Religion and Faith

I've been spoonfed being a Catholic all of my years and haven't had any doubts mainly because how my life has turned out and how even though shit has happened nothing detramental has happened , well actuallly I have but "Ive got a couple problems, but who doont" Shwayze--that being said religion has brought me to what I am today for the most part, but thats what a catholic grade school/high school will do to you

You are a very thoughtful individual, thank you for not being such a hater and being so genuine.

I think it has a lot to do with having something to believe in, rather than nothing. Ancient religions were based on ways to explain weather, crops, seasons, etc. They were mostly accepted because there was no real alternative.

More modern religions, despite some differences (mainly based on one god, more written records, etc.) seem to me to center on a similar premise. In the absence of a real concrete way to explain the great questions in life - why are we here, where are we going - people like to cling to the certainty of a religion.

Only when religion is integrated into culture and becomes popular like any fad, (I'm sure anyone on NS is familiar with this) conflicts begin to occur. So, in response to one of your questions, I think most people are aware of the fact that most of what they believe is only substantiated by 2,000 year old books (sorry, I respect people who are religious but I'm not really). But there isn't much better out there for some people.  
Good questions, sorry it got pretty long.

fuck religion but faith is a good thing.

if youre scared.. go to church  yeeah

wow

THE MORMONS... THE MORMONS WERE THE CORRECT ANSWER I BELIVE hah

you may think i'm an idiot but prove me wrong.

i am a christian, i never grew up in a religious family and my family pretty much dont understand why jesus is so important to my life.

i came to god about 6 years ago when i was about 20 for somebackground info so my beliefs are not due to some kiddy fairy tale.


religion as a man made thing can cause horrible things, people who think they are holy or is held in a higher esteem then others in the eye of god is what causes wars and heat ache for example the Pharisees in the time of jesus thought because they were so holy they had the power to create religious law, god did not create these things man did thinking they were doing right by god.

people seem to feel that all Christians read anything in the bible and think that's still relevent today but the plagues and Noah and Abraham and the sacrifices are no longer relevent. to get all bible like on you, jesus was a new covenent from god and now way that sins are forgiven through jesus and thats the only way.

as a organisation religion can work as long as the leaders of said religion does not become more important then the message itself i have seen this in a few churches that the pastor becomethe centre so i left. man has a way of turning everything into something about himself. we are not here to boost our own egos we are here to better ourselves in the name of god.

the whole thing about following one person with a message, i cant really answer that but jesus dying on the cross for you and me and everyone else, god sent hs son to us to show us how much love he has for us and thats why i follow the teachings of one man i guess.

but i read alot of hate towards religion and faith sometmes in the world, and my advice to everyone is just have a look into it open your heart just a little, if you dont like it then thats cool but dont rip on shit you dont understand

hopefully that made sense.

THIS IS MY VIEW ON THINGS, PLEASE DONT TAKE IT PERSONALLY.

READ WITH CAUTION!

Now, I was grown up In a Christian/Catholic family, went to church as a kid, but like any kid didn't really want to be there, or never thought about it, I just went.

Then About three years ago now I went to a church camp, which I wasn't told it was a bible camp or anything, i thought it was just riding bikes rock climbing and playing ball. But no. At this place I was told about the story of Jesus and all the good that goes along with him, it reminds me so much of card stacking what they told me, but that's beside the point.

I had a faith at that camp I cannot deny, but I never thought about why we need this faith.

I think that people need faith because they are scared of the unknown, and it was the unknown that showed me the truth. i have nothing wrong with religions, as long as they dont interfere with others.

I believed in something, which brought me warmth. I had faith that in death would be a new light, not an eternety of dreamless sleep. This is my perception of death, which is a scary thought to anyone who truely come to think of it. I love being able to feel think touch see, every we do. I never want it to go, but this realization I have come upon has made me want to live my life doing what I want to do. Becuase there is no after.

here is a quote I must give to you all from Childhoods end.

"A smart man does not fear the inevetable" (excuse my spelling)

I took from this to not fear death, but take it as something good. Religion then made sense to me.

The people who created these religions wanted people to have the same fulfilling lives they were having but without the fear and knoledge of death. which makes perfect sense to anyone sane, why wouldn't you want to live with all the greatest joys of life, without the fear? the commandments in my pov were set to make it so you could live the same fulfilling life but with a set of quidelines for say.

This unknown that showd me what I see as real was space.

What does the bible say about it? from what I've seen not too much other then string theory haha,
but it doesn't make sense that if something from out in farther than we can imagine would come to our planet in such an early time and not make it clear what was our path? Why not show an earlier version on like bible1.1?

I brood on these thoughts everyday, and then decide what I really want to do with my life, and I life it a day at a time, if shit happens I let it pass by becuase each waking moment I'm a step closer to death.

When I was christian I would live with all this guilt, cause I was so used to a life that was 'sinful'
my siblings didn't really help this by picking on me for being the only one giong to church, but meh, they see their mistake now but I'm glad they did it.

I could go on for long time about this, and I plan on writing a very extensive apper about this sometime soon.

I know there's some parts I left out in there and I think I'll edit it soon for you guys If you would like, thanks for taking the time to read that, means a lot to me knowing I'm not the only one on my track of mind

I hope i can see other ideas in here to broaden my spectrum of thought, thanks ns

i think if you think about whats truly right for you, you will realize helping others and improving the world someway is the way to go, and with that knowledge you really wont fear the inevitable. sorry bout the short post, ill elaborate later if i feel like it.

south park BAM  just did hah

much respect dude thank you

Smart!

bummer i feel like i wrote a lot for nothin :(

i know someone with the last name Fleckenstein!

I read your whole post, don't feel bad lol

i dont like the idea of me not being in control of my life, or the idea that everything i do in this world is just one big test.  i chose to believe, that yes, there may be a higher power and if there is one, he is just there to make sure the world doesnt implode, kinda like what the titan Atlas did for the Greek gods.  i also like to believe, that after you die, everyone goes to their OWN verzion of an afterlife.  cause to be honest, sitting in clouds with all your dead loved ones, sounds kinda boring.  for me, i hope that means, fresh powder forever, couple of my really good friends will be there if they died before me or show up after me, all the Guinness one could ask for, and a couple other people here and there.

in reading your post i thought you wre saying you were a christian, but then you say "When I was christian" like you used to be.... do you mean you were or did you mean when i "wasnt"??? maby i missed something but now im super confused....

Im radical follower of procrastination and im not proud of it

:(

*While im posting this i have an universitary exam, or test, whatever you call it, in less than 24hours and i still need to sleep + learn over 200 pages, and i find this OK .....

Damn you newschoolers.com !

but you are god...

hahah i hope you do okay

/rant..

sick thread tho. creative thought+ideas

I was brought up in a christian household, but its actually a completely different story for me.

I've never been able to bring myself to believe in a higher power or existence. Sure I would like to believe that something out there has created us, but there are factors that constantly led me to the same question: Why?

If God created such a world, why would there be so much of this 'sin' and why could he just have not made Eve not eat from the forbidden tree? I mean, for someone so glorious and righteous, doesn't he get that he caused everything that is both good and evil? And at the root, how can we believe that he stands for justice when he is equally created pain?

My girlfriend is an extremely devoted christian, and I respect her to the fullest, but I just find everything so faulty.

For history last year I read "A World Lit Only By Fire" by William Manchester, and it really further diverged me from any idea of not only organized religion, but the simple idea of faith. I know that you have all spoken out against organized religion, and I completely agree. Catholicism first of all was a way for upper middle class and higher class citizens to make a pretty penny. The whole idea of Martin Luther posting his Theses on the door of the church criticizing  the ways of the Church only led to further organization of a sub-categorized religion. People back then began searching for something to lean on because of rough times. Plagues, wars, and other crises led to the rise of organized religion, and from that point it has grown ever since.

After all of the blurred reasoning for 'faith,' I cannot bring myself to believe in anything of a higher existence. I feel that people change their life and RISK living a different lifestyle because they invest so much in something they actually know so little of. I mean, I know people study the history of the bible and find evidence which makes them believe, but there is no physical proof that God is staring down upon us.

I don't judge any of you for your reasons on believing, I am just here to say that I cannot bring myself to believe in something that I cannot see.

I completely respect all of that and I am a devout Catholic, but I have been crammed with all this information and I cannot see it any other way. Although I have researched evolution, and it seems very legitamet I cannot bring myself to believe in it because of my strong faith and God is just a big part in my daily life.

Disclaimer: This is a fairly heavy on the god talk, i am not trying to convert anyone just giving my opinion and thoughts, if you dont like them im sorry.

god created this world and everyhing in it with the power to make choices, if there is no choice and eve was progamed not to eat the fruit there really would be no point to this world.

the story of adam and eve is a fable to show that god created us with the power of choice, between following gods path or to sin (which in definition is to take away from god) people cannot deny evolution and the big bang becasue its fact, but god is the desighner of it all, he created this world and everything in it, evolution was his plan and the idea that the world was created in seven days was a idea created by man.

but back to the choice thing, when i was first understanding my christianity i was given a book by c s lewis (the guy that wrote Narnia) called mere cristianity and the first chapter talks about moral law, the idea is that if two people grew up on seprate islands not having contact with anyone they still would have the same moral structure as each other for example ownership, violence, murder, love and all those other wonderful morals that are the basis for any society, that was gods desighn for us our blueprint, however we have the choice to turn away from that moral code and decide things for our selves, this takes away from god, and through that people like hitler or stalin can come into power.

If we didnt have that choice what would the point of life be, god dosnt want robots, he loves us enough to allow us to fall away from him, and then forgive us when we repent and come back to him.
if there wasnt the ability to choose then the earth would be obselete and everyone would be chilling in heaven then ever existing in this world.

I was(in the past) called myself a Christian.

I later on(now) am Atheist and have my own views.

You should also read what you just typed (the above) and how it contradicts itself.

Hopefully that's clear.

I believe in God.
I believe in the Son of God.
I believe in life after death (on earth).
I believe in Heaven.
I don't believe in 72 virgins.

damn. That's about the only thing I believe in.