Regardless of your religion or spiritual belief, you did you know this
xyz religion and/or set of beliefs was right for you?

I am a Christian and I knew it was right for me bc I had my own personal
experiences that led me to believe that nothing else was right for me.
Of course my parents are very religious as well. But there comes a point
in time when you have to decide what values are right for you and what
makes you happy.

La Esperanza,

Yeah, I agree with you. It a right of passage for each person. Either
choosing a different path than what we are taught or confirming that
that the path we were already on was right for us. I think that
ultimately gives a deeper meaning and understanding of ourselves.

Don't be shy people. Post your experience.

i was raised in a home that went to church three times a week. aside
from that both of my grandfathers were ministers, both different
denominations to the one we went to too. my great grandfather who i knew
until i was twelve was also a minister of yet another denomination, all
of these were christian.
I got to learn from all of them growing up, the similarities, the
differences, the hypocricy for them most part in saying that this one
was right and all others were wrong. set me down my own path to discover
for myself what it was that i truely believed...

my god doesnt care about your race, sexual preference, if you say f**k
you.
He just wants you to live life, content and completely, while being real
or true to yourself. I think that my god would consider us arrogant for
saying all this crap in his name or on his behalf, hell hes god, he
doesnt care what you say to him or about him, he can do what ever when
ever he wants wth out having first obtained your permission.

I remember seating in church and hearing GOD SAYS this, all the while im
thinking ReaLLY? he came down and told you that himself did he?

They say religion is about faith, it teaches love and tolerance,
understanding, and compassion. but yet when you try to explain your
belief, that differs from theirs then you are patronized and made to
believe that in the name of god they will try to save your obviously
lost soul, hey keep it, I am a damn good guy, i love with out
restrictions, im honorable, helpful without motives, kind to all(even if
we dont agree), and im real to myself.
Dont know if i truely believe in a pearly gated entrance to what you
call heaven, i would like to think that there is indeed something for us
after we die- because really whats the point if theres not, but what it
is that awaits for us.....well thats gods sectret and im pretty sure
that he hasnt ran down here and whispered it into anyones ear, of course
i could be god he can do what he wants.

organised religion === root of all evil

in a nutshell adj thats about right.

how many souls have been rudely departed from their bodies in the name
of this or that god.

"My god has a bigger d**k than your god"

"well my god says to kill you."

thousand years war. oh yeah thats intelligent.

I am a member of no religion.

My faith is all I have.

It is all I will ever need.

AB-

Same same, i follow no religious beliefs.

I am myslef, I place my faith in me.

knowing that I am righteous in my own way.


thanks for sharing- clears the conversations.

armydoc)

I can respect that.

My faith is not in ME.

My faith is that god has a reason for me.

Havn't figured it out yet but...

Iam, therefore I must have a reason for being.

previous post

I am a member of no religion.

My faith is all I have.

It is all I will ever need.

__________________________________________

me to

I am an atheist, I use to be a Christian, but found out they were all
money hungry and did not care about you. I went to this church, it was a
very small church. Stayed in there ministers house payed rent just to
sleep on the couch and not even have a key, I had to be out of the house
when they were not there at 5 in the morning and was out until about 9
at night. Then one day I was sitting across the street at a coffee shop
and they came and dropped off all my things there did not even give me
any type of warning. So they left me without a place to stay. I gave up
on it for awhile, and finally forgave them and went back after I met my
ex, then because we were living with each other basically forced us to
get married. That turned out like a nightmare. so from that point on I
have not looked back on it at all. Starting really thinking about the
whole "God" thing and start realizing it made absolutely no sense to me.
So for more reasons then just this I decided I am no longer a believer.
I tried it back fired on me so what is the point. I am happy with my
believes as it is right now and will not change.

A church is a place for a communtity to gather. To be a member you must
conform to what the community believes is the 'right' way to live.

Please do not let a closed minded community be what you base your
beliefs on.

There is nothing between you and god.

Adventure, that is only part of the reason. It goes on. Let me tell you
a bit about my views, my thinking and my realization. Yes I have gone to
church I have read the Bible. I have tried to follow this whole
"Christianity" thing, then all this crap happened. And it made me sit
back and really think about it. I do not understand why if this "God" is
so great why he allows so much crap to go on in this world. The world is
worse off now then it was over 2000 years ago. If he can do such great
miracles back then, then how come not now? If there has ever been a time
we need them do you not think that NOW is a good time? And even since
the biblical times there have been other "Gods" worshiped and again
forgotten about. It is almost like the phase of it was over so people
moved on. During the whole time I went to church and yes I am even
talking about the times I use to go as a child. I have NEVER EVER seen
any type of proof that this "God" exist. I prayed but nothing ever
happened. I use to get so bored in church that I would start dozing off.
If "He" was so great then how come I got so bored? I think that people
who says they have seen "His" works are just so wrapped up and absorbed
in this whole thing that the mind starts playing tricks on them. So no I
do not think there is a "Heaven" nor a "Hell" I think the only Hell
there is is the one we are living here on earth. It is US that make the
world what it is not "God" or the "Devil", it is US. It is only US that
can change anything. There are so many different religions out there,
how can they all be right?

Whisper, I arrived at the same place via a diffrent route. And I once
wrote an entire chapter about my "enlightenment."

Here's an excerpt:

Even in my ultimate and inevitable abandonment of religion, I could
understand why so many millions, billions, would be so addicted to it.
I saw how it could offer a comfort to people who needed comforting, and
who had no other options. I could see how the idea of a loving, caring,
all-knowing God could provide hope for a future when today becomes
intolerable.

But I also saw how religion causes people to kill each other, to justify
that killing in the name of the Lord. I saw one religion after another
proclaim itself "the one true faith" and condemn all infidels to Hell.

They couldn't all be right....

I saw fanatics, lunatics, all too willing to destroy themselves simply
to kill a few of "them."

I saw nations invade other nations, armies kill civilians, civilians do
their best to kill the invaders; I saw cultures looted and pillaged and
raped and plundered, all in the name of the Lord.

I saw world leaders claim to have special insight from God, special
communications with God; God told them what to do, who to kill. That
made it OK.

I saw "men of the cloth" bilk the stupid and the misguided and the naive
out of millions and millions of dollars.

I saw people die because the religious leaders told them it was wrong to
have an abortion or a blood transfusion.

"It's the will of God," the religious leaders would always say when
someone died unnecessarily. "It's all part of God's plan. He must have
needed him up there in Heaven."

"Needed"?? God couldn't have given the poor guy another twenty or
thirty years on earth? He "needed" him in Heaven right this minute?

I reached the conclusion that no God worth the title would have left us
with this mess we call the world today.

I reached the conclusion that we did this to ourselves, and not even
thousands of years of self-delusion and playing "Pass the Buck to the
Lord" would change that fact.

We did this to ourselves.

It doesn't matter which mythological figure we try to blame -- Odin,
Zeus, Baal, Anubis, Vishnu, Jupiter, the Lone Ranger, Batman, Darth
Vader, or God -- the fault lies within ourselves.

Ourselves.

**Reads all comments, opinions & observations, then gracefully eases out
the door in silence**

Lex, like you, I once wrote a very similar piece. It seemed to be a way
to set down a very heavey burden I had assigned myself. To finally
verbalize it was a feeling that, ironically I have only heard described,
by those who "gave" their burden to Chirst and were saved. I finally
believed I felt what they were all trying to describe, only it came over
me when I finally accepted my own logic in the matter.

I tell you this because some who read what I wrote saw it as the voice
of anger, despair, the poor child who did not get the answer she was
expcting. At first I was angry alright, but with them for viewing the
most exhilerating thing in my life as the act of a selfish child who did
not get what they wanted. After some thought, I realized, why would I
expect them to see it any other way?

Red .. you expecting them to see it your way, is like them expecting you
to see it their way.

It isnt going to happen.

But then letting it be is no better.

A British Buddhist musician called Faithless wrote "Inaction is a weapon
of mass destruction"

So, do you do something or nothing?

Both are right, and both are wrong.

Depends on your point of view, and whether you are able to question your
environment.

Bel, I posted a reply to your 'happy clapper' thread that I think fits
here too. I do, DO something. I fight to keep religion out of
politics. I discuss with those who believe and offer several opposing
beliefs and I supply historical, not Biblical, information whenever I
have a willing participant. If any single small seed of doubt gets
planted along the way, if any single person begins to 'read' for
themselves, it may mean they will begin to 'think' for themselves. In
the event that they do not, in the event that they continue on their
current path, at least I feel we have met on common ground, and perhaps
that person will have some bit of respect for the political plight of a
'friend' they once had a discussion with. In that case, when the next
pole is taken, perhaps, there will be one more vote on the side of fair
and equitable laws for all, regardless of religious beliefs.

Being an athiest is just another form of belief and belief like beauty
is in the eye of the beholder. If I had my way, we would counter the
"teachings" of religion with the use of logic and philisophy in the
public school, beginning with kindergarden. Since we cannot have that,
yet, than it is for us all to accept that the hand of friendship and
brotherhood with the same consideration with which it is extended. So I
extend my hand in these matters, whenever, wherever I can.

I am this universe, and so are you.

How did I decide?

I didn’t decide.

I am that I am.