your life hoping for an after life that has no proof that it even exists? Heaven and hell are only based on beliefs.... Live your life how you want, you only live once.

 

I agree with Capita all the way, why wait/hope/pray for something better? Isn't living/loving/laughing with the people you love enough? Why the need to live forever? IMO, believing in an afterlife kind of takes away from the importance of those things, because you believe you'll just be able to continue it in heaven so it's not like you'll never see those people again. Knowing that I won't see my parents after they're gone or my brothers or my girlfriend or my friends, well that just makes me appreciate the time spent with them that much more.

 

Baptized into Presbyterianism when I was a child. Still claim my connection and faith in that church. Of the organized religious groups I have observed, the presbyterian church still seems to be the only church that would even acknowledge your existence for expressing agnostic beliefs. It's all the moral teachings and celebration of god and his son, without the life control and judgement. That's what religion should be.

My girlfriend was raised catholic and wants her children to be raised the same. If we end up getting married and starting a family, I would prefer my children be raised with the more common-sense approach of the presbyterian church. But time will tell.

 

From the website, Deism dot com.
http://deism.com/deism_defined.htm

Welcome to Deism!
Deism has a lot to offer you! It also has a lot to offer society! Deism is knowledge of God based on the application of our reason on the designs/laws found throughout Nature. The designs presuppose a Designer. Deism is therefore a natural religion and is not a "revealed" religion. The natural religion/philosophy of Deism frees those who embrace it from the inconsistencies of superstition and the negativity of fear that are so strongly represented in all of the "revealed" religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. (These religions are called revealed religions because they all make claim to having received a special revelation from God which they pretend, and many of their sincere followers actually believe, their various and conflicting holy books are based on.) When enough people become Deists, reason will be elevated over fear and myth and its positive qualities will become a part of society as a whole. Then, instead of having billions of people chasing after the nonsensical violence promoting myths of the "revealed" religions, people will be centered on their God-given reason which will lead to limitless personal and societal progress!
This is not a utopian pipedream. Deism has the potential to connect with every human being because every human being possesses God-given reason. Because of this fact, Deism clicks with the vast majority of people who are made aware of it. This God-given reason, which is so dear and key to Deism, is the natural state of humanity. The superstitions of the man-made "revealed" religions are NOT the natural state of humanity. The cause of our God-given reason being overrun with these man-made myths and superstitions is very simple. ACTIVE people promoted these falsehoods. Some of these active people were motivated by self gain while others were acting on ignorance. Since the problem was brought about by ACTIVE people, it can be corrected by ACTIVE people. As the number of ACTIVE Deists grows, our actions and energies will cause Deism to eclipse the "revealed" religions of the world and Deism will eventually, through lots of hard teamwork and altruism, replace the "revealed" religions. Humanity and the individuals who make up humanity will then be able to reach their full progressive potential!
Please familiarize yourself with Deism by reading the many articles the links to the left take you to. By using this site you will learn such things as God and religion are two distinct things, that one of the many benefits Deism offers you and your family and friends is solid protection from cults, that America's Declaration of Independence is a Deistic document, that the Bible and Koran paint a very evil and insane picture of God, that the Designer of Nature is as real as the designs in Nature, plus much, much more!
We hope the following statement by the man who did more than any other person to bring Deism to everyone, Thomas Paine, will ring true in your heart and mind after you learn what Deism really is: "There is a happiness in Deism, when rightly understood, that is not to be found in any other system of religion. All other systems have something in them that either shock our reason, or are repugnant to it, and man, if he thinks at all, must stifle his reason in order to force himself to believe them.
"But in Deism our reason and our belief become happily united. The wonderful structure of the universe, and everything we behold in the system of the creation, prove to us, far better than books can do, the existence of a God, and at the same time proclaim His attributes."

I was raised Catholic then converted to the Assemblies of God. After realizing that I just couldn't swallow all the BS from religion, I thought about my situation. I couldn't deny that God exists, because I have no proof. Just like there is no proof of the Reveled Religons Gods. After a conversation with my step-daughter about teligion and how I feel about it, I looked up Deism. It is exactly how I feel about God. Read the first few paragraphs, it might change the way you feel.

 

there is one question that poses quite the quandry to all atheists... if there is no God, then why is there something rather than nothing at all?... the theory of evolution is a mansion built with no foundation. it cannot explain where life originated from in the first place. ill give them the big bang... the universe did explode and expand into what we know now... as God spoke it into existance... relying on the notion that natural forces created a world with such complexity, even the most microscopic of living creatures has a vastly complicated make up to live, is to be honest, ridiculous. the evidence for the existence of God is all around us. the complexity of the world around us says that something much smarter than us created it. even the most intelligent scientists in the world cannot make even one living cell from scratch. so what makes you think that unintelligent natural forces just so happened to fall together to create all that we know. it would at the least need to be orchestrated by some greater being. atheism is an attempt to allow people to live their lives without fear of accountability. the absence of accountability means so much to so many people that they have gone to great lengths to explain God away. but it just doesnt work. It takes far more faith to be an atheist than it does to be a christian...

 

I had a conversation with a "Christian co-worker" the other day. He was telling me that I was going to hell because I didn't believe that Christ died for our sins. I asked him this. If you were born in India, chances are you'd be what religion? He said Hindu. I asked, if you were born in Egypt or Syria or any Arab country, what religion would you be? He said Muslim. I said, since you were born in the Unitied States, chances are you'd be a Christian, right? He said yes. My point is, you believe in certain things usually because you were raised that way. You wouldn't believe in Christianity if you weren't raised that way.

 

I have trouble believing something or someone just said, "dude I'm bored, gonna go make some life and stuff". Why would that thing/person do that in the first place? And like I said earlier what about other religions and their gods, why does it have to be the Christian one that started it all?

 

well... the reason that God created us in the first place was because he wanted to have beings that chose to love him (humans) not beings that were made to love and serve him (angels). there is one main aspect that sets christianity apart. all other world religions claim salvation based on works of some shape form or fashion. christianity is the only religion that claims salvation by the grace of God. we are saved because God sent His son to die for us. all we have to do is accept that and we are saved. there is nothing you can do to deserve to go to heaven. its a gift. and if you think about it, if you had to perform works to get into heaven, honestly what could you give or do for God? nothing... you have nothing to offer to a being that literally has everything. all you can do is accept the gift... or not. its your choice... thats free will. we all have it. and another facet of christianity is the some 40 prophecies in the old testament that pertain to Jesus. The chances of one man fulfilling prophecies that were out of his control such as the way he was born, the place of his birth, etc. without divine origin would be very close to 0. and he didnt just fulfill some of them... he fulfilled all of them and as for the area you are born dictating your faith... i am a christian because of my own research. not because someone told me to be. blind faith is dead. there are too many resources at our disposal not to think for ourselves. everyone has a choice and thats why millions of missionaries devote their lives to going into foriegn lands and telling them the truth...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJxCFa8YmbQ

 

Everybody do the checken Dance & finish it hee hee! To each his/her own way with spirit just always smile

 

to krimson : stupidity wearing a christian "mask" is still stupidity... that guy that called in is obviosly a moron and those 2 dudes had a field day with him. the reason they put that on youtube is cause it makes all christians look like idiots...

 

Maybe he can do this because he values the stories that suggest ethics/morals/positive ways to live, but is smart enough to realize that there is no way in hell (pun intended) that some dude built a boat and put 2 animals of every species on it and withstood a massive flood...

Or maybe he realizes that the bible states that adam and eve were the 1st people on earth, and they had 2 sons- and yet theres 7 billion people here today- which one of Adam and Eve's sons had a baby, and who knocked him up?

Sorry, but the bible is the word of man, not God.

I think it is full of wonderful stories/lessons that are of great value. But it is a work of fiction...

 

imho if you believe shit that i realized was completely made up and not possible by the time i was 8. then you are an idiot... childish crap made up by crazy desert dwellers 2 thousand years ago. lol noah's ark please 500 million different species of biological exuberance! putting aside their natural need for food and lets not forget the order of the food chain. they just put everything thing aside and get along for a month on a boat!lol! i get asked when the subject arises do you really not believe in anything? then they say how sad. i think it's sad to live your life by rules and believing in crap that is as nonsensical as noah's ark or the story of lot and his daughter whom lot gave up to be raped so the angels didn't catch it in the pooper. i also hear people say why believe any of it if you don't believe all of it! well these poeple believe these stories, thats sad and actually annoying and sometimes funny for the rest of us.

 

I vote the thread should be renamed "Attack Christianity/ Religion" Thread