Religion

[Grawr]

I was raised to follow the Bible when I was a kid in some hybrid Christian/Catholic type upbringing. When I was about 16/17 I got away from all that and called myself an atheist, which I have up until now, when I'm starting to consider myself a bit more of a Buddhist. Don't need a god for that one.

 

[Hayleigh_1]

I grew up as a Christian and was baptised, my family was very strict especially my grandparents. I felt forced into believing something to make them happy, I did not like going to church or reading the bible and absolutely hated taking part in the church choir!

Now I don't follow a religion and I do not believe in God however, I do believe that there is something or someone of a higher power it is really difficult for me to explain. I wouldn't class myself as spiritual as I don't believe in ghosts, paranormal or even the afterlife. I'm not sure what to call myself if I am honest XD I do not agree with many religious teachings and views about other religions or life choices of people. I now rely on science for answers!

 

[wizard]

I don’t really have a religion, I’m more spiritual I guess, kind of polytheistic (Polynesian pantheon), though I was raised catholic. I find religion interesting though. I personally wouldn’t believe in a religion who’s beliefs were decided at a council by rich and powerful people 300 years after the person who the religion is mostly about died. Or a religion that is started by one prophet that claimed to have revelations from an angel.
I believe that all life (everything alive, including bacteria) has a soul. I believe in ghosts/spirits. I believe that gods/goddesses are just powerful and helpful spirits. I believe in ancestor worship, though I don’t do it myself. I believe in an afterlife. I also like Taoist philosophy.

 

[Watchingthetreetops]

I'm a pagan. I mean that by the strictest definition. I have a bible and read it frequently, but I cannot and will not associate with christians. I simply can't. I have my own altar, where I praise the mother earth and thank the spirits for guiding and loving me and my home.

 

[cornimer]

I'm technically Catholic and I believe in/follow God but I disagree with a lot of teachings of the Catholic church. I feel like I every time I state my religion I need to follow it with "but I don't hate gay people" and I hate that that feels necessary. The number #1 teaching of the bible is to love others and treat them as you wanted to be treated, not "love others and treat them as you wanted to be treated unless they're gay in which case you're free to treat them like trash." I don't know how some people have such a hard time understanding that. I'm pretty sure if Jesus was alive, He'd be hanging out with the LGBTQ+ community because He always hung out with the outcasts. As an LGBTQ+ person myself I've never really felt like I'm "sinning" just by being myself, because I was taught that God doesn't make mistakes so why would He make me or anyone a certain way if we're not supposed to be that way?

 

[Nadene]

i'm agnostic
so like?? maybe theres A god??? maybe there are gods???

or maybe its all hullabaloo and science explains everything
or we could be the work of aliens i really dont know
nobody knows for sure​

 

[That Marshal Fangirl]

Christian here. I admit I don’t 100% agree with everything the church says, like being gay is wrong and stuff. I think people have the right to live their lives and it’s not our business to tell them who they can and can’t love.

 

[MasterM64]

I am personally a Christian and believe everything the Bible says because I view it as the God's word and not some story book like some people do. I know some people think certain things in the Bible are being okayed (like slavery and inequality of the genders), but that is definitely not true (the Bible has content that is the truth, but also mentions the shortcomings of the people within it to show that humanity has been flawed since close to the beginning and shows how much people need Jesus in their lives so they may live eternally after death)! The New Testament clears up a lot of that confusion people may have acquired through the Old Testament (which was mostly about the history and cultural aspects/backround of Israel). I also think it's wrong to judge and mistreat people because Jesus loves all of us especially since He died on cross for all of us afterall so that we may be saved (all one needs is to believe/have faith), but I do however believe that sin is a sin in God's eyes (I'm not talking about just homosexuality since God views all sins as equally sinful). There is a clear difference between disliking a person and disliking an act.

I do realize I mentioned in a past political thread that I am for the legalization of gay marriage and abortion, but it is because I try to keep my religious and political views separate from each other since I live in a free society that is composed of a diverse population that may not all entirely agree on the same things. Instead, I try to view my politics based upon logic and common sense so that I can view politics from a viewpoint that would strive the common good for all people (instead of just a select group). I also try to view politically as if I were a father. If I had a child that lived a gay life style for example, I would not judge them and instead be loving/supportive (like being there for them if they got married for example) because that is what a parent should do for their children (regardless of how I view the act of homosexuality morally).

I personally enjoy reading other viewpoints on here, because it helps all of us to gain a better understanding of the world around us and it also allows all of us to exercise our religious freedoms.

 

[Sprinkles_penguin]

I know not every Christian is like that, but most seem to be.

I'm proudly Catholic, and I don't really think most Christians hate LGBT people. Actually, the Pope has made it a priority to protect LGBT people who are being prosecuted around the world. I mean, there ARE people who hate gays, but most of them don't even care about them anymore. At least where I live, LGBT is being more respected every day, with for example, the legalization of gay marriage.

I do believe in the existence of God and all the saints and angels and the Virgin Mary, and I go to church almost every Sunday, and I do believe in miracles and prayers. However, as most people may say, I don't agree with everything my religion says, but that's OK. I sometimes questions things about my religion, but that's OK, I'm human and I have a mind. People, just because you disagree with certain things Christianity says, doesn't mean you shouldn't believe in it anymore. Remember: Religion was established, or at least Catholicism, 2000 YEARS AGO, so that's why many of the things it says may be outdated, because they were established according to the laws, values, and culture of the past. Many things that you can read in the Bible may seem wrong, but they were perfectly normal in those times. Questioning things about a religion doesn't make you stay out of it, we are all human, and our little minds are very curious and like to know an explanation for everything, so it's perfectly natural to question some of those things.

I'd like to point out as well that priests may even interpret certain aspects of the religion as they personally think they are, even contradicting themselves at some points, but that's OK. Religion is free for everyone to interpret it as they want.

I mean, it's actually pretty funny how everyone is always commenting about how Christians hate LGBT people, but they should really look at Africa or Asia. In many of those countries it's actually ILLEGAL to be gay, and you could even be sent to jail or to death penalty. Now THAT is an example of homophobia.

 

[Stella-Io]

I do not believe there is any god, gods, goddess or goddesses running our fate, acting as some almighty power above us that doesn't even take part in our daily lives.

From an extremely young age I went to a Christian school and switched in and out of public and private till the 4th grade. Despite going to a Christian Lutheran school (2 infact) at such a young age, I never believed in God. I was Baptized but the religion never followed home. We didn't go to Chruch or do any sort of before meal prayers. I was confused as to why I was sent to a religious school if my family didn't even act religious. Still don't know why my parents sent me to a private religious school and paid for that as well.

To this day I still don't believe in any sort of god, Heaven, Hell or any afterlife. Do I want to believe there is an afterlife? Sure, it's a nice thought. Am I going to bash other people for believing in those sort of things? Only if their god says killing is okay and extremes like that. I live my life, I don't belittle the religious life of others. The only things I firmly believe in is karma and good/bad luck. I am curious about other religions and would like to know them better, esp the much lesser known 'off beat' from the main religions.

 

[Dawnpiplup]

My family is Catholic. Even though I go to church with them on the weekends, I'm not that religious. I've sort of lost faith. Also, I disagree with some of the beliefs we hold.

A part of me still believes in a higher power, though.

 

[dizzy bone]

I was never raised with a religion nor did I become religious later in life (although, there was a moment in middle school when I pretended to be a Christian to fit in lol). My parents are technically Buddhist, although we only really participate and observe in certain buddhist holidays as tradition to my grandparents.

 

[Lynnea]

I'm a Christian, but would consider myself very open-minded. God loves everyone. I don't force my religion on to people, and am open to hearing about new ideas from people who don't believe in God / people who believe in a different God.

 

[V I Z I O N]

I guess you could say that I am spiritual. For all of the beginning of my childhood I wasn't really brought up with any religion, except for going to church with my grandparents a few times when i was young, but even then i was so little I just played with the bible and with the cool bench type thingy for your feet/for people to kneel on and pray. My parents weren't religious and they wanted me to be able to explore religion for myself if I felt that I was into it, so I could choose to believe in whatever I wanted to.
A couple years ago while browsing on tumblr I found this picture that was a guide on how to astral project. I was like what is this?? I had never heard of such thing. It said that you could leave your physical body and explore the astral plane as your soul. I've since done lots of personal researching on it and had many attempts. I wasn't sure that I really believed it to be true, until I actually experienced this for myself. I found out that when you're about to astral project your body goes into this vibration stage and then after that point your soul separates from your physical body. Well one afternoon i decided to take a nap and all of the sudden felt myself in this vibration stage, also known as sleep paralysis. I couldn't move my body at all whatsoever, but I could feel myself awake looking at my living room right where I was sleeping. I then tried to move my body up off the couch, but it wouldn't move. then as I started to relax more, I thought about moving up and then I was able to move. At this point everything looked a little cloudy, and after I had separated, I looked back at the couch and saw my actual physical body laying there sleeping. I was amazed, stunned, shocked, this had actually worked. I then started to move around my house and wanted to go out the front door. As I was moving towards my front door, I heard the door opening and caught a glimpse of my sister coming through and immediately after my consciousness was jolted back into my physical body and I immediately woke up. This was the moment that made me believe in the soul/the astral plane. I believe that spirits exist, even though (some of us) can't see or hear them. I do also believe that there are many dimensions on top of the one that we currently inhabit. I believe that energy and frequency play a big part in this human existence as well. I also believe that belief itself plays a huge part in our human experience. Delving into these and more spiritual topics have just seemed to make sense to myself. They excite me and make me want to learn and find out more about them.

 

[Hat']

Atheist here!
Science is the only thing I trust in

I totally respect religious people as long as they respect me. I'm part of the LGBTQ+ community, so if you hate me, I'll more than gladly hate you back. As you said, I too hate when people use their religion to hate on LGBTQ+ folks.
However I really like how religion brings people together, it's a cool thing to see! It gives people a "platform" to share that same interest in spirituality.

 

[will.]

im christian and i get so upset when christians use the bible or anything like that to justify hatred for another person, wether they're lgbt or anything like that. god does love everyone and even if someone doesn't live the way you want them to, were called to love each other so if they're a real christian they wouldn't be hating in the first place, they would show love to others.

 

[demoness]

i'll tolerate religion and spirituality as long as they aren't treated as if it's a valid alternative to science or is being used to invent imaginary debates. but it's not my job to validate religious people and make them feel like their coping mechanism is equal to substantiated evidence, and i don't do it.

that said, i don't go out of my way to call it stupid or anything like that because i don't think it is inherently bad. i consider myself a nihilist because karmic views of reality seem to just become another form self-punishment. the universe is meaningless chaos, but to me that is why life is worth living--because human beings have made meaning for ourselves in the darkness of space and the ability to make nothing something is special.

 

[Soot Sprite]

Most of my family is pretty religious, but I guess I would consider myself agnostic. I just don't really see a reason to believe anything, and I basically just try to respect others regardless of their beliefs. It's not up to me to try to convert anyone or get them to admit their god isn't real, people are going to believe whatever they want to believe and that's fine.

 

[N e s s]

Religion is merely a method of feeling more comfortable with the concept of death. That?s always been my perspective on it.

It?d be nice to think that after we die our energy just becomes one with with everything else.

 

[Locket]

me and my family are athiest

i've been discriminated against my whole life by the mormons around me and it just makes me sad. doesnt god want you to love everyone??? let me wear my shorts without being too judged thanks!!!