Serious Religion

[VisionofMilotic]

Do you hold any spiritual beliefs i.e Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Wicca etc? Or is that a no, i.e agnosticism, atheism? Come and share your worldview and any meaningful personal experiences you wish.

If you are religious do you subscribe to a specific denomination? I.e a Catholic,
Baptist, Mormon.

Please be polite, everyone is welcome here at the table.

 

[Miss Wendighost]

I used to be Christian, but now I am agnostic. While I still hold onto a belief in some kind of afterlife and ghosts, I'm unsure about a God. Thankfully, I made a home in r/Atheism and have found support from a friend of mine who happens to be Atheist.

 

[gimmepie]

I'm agnostic. I can't believe that there absolutely is or absolutely isn't a higher power because it is completely impossible to prove either. So my stance is "I don't know".

I have to say though, I don't believe that any higher power is something we could ever comprehend. It is the height of human arrogance to presume we could ever speak as to what a higher entity believes or wants.

 

[Miss Wendighost]

I'm agnostic. I can't believe that there absolutely is or absolutely isn't a higher power because it is completely impossible to prove either. So my stance is "I don't know".

I have to say though, I don't believe that any higher power is something we could ever comprehend. It is the height of human arrogance to presume we could ever speak as to what a higher entity believes or wants.

Welcome to the club.

 

[Aslan]

Had a brief period of time where I identified as Christian but otherwise have always been agnostic. I do not think we can prove or disprove a god exists and I've just accepted it as something I will find out after death. I believe there is a higher power / afterlife in some manner but I can't prove that nor do I identify with a specific religion's beliefs.

 

[Miss Wendighost]

Had a brief period of time where I identified as Christian but otherwise have always been agnostic. I do not think we can prove or disprove a god exists and I've just accepted it as something I will find out after death. I believe there is a higher power / afterlife in some manner but I can't prove that nor do I identify with a specific religion's beliefs.

Same kind of deal here. From what supernatural experiences I had in the past, I can definitively say that there is some kind of higher power and afterlife out there, but I'm uncertain of what exactly it could be.

 

[professor plum]

I was raised deep Southern Baptist. I went to church a lot with my paternal grandmother growing up. I realized it wasn't for me around 13 or 14. I don't believe there's any sort of higher power, and if there is, I don't think she's anything like any established "God".

Funnily enough, religion is actually what sparked my first, frequent anxiety attacks. One New Years Eve around age 8, I watched a movie about the rapture and was beyond traumatized.

Any time I couldn't find someone, I immediately started full-on panicking - I feared they had been raptured and I was left behind. This was a common occurrence from like age 8 to...12 or 13? I mean I had nightmares, sleepless nights, etc., just because I was so worried about it haha.

 

[Ninetales]

I am a Christian although I subscribe to no particular denomination and I am a former Atheist. I was raised in a very strict religious family and had a period in my life where I ultimately rejected the notion of a God altogether. However, I have returned to my faith in recent years and I consider myself immensely spiritual. A life without God for me was a bleak one and my belief in Christ gives me hope and happiness. I believe in being a kind person and I believe that living to help other individuals is my duty as a human being. Furthermore, I believe that all of God's creations are special and worthy of respect. My religious views are also somewhat unorthodox, as I do not believe in hell or Satan or any inherent "force of evil", nor do I believe that only adherents of Christianity ascend to heaven. I think the gates of heaven are open to everyone and a lack of religion doesn't exclude one from the afterlife.

With that being said I have no way of proving if God exists for I truly don't know. My perspective is that if God is real then I will serve him and if God isn't, what have I got to lose? I must admit I find religious debates somewhat ridiculous because nobody truly knows and I think the question on the existence of a higher power will remain unanswered, which doesn't bother me. While I have no insecurity regarding my Christian faith, I consider myself to be very open-minded about other people's beliefs.

 

[CodeHelmet]

Was born and raised Catholic but I've grown to have considerable disagreements with the Church. So much that I feel we need a 2nd Reformation movement to allow Priests to marry, Nuns or Women to have a greater role(Female Pope anyone?) and to do a far greater job, particularly here in the United States, at dealing with the growing Homeless/Hunger issues plaguing large swaths of the country. I see far too many 2nd Collections all going for things that don't go back into the local community and it sickens me to no end. I mean there's a relatively new Cathedral in Oakland but the city is swamped with people on the streets. For a Religion built on generosity to the poor, it definitely has failed in this regard.

 

[Ninetales]

Was born and raised Catholic but I've grown to have considerable disagreements with the Church. So much that I feel we need a 2nd Reformation movement to allow Priests to marry, Nuns or Women to have a greater role(Female Pope anyone?) and to do a far greater job, particularly here in the United States, at dealing with the growing Homeless/Hunger issues plaguing large swaths of the country. I see far too many 2nd Collections all going for things that don't go back into the local community and it sickens me to no end. I mean there's a relatively new Cathedral in Oakland but the city is swamped with people on the streets. For a Religion built on generosity to the poor, it definitely has failed in this regard.

I do agree with you here. I think that the fact that priests are required abstain from marriage is absurd and as a young woman myself, I strongly think that women deserve positions of power and influence within the Roman Catholic church. The fact that women cannot become priests or bishops is ludicrous. Also, in regards to your second point, I think there is a sense of greed within certain church communities and I think there is more that needs to be done. One cannot simply attend a mass service and feel holier than thou, Christianity requires action, Jesus call us to help others and to give back to the community. A large portion of people seem to have forgotten the utter importance of helping and loving thy neighbour and many people of all religious backgrounds focus solely on furthering themselves without considering others. Although, I want to point out the fact that there doesn't seem to be as many non-religious organizations that work with the poor as compared to religious organizations (at least where I reside) and the Catholic church has a long history of aiding the poor. (Although that's not to ignore the rather turbulent history of the church.)

 

[CodeHelmet]

I do agree with you here. I think that the fact that priests are required abstain from marriage is absurd and as a young woman myself, I strongly think that women deserve positions of power and influence within the Roman Catholic church. The fact that women cannot become priests or bishops is ludicrous. Also, in regards to your second point, I think there is a sense of greed within certain church communities and I think there is more that needs to be done. One cannot simply attend a mass service and feel holier than thou, Christianity requires action, Jesus call us to help others and to give back to the community. A large portion of people seem to have forgotten the utter importance of helping and loving thy neighbour and many people of all religious backgrounds focus solely on furthering themselves without considering others. Although, I want to point out the fact that there doesn't seem to be as many non-religious organizations that work with the poor as compared to religious organizations (at least where I reside) and the Catholic church has a long history of aiding the poor. (Although that's not to ignore the rather turbulent history of the church.)

Thanks for the vote of support but after looking back at what I wrote, its one thing to complain or have issues with the church. Its another to actually go out and do things about it. In other words, actions speak louder than words and far too many Americans, notably those of the Catholic faith which includes myself, are not putting in the time and we foolishly delegate to Government to do the job for us.

 

[Kitty]

Born and raised in an absolutely Catholic (and supernatural- yes I am serious) country. Still can't (and won't) say this out loud irl but I am agnostic, with events supporting and/or questioning my beliefs everyday. In the end, it's all just a big "I don't know" and all I can do is respect everyone's opinion on the matter.

I watched a movie about the rapture and was beyond traumatized.

Same.

 

[Yue Han]

I'm from a Catholic background but at the the same time I don't really consider myself to have had a Catholic upbringing. Besides my grandma and my great auntie (her sister) I'm pretty sure everyone else in my family is (at most) agnostic.

I went to a Catholic school but it was pretty much just like any other school in my opinion, we just happened to have a nun headmistress, some assemblies with religious themes and of course we said prayers at the start of lessons. That kind of stuff just felt like going through the motions more than anything and I'm pretty sure most of the teachers felt that way themselves too. Even in R.E. class it would have been perfectly acceptable for someone to say "I do not believe in any of this" as long as they weren't doing it to obviously try and piss off the teacher or something.

As for myself I've always been very spiritual. I'm not sure if I believe in a creator being but I do believe in a higher power/realm of existence. My beliefs are more formed than than last statement but as they do change over time with my own changing perception of reality and are fairly personal I'll leave it at that.

 

[gimmepie]

I went to a Catholic school but it was pretty much just like any other school in my opinion, we just happened to have a nun headmistress, some assemblies with religious themes and of course we said prayers at the start of lessons. That kind of stuff just felt like going through the motions more than anything and I'm pretty sure most of the teachers felt that way themselves too. Even in R.E. class it would have been perfectly acceptable for someone to say "I do not believe in any of this" as long as they weren't doing it to obviously try and piss off the teacher or something.

I did the practical experience portion of an education in a Catholic Primary School and it was honestly a very good school. I'm still of the opinion that religion is best left out of education mind you, but this particular school wasn't too bad about things.

What was mortifying, was when, as a very nonreligious agnostic, I got left in charge of two classes full of seven-year-olds for Liturgical Singing. Never again.

 

[Yue Han]

I did the practical experience portion of an education in a Catholic Primary School and it was honestly a very good school. I'm still of the opinion that religion is best left out of education mind you, but this particular school wasn't too bad about things.

What was mortifying, was when, as a very nonreligious agnostic, I got left in charge of two classes full of seven-year-olds for Liturgical Singing. Never again.

Yeah. In my schools, both primary and secondary, I'm sure at least half of the teachers did not hold strong (or any) religious beliefs and it was not required of them to. My schools were also both very good, well respected schools that I will vouch for regardless of all the shady stuff happening to the education system in England & Wales (which is unfortunately the governments irresponsible influence rather than the schools making those poor decisions themselves) . Therefore I don't really agree with the stigma all Catholic schools get about shoving religion down the children's throats at any given opportunity (but then it's different depending on the country maybe).

You being in charge of children to do something of that nature does sound odd though. In fact I wonder now how much would have been required of our teachers that did not hold religious beliefs. I'm trying to remember if we had prayers at the start of every lesson, I don't think we did but whether that was down to the teacher forgetting/being exempt because of not being Catholic themselves I do not know (probably the former since I imagine it wouldn't have bothered anyone who made the decision to work at a Catholic school in the first place).

Anyway this is all another debate/topic entirely...

 

[Tsutarja]

I'm Christian.

I grew up in a household that wasn't very religious, primarily because of my mom just not wanting to go church or really partake in any Christian activities, but it was more-or-less on the basis of non-practicing Christianity as my mom did believe in God, as does my dad.

It wasn't until my mother passed away three years ago that I turned to Jesus. I feel that my walk with the lord is what kept me up during a time that I would have otherwise been down. He's also been there for me in times of stress, such as last year when I was going through hardships with friends and also through an intense time while I tried returning to school. At the time, I never thought I was going to get out of the rut I was in, but with prayer I believe that it was God who has helped me get through such tough times since I opened my heart to Him.

I don't always speak of my views publicly, so this post was kinda tough to make in the process.

 

[professor plum]

Same.

It's really rough.

I did the practical experience portion of an education in a Catholic Primary School and it was honestly a very good school. I'm still of the opinion that religion is best left out of education mind you, but this particular school wasn't too bad about things.

I don't know why I forgot to mention it, but I actually attended an Episcopalian school from age 2 and a half through 6th grade. It was a pretty solid school, too, but ... I was not a fan of having to constantly go to Bible study/have Bible class/etc.

Yeah. In my schools, both primary and secondary, I'm sure at least half of the teachers did not hold strong (or any) religious beliefs and it was not required of them to.

I can confirm all of my teachers were very religious. I was reprimanded for reading Harry Potter by my third grade teacher, actually. Mind you - this is before the movies came out and they were mega popular. A few years later, she actually added the books to her in-classroom library.

 

[Miss Wendighost]

I am a Christian although I subscribe to no particular denomination and I am a former Atheist. I was raised in a very strict religious family and had a period in my life where I ultimately rejected the notion of a God altogether. However, I have returned to my faith in recent years and I consider myself immensely spiritual. A life without God for me was a bleak one and my belief in Christ gives me hope and happiness. I believe in being a kind person and I believe that living to help other individuals is my duty as a human being. Furthermore, I believe that all of God's creations are special and worthy of respect. My religious views are also somewhat unorthodox, as I do not believe in hell or Satan or any inherent "force of evil", nor do I believe that only adherents of Christianity ascend to heaven. I think the gates of heaven are open to everyone and a lack of religion doesn't exclude one from the afterlife.

With that being said I have no way of proving if God exists for I truly don't know. My perspective is that if God is real then I will serve him and if God isn't, what have I got to lose? I must admit I find religious debates somewhat ridiculous because nobody truly knows and I think the question on the existence of a higher power will remain unanswered, which doesn't bother me. While I have no insecurity regarding my Christian faith, I consider myself to be very open-minded about other people's beliefs.

I have similar beliefs, despite being agnostic myself. I view Hell as a place where people who have done espically horrible deeds such as murder or abuse instead of a place where people who don't have the same views on faith as somebody else. Likewise, I don't believe in pressuring children to follow the faith of their parents or any faith at all since it would create a sense of dissatisfaction in the future, sometimes manifesting as symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression depending on how fundamental the church is. Hopefully, nonbelievers and theists can exist among each other peacefully, espically in the US, where things are slowly getting better, atheists and agnostics still get a bad name. No harsh feelings, since I don't know you personally and you seem like a great person to be around.

 

[Harmonie]

I am not religious, and in fact would say I am an atheist. I was raised a Christian by my family. We went through a few different churches, the last one Methodist. As much as I tried, I could never "get" church. I believed because my family and community did. I would have never been able to admit to this, but looking back on it, I didn't have that belief for myself. No God ever spoke to me, and I never felt the "high" that people get in church services. Church was just a time of boredom to me.

It's a long story, but I eventually ended up an atheist. Me being raised as a feminist, LGBT positive (and then ending up in the spectrum myself), etc. really pushed me along. I was raised in quite an astounding bubble, where I didn't realize that the Bible was problematic and that many churches and believers were pushing forward extremely sexist beliefs, being anti-LGBT, etc. Once that bubble burst, I quickly rejected Christianity. The dominoes all fell from there. Moral rejection was my foundation, but from there I realized that the religion and deity didn't make any sense at all, and then that my 'belief' I had been raised on had no foundation.

 

[pastelspectre]

i am religious to some extent. i do believe there is a higher power and a God and that our paths are sort of...determined by the higher power, and whenever we go off our path and start to steer onto the wrong path the higher power tries to help us back onto the right one. i also believe in reincarnation to an extent. i don't have a label to whatever my religion is.

i was born into a family where my mom was a heavy christian growing up and my dad is currently an atheist and has been one as far as i can remember. he tried to push my mom's religious beliefs down and oppress her and it was not good. religion was never really discussed in my household when i was growing up unless if my dad was negative about it. thus i never explored religion until i was an adult, like 18 or so. i still dont rlly know what religion i am. i just know i am religious to some extent.