Robert Monroe Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I will chime in with that although I am a Christian, I dislike a majority of Christian presentation. The entire notion that God is this feel-good safteybubble for people to feel better about themselves is both selfish and insulting to the basics of any theism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fira-Astrali Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I heard about Wicca before. It's apparently using the Earth's "magic" or "force" for your well being. Interesting; a tad new, but since I'm not a religious fanatic, I don't care what others believe most of the time. And something pretty wild. On high school (Catholic) they wanted to ground some kids for not confessing sins. As if I want to expose skeletons of my closet to a total stranger... You mean wicca is new? 0.o bc paganism predates mainstream religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarita Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 You mean wicca is new? 0.o bc paganism predates mainstream religion. You're right. Modern Wicca only came about in the mid 20th century, but Paganism is old as dirt. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icy Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Jeez, is anyone here an actual Christian? Seems everyone either had a religion and quit it or never did. Yeah, I'm a real Christian. I believe in God and Jesus and everything the Bible says. I don't belong to any denominations, really. I'm not Baptist, Catholic or anything else. My dad has perfected his beliefs (sort of) and I really think it's true. I could have changed my religion, become an atheist, an agnostic theist/atheist, or anything else at any time I wanted. But I didn't, because the more doubt I had in God the more I believed he was real. I haven't just blindly followed my parents' example and been "brainwashed". No way. I've had plenty of doubts and considered it every now and then, but recently I gave up on giving up and been fine ever since. So I've accepted that. For the people who say "why does he let bad things happen" maybe you should consider reading the Bible all the way through and you might understand some things. (But another thing about me is I would only suggest one version of the Bible. KJV and nothing else. Everything else is rewritten and extremely hard to understand) Maybe just Google that question and see what you might come up with. Might be surprised… But no, I'm not the stereo-typical Christian who worships Jesus all day and contradicts everything he says a second after he says it, etc, etc… I do everything anyone else might, but I'm still a Christian and proud of it. So to answer the main question of this topic: Yes, I may have considered "changing" at certain times, but no, I never have actually changed and never will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"User" Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I've been a Christian all my life as well and never considered switching. And yeah, a lot of these questions like "Why does God allow evil?" are actually fairly easy questions to answer in theology. And like Robert said, it's people's faulty perspective of God that kind of makes this question itself faulty as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xortberg Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 And yeah, a lot of these questions like "Why does God allow evil?" are actually fairly easy questions to answer in theology. And like Robert said, it's people's faulty perspective of God that kind of makes this question itself faulty as well. Not to start a religious debate in this topic, but I think the same logic could be applied to you. God is supposedly beyond human ken, and if our faulty perspective can make our questions faulty, your own perspectives can make your answers just as faulty. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
"User" Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Not to start a religious debate in this topic, but I think the same logic could be applied to you. God is supposedly beyond human ken, and if our faulty perspective can make our questions faulty, your own perspectives can make your answers just as faulty. Just saying. I'm just saying that there are more logical explanations to a lot of these types of questions than most people know about because the media never portrays the other side in nearly as much detail. Debates amongst theologians and atheists have been raging for a long time and it's been picking up more and more steam as the decades go on and it's not as one sided as most people think it is when you get down to the nitty gritty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I'm just saying that there are more logical explanations to a lot of these types of questions than most people know about because the media never portrays the other side in nearly as much detail. Debates amongst theologians and atheists have been raging for a long time and it's been picking up more and more steam as the decades go on and it's not as one sided as most people think it is when you get down to the nitty gritty. I disagree, not so much in a case of logic v logic, as the very definition of god prevents that. I also don't want to get in the religion v cults debate again, but one point from that is relivent here. Purpose. Questions of morality, making sence of death, chaos and the unexplained have pretty much vanished, or at least moved on to the point where the bible is completely useless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I'm not really religious, and my family wasn't especially either, though they did try the whole church thing at one point. When I was about 8 or so, my Sunday school teacher started talking about how Krakatoa blowing was because God was mad at the dirty heathen islanders I was like "yeah no" and decided organized religion wasn't really my thing. My mom got all pissy about that for a while but somewhere along the lines she started to agree. I still have something resembling certain spiritual beliefs but am not particularly inclined to any one religion. I did help out the church back in my hometown from time to time, as I was a trumpeter and I would play for certain events, but I'm not interested in participating in an often hateful and hypocritical religion (or at least one whose followers are) that I don't fundamentally agree with on many issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harlow Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 You mean wicca is new? 0.o bc paganism predates mainstream religion. Sorry for not specifying ^^; I mean it's new to me... Yeah, I'm a real Christian. I believe in God and Jesus and everything the Bible says. I don't belong to any denominations, really. I'm not Baptist, Catholic or anything else. My dad has perfected his beliefs (sort of) and I really think it's true. I could have changed my religion, become an atheist, an agnostic theist/atheist, or anything else at any time I wanted. But I didn't, because the more doubt I had in God the more I believed he was real. I haven't just blindly followed my parents' example and been "brainwashed". No way. I've had plenty of doubts and considered it every now and then, but recently I gave up on giving up and been fine ever since. But no, I'm not the stereo-typical Christian who worships Jesus all day and contradicts everything he says a second after he says it, etc, etc… I do everything anyone else might, but I'm still a Christian and proud of it. So to answer the main question of this topic: Yes, I may have considered "changing" at certain times, but no, I never have actually changed and never will. Actually, that is one (if not my main) reason to change. I know not everyone is of the Bible-loving kind, but unfortunately, I've known many of the stereotypical kind. And I asked myself "Do I wanna be asociated with these guys?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icy Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Actually, that is one (if not my main) reason to change. I know not everyone is of the Bible-loving kind, but unfortunately, I've known many of the stereotypical kind. And I asked myself "Do I wanna be asociated with these guys?" What about the stereotypical people in your…belief/group/religion/whatever? Whether it's atheist, theist (any religion) or agnostic, there will always be people you don't want to be associated with. And @ what you said, I say, what if it's the truth? Then would you want to be associated with them, or at least learn to live with it? There's always going to be people laughing at you and misjudging you. Like the never-ending war between PC gamers and console gamers. There are stereo-typical people who always bash the PC gamers, and there are stereo-typical people who always bash console gamers. Now say you're just a normal gamer who doesn't give a crap what anyone plays their games on, would you quit playing games on both systems to not be associated with them anymore? Problem is, though, that no one today ever can be sure one way or another…so they choose to ignore it all, I guess? Seems like a good way to rid yourself of the problem of what to believe, by simply not believing anything… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thu'um Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Problem is, though, that no one today ever can be sure one way or another…so they choose to ignore it all, I guess? Seems like a good way to rid yourself of the problem of what to believe, by simply not believing anything… same goes with how u should live, can't decide, just kill your self If you can't diside what to beilive u should obviusly find somthing your comfortable with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harlow Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 And @ what you said, I say, what if it's the truth? Then would you want to be associated with them, or at least learn to live with it? There's always going to be people laughing at you and misjudging you. Like the never-ending war between PC gamers and console gamers. There are stereo-typical people who always bash the PC gamers, and there are stereo-typical people who always bash console gamers. Now say you're just a normal gamer who doesn't give a crap what anyone plays their games on, would you quit playing games on both systems to not be associated with them anymore? Yeah, I know. The people stuff it's actually secondary. (important, but not the main) The main reason was that i think Religion is something way too personal to share with other people. Also they may be people that might be doing logically or morally wrong stuff "by the name of God" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Monroe Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Jeez, is anyone here an actual Christian? Seems everyone either had a religion and quit it or never did. Yeah, I'm a real Christian. I believe in God and Jesus and everything the Bible says. I don't belong to any denominations, really. I'm not Baptist, Catholic or anything else. My dad has perfected his beliefs (sort of) and I really think it's true. I could have changed my religion, become an atheist, an agnostic theist/atheist, or anything else at any time I wanted. But I didn't, because the more doubt I had in God the more I believed he was real. I haven't just blindly followed my parents' example and been "brainwashed". No way. I've had plenty of doubts and considered it every now and then, but recently I gave up on giving up and been fine ever since. So I've accepted that. For the people who say "why does he let bad things happen" maybe you should consider reading the Bible all the way through and you might understand some things. (But another thing about me is I would only suggest one version of the Bible. KJV and nothing else. Everything else is rewritten and extremely hard to understand) Maybe just Google that question and see what you might come up with. Might be surprised… But no, I'm not the stereo-typical Christian who worships Jesus all day and contradicts everything he says a second after he says it, etc, etc… I do everything anyone else might, but I'm still a Christian and proud of it. So to answer the main question of this topic: Yes, I may have considered "changing" at certain times, but no, I never have actually changed and never will. I said I'm a Christian earlier in the topic. All it takes is faith in Christ so derp. As for noone asking the questions about making sense of order, chaos, life, and death, is fist of all untrue to a degree (at least as of the 20th century), and secondly people as a whole have become a sedated type, who don't think or philosophize anymore. We just sorta take whatever is given to us and keep it at face value. Actually, that sounds like how humans have always been, nevermind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thu'um Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 But no, I'm not the stereo-typical Christian who worships Jesus all day and contradicts everything he says a second after he says it, etc, etc… I do everything anyone else might, but I'm still a Christian and proud of it. hmm i am not aware of this stero type... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluxy Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I actually was hard core christian till about... Two months before I joined this site and I knew I was furry and totally not fully straight. I just can't bring myself to worship it as a religion, and all anymore; for now at least. I do take, and still have, a great deal of the morals because I believe them, and in my opinion, Religion is just a border to keep people in line and happy/sane in horrible times, and keep them censored to some degree. I don't tell people that there is no god because there is a great chance there is. I don't fully believe in it, but I do sure as heck respect the people who can hold their own and have good morals, no matter what religion they are. Because we all know those people who are Christian but totally don't act or respond to the morals of it. I could go on more, but I really doubt people wanna hear my essay on this whole thing. =P EDIT: No, for those maybe wondering, I did not lose religion because people say "God Hates Gays" or anything like that. I just can't see myself believing it at this point in time of my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrypticQuery Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I was raised Christian. I always felt church to be boring, but I still believed until one day I had a thought: If God is so great and powerful, why does evil exist? Could he not just stamp it out? If not, then he is not as powerful as the preacher says he is (and if that isn't true, then what is?). If he can and won't, then he is quite a dick. I Googled this question and found atheism. The more I learned about religion from the outside, the more I realized that these religious texts are no more true than the tales of Zeus and Thor. So, I totally rejected religion. Been happy every since. This just about sums up my circumstance on things, except for the fact that my family never really put much stress on religion, and didn't attend church all that much. The more I thought about it, religion just didn't make sense to me, and I eventually discovered the concept of atheism. And to paraphrase DZ once more, I've definitely been happy ever since ^-^. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arashikage Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I am Christian, have been all my life, actually, I was just baptized last week. I dislike it when people associate the acts of extremists, and others as the acts of all Christians, because really, we're not bad people, we're not out to get other religions, we're not out to convert the "heathens." Sure, we believe that most other beliefs aren't entirely correct, but can't that be said for all religions? My church teaches that being a Christian is not about following rules, or about doing the right thing, it's about accepting the gift that Jesus Christ gave when he died for us. Accepting that fact and realizing he is your savior is what gets you into Heaven to live with him and enjoy his company, not good works or how many others you convert. "For all our righteousness is like filthy rags" my bible says, we don't do them to get into heaven, we do them because they're what's right to do. Long story short, I am Christian, hardcore. I have been going to the same church my entire life and believe in what my pastor teaches. I do not follow my pastor blindly and we do disagree on plenty of things, but that is to be expected. I am not closed minded either, I don't automatically shut down my mind to other interpretations or go out and call religions "Stupid" or "Meaningless," and I certainly don't go around telling people they're going to hell, because honestly, even though according to my religion they would be, I don't know their whole story, I can never say for sure who's going where, it's just not my place. But yeah, that's pretty much my story, I am a Christian, and I have been happy ever since Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Monroe Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I actually was hard core christian till about... Two months before I joined this site and I knew I was furry and totally not fully straight. I just can't bring myself to worship it as a religion, and all anymore; for now at least. I do take, and still have, a great deal of the morals because I believe them, and in my opinion, Religion is just a border to keep people in line and happy/sane in horrible times, and keep them censored to some degree. I don't tell people that there is no god because there is a great chance there is. I don't fully believe in it, but I do sure as heck respect the people who can hold their own and have good morals, no matter what religion they are. Because we all know those people who are Christian but totally don't act or respond to the morals of it. I could go on more, but I really doubt people wanna hear my essay on this whole thing. =P EDIT: No, for those maybe wondering, I did not lose religion because people say "God Hates Gays" or anything like that. I just can't see myself believing it at this point in time of my life. You're letting strawman beliefs influence you. Big deal if you're gay, you can still be Christian. Supposedly all sin is equal anyway, so your homosex is just as bad as my profanity-spewing hole of a mouth. It helps to take religious texts in the contexts they were written in. Many people say the Bible is timeless, and in many ways it is, but its also a 2000 year old book translated into English from German which was translated from Latin which was translated from Greek which was written down from Hebrew oral traditions. For example, the homosexuality issue: it was early world history, and the Israelites were a nomadic people. It would make sense for them to decree that homosexuality is an abomination because otherwise their populations would dwindle, and being that they're God's "chosen people", that would be pretty damn silly of a way to die out. Hence, make it a decree that God forbids homosexuality. Our modern society is nothing like it was then. We live in an era were personal interests and desires are celebrated over the strength and integrity of a community as a whole, so yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluxy Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 You're letting strawman beliefs influence you. Big deal if you're gay, you can still be Christian. Supposedly all sin is equal anyway, so your homosex is just as bad as my profanity-spewing hole of a mouth. It helps to take religious texts in the contexts they were written in. Many people say the Bible is timeless, and in many ways it is, but its also a 2000 year old book translated into English from German which was translated from Latin which was translated from Greek which was written down from Hebrew oral traditions. For example, the homosexuality issue: it was early world history, and the Israelites were a nomadic people. It would make sense for them to decree that homosexuality is an abomination because otherwise their populations would dwindle, and being that they're God's "chosen people", that would be pretty damn silly of a way to die out. Hence, make it a decree that God forbids homosexuality. Our modern society is nothing like it was then. We live in an era were personal interests and desires are celebrated over the strength and integrity of a community as a whole, so yeah. No no no, Robert, you got the exact opposite of what I was trying to edit in and explain. I call totally BS on people who lose religion because of their sexuality. I lost it for many other reasons in real life, ones I would hope someone like you would respect that I did not say publicly, but I sure as hell did not lose it because I am bisexual. So yeah. =P Edit: Also, I don't let anyone influence me when it comes to that, those are my personal beliefs, and I do not get swayed by people that easily at all in real life. Hard to explain, but this is not because someone influenced me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Monroe Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 No no no, Robert, you got the exact opposite of what I was trying to edit in and explain. I call totally BS on people who lose religion because of their sexuality. I lost it for many other reasons in real life, ones I would hope someone like you would respect that I did not say publicly, but I sure as hell did not lose it because I am bisexual. So yeah. =P Edit: Also, I don't let anyone influence me when it comes to that, those are my personal beliefs, and I do not get swayed by people that easily at all in real life. Hard to explain, but this is not because someone influenced me. Eh I'm tired don't judge me That said I strongly support organic religions that can adapt to situations as times change. Really, the beauty of religion is lost when you let it become stagnant: its entire purpose was to guide men and change how they think about things, and when you let new ways of thinking either invalidate beliefs or ignore them, instead of augment them, then it is a sad thing. Not saying you specifically do that btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluxy Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Eh I'm tired don't judge me That said I strongly support organic religions that can adapt to situations as times change. Really, the beauty of religion is lost when you let it become stagnant: its entire purpose was to guide men and change how they think about things, and when you let new ways of thinking either invalidate beliefs or ignore them, instead of augment them, then it is a sad thing. Not saying you specifically do that btw. Heh, well, if you read my message again, I did say I kept the morals and all, just not so much the faith and all. I personally believe in being a good boy now, but not because I wanna go to heaven. Lol. Just thought I should mention due to the past misunderstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arashikage Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 I personally believe in being a good boy now, but not because I wanna go to heaven. But according to I think most Christain churches, that's not how you get to heaven. My church at least teaches that it's not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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