I was born in a free family that didnt force a religion on me, thus it is now impossible for me to start believing in one
Just like intentionally trying to believe magic is real, it is impossible (for me).
I wish I was religious though, the feeling that there is a heaven must be a nice comfort for death.
Religion
-
Felidire
- Expert Hunter
- Posts: 446
- Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 9:00 pm
- Realm: Nesingwary(A/H), Wyrmrest Accord(H)
- Gender: M
- Location: Western Australia
- Contact:
Re: Religion
Agnostic. Mainly for the fact that I don't believe in there being a god, but there's no proof and for that matter I don't really care. The thing is, even if it was 100% proven that the "god" as described in the bible actually existed (if he was sitting in my bedroom talking to me, even...) I still wouldn't worship it.. Now when it comes to "sinning," it appears that merely being human is to be a sinner, so in theory, Why would I want to spend the remainder of my life having to apologize for existing..? =P
Speaking of sinning, to me the christian version of "heaven" seems to be more like a hell.. Wouldn't be able to do anything without "sinning" and then getting kicked 25k feet down to the ground; either that, or I can stare at clouds for an eternity doing nothing. Now when it comes to christians, I've met so many that claim to be christian but they all view the religion differently and the majority of them hold the values that define that religion rather loosely -- This makes it extremely difficult for me to take /any/ christian seriously. I even overheard someone talking to an angry woman in public: "But I thought you were christian??" - "WELL I'M NOT TODAY!!" - like you can switch your religion on and off at the push of a button? I lol'd. XDD
Despite all of this, i'm a spiritual person; I also love the elements and I try to find my own inner-peace, I don't need to buy into other people's philosophies and beliefs in order to achieve that. (I'll will give them this, though.. Quite a few religions are particularly good at suckering in the weak-minded and then getting them to blow eachother to pieces.) </3; the darn WoW-trollz have gotten me rather interested in voodoo/shamanism as well... xP
Anyways.. Heaven or no heaven, I find solace in the fact that wherever I end up.. I /know/ for a fact that i'll find happiness. (Be it with those that I love in the afterlife, or through no longer existing and therefore never suffering ever again.)
Speaking of sinning, to me the christian version of "heaven" seems to be more like a hell.. Wouldn't be able to do anything without "sinning" and then getting kicked 25k feet down to the ground; either that, or I can stare at clouds for an eternity doing nothing. Now when it comes to christians, I've met so many that claim to be christian but they all view the religion differently and the majority of them hold the values that define that religion rather loosely -- This makes it extremely difficult for me to take /any/ christian seriously. I even overheard someone talking to an angry woman in public: "But I thought you were christian??" - "WELL I'M NOT TODAY!!" - like you can switch your religion on and off at the push of a button? I lol'd. XDD
Despite all of this, i'm a spiritual person; I also love the elements and I try to find my own inner-peace, I don't need to buy into other people's philosophies and beliefs in order to achieve that. (I'll will give them this, though.. Quite a few religions are particularly good at suckering in the weak-minded and then getting them to blow eachother to pieces.) </3; the darn WoW-trollz have gotten me rather interested in voodoo/shamanism as well... xP
Anyways.. Heaven or no heaven, I find solace in the fact that wherever I end up.. I /know/ for a fact that i'll find happiness. (Be it with those that I love in the afterlife, or through no longer existing and therefore never suffering ever again.)
|Felidire| - |Harkoa| - dA - |Kibblepaws| - |Tiril|
B/W: Feli // 0347 2599 7931
-
Cerah
- Artisan Hunter
- Posts: 797
- Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:53 pm
- Realm: Alterac Mtns, Maelstrom, Nesingwary, Silver Hand
- Gender: Female
- Location: In various dungeons, hoping for rare mount drops
Re: Religion
Wow ... there actually is a place where people can have intelligent, non-judgmental, discussions about religion without it dissolving into one big fight. I have to say, I respected everyone on this board before, but my respect has grown quite a bit more, reading this thread! 
As for my own views on religion, I'm an atheist. I guess you can call my views on religious doctine a literary critics' views -- I look at the Bible (and other relgious stories, including ancient myths) the same way I'd look at other literary works, with a critical eye and an appreciation for the stories and ideas they are trying to protray. I love "A Midsummers Nights Dream", but I don't think Oberon and Titania are real beings. I can appreicate "Julius Caesar" without believing that Shakespeare's story is completely historically accurate.
How is the Christain god any different than Zeus or Ra? People thousands of years ago regarded them as real beings, but nowadays, they're just characters in myths. I think it's a natural human tendency to personify the abstract, to give personality and character to concepts that otherwise cannot be easily explained (i.e. Wisdom -> Athena, Thoth). The trick is to reconize those personifications as just that, personifications. The older myths actually do better in that regard, dividing areas of responsibiltiy among multiple gods and goddesses. The old testament's God seems more a supernatural, all-powerful version of the tribal patriarch, while the new testament focuses more on just one person with some good ideas, linked to the earlier mythology through assumed paternity.
Again, the above are my own opinions on the subject, based upon my studies as an English major. I don't ask anyone else to agree with them.
I think belief and respect are two completely different things. I do think religious people like Jesus and Buddha did exist, and I think the essence of their teachings -- helping people to live together and get along peacefully -- are very good ideas. I respect them for that, just as I respect other people with great ideas, like Albert Einstein, without making gods out of them.
What I don't like about organized religions is how pushy and disrespectful some of their members can be to absolutely anyone with differing beliefs and opinions. Some go so far as to even demonize little kids who disagree with them!
When I was a little girl, I went to sunday school at my grandparents' church. I liked the bible stories and songs. However, I was also raised in a very scientifically-minded family. My grandfather is an electrical engineer, and he taught me about science from a very early age. We'd watch nature shows together, and he taught me about all things scientific, from animals to space. In particular, I was taught about evolution as a fact of nature, the foundational theory of biology just as relativity and quantum mechanics are the foundational theories of physics.
As a little kid, I also loved dinosaurs, what kid doesn't? However, I remember quite vividly asking at Sunday school one day why Noah didn't put any dinosaurs on the Ark, not even the small ones? (like a Protoceratops, only the size of a sheep). The answer the teacher gave was one that I don't think anyone should give to a little kid, especially one facinated with dinosaurs. She said dinosaur bones were a trick put in the ground by the devil to fool Christains.
Even at 6 or 7, I didn't buy that. I told her that wasn't true, and she made me sit in the corner. Then I added that humans evolved from apes (not techincally true, humans and modern apes share a common ancestor, though the exact details didn't really matter in this context) and she kicked me out alltogether. The minister then apparently asked my Mom not to bring me back ever again. Mom told them she wouldn't be returning either.
So yeah, since then, organized religion of any type just doesn't appeal to me at all. Any place that can breed such intolerance and ignorance can't be good. I can just imagine what Jesus would say to people like that, who alienate little kids in the name of belief in him! I think he would be horrified.
I don't mind if other people find confort, friendship, community, etc. in religion. In fact, I'm happy for people who have experienced the better side of it, and as long as they don't harm others, their beliefs are their business, in my opinion. However, I ask that they please don't push their religions onto me, or any other people who don't want to be pushed. Let people make up their own minds.
I think that's a perfectly reasonable request.
As for my own views on religion, I'm an atheist. I guess you can call my views on religious doctine a literary critics' views -- I look at the Bible (and other relgious stories, including ancient myths) the same way I'd look at other literary works, with a critical eye and an appreciation for the stories and ideas they are trying to protray. I love "A Midsummers Nights Dream", but I don't think Oberon and Titania are real beings. I can appreicate "Julius Caesar" without believing that Shakespeare's story is completely historically accurate.
How is the Christain god any different than Zeus or Ra? People thousands of years ago regarded them as real beings, but nowadays, they're just characters in myths. I think it's a natural human tendency to personify the abstract, to give personality and character to concepts that otherwise cannot be easily explained (i.e. Wisdom -> Athena, Thoth). The trick is to reconize those personifications as just that, personifications. The older myths actually do better in that regard, dividing areas of responsibiltiy among multiple gods and goddesses. The old testament's God seems more a supernatural, all-powerful version of the tribal patriarch, while the new testament focuses more on just one person with some good ideas, linked to the earlier mythology through assumed paternity.
Again, the above are my own opinions on the subject, based upon my studies as an English major. I don't ask anyone else to agree with them.
I think belief and respect are two completely different things. I do think religious people like Jesus and Buddha did exist, and I think the essence of their teachings -- helping people to live together and get along peacefully -- are very good ideas. I respect them for that, just as I respect other people with great ideas, like Albert Einstein, without making gods out of them.
What I don't like about organized religions is how pushy and disrespectful some of their members can be to absolutely anyone with differing beliefs and opinions. Some go so far as to even demonize little kids who disagree with them!
When I was a little girl, I went to sunday school at my grandparents' church. I liked the bible stories and songs. However, I was also raised in a very scientifically-minded family. My grandfather is an electrical engineer, and he taught me about science from a very early age. We'd watch nature shows together, and he taught me about all things scientific, from animals to space. In particular, I was taught about evolution as a fact of nature, the foundational theory of biology just as relativity and quantum mechanics are the foundational theories of physics.
As a little kid, I also loved dinosaurs, what kid doesn't? However, I remember quite vividly asking at Sunday school one day why Noah didn't put any dinosaurs on the Ark, not even the small ones? (like a Protoceratops, only the size of a sheep). The answer the teacher gave was one that I don't think anyone should give to a little kid, especially one facinated with dinosaurs. She said dinosaur bones were a trick put in the ground by the devil to fool Christains.
Even at 6 or 7, I didn't buy that. I told her that wasn't true, and she made me sit in the corner. Then I added that humans evolved from apes (not techincally true, humans and modern apes share a common ancestor, though the exact details didn't really matter in this context) and she kicked me out alltogether. The minister then apparently asked my Mom not to bring me back ever again. Mom told them she wouldn't be returning either.
So yeah, since then, organized religion of any type just doesn't appeal to me at all. Any place that can breed such intolerance and ignorance can't be good. I can just imagine what Jesus would say to people like that, who alienate little kids in the name of belief in him! I think he would be horrified.
I don't mind if other people find confort, friendship, community, etc. in religion. In fact, I'm happy for people who have experienced the better side of it, and as long as they don't harm others, their beliefs are their business, in my opinion. However, I ask that they please don't push their religions onto me, or any other people who don't want to be pushed. Let people make up their own minds.
I think that's a perfectly reasonable request.
Last edited by Cerah on Mon Feb 28, 2011 3:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Visit Pop Seagull Publishing
Original Canadian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
Sleep is Temporary. Reading is Forever!
-
GormanGhaste
- Community Resource
- Posts: 6622
- Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:00 pm
- Realm: Uldaman (and Ravencrest)
Re: Religion
I agree, he often spoke out against rigidity and hypocrisy in organized religion.Cerah wrote:I think he would be horrified.
Re: Religion
I chose agnostic. I was raised in a Lutheran and then Advent Christian home. I hated getting up early and going to church to hear people talk about stuff I didn't understand and, therefore, didn't care about. I had to do the typical Christian kid thing and went to camp. Oddly, going to camp was the only time I ever felt any sort of religious type feelings. When I started to think ab out it, when you shove a bunch of awkward, confused teenagers in a room and have everyone getting emotional, you're going to feel SOMETHING. I feel that my own feelings were just responses to the overall feel and energy of the room and NOT a true religious experience. I continued to go to church because that was what was expected of me and, even though I understood it, I really didn't care. I've read the bible, I've gone to Sunday school and all that jazz but Christianity feels like one big joke to me. The wife of our youth leader is very religious and I thought of her as sort of an example of someone who's a Christian and can accept someone else's opinion. I was then told that she went through her bible and tore out all the parts that discuss a woman's "inferiority" or duties that she has to perform. This really pissed me off, tbh. How can you pick and choose what you want to believe? 
I understand that you don't follow that particular practice but pretending like it doesn't exist is a HUGE no-no for me. I also can't stand it when things are taken out of context from the bible, like the whole gay debate.
Anyway, I think you can believe in what you want to believe but if YOUR beliefs are teaching you to be respectful towards others and you attack me because I'm not a follower, what kind of person are you?
I guess Christianity would be easier for me to understand if there was proof. The bible isn't proof enough for me. The bible has been revised more times than I can count. These revisions change the original meaning so the bible as a true "source" doesn't make sense to me. I can look at literary works, scientific studies and ancient artifacts and KNOW that some sort of evolution/genetic change occurred. I can't read the bible and suddenly believe that it's all true. I realize that a lot of the old testament can be conceived as just stories, ways to live your life, etc. but I also know that the bible can be taken completely seriously and word for word.
The thing that irks me the most about Christianity is how everything can be attributed to God and how fabulous he is. "My Dad's surgery was successful! God is awesome!" No. To me, your Dad's surgery was successful because of the care he was given and the skill of the doctors and surgeons.
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah. If you have a religion, that's nice and good for you for having something you believe in. I don't have religion in my life and I don't feel like I'm lacking anything. I'm sorry that this was a direct attack on Christianity. I really do think it's great if you believe in God and Jesus. I've just had so many experiences within the church that this is just how I've developed as a person. I also don't have much chance to express how I feel because it can be SO touchy for everyone involved. It feels really good to just get this off my chest.
I understand that you don't follow that particular practice but pretending like it doesn't exist is a HUGE no-no for me. I also can't stand it when things are taken out of context from the bible, like the whole gay debate.Anyway, I think you can believe in what you want to believe but if YOUR beliefs are teaching you to be respectful towards others and you attack me because I'm not a follower, what kind of person are you?
I guess Christianity would be easier for me to understand if there was proof. The bible isn't proof enough for me. The bible has been revised more times than I can count. These revisions change the original meaning so the bible as a true "source" doesn't make sense to me. I can look at literary works, scientific studies and ancient artifacts and KNOW that some sort of evolution/genetic change occurred. I can't read the bible and suddenly believe that it's all true. I realize that a lot of the old testament can be conceived as just stories, ways to live your life, etc. but I also know that the bible can be taken completely seriously and word for word.
The thing that irks me the most about Christianity is how everything can be attributed to God and how fabulous he is. "My Dad's surgery was successful! God is awesome!" No. To me, your Dad's surgery was successful because of the care he was given and the skill of the doctors and surgeons.
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah. If you have a religion, that's nice and good for you for having something you believe in. I don't have religion in my life and I don't feel like I'm lacking anything.
I'm sorry that this was a direct attack on Christianity. I really do think it's great if you believe in God and Jesus. I've just had so many experiences within the church that this is just how I've developed as a person. I also don't have much chance to express how I feel because it can be SO touchy for everyone involved. It feels really good to just get this off my chest.