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Exactly What Convinced You?
- Thread starter Skwim
- Start date
I was raised Christian. I believed it with my whole heart.
But it was my heart that got me in trouble. I couldn't reconcile the idea of a religion meant to express God's love for us, with the fundamental fact that it is an unfair system. Simply, those born in a Christian family or culture have a greater chance at salvation than those who are not. Why should something as important as salvation boil down in large part to luck?
This conflict grew in my mind. No Christian apologetics seemed to resolve the issue.
This lead me to the view that Christianity was also unreasonable. It just doesn't make sense for a benevolent god to expect perfection from imperfect creation. It makes no sense to make a sinful nature hereditary. It makes no sense that the punishment is non-negotiable (god chose these rules! Nobody forced him.) It makes no sense that the solution is not in teaching humans how to be better but to have them rely on the death of god's son. Where is the growth, the learning, in that?
So I rejected Christianity, but maintained my belief in a loving, reasonable God, who would honor my attempts at trying to be a good person.
But then, another argument came to me. The whole reason I believed in this god was because Christianity said he existed. If Christianity obviously got so much else wrong, why should I suppose they got this one part right?
I did some desultory searching, but couldn't find God anywhere. I gave up belief in his existence too.
This process broke my capacity for faith. There are aspects of other religions I find appealing, but I always come back to the idea that there's no reason to believe that what they say is true. Perhaps one day I'll give up on truth, and just go for a religion I want to be true.
For now, I am ok with my loose collection of beliefs on morality and philosophy. I think they make sense and I think they point me in the right direction of being a good person, which ultimately, is the most important thing.
But it was my heart that got me in trouble. I couldn't reconcile the idea of a religion meant to express God's love for us, with the fundamental fact that it is an unfair system. Simply, those born in a Christian family or culture have a greater chance at salvation than those who are not. Why should something as important as salvation boil down in large part to luck?
This conflict grew in my mind. No Christian apologetics seemed to resolve the issue.
This lead me to the view that Christianity was also unreasonable. It just doesn't make sense for a benevolent god to expect perfection from imperfect creation. It makes no sense to make a sinful nature hereditary. It makes no sense that the punishment is non-negotiable (god chose these rules! Nobody forced him.) It makes no sense that the solution is not in teaching humans how to be better but to have them rely on the death of god's son. Where is the growth, the learning, in that?
So I rejected Christianity, but maintained my belief in a loving, reasonable God, who would honor my attempts at trying to be a good person.
But then, another argument came to me. The whole reason I believed in this god was because Christianity said he existed. If Christianity obviously got so much else wrong, why should I suppose they got this one part right?
I did some desultory searching, but couldn't find God anywhere. I gave up belief in his existence too.
This process broke my capacity for faith. There are aspects of other religions I find appealing, but I always come back to the idea that there's no reason to believe that what they say is true. Perhaps one day I'll give up on truth, and just go for a religion I want to be true.
For now, I am ok with my loose collection of beliefs on morality and philosophy. I think they make sense and I think they point me in the right direction of being a good person, which ultimately, is the most important thing.
Love, ambition and despair.
This is a double-barrelled question that should be split into two, so that's how I'm going to handle it:
- What convinced you your religion is worth following?
- What convinced you other religions are not worth following?
To the first question - why Druidry? Because it is able to successfully articulate my values as they are presently. That's what a religion should do for a person - it should act as a framework for expressing one's values in a way that guides how one sees and interacts with the world. Druidry is not dogmatic nor is it creedal, and encompasses many loves of mine. It's perfect for someone who is a polymath. Like philosophy? We've got that. Bardic arts? Check. Mysticism? Yup. Sciences? That too. Whatever inspires you, instills that love and awe at the world, that sense of us living in a sacred reality... follow it.
Liu
Well-Known Member
Two main reasons, one for the mind, one for the heart:
Many Satanists take a rather scientific approach to spirituality, especially by seeing it as not as something set in stone, but to experiment with, to adjust to one's own needs and experiences.
And it's the only religion in which I've felt so completely at home and related so well (or even at all) emotionally to its deities. It's a bit hard to explain reasons for falling in love, isn't it? Especially when one's beloved has so many faces.
Many Satanists take a rather scientific approach to spirituality, especially by seeing it as not as something set in stone, but to experiment with, to adjust to one's own needs and experiences.
And it's the only religion in which I've felt so completely at home and related so well (or even at all) emotionally to its deities. It's a bit hard to explain reasons for falling in love, isn't it? Especially when one's beloved has so many faces.
One aspect is what science has convinced me of. A religion I would advocate would jive with science. Witt Buddhism that's a little easier cause it is malleable in that it holds truth to a high standard above that of its dogma. Other than a religions having truth I feel the need for a process/system that can be used to benefit our individuality for a better and more content state of being and there is a gnosis process that seems to work, taking hints from Christianity and Buddhism. Those are some things make it worth while. If I were just blindly following something that might be false it wouldn't be worth following.
The focus on Dharma, on personal understandings, and on ethics.
Reason, Logic, Study, and Observation convinced me to believe what I believe. As for :
Nothing convinced me of that. Nothing should convince anyone of that. Each and every worldview probably has something that can be learned hidden within it that merits at least studying it. All of them should be "followed" inasmuch as they should be investigated.
Nothing convinced me of that. Nothing should convince anyone of that. Each and every worldview probably has something that can be learned hidden within it that merits at least studying it. All of them should be "followed" inasmuch as they should be investigated.
see responses withing quote
My assessment is purely personal and subjective. I make no claims toward universal truthiness.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
What should I say if I don't have a religion and just borrow meditation time at my wife's church?
Mister Silver
Faith's Nightmare
When I was a theist,
Anti-theists would be; they believe that religion does more harm than good, that religion should go completely the way of being recognized as mere mythology.
Anti-theists would be; they believe that religion does more harm than good, that religion should go completely the way of being recognized as mere mythology.
Because their truth claims cannot be substantiated, or because certain beliefs are anathema to the person's own morals?
I'm not sure I follow. Mythologies are stories that articulate the norms, values, and ideas of a culture. Mythology is an inherent component of all human cultures, whether it is labeled religious or not. What is "mere" about our driving cultural narratives, and what would be bad about religion having them?
*is confused*
Devaki
Member
Well what convinced me that my religion is worth following was precisely because it didn't make it necessary for me to believe that the others aren't.
I was raised Christian and the whole " the only way is through Jesus Christ" thing never resonated with me.
As a teen i happened upon a book on Hinduism which contained the phrase "The truth is one yet the sages know it by many names." - and that's how I got started on my journey.
I was raised Christian and the whole " the only way is through Jesus Christ" thing never resonated with me.
As a teen i happened upon a book on Hinduism which contained the phrase "The truth is one yet the sages know it by many names." - and that's how I got started on my journey.
Mister Silver
Faith's Nightmare
Myth = "any invented story, idea, or concept", "an imaginary or fictitious thing or person", "an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution"
ology = study of
I consider a mythology to be the study of widely held but unrealistic concepts.
osgart
Nothing my eye, Something for sure
at this moment in not convinced of anything. the truths that are universal are basic to everyone. it's the ground floor of freedom to do and be anything you so desire, to accept them. that much I'm convinced of.
it's when people start judging who's fit to live and who isnt, that's when society crumbles. anyone that plays god with lives is dangerous. I'm convinced of that too.
of all the things you can choose, choose not evil, and you are free to do and be as you wish. im convinced of that as well.
it's when people start judging who's fit to live and who isnt, that's when society crumbles. anyone that plays god with lives is dangerous. I'm convinced of that too.
of all the things you can choose, choose not evil, and you are free to do and be as you wish. im convinced of that as well.