Why did you?

[Sgloom]

i was raised catholic, though we werent very strict about it, we just went to church weekly until i was about 14, i went thru all the normal stuff they do in the catholic church. i didnt get much from it. ive learned more about christianity on my own than i ever did going to church. the idea of a god doesnt make sense to me. if there is one i dont believe he is meant to be or will ever be known. but for the most part i just dont believe in any of it. ive looked into some forms of pantheism, i like the idea of it. i can agree with naturalistic pantheism.
i also attended a foursquare christian church for a couple of years with my ex girlfriend. i didnt go regularly and i didnt believe in it, but my ex did and i felt it was nice to support her in her beliefs since it meant alot to her. i never questioned her beliefs but she felt she should be with someone of her own faith, the break up was extremely hard on me, i was devastated at first, but ive been able to maintain a strong friendship with her, shes one of my best friends now, its been 4 years since our breakup, ive known her for 9 years. im also very close with her family. theyre pretty strict christians but they never once tried to push there beliefs on me.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

My parents didn't raise me in any religion. My mother was formerly protestant and my father is a lapsed catholic, both since turned atheist - but only recently became open about it. I was sent to a series of religious schools (mostly Catholic) due to the absence of decent, non-religious schools in the area and was naturally educated on Christianity from a young age, but never really adopted it or was convinced by it. It was only when the question of religion came up in my early teens that I outwardly decided I was most definitely an atheist (I'd been an atheist by default up until then, but that was when I started outwardly expressing my atheism). I continued to be sent to religious schools, and learned a lot about religion, but in my late teens I adopted a more strident atheistic position and began more openly questioning both religion and the religious.

 

[zenzero]

Friend connermt,

Why did you search out the religion that you accepted?
What happened in your life that made you go looking for "answers"?

Religion is just a path or way and have no particular path or way as every way and paths and ways lead to the same state!

Love & rgds

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Friend connermt,



Religion is just a path or way and have no particular path or way as every way and paths and ways lead to the same state!

Love & rgds

So according to you if I were on the path to Los Angeles and others were on their way to New York it wouldn't matter because everyone ends up in St. Louis.

 

[zenzero]

Friend CC,

All are just labels but why and where do you wish to reach?
If you share that, then directions too can be found to reach.
Why take a bus unless you know where you are going?

Love & rgds

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Why did you search out the religion that you accepted?
What happened in your life that made you go looking for "answers"?

And how many religions did you "go through" until you foudn the right one (assuming you went through more than one)?

It was a slow change. One by one my beliefs interfered with my childhood belief in Christianity, and eventually I gave it up completely.

I didn't go through any other religions I don't think. It went from fundamentalist Christian to liberal to New Age Christian/Pagan until I just gave it all up.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Friend CC,

All are just labels but why and where do you wish to reach?
If you share that, then directions too can be found to reach.
Why take a bus unless you know where you are going?

Love & rgds

But I don't like St. Louis, it doesn't appeal to me.

 

[Caladan]

Why did you search out the religion that you accepted?
What happened in your life that made you go looking for "answers"?

And how many religions did you "go through" until you foudn the right one (assuming you went through more than one)?

I was interested in world religion for as long as I can remember, and its hard to say that I sought absolute answers for existential questions other than seeking to have an interesting discourse and contemplation. I suppose what drives me is a sort of pantheistic feel. its why I love being in the desert, why I love the outdoors and why for a chunk of my life I was cruising on the wild side. there is no set path that I settled for, I connect to any thought provoking lifestyle.
early on I read Aleister Crowley's Book of the Law, I connected to its defiance of a decayed, impotent religious order in the west, its witty provocations, and what I see as a necessity of breaking taboos about religious morality.
as a person who was brought up at a secular home in Israel, by and large I wasn't exposed to the New Testament and Christianity in general other than mostly in popular culture or when visiting Jerusalem. at some point I started reading the New Testament, and was shocked to discover that it seemed to have nothing to do with the patriarchal Christian structures in history and in modern times. Jesus turned out to be a compassionate man, his parables and sermons were smart and to the point, and his actions made it hard not to relate to him in the gospels narrative, that sparked an interest in early Christianity to all its early sects and groups, many of which had radically different dogmas than the widely accepted ones of modern western Christianity.
I love reading poets of an alternative Christianity and alternative Islam such as Gibran, Rumi, Hafiz, or Ibn-Arabi. and one of the most potent texts I've read still remains the Gospel of Thomas. like Thomas, maybe wrongly called doubting Thomas, I take issues with the supernatural, and I find that the message of religion becomes most powerful when it comes from naturalism and free from supernaturalism.

 

[Tarheeler]

Why did you search out the religion that you accepted?
What happened in your life that made you go looking for "answers"?

And how many religions did you "go through" until you foudn the right one (assuming you went through more than one)?

I was raised Southern Baptist, and went through the typical rebellious period as a teenager. At 13, I decided I was an atheist, and then, as a young adult, I realized I wasn't.

But there were several Christian tenets that I couldn't accept, such as original sin, vicarious salvation, and once saved always saved. I went quite a while doing my own thing and faking it when I did manage to go to church or got around a group of Christians. But didn't give me what I needed.

For me, religion isn't limited to worship; it serves both a communal and spiritual functions in my life. I felt that I needed to find a group that had similar beliefs and values; I needed to be part of a congregation.

And that led me to examine everything I believed, from the nature of God to His relationship with man and the earth.

Then I started looking at religions, starting with Christian denominations. I figured it would be easiest, both theologically and socially, if I could stay within the religion I raised with. But my rejection of Jesus being anything other than just a man made that impossible (although I did find that I liked the structure of the Catholic liturgy and the emphasis on good works). I looked into Wicca and the Norse religions, but everytime I tried to wrap my head around polytheism, I saw the deities as different aspects of the same Creator. For me, monotheism was much cleaner and made more sense.

When I first started studying Judaism, I was frustrated by the lack of a rigid doctrine; different philosophers and rabbis would contradict each other on theological matters and it seemed that nothing was every decided. It wasn't until I understood that the religion focuses on deeds more than beliefs (which, as a former Baptist, came as quite a shock), that it started making sense. And, at least for me, this seems right. I have few concrete ideas about the Creator; I believe He is One and that he created us to be a part of His plan for this earth. And that's enough. It is enough to make me want to be a part of His Covenant and to follow Torah in im effort to create the world He desires.

And Judaism gives me the community I needed. Every Shabbat I meet with people who share my beliefs and we join in worship. I pray with them, I study with them, I argue with them (oh boy, do we ever argue), and I celebrate their lives with them. And it isn't just with my local community; it includes all Jews, wherever they are from. It's something I never experienced with Christianity; yes, I could identify with other Baptists or Christians in general, but it wasn't the same.

I was going that that was it in a nutshell, but it ended up being a bit more than that.

 

[zenzero]

Friend CC,

But I don't like St. Louis, it doesn't appeal to me.

Exactly do not inquire about St. Louis inquire only about what appeals to you.

Love & rgds