posted 05-26-104 12:16 PM            

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Well im christian and i was just wondering what you peoples thought on the whole process of religion cuz im interested in other types of well religions... so if you have any thoughts, id like to hear them if your willing to share!

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****Happy Thoughts Always***
Jesus Loves the outcasts
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And as long as theres a heaven
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-reliant k

posted 07-12-104 08:38 PM            

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Hey i was brought up a christian... i went to a christian school for 8 years and got to a public high school. and i kno my life has changed so much from being in christian school and now.
peace

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Liz Dube

posted 07-12-104 09:15 PM            

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I'm agnostic because religion doesn't make much sense to me. We search and we search. How do we know which one is real? We choose the one that fits our livestyle best, the one that we can work with. But aren't we supposed to choose the "RIGHT" religion, whether we like it or not, because then we will be accepted to whatever or whoever is steering the universe? But then how do we know which one is right? What if we choose the wrong one? Then we're screwed for all of eternity? What's the point in searching then? Why don't we just live? Because people need something to hold onto, something to believe in, something to look forward to. Which brings me back to which one do we choose? Whichever one makes us feel nice inside? Oh god whatever. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?!?!? Hahaha. Got me all worked up!

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Peace and much love.

posted 07-13-104 04:50 PM            

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antipatheticworld
even tho i am a christian i understand yur problem like: what if there is no right religon or w/e. well i think that if a human doesnt know what to do about religon whats so wrong with just living yur life to the best it can be, try to be a good person, dont hurt others...u know what i mean so i wont go on but i think u wouldnt be screwed for all eternity if u weer a good person
well hope that helps
namaste

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Liz Dube

posted 07-14-104 02:56 PM            

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Yeah, I think a lot of people feel that way or something, I do my best to be a good person, but sometimes I wish I had a religion. I was raised strict Christian but slowly realized that it seemed like bullshit to me (no offense to you) but just to watch people do things because a book says to, but I really don't know. Thanks for the support.

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Peace and much love.

posted 07-14-104 07:46 PM            

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Hey man i take no offense to this kinda stuff, im wicked open i also have been raised srict christian
you have yur religon....thats a religon lol
just bcoz ur not EVERYONE that worships or even slaves over ONE religon doesnt mean u dont have one. u believe what u belive
for all i kno the ppl who sat down and wrote the bible could have been lunitcs lol but if it turn out to be like that then hey i didnt do anything wrong i just lived my life as cool as i could. nothing with that
namaste

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Liz Dube

posted 08-09-104 10:39 PM            

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i agree dean, i've been going to church every sunday for as long as i can remember. at one point, i was a complete jesus freak. i dunno when or why i realized there was some level of insanity to the church in my own eyes ( not to offend anyone ), but at some point, it's become too much, when the church can tell you what is right, and what is wrong, with no sense of an inbetween. at times, my church reminded me of the government... another evil, i won't go there just yet, lol. i must agree with you on the fanatic point. i have an issue with people who 'know' that what they believe is right, and try to tell every other person they meet that they are wrong. the entire problem with people who are gay probably arises from one insignificant bit of wording in the bible, that could have come out of transcribing. even the most devoted of jesus freaks could tell you that the bible was not written by god, it was written by men, and thus subject to being incorrect. don't follow the words of old prophets blindly, accept that there are 'rules' or a lack of some, outside of the blinders they have put on their eyes (interesting, i just noticed that the bible says somewhere to take the blinders from your eyes to see the truth of god (or something to that effect)). There is a whole world out there, and by following your beliefs blindly, without being open-minded to change, you are hindering your own spiritual growth and enlightenment. let me know if you agree/disagree. i enjoy the thought processes. peace, love, & brotherhood.

ps. my comment on open-mindedness ties in to another post i just made, if ur interested, u may want to check that out. namaste

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"At this time in history we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt." - Oraibi, Arizona -- Hopi Nation
Dead, did I say? There is no death, only a change of worlds. - Chief Seattle
~Phoenix

posted 08-10-104 11:34 AM            

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I have been struggling with religion for a little more than a year now. I was raised Roman Catholic. I went to church every Sunday, and I was even an altar server for more than four years! However, I began to see the downfalls in not just my religion, but religions in general. They really just segregate humans way too much, and are the basis for so much ignorance, hate, and war. It is beautiful to believe in something; to know you will go to somewhere wondeful after this, but is that all religion is? Is it simply a shelter from our fears of the unknown? These were the questions that started consuming me every time I went to church, which is why I stopped going. My parents were dissapointed, but I realized I cant live for everyone, even though I did feel incredibly guilty. I've just come to the conclusion that for now I dont know what is after this world, and there is nothing I can do but live a full life right now- I cant worry about after. I dont have a strong belief in God anymore, which is scary, but maybe this is how you feel when you take away the comfort of religion.

I think that in life, it is our job to find out what our OWN morals are. We are all different. Obviously there are certain rules in society that we all must follow (ie lawa against murder, theft, etc.) But ontop of those we must find the morals that fit in out own lives; they will be different for every person. So weather you believe in the bible or don’t, or weather you believe in God or the inexistence of God, it really doesn’t matter- at the end of the day you still have to figure out for your own self what your own moral guidelines are. You cant just follow a book, weather it’s a book of a certain religion, or of atheism- neither of them has the ability to alone tell you the way to live. That only comes from within ourselves and our experiences.

posted 08-10-104 01:08 PM            

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I was baptized as a Catholic, but I don't practice Catholicism and I don't intend to. I don't believe in God, as I am an evolutionist.

If the many segments of different religions are supposed to be considered "correct," how can they all exist? As far as being a Catholic, the story of Adam and Eve simply suggests that we're products of incest, thus contradicting, "what we're brought up to be against." In my mind, these different "beliefs" are merely myths that have no meaning.

However, the dictionary defines religion as a set of beliefs based on spiritual leaders. In that case, here's my religion:

Set of beliefs: Music
Spiritual leaders: Musicians

=)

[This message has been edited by Peggy Sue (edited 08-10-104).]

posted 08-12-104 02:01 PM            

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sunshine, i went through a similar situation as you are going through now, but it was when i was already a catholic, attending mass regularly, and i started noticing that in almost all of the scriptures, there was a moral or something that tied into the 'fact' that if you don't love god with all your heart, you're going to hell. this really turned me away from organized religion, and i started looking at other religions. if every religion tells you that unless you believe in their god, and do everything that (s)he says you're going to hell, then there are going to be a hell of a lot of people going to hell, just for not being one particular religion. i have decided that there's no way to tell witch religion is 'right' (if any). i figured i had to find out about the spiritual world, and turned inside, to myself, my soul, the only spiritual being that i know 100% exists. through meditation and discussions with other people, i have come to my own conclusion about the afterlife. my soul exists separately from my body, though connected to the material world through it. when my body dies, it will no longer be connected to the material world, and will find somewhere else, whether heaven or hell. one of my favorite quotes (in my signature), and a similar one, state that "death is not the end, but only a transition." this is my view on death, and i don't fear a change such as this, i just don't want to leave here now, with all i want to do. all religions push the idea of moral goodness in god's eyes. pick a religion, or don't, just live your life as best you can, and keep your own morals in check. maybe you can find your own answers through meditation, as i have.

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"At this time in history we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt." - Oraibi, Arizona -- Hopi Nation
Dead, did I say? There is no death, only a change of worlds. - Chief Seattle
~Phoenix

posted 08-15-104 01:58 PM         

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I think you'll find me to be anti-religious. I'm not into hell or anythink like that either. I was raised allowed to beilive in what I want. My father never talks about religion except to make dirty jokes about preists and my mother was christian but raised my sister and I to believe in evolution.

Here's how I see it. God is a crutch something for people to lean on to get them through the day. Something to justify the way they hate or preach to others. Trying to find unity. It's a reason to start war. I find this very interesting that holy means basically all good and the holy war was not good. I think the bible or any religious text is a childrens storybook for adults. They speak of crusades and great fantastic adventures that could never have happened.

I think no God could creat earth but I do like to believe in the Big Bang theory where all the mater in the universe exploded expanding on and on endlessly. The earth and all planet and stars were created by gravity that balled them up into something.

If I had to choose buddism is the only religion I belive that made sense. As I always say if there is a God and the bible wasn't just a story that show me the arch of the covanen show me the holy grail and may God being the ass hole that he is strike the life from my body.

And until this day no one ever has.

Peace to all don't hate me for I am not the anti-christ but more a non believer.

posted 10-06-104 06:43 PM           

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The very essence of god exists only in a transcendental state, god is not a person but a state of mind, reached through meditation or hallucinigenics, his presence is an altered state in which unity is achieved, some of the greatest music ever written was achieved in this state. Love is the supreme being.

Amor Vincit Omnia

Feel Free to Crtique in anyway

posted 11-11-104 06:47 PM           

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Ahhh. The old "what do you think about religion" question. It's a very hard question to answer. I have been through many hard things in my life and it's hard for me to believe that there is a god. We've never seen it, or heard from him. He is omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent, yet nothing on this Earth of ours acts in such a way. It's like believing in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. It's hard to believe that there is some kind of mystical creature that just watches over us and lets all this bad stuff happen. Also, there are so many contradictions in the bible it's hard to believe any of it. It has been edited by so many people at different times in history that it is almost a joke. I remember reading a passage in the bible not to long ago that states quite simply that it is okay to possess slaves and if you are a slave that it is your duty to serve your master and that is their passage to heaven. Why would such a god allow for the mistreatment of his creations. To me it's a crock. I don't think it's a bad thing to believe in religion and nor I ever "knock" anyone for believing in it. I think it's important to remember that it's a tool for living a good life. A set of rules for people to live by so we don't go out raping women and killing each other. A reason to live a good ethical life. I think everyone should take it as you want to take it and NEVER let anyone else interpret what it's supposed to mean to you. I think if there was a god that he would be ashamed of the Catholic church. The Catholic church is just as curupt as our government is becoming today. If you don't believe me just look at the whole molestation of little boys with in the church. The pope said nothing. Also look at things it produces such as "Passion of the Christ." Anyone who thinks that is a religious picture needs to g evaluate what religion means and what it should present to its people. That movie was just plain sickening and if anyone has read the book of John you would know that things that weren't even in the bible were added just for theatrics. No one will ever know whether there is a god or not till it's too late. I say stop wondering if there is a god or not and just make sure you treat yourself and others the way you want to be treated. And let no amount of money or possessions ever jeopardize that. Thanks. Peace!

[This message has been edited by mamasharones (edited 11-11-104).]

posted 11-25-104 09:23 PM            

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My two cents, free of charge!

I am now a Pagan, partly Wiccan, with Celtic/Norse influences. I was raised Catholic, spent 8 years in Catholic school, Mass twice a week. Throughout high school I tried various other Christian religions, but it wasn't working out between me and organised religion. Church just creeps me out. And they aren't too hip on asking questions. Then I discovered Wicca, about 14 years ago. I like the duality of the Goddess and the God, the tie with nature. Religion and spirituality are very personal to me, and I don't see why I should have to *speak* to God through a priest or a preacher. You'll find something that feels right to you.