How did you come into your faith?

[Morse]

Simple question. How did you come into the religion/belief system/faith that you are currently calling yours?

I've been wondering this of some people for a bit, and I've decided to expand the question to encompass all RFers who have interest.

This applies to Theists.

This applies to Non-Theists.

What I DONT want is Proselytizing, ridicule, or any other form of argument within this thread. Nobody should have to defend their faith within this thread.

 

[GiantHouseKey]

Greetings

Simple question. How did you come into the religion/belief system/faith that you are currently calling yours?

I've been wondering this of some people for a bit, and I've decided to expand the question to encompass all RFers who have interest.

This applies to Theists.

This applies to Non-Theists.

What I DONT want is Proselytizing, ridicule, or any other form of argument within this thread. Nobody should have to defend their faith within this thread.

Depends what you mean, as is my answer to basically every other straight forward question.

Theism as a belief has changed over the course of my (yet short) life. I was raised as an agnostic. Still don't really know my mum's beliefs but they are not mine for sure. I went through a period of being theistic and became a christian. After a while I deduced for myself that God was improbable. At least, the God I believed to exist was improbable. So I became an Atheist, which then led to me becoming a Satanist.

After being a satanist for a bit, I realised that I didn't really follow LaVey's path, and so I set about on actually thinking about my religious path, and so found my own. At present, to many people's definition of theism I am an atheist.

Other aspects of my belief system have come through experimentation, ritual, symbology and stealing bits and bobs from other religions mainly paganism and satanism.

GhK.

 

[Bloomdido]

I read a book called 'Another Roadside Attraction' when I was 17. It explained to me the 'meaning of meaning'. Armed with this knowledge, I ventured forth into life, afraid of nothing. I have still to learn however, the word that rhymes with 'Orange'.

 

[Erebus]

Simple question. How did you come into the religion/belief system/faith that you are currently calling yours?

1. I was brought up as a Christian and believed the Bible was the word of God.
2. I discovered magic at a very young age and began to practice it despite being Christian.
3. I read the Bible fully (not just the bits you hear in school)
4. I stopped being a Christian.
5. I went through a sulky teenage "all religion is evil and pointless" phase.
6. I discovered Wicca as a magic based religion
7. I gave up Wicca as I didn't agree with it's moralistic and karmic ideas
8. I discovered La Vey's Satanic Bible and agreed with a lot of his ideas
9. I decided I didn't like the petty infighting in the Satanic community and turned my back on it.
10. I decided that the only two things I could truly dedicate myself to were myself and chaos.

So... I arrived at my current "religion" which by strict definition would be considered Paganism (or Dark Paganism depending on who you ask). In truth my "religion" is a mix of Neopaganism, Daemonolatry, Pantheism, Polytheism and Modern Shamanism. A lot of people consider me to be LHP and a lot of the time this is the easy definition, but in reality I switch between LHP and RHP depending on my mood. One of the few doctrines that I hold dear and never seem to drop is:

Anything is possible. Everything is permissable.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Greetings!

How did you come into the religion/belief system/faith that you are currently calling yours?

The short answer?

Great good fortune!

I've been active in religion all my life!

Indeed, as a teen-ager, I had a job (for no pay) every Saturday at the church! I was the one who changed the candles, boiled the candle burners (the glass caps on the candles), printed the bulletins, put up the hymn numbers, etc.. And when we got a carillon (bell system), I helped install it and was thus the only person who knew how to operate it--a regular Quasimodo!

I first heard of the Baha'i Faith through a public-service spot on the radio (put on by a local Baha'il): "The Baha'i Faith is a world religion working for peace and unity. For more information call . . ." I never called, but I'd heard of it from that.

Later on, I was sitting around in a longue when a Baha'i was sitting nearby telling someone else about the Baha'i teachings. I thought, "That's me she's describing!" Later on, she invited me to a fireside (informal Q & A meeting); I went, and kept on going.

Meanwhile, I was reading about the Faith very intensively and driving the Baha'is crazy with questions!

Months later, I found myself--still not a Baha'i--telling other people, "This is really neat--you should check it out!" I finally said, "This is ridiculous!" and enrolled.

That was over 38 years ago, during which I have NOT ONCE had any reason to regret this decision!

(And being someone who love to sing, I've since gotten involved with the Voices of Baha and Baha'i Gospel Singers touring choirs, as well as another Baha'i choir! Great fun, and most rewarding!)

Indeed, if I weren't now a Baha'i, I'd have NO IDEA where I'd be or what I'd be doing!

Recommended.

Best!

Bruce

 

[BucephalusBB]

How did you come into your faith?
I grew into it

 

[Gentoo]

Simple question. How did you come into the religion/belief system/faith that you are currently calling yours?

I've been wondering this of some people for a bit, and I've decided to expand the question to encompass all RFers who have interest.

This applies to Theists.

This applies to Non-Theists.

What I DONT want is Proselytizing, ridicule, or any other form of argument within this thread. Nobody should have to defend their faith within this thread.

I take a good hard look at the things I really believed in, not just what I was told to believe in. I'm experiencing life, and drawing my own conclusions that are subject to change.

 

[enchanted_one1975]

My faith came to me when I was not searching. So did my primary God. When I thought I was content, fate showed me I was wrong. It feels good to be on the right path for me.

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

I've been known to chop 'n' change quite a bit but Buddhism, in particular Zen Buddhism and Zen Buddhists, wore me down.

I grew up with a Christian mother, an atheist father and I attended Christian schools in a predominantly Christian country. After I graduated from school I became involved with Pagan religions and identified with Paganism. Later I embraced Taoism, which had been interesting for me since I went to taiji classes as a kid. The trouble was Zen Buddhism, as a close relation of early Taoism, was more accessible and there were plenty of Zen Buddhists around. In the end my thinking was more Buddhist than Taoist, so I had to fess up.

 

[Morse]

Thank you all for your response, despite the fact that I (and I apologise for this), forgot that this was my thread.

But after reading it, I thank you all.

 

[ThereIsNoSpoon]

Simple question. How did you come into the religion/belief system/faith that you are currently calling yours?

Into the first i came through my father.
Leaving it was by "accident".
Into my current i came myself using my brain.