God

[Master of Blades]

Originally posted by Johnathan Napalm
I sure hope the hubby is not over-worried about the wify being on a fast track to hell.... J/K You are NOT going to hell for not believing. If GOD is ever loving and ever forgiving (as advertised for over 2000 years!!! must be some truth in it, huh? lol), then GOD would not be so petty as to condemn those who are "yet to return to accept His grace"

Really? And I was about to come religeous......:shrug:

 

[Johnathan Napalm]

If you are interested in exploring why you need faith, I would suggest a book, "I am with you Always" by Chip Ingram (Subtitle: Experiencing God in Times of Need). No BS. No long winded preaching, nor threat nor fear mongering. No bogus promise of Heavan and the afterlife etc. Pretty straight forward exploration of the Psalms and everyday life's ups and downs.

 

[Jill666]

I'm not interested, actually, I just don't feel the need. However, I do appreciate your posts.

As for the hubby, so far he hasn't overstepped what I percieve to be his bounds.

 

[Cruentus]

Originally posted by Jill666
I'm not interested, actually, I just don't feel the need. However, I do appreciate your posts.

As for the hubby, so far he hasn't overstepped what I percieve to be his bounds.

That's cool, and good to know. Whats funny is that because I Private Messaged you, nobody know what the we're talking about! :rofl: Ha, ha, I feel special (lol).

Seriously, just remember that I'll always try to make myself available.

Same goes for everyone else.....If anyone has any honest inquires on Catholicism, PM me, and I'll make an effort to get back with you. I like to help people with honest inquiries when I can!

 

[Johnathan Napalm]

Originally posted by Jill666
I'm not interested, actually, I just don't feel the need. However, I do appreciate your posts.

As for the hubby, so far he hasn't overstepped what I percieve to be his bounds.

Hmmmm. Actually my post was mean for MOB. Eventhough I am sure he was j/k, on the slim chance that his inquisitive mind might want to explore, I figured I might as well throw the name of the book up there.

I don't preach nor evangelize. Dunno how to. And don't care to neither. The Father gave His children FREE WILL to choose whether to return to Him and accept His love. Who am I to impose on others what the Father has offered for free? If God wants to convert a person, it will be done His way. I am certainly no angel that He would care to send into someone's life. LMAO!

 

[Master of Blades]

Originally posted by Johnathan Napalm
Hmmmm. Actually my post was mean for MOB. Eventhough I am sure he was j/k, on the slim chance that his inquisitive mind might want to explore, I figured I might as well throw the name of the book up there.

I don't preach nor evangelize. Dunno how to. And don't care to neither. The Father gave His children FREE WILL to choose whether to return to Him and accept His love. Who am I to impose on others what the Father has offered for free? If God wants to convert a person, it will be done His way. I am certainly no angel that He would care to send into someone's life. LMAO!

LOL Thanks for the offer but to be honest I have no interest in religeon at the moment. Perhaps later in life but right now all I'm interested in is Girls, Fighting, Basket ball and passing my GCSE's. Thanks again though :asian:

 

[Master of Blades]

Just so everyone knows I asked for this thread to be moved here so that newer members can read through and understand what all the referance is about :asian: Just for Clarification

 

[lost_tortoise]

Okay, here it is. Since I am wasting my employer's good money if I am completely non-productive, I was forced to stop reading at page 5. I promise that I will catch up A.S.A.P. because I am certain that I have some things to say about some of the arguments here. However, I thought this post could focus on my spiritual journey so as to define my perspective in future arguments.

I was raised by a scientist (father) and an Episcopalian (mother). My maternal grandfather was an Episcopalian priest and one of my maternal uncles has become a priest as well (in the same denomination). I had a very difficult childhood (peers, not parents...okay, a little bit parents) about which I will spare details. Unfortunately, much of that childhood convinced me to turn away from God and turn to that for which I had a natural aptitude-- science. I attended church each Sunday and my spirit was kept alive, but breathing quite shallow. I also grew up near a Seneca Indian reservation on which I spent a great deal of time. My appreciation for nature was strong and absolute, an undercurrent that eventually gave shape to my current beliefs. After moving around and experiencing death, suffering and pain in relatively excessive amounts, I found Taoism (Daoism). I was fourteen and studying Issinryu at the time as well as finally fighting back against the bullies that had tormented the sensitive and flaky "smart kid" so mercilessly. Taoism was a revelation! Here was a philosophy that spoke to the point, was as ancient as any I had previously studied and meshed quite well with the empirical experiences that I had logged so far. My journey began there. High school was a whirlwind of change for me. I went from studious to drug-addled and violent. All the while, I was confirmed in the Episcopalian church for the second time, led christian youth groups and had a voratious appetite for anything Taoist. Eventually, I did some VERY bad things. For a little over two years, I found something I was very good at that could make me a lot of money and satisfy a VERY dark part of me as well. This experience changed me profoundly. By the time I was nineteen I had broken more than once and risen anew. I was working as a construction laborer and transforming from a "punk rocker" to a "neo-hippie" when I decided to walk into the woods and not come out for a while. There, amidst initial struggle and eventual balance, I saw God. The beauty of nature is so overwhelming, I was brought to my knees in tears many times. There is purity in the wilderness....a love that is undescribable. That aspect of creation is where all of my spirtual study crystalized!
Now, there is a defining of terms necessary here. I use God as a convenient nomenclature for what I believe, not necessarily within the context of any specific religion or belief system. I use love in the same way, as a term that elicits a somewhat impicit and objective understanding of the concept.
I am now 32 and my growth is still in its infancy as I know there is much more under heaven than is dreamt of in our philosophy. However, I believe God is changing my heart and I am on the right path.
Basics: God exists and is a non-personable force (for lack of a better term) similar to the philosophical notion of Tao.

I have a personal relationship with God that does not require a mediator or go-between to assist (yes, I am referring to Christ although I think Jesus was awsome)

I have read the Tao Te Ching everyday for 18 years and it is my main source of grounding and spiritual guidance

I participate in bible studies with my wife (a born-again Christian...an Episcopalian, imagine that) regularly and harbor no judgement against the teachings of Christ

I am still judgemental, violent and angry in nature and narcissistic (not arrogant, narcissistic...there is a BIG difference) but I work and pray (yes, pray) to change that.

I have been sober for over eleven years now and try to correct my other weaknesses on a daily basis.

I have to go to a picnic at my son's school now, so I will stop here...for now.

geoffrey

 

[arnisador]

Sounds like a tough journey that's now turning out well!

It's important to be able to see one's faults and be able to work on them--sounds like you're in a good place now.

 

[ThuNder_FoOt]

Just browsing through these numerous posts, and I noticed that someone mentioned that they study Jedi (religion?). Now that I have gone to look back at the person who posted this, I can't find it! Maybe Jedi is was a person whom studies Judism? The only Jedi I know of is that of George Lucas. I don't know if the person was only kidding, but I'm confused. Did anyone else read that post?

 

[Master of Blades]

I said its the only one that makes sense to me, but that was because on the 2001/2 census they put Jedi as a religeon......and if enough people voted for it, it would inturn be turned into a real religeon in a few years time. Since then people have put up sites and stuff but I think it was just a big joke :shrug:

 

[ThuNder_FoOt]

So the Jedi is in the process of becoming a real religion then? Very interesting... anyone have any info on it?? Shoot, I'd become a Jedi. lol.

 

[redfang]

People got the idea somewhere that if they wrote in 'Jedi' as their religion on the census form (Out in the UK wasn't it, MOB?) that the government would have to recognize it as an official religion. This isn't the case. From what I read, even though a good number of people did this, it doesn't create any sort of official status for jedi as a religion. There are processes that churches need to go through to be recognized. The census report just counts, it doesn't legitamize.

 

[Cruentus]

I thought they did this in Canada also.

 

[redfang]

Maybe, and I seem to remember hearing about it in Australia. From what I read in the papers here though, no amount of respondants claiming 'Jedi' was going to make it any sort of officially recognized religion anywhere. Not that it might not be able to become a recognized religion through other means. Though it does seem to lack a great deal of development towards being a realigion. Kind of a half-assed Zen maybe, with a dash of Taoism thrown in for good measure.

 

[OULobo]

Wow how could I have missed this thread. It took me an hour to read it all. I guess I'll start with my $.02 on my beliefs. I think Paul hit the direction I'm heading pretty well. I was born and raised Catholic, and went through all the ritual and schooling (although I went to public school).

Somewhere along the journey I started to do what most people do and ask why, or more importantly what else is there out there. I tried to get a feel of all the religions out there (by no means am I very well educated, or even informed, in them). I finally came to the decision that most of the religions guide people to be "good" or moral in their roots.

As usual, people get caught up in the details. I remain a practicing Catholic in word and deed if not in heart. I resist the ideas of certain obligations the Catholic church requires, like tithing, baptism, confession to a preist and "church law" to name a few, but the ideas of charity, kindness, compassion, healing and love are buried between the details in the Catholic and most other religions. I continue in a Catholic church because I have been going and are familiar with the customs, seeing it no better or worse than worshipping at any other religion's church.

I believe in and talk to God. I think he listens and helps sometimes. I choose to go to church every Sun. to show him I have time in my busy week to dedicate to him, not to mention the peace the mass brings me during a hectic week.

On the idea of violent fundamentalism of any religion, I think that they are just a small group that is a bad representation of a much larger group of good people.

 

[Kroy]

Originally posted by OULobo
the ideas of charity, kindness, compassion, healing and love are buried between the details in the Catholic and most other religions.

My sentiments exactly

 

[WillFightForBeer]

My religous standing has thus far been one that I feel is not only overcomplicated, but ultimately bothersome. I was born and (am) being raised Jewish. Exported out of Aetheist Russia when I was two to be able to speak and worship freely here in the US, my whole family is fairly religous. I went to the equivalent of Catholic school for Jews, and religion was always a main subject in every discussion and activity that we had the "joy" of partaking in. My older brother, perhaps one of the most intelligent people that I have had the chance to know, rejected the existence of God at an early age. His transendence into Aetheism coincided with my Bar Mitzvah. When I asked him how he could reject God, he answered in a way that most Aetheists will respond if asked the same question. He had taken the path of logic, however I did not understand at the time.

I was fairly happy with my beliefs, never questioning them. The existence of God was never questionable, how could you challenge the being that created you and everything around you? Then, by means that I shall not reveal at this time, I came across a discussion about the existence of God. It was quite interesting, and I studied every aspect and detail of it. It was not the discussion itself that changed my mind, but rather, the fact that here were people willing to reject everything that they had been taught. The mere fact that others were thinking for themselves opened my mind, and I challenged everything that I learned. I finally came to my current religious standing, one that is only common among the minority of people. Although I stuck with Deism for a while, I ultimately ended up with Aetheism.

I refuse to sit here and preach about the benefits of becoming an Aetheist, for there truly are none. There is nothing good about rejecting God, even though I have done so. In the end, although I do not believe in the existence of a Higher Intelligence, I do believe that the moral codes and laws that we derive from religion are the only things that keep the human race from near-certain extinction.

After coming to the conclusion that there is an absence of a Higher Intelligence, my mind wandered into more complicated questions. At one point, I wondered about the existence of life after death, and once again, I decided that post-mortem activity does not exist. This belief, although I still hold it today, has caused me more pain and suffering than anything physical could ever inflict. I realized how insignificant life is, and that pleasure and happiness are only temporary solutions to the inevitable: that we will all die and rot in the ground, with no way of being able to recall those moments of pleasure.

I read Hume, Nietzsche, Locke, Hobbes, everything that I could get my hands on, but none of it helped. Ever since that one change of mindset, I have lived my life subconciously. I sometimes wonder if existence itself is real. These thoughts plague me, and I find them overcoming me whenever I think too much about them. I believe that soon they will either subside, or I will just get used to them, one way or the other I hope that the solution arrives soon.

My beliefs changed when I was 13. I am now 14.

 

[OULobo]

Originally posted by WillFightForBeer
My religous standing has thus far been one that I feel is not only overcomplicated, but ultimately bothersome. I was born and (am) being raised Jewish. Exported out of Aetheist Russia when I was two to be able to speak and worship freely here in the US, my whole family is fairly religous. I went to the equivalent of Catholic school for Jews, and religion was always a main subject in every discussion and activity that we had the "joy" of partaking in. My older brother, perhaps one of the most intelligent people that I have had the chance to know, rejected the existence of God at an early age. His transendence into Aetheism coincided with my Bar Mitzvah. When I asked him how he could reject God, he answered in a way that most Aetheists will respond if asked the same question. He had taken the path of logic, however I did not understand at the time.

I was fairly happy with my beliefs, never questioning them. The existence of God was never questionable, how could you challenge the being that created you and everything around you? Then, by means that I shall not reveal at this time, I came across a discussion about the existence of God. It was quite interesting, and I studied every aspect and detail of it. It was not the discussion itself that changed my mind, but rather, the fact that here were people willing to reject everything that they had been taught. The mere fact that others were thinking for themselves opened my mind, and I challenged everything that I learned. I finally came to my current religious standing, one that is only common among the minority of people. Although I stuck with Deism for a while, I ultimately ended up with Aetheism.

I refuse to sit here and preach about the benefits of becoming an Aetheist, for there truly are none. There is nothing good about rejecting God, even though I have done so. In the end, although I do not believe in the existence of a Higher Intelligence, I do believe that the moral codes and laws that we derive from religion are the only things that keep the human race from near-certain extinction.

After coming to the conclusion that there is an absence of a Higher Intelligence, my mind wandered into more complicated questions. At one point, I wondered about the existence of life after death, and once again, I decided that post-mortem activity does not exist. This belief, although I still hold it today, has caused me more pain and suffering than anything physical could ever inflict. I realized how insignificant life is, and that pleasure and happiness are only temporary solutions to the inevitable: that we will all die and rot in the ground, with no way of being able to recall those moments of pleasure.

I read Hume, Nietzsche, Locke, Hobbes, everything that I could get my hands on, but none of it helped. Ever since that one change of mindset, I have lived my life subconciously. I sometimes wonder if existence itself is real. These thoughts plague me, and I find them overcoming me whenever I think too much about them. I believe that soon they will either subside, or I will just get used to them, one way or the other I hope that the solution arrives soon.

My beliefs changed when I was 13. I am now 14.

Good luck with your journey.

 

[Shodan]

Christian here.