I make my own religion

[an anarchist]

Today, a coworker asked what religion I believe in and without much thought I said that I craft my own religion.

Afterwards I thought about it. I think that truly is my religious stance: I make my own.

Now the seemingly daunting part is explaining that to my Christian family...

 

[The Hammer]

You have no need to explain that to them.

 

[ChristineM]

Today, a coworker asked what religion I believe in and without much thought I said that I craft my own religion.

Afterwards I thought about it. I think that truly is my religious stance: I make my own.

Now the seemingly daunting part is explaining that to my Christian family...

Why explain yourself? It's your religion not theirs.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

I call this process autoreligion. I call my autoreligion Exaltism. There is going to be people who judge you for that, but if you can explain to them the reasons why you came to your beliefs, I'm sure most people would be okay with whatever you came up with. Or you can just show them this video.

 

[an anarchist]

You have no need to explain that to them.

But I do have the desire.

I was gonna make a thread asking if it's better to be honest with my family about my gayness and spirituality, or if I should act like a straight Christian for the rest of my life in their presence. It seems I can get the desired input from this thread though so I'm asking here.

If I want to be able to be open about my thoughts and express myself freely with my family, then I do think I have the need to explain to them.

My dad always complains that my older brother is gay. Tells me "at least you came out straight". I think my dad would be happier if he never knew I was gay. To illustrate his thinking... He tells his mom (my grandma who lives far away) that I'm still happily married to my first wife. He explains to me that it's better to tell her that to not stress her out. So maybe I should apply my dad's own logic to him.

My other grandma from my ma's side and my ma's sister are super Christian and I've been pretty committed to acting like I'm Christian for the past while. But I'm at least as spiritual as them (they being very spiritual)... I'm just not Christian like them. But I would like to be myself with my family. I just don't want grandma in particular to believe I'm gonna burn into a crisp for all of eternity. But does that matter? If I want to be open, should I be open? It's either be myself and honest with them or keep up the charade for the rest of my life. I think I'm beginning to see the better option.

Why explain yourself? It's your religion not theirs.

 

[JustGeorge]

But I do have the desire.

I was gonna make a thread asking if it's better to be honest with my family about my gayness and spirituality, or if I should act like a straight Christian for the rest of my life in their presence. It seems I can get the desired input from this thread though so I'm asking here.

It sounds like your family plays enough of an active roll that its probably something you should share with them. It might cause some discomfort at first, but long term, hiding that will only cause resentment.

If I want to be able to be open about my thoughts and express myself freely with my family, then I do think I have the need to explain to them.

I agree.

My dad always complains that my older brother is gay. Tells me "at least you came out straight". I think my dad would be happier if he never knew I was gay. To illustrate his thinking... He tells his mom (my grandma who lives far away) that I'm still happily married to my first wife. He explains to me that it's better to tell her that to not stress her out. So maybe I should apply my dad's own logic to him.

My other grandma from my ma's side and my ma's sister are super Christian and I've been pretty committed to acting like I'm Christian for the past while. But I'm at least as spiritual as them (they being very spiritual)... I'm just not Christian like them. But I would like to be myself with my family. I just don't want grandma in particular to believe I'm gonna burn into a crisp for all of eternity. But does that matter? If I want to be open, should I be open? It's either be myself and honest with them or keep up the charade for the rest of my life. I think I'm beginning to see the better option.

As to who you tell and who you keep it to yourself with, let your gut guide you. If you spend a lot of time around a person, best to tell them. If it a person you seldom see, your call.

I'm very 'open' about my religious views with everyone. Stranger and friend alike. But, I haven't told Grandma(paternal Grandma). She wouldn't understand it. At all. I'm still trying to get her to grasp 'vegetarianism, and its been 26 years.

 

[robocop (actually)]

Today, a coworker asked what religion I believe in and without much thought I said that I craft my own religion.

Afterwards I thought about it. I think that truly is my religious stance: I make my own.

Now the seemingly daunting part is explaining that to my Christian family...

"Everyone is their own theologian"

 

[ajay0]

Today, a coworker asked what religion I believe in and without much thought I said that I craft my own religion.

Afterwards I thought about it. I think that truly is my religious stance: I make my own.

Now the seemingly daunting part is explaining that to my Christian family...

I remember some sayings of Swami Vivekananda that is similar to the theme of the op...

'No man is born to any religion; he has a religion in his own soul.'

'Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal.'

'The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves.'

 

[Sand Dancer]

But I do have the desire.

I was gonna make a thread asking if it's better to be honest with my family about my gayness and spirituality, or if I should act like a straight Christian for the rest of my life in their presence. It seems I can get the desired input from this thread though so I'm asking here.

If I want to be able to be open about my thoughts and express myself freely with my family, then I do think I have the need to explain to them.

My dad always complains that my older brother is gay. Tells me "at least you came out straight". I think my dad would be happier if he never knew I was gay. To illustrate his thinking... He tells his mom (my grandma who lives far away) that I'm still happily married to my first wife. He explains to me that it's better to tell her that to not stress her out. So maybe I should apply my dad's own logic to him.

My other grandma from my ma's side and my ma's sister are super Christian and I've been pretty committed to acting like I'm Christian for the past while. But I'm at least as spiritual as them (they being very spiritual)... I'm just not Christian like them. But I would like to be myself with my family. I just don't want grandma in particular to believe I'm gonna burn into a crisp for all of eternity. But does that matter? If I want to be open, should I be open? It's either be myself and honest with them or keep up the charade for the rest of my life. I think I'm beginning to see the better option.

You can't worry about everyone else's response to your life. If you are still you around them, no matter what you are, they hopefully will remain the same people to you. The more they know you, it shouldn't be much of a problem. And if it is, that's their issue to work out, not yours.

 

[CharmingOwl]

After studying so much I think auto religion is the way. If you research all these different faiths, they are good for different things and give their followers all different benefits. If you adopt someone else's worldview in regards to spirituality, it will be subjective and you will never truly have the same faith as another person. It's like tasting a fruit because it is the same fruit, but is experienced differently.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Today, a coworker asked what religion I believe in and without much thought I said that I craft my own religion.

Afterwards I thought about it. I think that truly is my religious stance: I make my own.

Now the seemingly daunting part is explaining that to my Christian family...

Well, just make it a good one, more sensible than all the others, more demonstrably true than all the others -- then who can argue with you?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Today, a coworker asked what religion I believe in and without much thought I said that I craft my own religion.

Afterwards I thought about it. I think that truly is my religious stance: I make my own.

Now the seemingly daunting part is explaining that to my Christian family...

It's why I maintain religion is strictly a personal endeavor. It's not for other people, it's exclusively for yourself.