What religion are you?

Prideth · Post by **Prideth** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:10

Well, someone had to start this thread, and I figured it may as well be me

.

I'm an atheist. That means I am convinced that no god or gods exist, and have never existed. It also follows that I don't believe the devil is real, or heaven, hell or any other of those places exists either.

I've seen on some other forums that some people are trying to call atheisim a religion. That is false. It is not a belief, but the absence of belief. Quite the opposite from believers religions.

Ancsur2002 · Post by **Ancsur2002** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:17

I was born as a catholic, or as its name is popular nowadays: judeo-christianist.
I went to a protestant highschool, so I know these two in greater depth, and liked neither.
I believe in God but I do not believe in those people who go to church and after it they go home and yell at their family and ruin other people's lives. This is not faith, but religiousness, and the two inherently differ from each other.
If i would ever want to identify myself with a religion, then I choose the ancient Hungarian religion (that is not the same with today's christianity no matter what some people claim), that is based on loving and respecting other people, and all beings in Nature.

Post by **Chroelle** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:43

Well. I've been through some christianity, Protestant, in my life, but I never can quite let go of my buddhististic traits. I have so called "own-religion" which I'm not sure would qualify as a religion. I have more of a theory on how life should be lived with some standards. Generally those standards show up in a lot of religions, but not really together

Most of all I am propably a protestant, and then a buddhist. I pray to the Christian god when some thing gets immensely hard, like if someone died or someone is very ill, and I hope to go to some sorts of heaven/nirvana/you name it.

Chillum · Post by **Chillum** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 18:17

I am atheist in a christian country..

I do belive that there is more between heaven and earth than we know of, but I simply don't belive in god..

FogToo · Post by **FogToo** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 19:06

we are not a christian country ? We are a protestantic country ?..
As a physician I simply can't beleave in things that I can't touch or see.. So I belong in the Atheist booth..

I don't mind at all what people believe in. For some people it is tradition, for others it is a nessecary part of everyday life..
The only thing that I don't like is those who try to say that they have the "correct" religion.. You can believe whatever you want, just don't bother me with it..

Post by **Chroelle** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 19:12

True. I think that was also why so many people had it in for Azi (I think his name was) who on OG tried to tell people he had the true religion and for that we were sinners in his eyes, but there was still time to convert before the apocalypse and yada yada yada. Really turned out ugly over there.

SGSW · Post by **SGSW** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 21:07

I was baptised but I don't give a dman to catholic or christian religion, apart from funerals (where I might pray an"Our Father") and weddings.

SO I am what some peole call an agnostic, I believe that there may be something greater than humanity but I call it Mother Nature and His Majesty Randomness or The Great Cosmic Evolution

Ancsur2002 · Post by **Ancsur2002** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 23:39

There are moments in my life when I can sense that there is more to life than we see. Some people call it accidental, I call it causal.

Pitkin · Post by **Pitkin** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:11

I know, this post of mine will most probably be useless to the topic, but I'm willing to take the risk. I apologise.

90% personal matter to me (5% lost because I actually declared that aloud in here, and another 5% because I sometimes still open my mouth about the issue if someone asks me about it in private). Naming anything specific here would turn it into more a social issue than it already is, and I do not want to make that happen.

Stupid contradicting post of mine. *bows*

Dizi · Post by **Dizi** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:58

I am not a religious person at all, I do however believe that all religions hold merit. This is simply because if someone is able to feel better in their life thanks to the belief that they have in a god/gods/person then that religion works for that person.

espenso84 · Post by **espenso84** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 22:38

Yup, and in my opinion, religion is just fear of death, because people cannot acceprt that when you die, you´re dead. Of course, any religious people must not take any offense from my words, as it is only my opinion.

Post by **Chroelle** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 23:10

Well actually I think of death this way:

scenario 1: There is an afterlife. GREAT. I hope it is even better than this one.
Scenario 2: There is no afterlife - only reincarnation. Great I get more time to work on this forum

Scenario 3: There is no afterlife - bugger! I can't really feel bad about it when I realise it, can I.
Scenario 4: There is an afterlife, but it is not pleasant... Bugger. How come none of the three above scenarios count...

Ancsur2002 · Post by **Ancsur2002** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 15:42

I think I rather believe in the reincarnation thing. That would answer the tons of deja vus and 'I know this person for a 1000 years though we have just met' phenomena.

Railwaymodeler · Post by **Railwaymodeler** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 18:55

I am Catholic by baptism and adoption to a Catholic family, though I am not sure what faith I was born to.

I am fairly spiritual myself. I beleive there is a higher power out there, for whatever it is, I do not know, but I ponder it a lot. I suppose you have to have something to believe in, be it karma, God, Budda, or whatever it is.

A few years ago, I studied various aspects of different faiths, I was very interested in the Mormon church, and was interested in coverting, until it caused an uproar in my family and decided not to.

cielorosso · Post by **cielorosso** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 21:14

atheist.... never seen anything that would indicate the excistance of deities of any kind... I prefer to base my life on fact rather than belief.

oscarcg · Post by **oscarcg** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:21

I can't call myself an atheist. While time has made me not believe in any god or gods, I still think that there must be something (or someone) out there that has to explain some strange stuff.

That's to answer the changed topic we have here. But to stick with the original title: No religion whatsoever. All religions are human invention to keep a status quo over certain conditions convenient to certain groups, or to take advantage of people ignorance about some other concepts. In short, a big scam. If that's to aggressive for someone, then I will say that religions are just another kind of profession, like being a doctor, a lawyer, a scuba diver, a jet pilot, so some people decide to be priests.

Zandrav Ibistenn · Post by **Zandrav Ibistenn** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 13:45

The interesting question is not in what belief category you place yourself, but why you place yourself in it. Of course there's the parental imprinting, but with age (hopefully) comes independence and everyone should review any belief passed on from the previous generation. If you just accept the religion you were taught as a child, then it occurs to me more like a cultural tradition than a serious relationship with God.
Do you ever have serious religious experiences, which inspires you to faith, or is religion just something that allows you to do something with other people, reinforcing a sense of group?

For me, the problem with God is theodice - the theological problem that results from the fact that God is supposed to be omnipotent, omniscient and good - but still there is evil (much evil) in the world. How can that be?

Well, first of all, man ate from the tree of knowledge and learned to know good from evil, thus man can choose to act with evil and good intentions, and thus the evil in the world today is of our own doing, not God's. God could choose to remove our capability of committing evil, but then we would not be free, and that would be even worse than allowing us to roam freely, therefore God does not do that.

That makes sense to me because it inspires responsibility and has a positive message that everyone should strive toward good actions.

However, where it all falls down, is by the evil and misfortune that doesn't result from our hands. An example: A pregnant woman has an undetected congenital aortic aneurism (a widening on the aorta, which gradually weakens its walls due to the altered fluid pressure dynamics). Giving birth, increased bloodpressure in the aneurism rupture the aortic walls, and the woman dies - depending on how far in the delivery the child may die to. - Try to imagine how it must feel to be the father... If he believes in God, he'd probably cry out in disbelief "why did you do that, God?"
Replying "The Lord works in mysterious ways" is an extremely dissatisfactory answer, that could turn anyone in that position into atheists.

The conclusion at which I have arrived, is that there is no metalevel above human behavior which supports a deity. Human behavior is everything there is to modify, God is cultural construction designed to do that, for good or for worse.

mistergreen77 · Post by **mistergreen77** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:22

I subscribe to these two quotes by Einstein.

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."

OSH · Post by **OSH** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 16:56

I'm a roman catholic. I believe in God, but I think, the catholic Church hide very essential informations about God, life, faith...I go regulary to church, but my faith and my religion are not the same. I believ, the man can reach everything, when he very strong believ. Only faith can rescue...

Zandrav Ibistenn · Post by **Zandrav Ibistenn** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 18:40

oscarcg wrote:I still think that there must be something (or someone) out there that has to explain some strange stuff.

anscur2002 wrote:There are moments in my life when I can sense that there is more to life than we see.

Railwaymodeler wrote:I am fairly spiritual myself. I beleive there is a higher power out there, for whatever it is, I do not know, but I ponder it a lot.

Will anyone please elaborate? Why is it that if a particular phenomenon is poorly understood, then you ascribe the working of the design to a divine intelligence? It that not a logical fallacy concerning causality?
What is the reason that this belief in "something out there" turns into religious beliefs? Is it peer pressure? - Gee, all these people around me believe in "something", I guess I should too - and perhaps God's cue for me is that I find myself looking for him.
Why is feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of nature interpreted as God's presence? - If you feel uneasy in the dark, then you don't think it's God trying to scare you, right?

Curly's World

What religion are you?

What religion are you?

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