Changing beliefs

[Dakotah]

Want to bet most believers, if they actually saw a resurrected Jesus, would immediately dial the police to report a person with mental health issues. I also believe that if most of the people who claim to be on the religious right actually met Jesus face to face they would immediately brand him a liberal and shun him.

 

[Wishwar]

Please do not misunderstand me in this area I am a student I'm studying religions. I started out as an alter person went to seminary school became an ordained minister. In doing so you have to learn a bunch of different things and we had to read the Bible. Now that is a little bit of my back ground my faith is that of a Spiritualist. I have seen to much to believe that there is not a higher being but have studied to much to know that any one religion has it right.

 

[professor plum]

I grew up in a religious setting, but I've hence refrained from practicing it. I feel like it's mythology at this point - nice stories, but that's it. Stories.
In order for me to switch, I'd need concrete evidence that the supreme being exists.

 

[Eevee3]

I never really changed my beliefs too much. I used to consider myself a Christian because I believed in Heaven and Hell and God but then when I read the Christian bible there were a lot of stuff in there that I did not believe in. I never even knew the religious side to Christmas or Easter until I was a teenager. Christmas was about Santa and family and Easter was about the Easter Bunny, chicks and eggs. My family was never religious to begin with so I never was around religious people to really learn anything or know it even existed until later on.

Now I don't consider myself to be a part of any religion. I still believe there's a God out there and that Heaven and Hell (or some kind of after life) exist. But now I consider reincarnation as well. Either choice is fine with me.

My boyfriend is an atheist and therefore thinks that when you die, you just die and that's it. He says that people believe in after life simply because it's a satisfying feeling knowing that life wont be completely over. For me, I think that's part of it but I also just feel like there's got to be something else out there waiting for us. I don't think that you just die and that's it. I believe that your body may change but your soul lives on forever.

As of right now, I'm not highly religious and I don't follow any specific Gods or rules and I probably won't ever want to. The reason being is that I really don't feel like I should obey by certain rules that haven't been proven to really do any good to me.

The day when the God vs no God fight has been won, I'll then believe in whatever the outcome is. But for now, I believe in what I believe in. I don't follow by an outlined religion. I just believe in my own thing and I like it that way.

 

[~Justified~]

(Go Ahead & Say I'm Ignorant, but we all are) It wouldn't really be called "Faith" if you so easily abandoned it now would it? Nothing would make me abandon my faith in Christ, I'm not ignorant, just faithful, like a loyal husband is to his wife. Is it ignorant of the husband to be loyal to his wife? No, of course not.

 

[Dakotah]

(Go Ahead & Say I'm Ignorant, but It's Not True) It wouldn't really be called "Faith" if you so easily abandoned it now would it? Nothing would make me abandon my faith in Christ, I'm not ignorant, just faithful, like a loyal husband is to his wife. Is it ignorant of the husband to be loyal to his wife? No, of course not.

I'll let you in on a secret. All of us humans are ignorant. Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. There is no doubt that we are all ignorant of something. For instance, I'm ignorant of what it means to be a woman, because I'm a male. I have no knowledge of astro-physics or quantum theory. I'm decidedly ignorant about botany, except for the knowledge of what plants make my hay-fever go wild.

I do know this, however, the gaining of knowledge does not lead to the destruction of faith. It merely transforms it. When man learned that the world was round and not flat, it did not destroy people's faith in God. Rather they just gained a better understanding of the world they lived in. When man learned that the Earth was not the center of the universe, it did not destroy people's faith. It just became one less thing they remained ignorant about.

Having faith does not mean you cease continuing to learn. As you gain knowledge, you become less ignorant of the world around you and gain a better understanding, perhaps, of your own faith.

 

[~Justified~]

I'll let you in on a secret. All of us humans are ignorant. Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. There is no doubt that we are all ignorant of something. For instance, I'm ignorant of what it means to be a woman, because I'm a male. I have no knowledge of astro-physics or quantum theory. I'm decidedly ignorant about botany, except for the knowledge of what plants make my hay-fever go wild.

I do know this, however, the gaining of knowledge does not lead to the destruction of faith. It merely transforms it. When man learned that the world was round and not flat, it did not destroy people's faith in God. Rather they just gained a better understanding of the world they lived in. When man learned that the Earth was not the center of the universe, it did not destroy people's faith. It just became one less thing they remained ignorant about.

Having faith does not mean you cease continuing to learn. As you gain knowledge, you become less ignorant of the world around you and gain a better understanding, perhaps, of your own faith.

I know, thank you for posting that though, maybe it will help people to be less hostile towards others with different beliefs. I like that final paragraph there, very well worded and true!:)

 

[Dakotah]

Thank you. While I do not hold any belief in a deity of any sort, I have respect for those who do. My only issue is with those who would use their faith to act against others who do not share those same beliefs or who live lives contrary to those beliefs.

My life is plenty enough to manage as is without me injecting myself into another person's life. I don't understand how anyone can feel the need or the right to tell another person how to live their lives. So long as a person is not harming themselves or another, we should all just leave well enough alone and concentrate on our own lives.

 

[Hiatus]

I've been taught whatever beliefs I have right now while growing. They might not have much proof to their legitimacy, but I still choose to trust out of respect. I may be able to change on this if I absolutely have to, but if not, I'd like to keep myself the way I am. I've become attached to them a lot, and for some people, things like this are just tough to separate from. Some refuse to believe unless they have actual evidence, and that's perfectly fine; if I weren't too clingy, I'd likely have been the same.