Yes I am new here, so I hope this is the right forum since I am trying to compare all kinds of religions to see if I fit into one or at least if I can find one that I am comfortable with. Warning, this is a long post so you may want to go get a drink and come back. I would appreciate it if you would take the time to read it and help me if you can because I really am lost.
I was raised in the military so my religion was whatever the base chaplin/preacher/pastor was. I went to services for lutheran, protestant, baptist, presbyterian, and probably a few more that I can't remember. Maybe this is part of the cause of my dilemma. After seeing that these religions had the same base of beliefs I started noticing that several other religions did as well. This has led me to some of my confusion and lack of a label.....as well as other things that I will get to later. I am 30 and have not been to church since I was about 12 so forgive me if I am foggy on my details. I may also jump around with my trains of thought and given the thoughts trying to congeal in my head I hope you can bear with me. I hope someone on here can point me in a few good directions so that I may find a path away from my isolation.
To start, yes, I believe in god, a supreme being, a one and only creator of all life, regardless of the name given to him, so this isn't a matter of needing to be saved but rather finding my way. I am also very scientific, in that I need to either see proof or using scientific "fact" to explain something else logically. My belief in god being an exception to my scientific side. I was taught the stories of the bible....sampson and delilah (sp), moses, the red sea, burning bush, jesus nailed to the cross, david and goliath, water into wine, etc. My faith side says that these things happened. My science side says that the bible was written by man and history is written by the victors, so there may be logical explanations to these miracles. The red sea maybe wasn't "parted" but rather low tide on a sandbar.....or water into wine was watered down merlot. My science side also questions these "miracles" because we don't see evidence of this type of thing today.....that's when my faith says that maybe back then when this type of faith was new to the world of men, they might have need stronger miracles to show the first generation of believers that god did exist. See how I can play devils advocate within my own head?
I believe god created adam and eve, but given the scientific evidence I can't say for sure that adam and eve were fully upright modern day people. God created the universe, god made everything....including "The big bang" and he created all the creatures that occupied the planet before he created man. Adam and eve were likely grunting, hairy, knuckle dragging, cavemen that eventually evolved into modern man.
Any time anyone has invited me to their church, or there is a family event (on my wifes side) and it is at a Christian school I don't feel right being there. Almost as if something is watching me and telling me I don't belong. From what I know of organized religion it sucks, pardon my words, but there is no other way for me to describe how I feel about it. Let me explain though. I realize that some organization is needed, like what day to meet, what time, where, what is the general topic, etc. Those are administrative things that are organizational, but not what I am talking about. What I am talking about is the parts where you have to wear a button up shirt and slacks, women in dresses, the preacher in robes, altar boys lighting candles, don't say this or talk about that. I remember from my teachings that god says, come as you are....I will accept you with all your flaws. Or I am all around you, worship me where ever you go. I have yet to see or hear of a church that is ok with shorts and sandals, at least not any church for the religions I am familiar with. Or a church that isn't filled with torturous wooden benches. I have been around my wife's side of the family and they are what I call "Modern Christians". In church they are all about help thy neighbor and love thy brother and turn the other cheek.......but then when they get out of church it's help thy neighbor :unless you have a good enough excuse to not have to do any work: Or love thy brother : unless he's a homosexual (insert racial term here) : Do you get my point? I am not trying to point out that christian religions are horrible or start a debate on the subject, I am just trying to state my observations so that you can understand why I have not chosen to go in that direction and so that you can help me find the right direction for me.
It is these inconsistencies that have kept me away from the traditional "christian" churches....so much so that if my job dispatches me to a church (any place of worship) I refuse to go because I may have to step inside and I don't feel as if I should have to go inside a place of judgement. I understand that there are fanatics that border on cultist in any religion and I don't agree with using the influence of god/supreme being/whatever name your religion calls him/her to coerce people into a lunatic motivated tirade.
I don't feel right with the idea of worshiping idols, or different gods....I.E. the god of wind or the god of water. Not saying there is anything wrong with it but it doesn't sit right with my personal feelings. I also am a little unsettled calling god anything but "GOD" since I was raised with that name....however I realize that other religions may give their name to him, like allah or jehovah, and in time I am sure I could come to terms with the fact that the worship/belief/following of the supreme being is still being met and that it is the same being just called something else....."A rose by any other name...." type of thing.
I think that I shouldn't be considered sub standard because I don't follow the strict edicts of man using the name of god. If I don't show up every week, or if I get mad at someone and call them foul names I shouldn't be made to feel like I am less of a person than the "Ned Flanders" of the religion. I should be able to show up in my jean shorts with fresh oil stains from working on the car.....hey I had things that had to get done and I did them up until the last minute possible before taking a break to gather with my fellow believers. I should not have to worry about saying the wrong thing, or bringing up the wrong topic because it's taboo. I need open minded people that understand that not everything will corrupt our children and turn out society into a helpless post apocalyptic warzone.......IT'S JUST A VIDEO GAME, RAISE YOUR KIDS AND LET ME PLAY IT.
I am not a tree hugging hippie, although I do love some aspects of nature and untouched areas are a sight to behold. I am also not an ultra conservative nazi-istic control freak that believes that we should give up our rights and freedoms in the name of national security.....although a national firearms license would make it easier for me to travel.
I hope this wasn't too long, it is rather hard to sum up ones beliefs through a keyboard but hopefully I hit the big points. I know I don't fit into any group that I have knowledge of because I do tend to go from one end of the spectrum to the other in my beliefs.
If you can help me identify which religious type group may best fit me please let me know. I will admit that after looking on here I didn't have a clue there were this many different belief systems. I knew of some, like Buddhism, Wicca, Judaism but not enough about them to know where to start. It took me 30 years to figure out this much about christianity, I don't want to take another 30 to find another religion that doesn't fit.
Thanks
I was raised in the military so my religion was whatever the base chaplin/preacher/pastor was. I went to services for lutheran, protestant, baptist, presbyterian, and probably a few more that I can't remember. Maybe this is part of the cause of my dilemma. After seeing that these religions had the same base of beliefs I started noticing that several other religions did as well. This has led me to some of my confusion and lack of a label.....as well as other things that I will get to later. I am 30 and have not been to church since I was about 12 so forgive me if I am foggy on my details. I may also jump around with my trains of thought and given the thoughts trying to congeal in my head I hope you can bear with me. I hope someone on here can point me in a few good directions so that I may find a path away from my isolation.
To start, yes, I believe in god, a supreme being, a one and only creator of all life, regardless of the name given to him, so this isn't a matter of needing to be saved but rather finding my way. I am also very scientific, in that I need to either see proof or using scientific "fact" to explain something else logically. My belief in god being an exception to my scientific side. I was taught the stories of the bible....sampson and delilah (sp), moses, the red sea, burning bush, jesus nailed to the cross, david and goliath, water into wine, etc. My faith side says that these things happened. My science side says that the bible was written by man and history is written by the victors, so there may be logical explanations to these miracles. The red sea maybe wasn't "parted" but rather low tide on a sandbar.....or water into wine was watered down merlot. My science side also questions these "miracles" because we don't see evidence of this type of thing today.....that's when my faith says that maybe back then when this type of faith was new to the world of men, they might have need stronger miracles to show the first generation of believers that god did exist. See how I can play devils advocate within my own head?
I believe god created adam and eve, but given the scientific evidence I can't say for sure that adam and eve were fully upright modern day people. God created the universe, god made everything....including "The big bang" and he created all the creatures that occupied the planet before he created man. Adam and eve were likely grunting, hairy, knuckle dragging, cavemen that eventually evolved into modern man.
Any time anyone has invited me to their church, or there is a family event (on my wifes side) and it is at a Christian school I don't feel right being there. Almost as if something is watching me and telling me I don't belong. From what I know of organized religion it sucks, pardon my words, but there is no other way for me to describe how I feel about it. Let me explain though. I realize that some organization is needed, like what day to meet, what time, where, what is the general topic, etc. Those are administrative things that are organizational, but not what I am talking about. What I am talking about is the parts where you have to wear a button up shirt and slacks, women in dresses, the preacher in robes, altar boys lighting candles, don't say this or talk about that. I remember from my teachings that god says, come as you are....I will accept you with all your flaws. Or I am all around you, worship me where ever you go. I have yet to see or hear of a church that is ok with shorts and sandals, at least not any church for the religions I am familiar with. Or a church that isn't filled with torturous wooden benches. I have been around my wife's side of the family and they are what I call "Modern Christians". In church they are all about help thy neighbor and love thy brother and turn the other cheek.......but then when they get out of church it's help thy neighbor :unless you have a good enough excuse to not have to do any work: Or love thy brother : unless he's a homosexual (insert racial term here) : Do you get my point? I am not trying to point out that christian religions are horrible or start a debate on the subject, I am just trying to state my observations so that you can understand why I have not chosen to go in that direction and so that you can help me find the right direction for me.
It is these inconsistencies that have kept me away from the traditional "christian" churches....so much so that if my job dispatches me to a church (any place of worship) I refuse to go because I may have to step inside and I don't feel as if I should have to go inside a place of judgement. I understand that there are fanatics that border on cultist in any religion and I don't agree with using the influence of god/supreme being/whatever name your religion calls him/her to coerce people into a lunatic motivated tirade.
I don't feel right with the idea of worshiping idols, or different gods....I.E. the god of wind or the god of water. Not saying there is anything wrong with it but it doesn't sit right with my personal feelings. I also am a little unsettled calling god anything but "GOD" since I was raised with that name....however I realize that other religions may give their name to him, like allah or jehovah, and in time I am sure I could come to terms with the fact that the worship/belief/following of the supreme being is still being met and that it is the same being just called something else....."A rose by any other name...." type of thing.
I think that I shouldn't be considered sub standard because I don't follow the strict edicts of man using the name of god. If I don't show up every week, or if I get mad at someone and call them foul names I shouldn't be made to feel like I am less of a person than the "Ned Flanders" of the religion. I should be able to show up in my jean shorts with fresh oil stains from working on the car.....hey I had things that had to get done and I did them up until the last minute possible before taking a break to gather with my fellow believers. I should not have to worry about saying the wrong thing, or bringing up the wrong topic because it's taboo. I need open minded people that understand that not everything will corrupt our children and turn out society into a helpless post apocalyptic warzone.......IT'S JUST A VIDEO GAME, RAISE YOUR KIDS AND LET ME PLAY IT.
I am not a tree hugging hippie, although I do love some aspects of nature and untouched areas are a sight to behold. I am also not an ultra conservative nazi-istic control freak that believes that we should give up our rights and freedoms in the name of national security.....although a national firearms license would make it easier for me to travel.
I hope this wasn't too long, it is rather hard to sum up ones beliefs through a keyboard but hopefully I hit the big points. I know I don't fit into any group that I have knowledge of because I do tend to go from one end of the spectrum to the other in my beliefs.
If you can help me identify which religious type group may best fit me please let me know. I will admit that after looking on here I didn't have a clue there were this many different belief systems. I knew of some, like Buddhism, Wicca, Judaism but not enough about them to know where to start. It took me 30 years to figure out this much about christianity, I don't want to take another 30 to find another religion that doesn't fit.
Thanks
