IMPORTANT: Sharing Beliefs

[gimmepie]

In light of not only the recent attack in Brussel's, but a lot of negativity surrounding people's religious beliefs in general, I think this is something we need. I think it is high time that people stopped talking at each other about religion and started talking too each other and listening to one another. Perhaps then the world would have just a little less "us and them" and a little bit more understanding, unity and peace.

The way this thread works is simple, each user is entitled to one post. There will be no discussion or debating here, only sharing and learning. In your one post you get to share as much about your religious beliefs (or lack thereof) as you think is necessary. Basically, explain the basic principals of your religious beliefs (or again, lack thereof) in a moderate amount of detail. All the important bits.

Then we can look at each others posts and learn a bit about each other, perhaps see some common ground with others that you never thought you'd have or at least grow a bit of understanding that you perhaps once lacked.

So go ahead, I encourage people of all religions and sects of belief/non-belief to contribute to this thread. Just remember the three main rules

1. Your post is not meant to convert anyone, merely to educate.
2. You only get one post.
3. There is no hostility here. This is an opportunity to learn about each other and grow closer as a community, not an opportunity to further divide people. The world has enough of that already.

 

[Sir Codin]

I identify as atheist.

Atheism is defined as a lack of belief in a higher power. I found myself questioning whether God exists. If you are skeptical and require proof of the existence of something, you don't believe it exists. I required proof. Therefore I didn't believe. No belief = atheist. Therefore I am atheist.

BAM

 

[Light and Darkness Dragon]

My Belief? I am probably Christian (I don't live like one).
In a way I think Christianity and Buddhism are much a like with how they try to abstain from doing evil.
Yesterday a friend who shares similar beliefs to my own said that "Christianity is a necessary evil. They go out and do the work that needs to be done, and help the communities that they are in."

I do get uncomfortable when another friend of mine, agnostic says "Zombie day" instead of Easter. I'm not here to educate or convert. I just want to say I care a little bit. I enjoy parodies like Darkmatter2525's videos. I also have a youtube channel where I uploaded some Heather Clark songs (she performs worship music for Christians). Christians/Catholics debate whether her songs are sexual or not.

I used to go to church. In fact I got my mom back into Church. I stopped going to Church and some of the songs I listen to example Rocky Horror Picture Show. She says that's devil worship. She smokes, and I joke around with her when she smokes. "Mom that's devil worship." Reasoning behind that statement is because smoking destroys the body, and the body is a physical temple that you are supposed to maintain.

Didn't know what I was going to say on this post
I don't care, but I care.

I just don't want people to be mean spirited to one another.

My and the friend who says Zombie Day discuss whether God made Man or if Man made God it gets heated, and we end in a stalemate.

 

[Abby]

Personally I fel quite ambiguous about this. There's no proof for or even against a higer power, and until we get this evidence, I'm leaving it at that.

 

[an illegible mess.]

i'm a laveyan satanist. contrary to popular belief, no, i do not worship the devil. laveyan satanism is actually quite atheistic in its beliefs. most of my beliefs are more philosophical theory than religious theory. basically, most of laveyan satanist beliefs revolve around respect and love towards those that deserve it, aka, a sort of "scratch my back, i'll scratch yours" ideology. if you're respectful to me, i'll be respectful to you. if you're not respectful to me, i won't be respectful to you. simple as that. it also embraces pride. not the pride that makes you forget about everyone else and only think about yourself, but the kind of pride that gives you self-confidence. it's quite interesting.

 

[Psychic]

I was raised Jewish, and identify as culturally Jewish but otherwise atheist. Judaism is a lovely religion with some really nice customs, but there are so many ridiculous traditions and exploited loopholes that just baffle me. Any traditions I participate in are mostly just done to keep my family happily. The fact that Judaism is both a religion and a culture complicates things when it comes to identity.

I don't like the idea of blindly following old books just for the sake of it, and I don't think it's a good place to draw my morality from. While theoretically, I find the idea of a god rather nice, I don't actually think one exists, and if there is a god then it is not one I would want to worship.

Overall, I find religion to be a mixed bag. It does a lot of good in that it creates community and offers people a way of supporting and helping one another, and it also gives people hope. In some cases, people specifically do good or avoid doing bad because of their religion. But (specifically) organized religion has done a lot of bad, and I don't feel it's for me.

My feelings about religion tend to shift, so this isn't what I've always felt or will always feel, these are just some thoughts of the now.

~Psychic

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

Now THIS is the kind of thread I can get behind. I prefer just saying what I feel and then reading others' feelings, because 98% of the time, no amount of discussion or debate will change minds on controversial topics.

Anyways, me? Honestly, religion isn't really a hot button topic for me as it is others. I really don't care. I mean, I honestly don't get it either. But I don't care. It's not something I think about most of the time unless someone brings it up. It doesn't really come up much in my life at all. Most of the time, I find it is irrelevant to conversations anyway. That doesn't mean I don't have an opinion though. I'm an atheist.

Of course, I'm not okay with the fact that generally in public, you can't say that you're an atheist, because people will think this equates to a lack of morals or something. I do have morals. Very powerful ones, and a very strong sense of ethics and not hurting people. I just don't think the idea of a God is plausible. Anthropormorphizing the universe doesn't feel right to me, because there is far more out there than just a humanlike being that controls everything. There is more to life than humanity. I believe more in just... random forces controlling the universe that don't have any sentience behind just being natural phenomenon.

However, this also doesn't mean that I'm an excessive pessimist as the stereotype prevails as well about atheism. Or that I've given up on life and don't believe because of some tragic experience. I just came to this conclusion on my own time, using my own mind and logic to formulate it. Honestly, I can't say for sure what's out there. Only what seems most logical to me. It really isn't about proof. Mostly just about what I think makes sense or "feels right." Although seeing things with my own eyes/experiencing them does help me make sense of them more.

I do hope that systems like reincarnation exist, because like most people, I am disturbed by the thought of just... dying and never existing again. Of being an insignificant speck in this universe. I don't really truly believe in reincarnation, but I like the idea of the power of the soul and spirit. Of there being something inside of me that is more powerful than my body, and will prevail eternally. This system seems logical enough for me to think it might be plausible, due to the overall recycling nature of the universe from what I know.

But let me reiterate again: I don't care if you're religious. If that's what makes you happy, and that is what seems most logical to you, as what I believe seems most logical to me, then believe it. Because our beliefs have no bearing on the grand scheme of things anyway. Just stay out of my face about it, don't be condescending and try to force unnecessary restrictions on everyone, and we're all good.

 

[Esper]

I'm not religious a.k.a. atheist a.k.a. agnostic a.k.a. apatheist. I wasn't born into a religious family, wasn't raised with religion. That stuff was completely absent. When I was in high school though I tried to be religious with Wicca and stuff like that since some of my friends were also experimenting. The philosophy of it was appealing, but it didn't stick for me. I didn't have any real faith in it.

I believe that faith is something you have to be raised with, like a second language. The longer you live without it the harder it is to learn. For me, I couldn't be religious even if I wanted to. It's like trying to explain color to a person who was born blind. They can understand the concept, the idea, but not the experience. It took me almost until high school to realize that people had this thing I didn't have and it was pretty weird and surreal to realize how completely different someone's upbringing can affect their view of the world since, unlike some people I know who are non-religious, I don't have Catholic guilt or any other kind of personal hangups with religion tied up with my non-belief.

I'm not sad or anything that I don't have any faith in supernatural/religious/"higher beings" type stuff. If anything I felt quite happy figuring that out because I have no uncertainty about it, and I can even say I've tried. I was free from having my moral compass come in contact with whatever it is with faith that makes people have personal crises. And today it's only something that crosses my mind when religion and faith come up in the outside world. But most of my other thoughts about religion are about what I see in other people so I'll keep those to myself.

 

[crimsoncero]

Both my mother and father are Jewish, but both of their families are very different, my mother's parents were religious and my father's parents are not.

I like to identify me as an atheist, I don't believe in the concept of a god whom we need to worship and obey. I sometimes wonder if there is some higher guidance out there, but if there is I think we are too minor and small for it to care, like us and ants.

One of the things I would like to follow in my life is something my grandfather told my mother and her siblings when they were young: As long as they are in his house, eating his food and under his care, they will have to respect his beliefs and ideals; but when they will come to age, and start their own life, and their own families, they are free to choose how to live their lives, and he will love them the same.

My mother's side of the family has an incredible range of religious people, from those who are definitely not religious to those who are. And yet, when my grandparents were alive all the family(and I'm talking about 8 siblings each with about 2-4 children) was having many Friday night gatherings, and we respected each other, and the place we were in.

And that is my religion, to respect whoever you are with, no matter how different they are...

 

[Jetfire]

I was raised Catholic but I do not follow the religion.

I believe that all religions preach the same message. I would like to believe that message is to live a "righteous and meaningful life". I've come to realize that I don't need a religion to be recognized as a good person.

 

[Her]

Indifferent. Well, I have to admit a loathing of astrology - I'm fickle like that. Otherwise, yes, indifferent.

I was raised a strict Catholic and was the most devout little Son of a Preacher Man well into my teens, but I fell out of the faith & the church at about 16/17 due to clashing with church figures on various issues I wasn't able to reconcile. Not to mention I just didn't want to associate with the religion I felt my strict Traditionalist family were using as a scapegoat for their own prejudices.

Fast forward a few years and I just don't care. When given the vastness of the universe, I find it a bit... lacking to think that humanity is the center of it all, that deities or supernatural forces spend their existence interfering in the affairs of our lives. I simply don't see the point in exerting effort on belief in that regard. I find the search for life outside the confines of our galaxy has a lot more pull than life outside the comprehension of human understanding. I'm just more interested in the tangible and affecting those in a directly observable manner than focusing on their faith.
In short, I just have better things to do in the meanwhile.

I don't consider myself lost; if I were, I'd be searching for answers. I'm not. I am more than preoccupied with questions and predicaments of a more immediate nature than my spiritual health. More importantly, I am not looking for those sorts of answers. I consider my moral compass particularly efficient and capable; a lack of direct religious input allows me to consider morality without supernatural influence, which is better for how I choose to view the world.

 

[Pokemon Game Fan]

I am an Agnostic Atheist as far as labels go. However religious debates always fascinate me. I love having debates on religion, too bad most people don't.

I definitely see religion as a negative thing. I believe people don't need to believe in any religion to do good or to feel good. That said, I only talk about religion if someone else brings it up. I don't just go around preaching, that'd be obnoxious. But if someone asks a question about it, I will tell them my point of view - which tends to be unpopular. Most people don't like that I am anti-religion.

A lot of people think "Well, you say you're Agnostic, how can you be against religion if Agnostic means you don't care?" I respond that I am Agnostic when it comes to God and not religion. I don't believe there is evidence either way to prove or disprove God, but I don't believe in him. When I say God, I mean ANY God. Or even gods. But when it comes to religion, they're so contradicting and almost all of them can be traced back to something.

As for me personally, I don't believe in any god. However, I was raised Catholic and slowly got out of that.

 

[gimmepie]

Wouldn't be right if I didn't share in my own thread. But first, thank you to everyone who has contributed so far and to anyone who does in the future.

I identify as an Agnostic Theist. Essentially what I mean by this is that I do believe in a higher power, that I generally call God for convenience, however I also recognise that like all beliefs, I am not necessarily correct. I believe in a higher power, but that doesn't mean there is one.

In addition to this, I have a strong belief that religion should be about people coming together, rather than about dividing ourselves into different sects and creating an "us and them" mentality. I may not be particularly religious myself, but I think religion can be a beautiful thing and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when extremists use religion to divide. I feel it taints it.

I also feel that religions in general have more in common with one another than they would like to admit. Most religions actually teach very similar moral ideologies and I think that when done properly, religion can be a great way to impart good moral values and wisdom onto people. I don't think that is the only way to develop good morals though. Morality and religion aren't intrinsically intwined and your religion doesn't make you a better or worse person. It's just another component of who you are.

Perhaps one of the most important parts of my personal beliefs, is that I don't think we should attribute human traits and morality to a higher power. I highly doubt that any god or gods have the same values as us (see the "humans and ants comparison as mentioned above"). I highly doubt humans would even be able to comprehend the thoughts of a being above ourselves and to assume that we can, or that God shares our values, is the height of human arrogance. This is why I often remind people that God did not write the bible, human beings did.

That's all for now, I'll edit more in if anything big comes to mind. Keep these coming people!

 

[Margot]

I really like this idea.

I was born to a mother who was raised Catholic and a father who was raised Muslim. Both my parents respect each other's religions and neither decided to convert the other when they got married. It was a "you have your religion, I have mine" situation. Not once in their 35 years of marriage have they ever debated religion.

That being said, when it came to my brother and I, they didn't want to make one religion seem more important than the other so they decided to let us choose our own religions. I ended up becoming agnostic. I believe there is a higher power, I just don't think I need a set of rules dictating how I should interact with said higher power. Lately though, I've been studying up a lot on Buddhism. I don't think I'll convert but I do like some of the ideas. I wish I could be more helpful on educating about Catholicism and Islam, but I really don't know too much. Just know that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful and are just as horrified about what is happening as you are.

What I do remember about Islam:
-You're either Sunni or Shiite depending on who you believe is the true successor to the prophet. His advisor, or his cousin. Sunni follow the friend and advisor since they think his ideas followed that of the prophet's. Shiite follow the blood line. This may be more complex than I'm making it.

- There are 5 pillars (or main rules within the religion):
1. Claiming your faith & your belief in the prophet
2. Five daily prayers which should be made facing towards the direction of Mecca.
3. Giving to charity
4. Fasting for Ramadan
5. Making at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in your lifetime

I wish I knew more. I took a World Religions class long ago, but I've forgotten a lot.

 

[Lunaris Adamantine]

I was raised in a Mormon family, born near the heart of the religion, not far from Salt Lake City. It was a really big deal to my family, the point often being made that my ancestors were the second cousin of Joseph Smith, the guy who started the whole thing. I thought that was pretty cool when I was younger, being related to someone important like that.

But when I went to church, they were always teaching us stuff from the Bible or the Book of Mormon, and I just didn't get it. People kept insisting these unbelievable stories were fact, but I could only see them as fiction. It seemed like people were taking a fairy tale way too seriously, if I'm honest. It didn't take me long to realize that I didn't belong in their religion, or any others, and I quickly became an atheist before I even knew there was a term for it.

To me, the attitude of modern day society regarding religion seems backwards. It's normal to believe in God, Jesus, Spirits, water turning into wine, and that the universe was created by an all-powerful being around 6000 years ago. However me, and other non-religious people, are often considered bad or evil by others simply because we don't believe in something that has no proof to support it.

I understand if people need something to believe in, and I can understand why. To me, I feel like everyone that dies is just... well, dead. To think that there is something beyond death is pretty awesome, really, and I know that no one wants to just not exist anymore. If I could believe that were the case, I would love to. But as I said, there's no proof for it, and I am the sort of person who needs proof before I'll believe anything.

The thing that bothers me the most, though? When people ask how I can have morals if I don't believe in the Bible. Morals aren't something that are written in a book, and you shouldn't have to refer to a list before making any decisions. It almost sounds like these people would do whatever they pleased if they weren't threatened to go to hell for doing so.

Honestly though, I really don't care what you believe in. I just don't want anyone to try and convince me that I'm wrong, or tell me that I'm evil for not agreeing with them. The simple fact is that I will respect whatever you believe in, as long as you respect that I don't believe in it.

 

[Neil Peart]

I used to be a pretty militant atheist. Over time, I've become more of a "I just don't know" kind of guy when it comes to my beliefs. Face it, there's no hard evidence on either side of the aisle when it comes to religion. I was raised to believe there was a God, but not sternly. Never went to church, no bible, no traditions. When I was 13, I saw on the news that someone died in a drunk driving accident. The victim died, but the drunk guy survived. I remember asking myself "what kind of God could do that?" I asked my grandmother about situations like that, and all she said was "it's part of God's plan." Unsatisfied, I became an atheist pretty quickly.

I'm 25 now, and I've thought a lot about it. The closest I get to belief is that maybe there is a higher power that looks over us, but lets us humans just do what we want - free will. A non-interventionist. I'm big on proof, though. I choose to believe that if there is a God that gave us free will and I do face God on judgment day, he'd understand why I questioned his existence based on all of the hatred, inequity, and evil in this world. I have a hard time believing that only fundamentalists that live their life according to every word in the bible with no exceptions are getting into Heaven.

I'd also like to state that I believe in an afterlife now, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Heaven or Hell. For all we know, we could be reincarnated, sent to an eternal rave party, or just float around to do as we please on another plane. The core of my belief is, in essence, nobody can know for sure, so nobody can tell anyone their beliefs are wrong.

 

[Dusty]

Now here is an interesting thread, guess I might as well share.

I am a Sabbatarian Christian. That's the best name I've come up with so far, although Traditional, Old Covenant, and a few other terms could apply as well. Essentially the high points are that I believe in the laws in the Old Testament and that they still apply, things like the idea of the Sabbath, food laws, old holy days listed in the books of the law, etc. Really in terms of the law its somewhat similar to Judaism, although I accept the New Testament as well.

Although I am Christian, I don't believe in Heaven or Hell. Heaven is a place where God exists, yes, but you don't go there when you die, nor does the Bible ever say that. Nor does it say anybody goes to hell. Throughout the Bible I find the most consistent idea is that at some point Christ will return and all of mankind will have a chance. So those who die are dead until then.

While I am Christian, I do not ignore science or anything like that. Too often to religious people ignore science when it can sometimes help prove their own points. For example, I do believe that the earth is older than the 6000 years some Christians disagree with, both the bible and science support it is older than that.

Finally when it comes to other religions, I try to respect other people and their religions regardless of who they are or what they believe. I understand why many people believe what they do, whether they believe in a higher power or not. When it comes to religion, I just hope that other people respect each other and that those who go all out in attacking others of different religions, like ISIS, are extremists and that they do not represent the whole of a religious group of people.

 

[Fannie]

This thread is really interesting! It's not often you see a thread about religion that isn't heated.

I'm an agnostic atheist, I suppose - not quite sure. I've not come across any religion that includes worship of a deity that I believe in but I don't think it's impossible that there's some sort of higher power. There have been times in my life that have been difficult where I wished I could give up responsibility for anything that was happening and be guided by something/one. I think feeling a bit of that weight of responsibility lift would make me a happier person.

I used to strongly identify as an atheist and consider anyone with faith less intelligent (the irony isn't lost on me.) There was a time when I never would have associated myself with someone religious. Now a very good friend of mine is Catholic and I wonder what the fudge was wrong with me. He's a great person - one of the best I've known - and it makes me think about all the other great people I could have gotten to know if I hadn't been a biggot.

 

[Reunilu]

Very much appreciate this sort of thing, thank you OP.

I identify closely as an agnostic, but I was raised Catholic and still technically Catholic for family reasons. It's hard to really say what I believe in, since most of my beliefs have been shaped by how much I hate Catholicism (read: hate the religion, not the believers). I understood I was a very spiritual and deep thinking person from a very young age, but I hated to be constricted by already set beliefs more and more. I suppose... I'll start with some "evil" is a good thing. My philosophy is if there is evil, we can appreciate and emphasize the "good" the world has to offer. If all evil is eliminated, the label "good" is rendered meaningless.

I'm rather on the fence on whether there is such thing as a god, but I do not believe the Christian God is the right one. In fact, I see him as rather cruel and I think it's rather ridiculous that someone that rules the universe would rather rule through fear, call it love, and punish those who would go against or question him and his arrogance. I like to think that if there is a god, they would resemble a story writer: a god with a personality that sees and understands the full extent of free will and the true potential of human flaw, but can only watch humanity grow. No "god's plan" or any of that crap, just a being that oversees the universe.

And... I think that's all what I have to say.

 

[Wicked3DS]

I am a Christian through and through, my faith is in Jesus Christ being resurrected from the dead to redeem me from the sinner I am.

That's all you need to know about me.

I don't believe that theology and quoting the bible frivolously outright saves or helps anyone and I don't believe that shoving beliefs down people's throats does either. I think the only way to get through to people and even have a shot at sharing what you believe is to be a friend and respect others beliefs. Even so, my goal isn't even to convert you, my goal is to be the best friend to you I can be and the best person I believe I should be.