Religion....

[DMickey28]

I am trying to get a understand of religion at this point in my life. I was brought up Christian Scientist but I didn't really attend church or SS or even know much about it. Now I am interesting in learning and finding the "right" religion that fits me....


What religion if any do you believe? What are the fundlementals?

If this is the wrong place to post this please feel free to delete it!

Thanks

 

[WDWHound]

I am a Christian (Methodist flavor). We beleive that God loves us so much that he sent he son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that we could have a relationship with him (not just in the future, but here and now). We also beleive that Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave. His death and resurection served as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins and this salvation is freely available to all who seek it. We beleive that this is truely a gift and can not be earned, only freely accepted. We also beleive that the most important things we can do as Christians are to love God and to love others and to live that love by caring for others.

The message of Christianity is love, grace and sacrifice for others, using Jesus as our model.

 

[kild]

Originally posted by WDWHound
I am a Christian (Methodist flavor). We beleive that God loves us so much that he sent he son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that we could have a relationship with him (not just in the future, but here and now). We also beleive that Jesus couquered death and rose from the grave. His death and and resurection offer us all salvation and this salvation is freely available to all who seek it. We also beleive that the most important things we can do are to love God and to love others.

The message of Christianity is love, grace and sacrifice for others, using Jesus as our model.

 

[DSNY FN]

Anglican by birth then I went to the Canadian Reformed church but was told not to attend any more because they felt you should only date and marry people from the same religion. I have not really been to a church in quite a long time but I guess I am truly an Anglican.

 

[FroggyinArk]

proud Christian , member of the First Church Of God , Where salvation makes you a member, basic christian believe t hat God the father , and jesus and th holy ghost are in charge and that if you loveJesus, live a christian life, spread his love around, you gonna be ok,, geess what astreamlined version of the Doctrines we are getting today, Oh yeah, am personally a motivational christian speaker, or will be once God and the drs get my face finished back up, Living proof that if you let Him take control, He will take care of you.


pick up that penny of the side walk... its a message ,, Read it,, "in God we trust. " Just a reminder he tosses out to let us remember to trust in him and its ok

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I was raised by non church attending catholic mother and non church attending protestant father. They forced me to go to sunday school and get confirmed in the catholic church. I do not attend church and disagree with a lot of the churches teachings.

I consider myself an agnostic, mostly because I do not like organized religion. I like to think for myself and I think a persons relationship with god should be their individual thing; not part of a group. I do not know if there is a god or gods, or goddesses.

If I had to identify with any religion I'd say the closest religion to my personal beliefs is certain aspects of Wicca, I agree with the basic fundamentals of the religion which is based on nature and the relationship we have with nature. I believe in an afterlife but I do not belive that if you make mistakes in life, you will be sent to a hellish underworld. I do not believe in judging people for their own private behavior unless it is hurting someone else. I believe if there is a god, there are multiple gods, and male and female gods.

I do not believe god(s) are as judgemental as the gentleman with the "Sodomy is Sin" sign taped to the back of his van I was behind in traffic for 2 hours yesterday would have people believe.
(DBF and I could only think, the only thing this idiot was doing having that sign up was probably getting a lot of just learning to read children in cars to ask their parents uncomfortable questions...)

I also agree with certain aspects of Buddhism.

I think most religious people are good and it only the fringe weirdos who use religion as a cover for their own hateful acts.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

I was raised in a "no religion" household. My sister eventually went to a Christian private school, and she became a Christian. Up until last year, I had no religion. After a very long conversation with a friend, I started attending church last year. I was baptised as a Christian last April, and have accepted Jesus Christ into my life.

 

[Carl]

Good for you, Steph.

 

[poohtown]

Originally posted by EsmeraldaX
.

I consider myself an agnostic, mostly because I do not like organized religion. I like to think for myself and I think a persons relationship with god should be their individual thing; not part of a group. I do not know if there is a god or gods, or goddesses.

I'm not the person to ask this because I too have questions and am unsure about religion. I do agree with the quote above by EsmeraldaX about religion is an individual thing and you do not have to attend church if you don't want to. Although if you do that's great too. My best friend is very religious and I love that she can be so happy with her choices.

I do think you need to believe in something. Whether it's a god, nature, science, or just the belief in being a good person - it's just important to believe that there are consequences to your actions. Hope that makes sense.

 

[binny]

you might try out
www.beliefnet.com

You can take a test and see what you most agree with then it brings up the religions you most matched with. A very nice service indeed.

I am Nazarene by Birth and now have come back after being in the Friends church for a few years. Im glad I came back. It feels like home to me

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

I totally agree with EsmeraldaX. I believe all religions have good points so it's hard to say one is right and the rest are wrong.

 

[Broken8ball]

I'm a member of the Rev. Billy Saul Harkis's FIrst Church of the Good Deal and Retail House of Worship!!!


Blasphemy aside, I was raised catholic and am raising my kids in the church. On teh other hand, I truely believe that ORGANIZED religion is a tool used by the few to control the masses.

The Christian faith is an offshoot of Judeaism that occurred in a power struggle between those factions that supported the Romans and those that opposed the Romans. The Roman Catholic Church split from the Greek Orthodox church over a power stuggle between where the center of power would exist - Rome or Constantinople. The protestant sects developed not out of Martin Luther's thological questions but out of a desire of the princelets in Germany to posses the land and wealth fo the church in their fiefdoms. The Anglican church is nothing more than the Catholic church with the bishop of Cantebury as its head versus the Pope since Henry VIII needed another divorce. Over time, the various christian sects have added some "window" dressing to emphasize the differences but essentially its still about power and money.

Islam is no different. Follow its spread and see the money/power trail it follows.

Every Religion is severely hypoctitical. I'm tired of hearing about the evils of abortion on Sunday's and how its my responsibility to stop it while the church says nothing about the evils of Homosexuality and the damnation of all other relgions. You know the last time I looked, a litteral interpretation of one commandment should neccessitate the same type of interpretation of all the others. Yet they pick and choose as they wish and hope not ot offend to many of the flock of pay them each week.

Personnally, I only beleive in Faith, the underlying assumption that there is a god and he is a good and moral god. Everything we have around us can't have occurred merely by chance. I want there to be some meaning and order to life. I am sure there is evil in the world, I can see it on the news each night. I pray that there are also forces of good. The building itself is irrelevant. The labels are also irrelevant. What matters is faith.

 

[cati]

I am also a proud Christian. I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins as well as everyone else. I am not very good with words but I believe as kild posted below.

I saw a great sign the other day that really says alot:

Actions speak louder than bumper stickers!!

 

[Desnik]

EsmeraldaX
I feel the exact same way!!! I also believe the same as you. I was raised Catholic. Made all the sacrements, went to Catholic school for 10 years. My whole family are the kind of people that are religious and Catholic when it suits them!
We (my DH, myself and kiddies)do not practice any organized religion. I teach my kids to have morals, respect and so on. I will support them completely when they find and choose to follow a religion they feel expresses their feelings. I find the Wiccan ways most closely describes my beliefs, but not completely. I am intrigued be all religions and love reading about them. I would suggest going to your library and reading about some religions, and talking to those with different beliefs.

 

[DMickey28]

Thank you for all the responses...

I went to the beliefnet and took that test they have. I did that a few months ago... like the last time when I do that the first time and select my answers based on my intial reaction and feelings I keep coming up 100% Orthodox Judaism. Christian Protestant comes up around 85%..... When I redid the whole thing thinking more about the answers I came up 100% Sikhism and 97% Christian Protestant... I don't I am confused...

I feel this need to understand and believe but I really don't know how to start... I think there is one God, one supreme being... the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit confuses me....

 

[TinkBoo&ElliesMum]

Ohhhhhh this is one aspect of my life that's, well, confused.

My Grandfather is 17th generation Presbyterian minister. My Grandmother up until last year was on the general assembly with the church.

I was raised Unitarian Universalist, my Mom really didn't want to raise me in the Presbyterian church, I think she had enough of it growing up. My Dad was raised Lutheran though he rarely went. Both of my parents (they're divorced) are now members of the Church of Religious Science.

DH was raised Catholic, though he stopped attending church years ago.

Now we can't agree on a church, so we worship the pillows on Sunday morning. The kids go to church with my Mom.

I just don't know - I haven't found the right fit, I'm not sure if I will.

Good luck!

 

[Tiger Fan]

WDWHound said it pretty good for me. I am a Christian, raised Southern Baptist, my dad was a minister for the first 20 years of my life. I know all the in's and out's of organized religion and believe it or not I still feel strongly in belonging to a church family. I attend the First Baptist Church in my small town and my partner, Emily and I are welcomed with open arms. I believe that the only way to heaven is by asking Jesus who died for everyone of us to come into our hearts. My 7 year old is starting to ask a lot of questions and want to become a Christian and is going through a workbook right now that does a great job in explaining what it is to be a Christian. I think a lot of us adults could benefit from this kind of workbook . I think it is great that you are questioning what you believe in. As a person with a terminal illness I find great comfort in knowing that there is a place for me when I pass on.
Lisa