What religion are you?

[dA fUnKy mOnKeY]

I'm a buddhist. Use to be catholic but after my husband died and i was unhappy with the churches reaction ,aka he was burning in hell for having a mental breakdown and commiting suicide, i did some soul searching and looked at many religions. Buddhim just seemed to fit me and my lifestyle.  

[Lita Kuragari]

I'm not sure anymore as I have lost all faith in "God"

but I feel the need to have a religion the more I search and the more I do research the more I lean towards Pagan  

[sunsetsmile]

I am a Christian, and it is not purely an emotional decision to be one. For those who have a logical/scientific mindset, I recommend the book "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist." I believe that you will find it very interesting.

Denominations, on the whole and in my opinion, simply split and, in some cases, twist the teachings of the Bible. I am non-denominational.  

[Kyreie]

I'm an eclectic pagan.  

[SpiritChangling]

looking_for_a_reason

I'm Christian. However I want to continue on to say that I'm not one of those that will try to shove a bible down your throat. I've been a bit curious in the past and learned a little of the wiccan (very very little) and looked into some of the old druid work.

There are times I wonder about christianity or any of the religions for that matter. How did they all REALLY get started? Some kick to help a person out of a tough situation? A king wanted others to worship him? What is the TRUTH...lol sadly this side of me comes out when I stop to THINK. If I just BELIEVE then Jesus died for my sins and I am saved.....

You probably wouldn't find Wicca so odd - a lot of Christianity was based on the old pagan religions. That's why Jesus was born in the spring, but we celebrate his birth on Christmas (which origins are based in pagan religions).

Anyways - I've dabbled a bit in Wicca and I've been to two different Christian based churches. However, I am an Atheist. I'd liked to study more into different religions, but I cannot get into believing in a divine entity.

And your sentance "sadly this side of me comes out when I stop to THINK. If I just BELIEVE then Jesus died for my sins and I am saved...." -

That bothers me, really bothers me. I'm not looking to offend anyone here, but blind belief is scary. I'm not advocating we all become Atheists or abandoned our different religions, but if questions come up we should seek answers. It's said God gives humans free will - we're supposed to question and think for ourselves, and you're just robbing yourself of a great experience if you don't.

It can be scary to step outside of the box, a fear God won't forgive you, but honestly if he is as forgiving as people claim, then he would understand if you explored your curiosity. And who knows, you might find another truth out there or you might find that the religion you know is all that you think it is - at least you'd know.  

[Tess A Tigre]

I do not believe in any formal religion. I do believe in good deeds done well. Raised Southern Baptist and broke away from the church as soon as I could since it seemed to center mainly around money.  

[ShengYing]

Although I love learning about other religions... I am a proud and through and through Christian!!!  

[Lycangoddess]

I am a LaVeyan Satanist. Raised Methodist, and went to catholic school, but none of it ever sat well with me, even in childhood. Played around with Wicca and Buddhism in high school, and even tried agnostic and atheist.

I borrowed a satanic bible from a friend of mine figuring it would satisfy my curiosity. That was several years ago, and I have never regretted the switch.  

[lenoree]

I'm still not quite sure of what I am. I use to be Wiccan, but as I got older I started to believe in God. I don't go to church, and to be completely honest with you, I don't really believe in church. I guess I worship him in my own way. Mostly when I'm not feeling well. I silently pray to him to help me through whatever is happening. Like now, I have dry socket, and I'm in a whole lot of pain. I just keep asking for him to help me through it. And I think he gives me strength. Oh, and I don't read the bible either. I use to, I also use to attend church, but it just wasn't right for me. The bible just seemed like another book to read, and It wasn't interesting to me.  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

Lycangoddess

I am a LaVeyan Satanist. Raised Methodist, and went to catholic school, but none of it ever sat well with me, even in childhood. Played around with Wicca and Buddhism in high school, and even tried agnostic and atheist.

I borrowed a satanic bible from a friend of mine figuring it would satisfy my curiosity. That was several years ago, and I have never regretted the switch.

Mind telling us more about your religion? I think it would help dispel some of the views concerning satanists.  

[TheHellDevil]

I know a LITTLE about LaVeyan Satanism.... The general gist is that you're not really devil-worshipping. Rather, it's more a belief in your own powers as a human and an animal, fulfilling instinctual needs and not harming others unless they do so to you. At least, that's what it seemed like to me. Feel free to correct me or fill in any missing blanks.

As for myself, I don't really have a religion probably because I had a rather diverse religious upbringing. I guess the main theme I see in most well-known religions is a desire to commit morally good actions. Sure, a lot of people distort religious values according to political agendas and personal gain and these distortions end up creating gaps or nonsense over time, but the general intentions of most religions seem pretty clear to me: a kind of hope in humanity and a way of living to cope with problems while causing minimal harm to others.  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

I think you're right about the gist of most religions. Doing well by your fellow human, and hope for humanity.  

[Nightfeare]

Thank you sooo much for this thread. I like to go to the ED, M&R, but some people there are very judgemental. Even though I am in a couple of good conversations. I get the feel of acceptance here a lot more.

As far as I go, I consider myself to be Pagan, even though I have been told that I am not. I really don't have a "religion" exactly, just a bunch of beliefs that I have found to be true. I love to learn about other religions, so I will be reading this thread to see what I can learn.
 

[Battousai-nii]

Firstly, I'd like to join Nightfeare in saying thanks. I never venture into ED there days. I went for a couple minutes today and was dismayed very quickly.

I'm a traditional practicing Catholic. Like most Catholic Trads, I'm not part of a separate church, but I prefer to attend mass in Latin with Gregorian chant.

If you're curious, here's a youtube video of the abbey church I attend much of the time.

I submit that many of us are very ignorant of other religions and often even our own.

dA fUnKy mOnKeY: Whoever told you that was totally full of it. Please know that are just some bad Catholics the way there are bad doctors.

St. John Chrysostom said: “The road to hell is paved with the skulls of erring priests, with bishops as their sign posts."

I am sorry for your loss and have just said a prayer for your husband.

Mortal sin requires three things:
1) Its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter;
2) It must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense (though nobody is deemed to be ignorant of the moral law, embedded into the consciences of every human being);
3) It must be committed with deliberate and complete consent, enough for it to have been a personal decision to commit the sin.

Someone with clinical depression or any kind of severe nervous breakdown doesn't fit #3.

So no real Catholic would ever say such a thing to you. God bless  

[Veddhartha]

A pagan of sort. I try not to gategorize too much. I base my believes and way to see life to shamanic, old Scandinavian religion. At some point of my life I just realised I've been living and breathing it whole my life. I'm still booked to Christian church, for the supporting general good they do to help other people. The taxes I pay to church are so small that it won't affect my life but it might help someone else.

I trust on world itself and things that can't be seen with eyes.