Why are you religious/not religious?

RockaHolicGameR wrote:

KrAzY wrote:

Vigil wrote:I was born into christainity, and was taught about it during primary school.

As I grew older and more and more cynical, I really didn't see the point of religion, because it took a leap of faith into something that may or may not be real, whereas science seemed to have a bettter grasp on somethings.

Sure, you could argue that science is just as much a leap of faith, as very little has actually been certifiably proved, and a lot of ideas are still only theories. I still felt science was a logical progression of ideas and concepts, while religion, even though it's core values and ideals are in the right place, its too open to misinterpretation, which lead into some of the bloodiest acts of human history.

I have no problem with religion, as it does have positives, I just don't have blind faith in something intangible, though I would say I'm agnostic, as if there was a breakthrough or a sign, I'd probably be more inclined to believe.

this is about 100% identical to my story

I'd say for me as well. About the same. Expect I'm Catholic, but you get the point.

Church Of England for me.

It's ironic that I gave up on religion, when the Church of England is one of the least authoritve churches in the world. They really don't care about anything you do, and they never order you to go to church. (I have only been in a church about 3 times, two were primary school, and the other was a visit. I have visited the great chatedrals though, like St Pauls and the Vatican.)

Rotaretilbo wrote:

Zaki90 wrote:How old were you when you convinced both your parents.

...it's been a long time. I was a second year Cubby...which would put me in...preschool...so I believe I was four at the time.

Wow...

At the age of 4, you convinced both of your parents to change religions. Now that's something.

Hmm...

Well, I was born into Catholicism, but my family and i never went to church.
I was never baptized, or had my communion, etc.
I don't really care much for religion, since my parents don't.

But I love god, not because that i believe in him, but for the fact of what he has done for this world. Yes he is the main cause for wars and such, but he gives people a lot of hope. which is hard to do. I mean if one thing, made up, or not can give millions of people a different outlook on life, its real.

Anyways, other then believing in god, my whole family and I are believers in past-lives and karma.

So yeah... don't know exactly what religion i fall into.

Zaki90 wrote:

Rotaretilbo wrote:

Zaki90 wrote:How old were you when you convinced both your parents.

...it's been a long time. I was a second year Cubby...which would put me in...preschool...so I believe I was four at the time.

Wow...

At the age of 4, you convinced both of your parents to change religions. Now that's something.

Either Rot is unnaturally good with words, or his parents are unnaturally stupid.

Angatar wrote:

Zaki90 wrote:

Rotaretilbo wrote:

Zaki90 wrote:How old were you when you convinced both your parents.

...it's been a long time. I was a second year Cubby...which would put me in...preschool...so I believe I was four at the time.

Wow...

At the age of 4, you convinced both of your parents to change religions. Now that's something.

Either Rot is unnaturally good with words, or his parents are unnaturally stupid.

I call Bull. Shit.

I doubt he even used words.

Dud Doodoo wrote:I doubt he even used words.

Al Capone: You can get more with a gun and a kind word than just a kind word.

Seriously, Rot...

You must have been one amazing child.

I could be viewed as "agnostic". I believe in God, or some other spiritual entity, but don't know if it's real. I follow most traditions of the Catholic Church, and the underling moral lessons of the Bible and wish to read the teachings of the Buddha. I believe that all beings have free will. Why, you ask? Partly because I was born into a Catholic and partially Jewish family, also because I feel like I want to discover something that helps me be a better person. This coming from a ten year old, fuck, nobody cares, but you all know I'm fucking different.

The "modern" Catholic teaching is retarded *cough* CCD *cough*, for the most part. I diverge the few things people say and do and adapt them to help me live a better life to help generations after me have an even better and fuller life. That's all I have to say. :Screwy:

Angatar wrote:

Zaki90 wrote:

Rotaretilbo wrote:

Zaki90 wrote:How old were you when you convinced both your parents.

...it's been a long time. I was a second year Cubby...which would put me in...preschool...so I believe I was four at the time.

Wow...

At the age of 4, you convinced both of your parents to change religions. Now that's something.

Either Rot is unnaturally good with words, or his parents are unnaturally stupid.

Judging by Rot, probably the former. Unless he's adopted.

Gauz wrote:
That and the Catholic religion contradicts itself... a lot.

Could you please elaborate...

Zaki90 wrote:

Gauz wrote:
That and the Catholic religion contradicts itself... a lot.

Could you please elaborate...

"I love everyone" - what 'god' says in the bible.... a lot.

"Kill homesexuals, people who work on the sabbath, gluttons, sinners, deviants, enslave neighboring countries peoples, be sexist..." - what 'god' also says in the bible... or tells you to do.


Don't believe me? I can name the passages if you wish.

I am not religious, in fact I am greatly opposed to religion in general. It has cause way to much problems both now and in the past and I can guarantee that it will cause even greater problems in the future.

I also live around a lot of the "fanatical" christians (sp?) who literally use "god gave me this land, a house, and food" more than five times a day. You know what? GOD DIDNT GIVE YOU THOSE THINGS!! You went to school, you got good grades and thus got a good education, you got a job which earned money for a house and food, and you committed youself to a relationship. YOU DID THIS STUFF not god, god did NOT give you anything, YOU earned it yourself.

.....ignore the last rant paragraph would you kindly..

Religion also builds up massive levels of dissapointment. People get hurt, lose their house to a fire, and lose a loved one to the previous cause and they think that they did something so horribly wrong that "god" cast this upon them, and thus depression ensues where they think they are worthless and their life is a sin and blah blah blah.

tl:dr

I hate religion and I will never become apart of it.

/rage

Zaki90 wrote:Wow...

At the age of 4, you convinced both of your parents to change religions. Now that's something.

I don't know. I wouldn't say I convinced them to change religions. My dad was a self-proclaimed "Catholic" who never went to church or anything, but he had a Christian background and all that whatnot, and my mom had just never really thought about it. Christianity came naturally to my dad, and was a wonderful experience for my mom, who's childhood had not been...easy.

Gauz wrote:Don't believe me? I can name the passages if you wish.

I would very much like you to name those passages, so I can start today's Bible lesson and demonstrate how elementary your understanding really is. This is going to be easier than proving Pie wrong in a political debate.

Ascendant Justice wrote:I am not religious, in fact I am greatly opposed to religion in general. It has cause way to much problems both now and in the past and I can guarantee that it will cause even greater problems in the future.

I'd just point out that the wars and injustices caused by religion pale in comparisons to those motivated by secular reasons.

I'm an atheist. I'm much more inclined to live a life structured by my own standards and ideology, as opposed to focusing on appeasing God and adhering to the multitude of rules and guidelines of Christianity. My stance on the afterlife is strong; I don't believe there is anything after death. Consciousness, in my opinion, ends once our brain stops functioning. I am not afraid of 'going to Hell' and I'm not interesting 'going to Heaven'.

I just live my life how I wish to live it, and I don't adhere to any book or bible. However, at the same time, I don't brag about this. It's not something I pretentiously boast in front of religious peers or anybody, really. I even went to a highly religious high school for two years. And I don't impose my mindset on those who are religious. They can live their life however they choose, and I don't have any problem with that as long as it does not encroach on any of my interests.

I was presbyterian up until I reached the age of reason... at twelve years old ;)

At this point, me and my bestest friend Kevin Chin became atheist buddies, and went around getting ourselves into fights and harassing this one southern kid named Joshua Hyde.

When I moved back to Ohio, I pretty much shut up about it for a year and a half, 'cause I kinda got over fighting about it all the time. When I started talking about it again, I basically helped to turn a lot of my closer friends into Atheists.

Through this process, I also credit myself with turning one of my three sisters into an agnostic, and helping both of my parents along the same path. My oldest sister was apparently already atheist. The only religious person in my immediate family is my middle sister, who is pretty sure about it.

Anyway, this site has really shaped my beliefs a lot. I guess I'd probably consider myself more as an agnostic nowadays, but I really hate the way that sounds. It sounds too soft. I currently do not believe in a god, and I think it is rather unlikely that there could be a god. I don't really have any logical reason for thinking this, it just sounds like a silly idea to me.

Still, I think it's a possibility. At this point, I really don't have much of a problem with people who believe that there is a god. What really gets to me is people who think that they know the specifics of how the world was formed. These religious people bother just as much as people who think that evolution and the big bang are absolute truths bother me.

We don't know all the answers, and it bothers me that people think we do. It bothers me that people can't seem to get over that, and just live their lives.