Religion???

[kevinbass4]

Are you religious or not? If you are talk about it with others. What do you believe? What religion do you place yourself in? You shouldn't be ashamed to talk about you religion!

 

 

I consider myself a christian. I am a southern baptist. I have been going to church all my life, and consider myself to be "saved". As much as i like star wars it's not as important as this.

 

Please post your comments here!!! Thanks!

[Kurgan]

Practicing Roman Catholic.

 

I'm very interested in my own faith as well as religion in general, it's what I majored in in college (and what I hope to study in graduate school). Of course there's far more to learn, I'm sure I'll spend my lifetime learning!

 

Maybe to some people Star Wars (or any fandom) is like a religion. Obviously for me it isn't, it's just fun entertainment (though with some of the debates you might get the wrong idea, heh).

[Doomie]

I'm an atheist, though not really 100 % I don't believe in any of the existing religions, but I grew up with the idea that there is a God of some sort.

 

The reason I don't follow any existing religions is that they all say they are right. they can't all be right, and untill I know wich one is truly right, I won't believe...

[kevinbass4]

you don't have to place yourself into a certain category to be have fathall you have to do ABC

A. admit there is a God and that ur a sinner

B. Believe in him

C. confess to him, all of ur sins

 

now most religions follow that, its only the specifics on eveything is why there are separate groups of religion.

[jedispy]

a. yes

b. yes

c. yes

[The Hidden One]

Roman Catholic since I was born, and will be in the future.

[Darth Andrew]

I also am Roman Catholic, and proud of it.

[El Sitherino]

I worship the bottle... and Jed (Niner is his prophet).

[Shok_Tinoktin]

I'm not religious. Very spiritual, but not religious.

[jedispy]

Well come what may, to Darth Andrew, The Hidden One, & Kurgan, HE IS RISEN.

 

I'm not Catholic myself. I do not hold to any specific denomination of Christianity. I'm not a big fan of organized religion. Not that there's anything wrong with it. For me, it goes a step deeper than just wearing a membership badge, or seperating myself as a part of we vs. them. I respect other religions, even if I disagree with them.

[Sabretooth]

Atheist - I believe in my own God. Philosophical, am I not?

[Shok_Tinoktin]

Originally posted by Sabretooth

Atheist - I believe in my own God. Philosophical, am I not?

 

I don't understand, do you believe in God or not?

[El Sitherino]

Believes in a god which is no god? <_<

[Sabretooth]

Originally posted by Shok_Tinoktin

I don't understand, do you believe in God or not?

 

Halfway. Each one of us is a human. There is no sin, no nothing. What we do, is upto us. We are Gods. When we pray, when we repent, we pray or repent to ourselves, not to any almighty being. And yet, we must believe in that one God that resides in every mind, for the sake of it.

 

You may not get it, BTW.

 

Originally posted by InsaneSith

Believes in a god which is no god? <_<

 

Something of the sort.

[ET Warrior]

Agnostic Christian.

 

Yeah, figure that one out

[El Sitherino]

Originally posted by ET Warrior

Agnostic Christian.

 

Yeah, figure that one out

You're agnostic but you go to church so you can get lovin' from your girlfriend.

[Shok_Tinoktin]

Originally posted by Sabretooth

You may not get it, BTW.

 

I think I do. I just misinterpreted what you said the first time. Originally when you said your own God, I thought that meant one that is external but not accepted by any religion, which didn't seem to coincide with being atheist. What I think you mean now is somewhat along the lines of what I believe.

[Vikinor]

I am Roman Catholic. Mostly because of my mom and her side of the family. I have had my doubts about God however and little mental questions about "What if my religion is wrong?" Going to church changes those questions though. I have gotten all the sacrements from Baptism up to Confirmation, which I will be getting confirmed next year.

[jedispy]

VikingLarz, that's cool.

 

Without sounding too preachy, my only advice to you would be to not put your faith in an organization (denomination). It's called Christianity, not Churchianity. It's normal to doubt and question the finite.

 

Peace

[Mythos]

Originally posted by ET Warrior

Agnostic Christian.

 

Yeah, figure that one out

 

You guess, there is no god but go to church in case you are wrong?

 

My religion? Jedi of course.

Althrough I'm thinking about converting to worship the Asgardian Pantheon.

No, I don't really know, what I'm really believing.

 

About the questions:

A. admit there is a God and that ur a sinner

B. Believe in him

C. confess to him, all of ur sins

 

-A: Somehow and No

-B: Yes

-C: Yes

I don't really feel, that this answers my question, what I am believing in. But it probably sais, I'm no christian.

 

Questions to really define your belief could be:

 

 

1. Do you believe, that there is some kind of divine power, something that is not bound to the basic rules of the universe?

2. Do you think, this devine has an own will?

3. Do you think, this divine is sentinent?

4. If 2 or 3 was positive: Do you think, there are several of such entities?

5. Do you thing this divine power/entity(-ies) are: omnipotent?

6. ...omniscient

 

So, this was the basics. "Defining god" The advanced questions:

 

7. Do you think this divine created the universe?

8. Do you think, it created you (intentionally)?

9. Does this faith demand any moral values?

10. Or does it demand any rituals?

 

Optional stuff. This can get extended as much as you can think of:

 

11: Do you believe in an afterlife?

12: Do you think that your belief effects your position in this afterlife?

[Shok_Tinoktin]

1. Yes

2. Not really

3. Yeah

4. Not exactly

5. Yes

6. Yes

7. Yes, but not limited to yes

8. Sort of

9. No

10. No

11. Yes

12. No

[kevinbass4]

I do believe that there is a one God that created the universe and everything in it, He created each and everyone of us in his own immage. About the rituals, to forgive sin there must be a blood sacrifice. Back in the old days people had to sacrifice pure animals to forgive sin, but God sent his only Son (Jesus) who was crusified, which was our eternal sacrafice. Now what is God, that is not a simple answer and personally I don't think that our human minds can even come close to imagin what he is really like. But what I do know is that God is love, he loves us and wants us to be with him.

 

Now the hard qustion.

Heaven, what gets us there?

You can't get to heaven by only being "nice", you have to believe in God and admit your a sinner. Now the reason we want to get more people to believe the way we do is because, do you really want the ones you love to end up in a place that is so horrible so terrible forever? (hell)

 

Whats our purpose in life?

Easily answered to know God and make him known.

 

Sin?

the definiton of sin is disobediance aginst God, sin is sin. No matter if its murder or lying. Even though we have a "scale on what's worse God doesn't". There is not sin greater that the other, because God can't be around sin so no matter what u have done your still apart from God. You can always be forgiven for any sin

 

The devil?

I believe the devil exists and puts doubt, temptation, and sin into out lives. I don't think he can control our actions just influence them. In the bible it says that lucifer (the devil) was an angel that turned bad because of his greed to be like God.

 

Hell? What did I do to end up here?

Nothing, exactly nothing. None of Gods commandments. Religion is simple in my oponion, I just think people make too big of a deal out of whose right and wrong. Thats not what God is about, He's about love, compassion, and forgiveness.

 

God loves us no matter what we do, he will never turn his back on us now thats one of the only things we can rely on.

 

I hope I've answered some of your qustions. If you have another and want to talk privatly don't hesitate to e-mail me. My e-mail is kevinbass4@yahoo.com

(I don't have all the answers you may be looking for but I may be able to help you)

[jedispy]

1. Yes.

2. Yes

3. Yes

4. 1 God, other supernatural beings that are non-deity.

5. God: Yes. Non-deities: No

6. God: Yes. Non-deities: No.

***6.5. Omnipresent? God: Yes. Non-deities: No

7. God: Yes. Non-deities: No.

8. God: Yes. Non-deities: No.

9. Somewhat, but not necessarily

10. Not necessarily

11: Yes

12: Yes

 

Well put kevinbass4. Defining God isn't an easy answer. Of course neither is defining sin. According to what I believe (that means others can take it or leave it) sin isn't just something you do. Yes, one can sin (verb implying action), and one can live in sin (noun representing a thing/idea). There is a difference. So often I get people asking me "so if I smoke or sex is up with a hooker, I'm going to go to Hell?" My response is that it's not as simple as that. Likewise I hear people say "I'm a good person. I go to church all the time and I'm nice to people." That's nice and all, but it's not as simple as that.

 

I do believe in sin. It's more than merely skipping church. It's more than merely drinking too much, or hating someone. Yes it includes these things, but it encompasses so much more. The end result is an eternal punishment.

 

I do believe in a heavenly afterlife. It is yet another thing that is hard to define. (Perhaps that's because no mortal has ever come back from there.)

 

I believe that all people are sinners. I would be one of the first to stand up and point out my own flaws and sins. I'm about as far from perfect as you can get. I have no reason to hide it. I also believe that there is nothing anyone, even myself, can do to deserve Heaven. Something else is needed.

 

Back in the old days people had to sacrifice pure animals...

Well put. Original Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism. In fact, the first century church often met in synagogues and the Jerusalem Temple (before its destruction in 70 AD). All of the Apostles were Jews (the original 12, Matthias who replaced Judas Iscariot, and then Paul made 13 total) Jesus Himself always told people to observe the Jewish customs before the crucifixion. As a believer, I'm proud to say the heritage of all Christians belongs to Judaism.

[PhireStorm]

I'm a Jehovah Witness, being only 15, i still have yet to reach baptism.

[Mythos]

Jehovah Witnesses? Didn't they annunciate the Apocalypse 5 times till today - and were always wrong?

 

Sin: I don't confess to be a sinner. I do some thinks, that sould be a sin after the bible: Sometime I missuse (word?) god's name ("Oh my god." and such). I love to eat. I am proud. I had and plan to have sex without marriage.

But I don't feel guilty for it.

There are thinks I feel guilty for, I lied a few times, was mean to other people some times. However, 1st: This was years ago, I was a kid, I could not know it better. 2nd: Other then catholics, I have no man who forgives me.

 

I life striktly after the categorical imperative, because I know, this is the right thing to do. And this is what sin, as a moral concept should be, not as a theological: Disobeying conscience, doing thinks you wouldn't want other do to you and such thinks

 

And if there is an all-loving god, he should value this, not wheather I eat fish or meat on fridays.

 

 

But this is not the real problem I have with Christianity.

In fact, I will not worship a god with such a questionable moral. Hard words but please read what I mean with it:

 

God created us. He knew what we will do. Some christians even say that we don't even have a free will and god did not only know what we will do, he even forces us to do that, by the way, he created us.

 

And than god declares thinks as sin, knowing, that human will not be able to follow this rules. If he wanted us to follow his rules, he could have given us the ability to do so. But I am not finished.

 

Than he comes to earth as jesus and get's "sacrificed". I don't think, you can tell this a sacrifice. This word means, that you lessen yourself in some way. Give something up/away. Second, this "sacrifice" was necesary in no way.

 

If god wanted to save our souls, so we can go to heaven, than he should either design us better or change his definition of "sin". Why didn't he?

 

Because god wants us to worship him and enforces that in two ways:

1st: Lordship by fear: "Praise me or go to hell". This is a message I read a lot. I kinder words, but basicly that's it.

2nd: Lordship by compunction: "You owe me something because I sacriviced my son for you." sais god but he does not say that this was no real sacrifice nor was it necessary.

 

I think this behaviour is below my own moral code, so I will not praise him. If he punishes my with hell for this, it proofs my right.

 

Hey, the limbo is not that bad.