What religon are you?

Originally posted by Scat
No religion!

Whoooo!

M eand God dont use formalities, we chill at Barnes and Noble together and both enjoy Einsteins Bagels.

Several people have called me blasphemous for saying things like that, but Im being dead serious. If people can wear "Jesus is my Homeboy" shirts, i can be pals with my god.

Haha, *applause* That's a great post

Is anyone in here Cao Dai? A friend of mine is and I was wondering if anyone else was familiar with it.

I'm in the mix somewhere, but I prefer to follow my own path rather than one that has already been laid out as someone else's. I believe none of the religions that exist today are 100% perfect, and I would not be able to say that I truly belong to just one's ideology.

I was born a Roman Catholic, but refused to get confirmed and left because I thought it would be hypocritical of me to willfully belong to a religion that I almost entriely did not believe in.

Today, after years of searching, and a major in philosophy of religion, I would classify myself as a Zenist Wiccan, but with several notes added on:

I do not believe in a heaven or hell.

I do not believe in a single god, but instead that all life is at some level god (kinda like the force or Gaia)

I believe that life has always existed, simple as that, there is no begining and no end. I believe that life on earth came from another planet in the form of single celled organisms that traveled on an asteroid or comet that hit earth billions of years ago and life evolved from those single cells into what we have today.

I believe that for a human mind to fully comprehend what goes on with life and the universe and base morality, they need a fully open mind, and comprehension of the old Socratic idea that we know nothing.

I believe in magik, I have witnessed and taken part in its use. I believe that it is a tool, and as such morally neutral. It can be used for good or evil like any other tool.

I believe that the powers that be are distant, not taking part in the day to day lives of humans by aswering petty wants and desires, but instead directing the path of life itself, including humans.

I also believe though that one can bring the attention of the powers to oneself through things like prayer or magik, especially when they are for truly good intentions.

I believe that we all have innate energy or mana that allows us to do that which we currently think to be beyond mere humans.

Well I don't know quite what that makes me, a little bit of a lot of religions I guess. But I believe it, through my experences, meditations and interactions it's been formed.

Blessed Be
~Astral

Originally posted by The Astral City

I was born a Roman Catholic, but refused to get confirmed and left because I thought it would be hypocritical of me to willfully belong to a religion that I almost entriely did not believe in.

I know how you feel, I was raised Catholic and am supposed to be ocnfirmed next year. Its saddening to have to convince my own parents to let me go my own way.

I'm a christian, saved when I was 7 or 8, but didn't live like it until I was 30. I am a member and on the deacon board and missions committee at my church, an evangelical free church in wisconsin. I believe man is seperated from God by his sin and Jesus Christ came to bring us back to God. I believe and accept the completed work of Jesus as payment for my sin and am now restored to a relationship with God. Following Christ is a way of life.

What makes a person "saved"?

"Saved" usually means brought back to Christ, in a Christian context. The term saved is used by American churches (normally fundamentalist or protestant) to denote someone who had "strayed from the flock" and was "saved" from satan by the grace of god.

The term comes from the longer saying "saved your soul"

Honestly, I believe that the term saved has been flaunted a bit as of late, say you converted or joined. I do not think that those of another religion need "saving" just those who are deeply immoral. In that sense then you could say that people have been saved who are pagans, or atheists even, because they have stopped doing evil things.

Sorry for the rant there, I just find it kind of pretentious that a religion would flaunt their idea that they are the only way to salvation, even though Catholic Christians are not supposed to believe that (Vatican II)

I believe if you are moral, just, open mind and you learn the lessions or complete the task you have been born for then yours is the next phase of reality. One of my favorite quotes from a Zen master: "Those who fail life are doomed to repeat it."

Blessed Be
~Astral

Nice

I was scared you would throw out the good old "I love Jesus, if you dont youre going to hell" garbage I always get. I like your interpretation. it sticks with your beliefs and religion but more open to other ideas. If I could, I would shake your hand.

I was raised a Christain, Lutheran to be exact - just a ritual away from Catholic, then I went on my own adventure. I tried various Christian denominations first, Methodist, Baptist, Pentacostal, Non-demoninational. Then I tried Zen for a while, then Witchcraft (that lasted a while), then finally - landed where I am now and am truely convinced:

I am a Deist.

badkitty- ever heard of Cao Daism?

Gnostic christian/buddhism.

The best advice I can give is to just take a few years off from your religion. Don't label yourself anything untill you have studied them all. Read into everything (yes everything, satanism too ) and listen to your heart. Go with what feels right to YOU. All paths lead to God, some just take longer than others (same may take more than one lifetime - this is often the case) but if you honestly feel that it is the right one for you then do it.

Above all don't be afraid of a certain religion/practice because they practice magic or the development of psychic abilities. When the bible or someone says that whoever practices said methods is possessed or is working with the devil don't take it so literally. There is another meaning that is implied there.

The answers are out there. Just look and learn as much as you can and you will come to the conclusion that is best for you at your current stage of development. Whether it's atheism, christianity, wicca, whatever its all right.

Just remember...

We are all on a journey, and even though we don't all follow the same path we all arrive at the same destination.

[edit on 28-6-2004 by dusran]

I am a Jedi. No, I'm not a nerd bent on Star Wars trying to mimc Obi-Wan Kenobi. I follow the maxims laid out by www.jediism.org, and had followed them for several years before finding them on that website.

I was raised by athiests, I myself don't have a religion nor do I believe in God.

i was raised to believe there is a god, i just dont pray to a specific one. i just call him god. now what does that make me?

Saved means I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I believe by faith in His death on the cross as payment for my sins against God. My sins were transferred to Him and He took the wrath of God while on the cross on my behalf so I would never have to. He rose again as proof that God has accepted His sacrifice and I am now justified(Just as if I had never sinned). I can have a relationship with God now and for all eternity.

No religion, no God upstairs.

You may call me an atheist

Religion should be a way of life not a label. When you label something you are trying to define it, acknowledge your understanding of it. But how can you define something that we truly don't understand? I just try to live. I daydream a lot about God. I think about the vastness of this universe and I am just overwhelmed.

I try not to question my purpose for being here on earth. I think that this is a very draining place we live in. So many people misguided searching, blaming, hating and labeling others. Trying to control their own domain and imposing their beliefs and structures. We get all caught we start to lose sight about our way of life.

I find it very had to be spiritual when working two jobs and all ways breaking even. But I don't blame God for it just the way of the world. I look back at the 20 some odd years that I have been on this earth and think about how i lived my life. I am always living in the present, remembering the past and things about the future.

I try to live in the footsteps of the peaceful souls that walked this earth. In the face of so much pain and hatred they find peace and love. However I feel like I�m living day by day. Sometime that make my heart turn cold, but my faith in the highest power and the vastness humbles me.

You can call me Christian, Muslim, Jewish, whatever. I think that there is good in all of them. I just try to keep my head straight and follow what my heart tells me. Sometimes I screw up but I believe that God loves us all and has a plan for each. Would that define my way of life?

Originally posted by Scat


I was scared you would throw out the good old "I love Jesus, if you dont youre going to hell" garbage I always get.

Yeah. That reminds me of a thought I had about God. He claims to give you free will and it is your choice whether or not to love him. However, if you don't love him you'll go to hell. It's like he's saying "I'm not going to make you do what I want to do...buuuuut if you don't do what I want you to do, you'll go through eternal pain and torture." Sounds sliiightly loaded to me.

[edit on 29-6-2004 by iceofspades]

Originally posted by Scat
badkitty- ever heard of Cao Daism?

No, but if you think it is of interest I will look it up post haste.

Do you recommend it? Can you give me the 411?

Originally posted by agent
i was raised to believe there is a god, i just dont pray to a specific one. i just call him god. now what does that make me?

That my friend may make you a Deist.