Religion/Spiritual Beliefs

[Sampson]

Yes, I know we have a Philosophy and Spirituality thread, but it's been dead for a long while and I figured starting a new thread would lead to more discussion. If it would be better to merge this thread into that one, that's fine.

Anyway, I created this thread for the purpose of stating your religious beliefs or lack thereof, as you may or may not have gained from the title (I understand if you didn't). You can also inquire others about their beliefs, as long as you're asking actual questions and not making elitist accusations (but I doubt anyone here would do that).

It's not my intention to start a theist v.s. atheist debate, although if at least one person on each side of the debate wants to do so, you definitely can.

I'll probably end up editing this later (I'm terrible at organizing my opinions, which is why I usually don't post in this section), but here I go:

First of all, I'd just like to say that I believe that God exists.

I am a baptized Catholic. Am I a practicing one? Well, somewhat. I still go to church occasionally, but I don't believe in everything the religion teaches. I believe that if everyone in the world practiced the seven heavenly virtues, the world would be much more peaceful. On the other hand, I believe that the seven deadly sins are generally bad, if in excess (some more than others). So, I use this as a way to set standards for myself in my actions.

In terms of "scientific explanation" offered by religion, I'll always take science over religion. Although I admit to finding Darwin's theory of evolution to be a bit bland. But I've never really taken such religious explanations to heart, anyway. I do believe the universe was created by God. No matter how you look at it, there's some sort of infinity in the universe. I just chose God to be that infinity.

So, you can see I see Catholicism more as a philosophy than anything else. Don't think this means I think that homosexuality is evil and God wants them all to burn in hell for an eternity or two; I don't (I think, with this community and what I have done, that it would be obvious if I felt that way). I don't really pay much attention to the Church's stance on moral/political issues, since I believe that is the duty of the individual. Of course, I won't deny that going that it has had some influence on such beliefs (of course, my family's all Catholic, too, so most of my influence was from them).

I also have my own perception of God. I don't really imagine him (I'm using "him" here just because of habit and I'm too lazy to capitalize the pronouns) as a humanoid entity, actually. Usually, when I picture him, I view him as this sphere-ish object full of power. No, I have never played SMT III: Nocturne.

Anyway, I view God predominantly as an ultimate judge of sorts. He created the universe, and for all I knew set up life on earth, but I believe he has had no involvement in anything otherwise. Obviously, I believe in an afterlife. I believe that everyone will be judged fairly; and their actions, emotions, life situations, and motives will be used to do so. After being judged, I believe that everyone will go on a personal journey, where they accept themselves for who they were once and for all. This is how I perceive hell, as a place where people come face-to-face with their repressed emotions. I'm not sure what happens next, actually. I'm not sure if I can even comprehend what will happen next. Oh, well.

In terms of faith/other religions, I believe everyone's allowed to believe (or not believe at all) in any religion they want to. And, as you can tell, it doesn't have to be any sort of organized religion. Faith is a personal thing, and people's spiritual beliefs form factual explanations for things that will never be proven one way or another. I don't believe anyone has the right to infringe upon this. A bit unrelated, but I mostly shrug with indifference when the Catholic Church does something "corrupt." It's composed of humans, who are definitely not perfect, and it contains a hierarchy of power, so of course there will be corruption. It says very little of most people that belong to the church, though. The two priests of my church are two of the nicest, most benevolent people I have ever met, and I know they mean no harm to anybody.

Also, I'd just like to mention my interpretation of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit for those of you that don't know). The "Father" is God himself, the actual divine being. The "Son" is the humanity of religion, its presence as we know it (I'm not sure exactly if Jesus was the son of God, actually; I think there was something special about him, though). The "Holy Spirit" is people's faith that God exists. It's what connects the people to God, the "Son" to the "Father."

Oh, and I've never read the Bible. I've tried, but I've never been able to get into it. So...don't ask me any questions about it. Although I would like to read the Song of Solomon. Apparently, it has pretty much nothing to do with the rest of the Bible.

And...yeah. That's what I believe in. It turned into a wall of text, and I may have forgotten some things, but I'm curious to see what everyone else has to say. Please don't make this wall pointless ;__;

[Emrin]

I hope this doesn't sound too mean but I got a few questions, not fully directed to you, Sampson, but directed towards everyone who believes in "God" or "a God". I use quotes not to disrespect but because I don't know what people believe in and so I don't want to make it seem like I just mean a certain God and so I'd rather make it seem vague and not like I'm talking about a single "entity".

To start: why do so many innocent people die everyday? Like why are so many people murdered? Why are men, woman, and children who wake up each day thinking it'll be like any other wind-up dead?

Next: If "God" really is all powerful and mighty then why do people suffer everywhere? Why is there world hunger? Why does he let natural disasters occur? Why doesn't he tell us those things will occur so we can avoid them?

Next: And if he's all seeing then why doesn't he stop those who are going to hurt others? Why doesn't he put an end to all those who endanger our lives? Or better yet why doesn't he rid the world of everything that can kill us?

That's it for now. I'll probably come back later to ask some more questions or something.

[IceMage88]

[Emrin]

I like your answers IceMage and I guess I did kinda make everything somehow revert back to the first answer.

Okay so my next question: He gave us free will, well whoever you consider "Him" to be. This he cannot control right? Well many people chose different paths in life and now "God" punishes them because they are different. For example homosexuals. Now it is by their own free will to go about being who they want to be. But then many religious people go around saying that it's a sin, that homosexuals should stay with the opposite sex, that they will all go to hell and stuff. Now these people pass around the "word" or "words" of whoever they believe in. They say things like what I said above and they base the fact that those things are "true" on what they believe: things like the Bible or that "that's just how things are". Now I wanna know EXACTLY where it shows that homosexuals will indeed go to hell or that they NEED to be with the opposite sex. The Bible works and the teachings of those people's "Savior". Yes but who exactly wrote the Bible? Who went around saying those things openly for everyone to hear? Is it someone you know? Someone present at this very moment? Was this person correct? Who was he to go around demanding that people be who he wants them to be? Where is he now? How come he went around saying those things or writing them down? If homosexuality was present back then and if "God" was almighty and powerful then he would have stopped homosexuality at that moment. But today homosexuals are still here. They live the lives they want to but people are constantly saying that they are wrong. What happened?

Again this is directed to anyway not just one single person.

[Sampson]

Yay, discussion~

Ahem. Well, that's a good question, Emrin. Not all Christians believe the Bible is, word for word, written by God. Well, technically, none of them do, it just comes down to "is this what God wants?" As you've said, the Bible was written by people thousands of years ago when culture was radically different. Because it's, well, the Bible, it still appears today.

It comes down to, really, how fundamentalist one is. I know plenty of religious people who bear absolutely no ill will toward homosexuals, and believe they are equal. For all I know, they believe homosexuality is sinful but decide it doesn't matter when dealing with actual people.

In other words, if the person believes homosexuality is sinful because it's in the Bible and they consider the Bible absolute truth, they'll believe homosexuality is sinful. Personally, as I said in my original post, not only have I not read the Bible (go me~), but my beliefs differ a bit from mainstream Christianity, and I believe homosexuality is not a sin.

tl;dr
It's in the Bible, yes, and it's up to individual Christians if they want to believe it or not.

But this is just the Christian God we're talking about. There are many different perceptions and beliefs concerning "God," so...yeah.

[NessySchu]

For some context on what I'm about to say, my dad just finished up over seven years of being a music pastor at our church, and I'm a third generation pastor's kid. All of my family (grandparents, cousins, everyone) is very strongly Christian and involved in their churches. We don't belong to any specific denominations, just Church of Christ and my grandparents are Baptist. I have been going to church since I was born, and I started my own personal relationship with God when I was four, although I haven't been baptized yet.

I definitely don't think all homosexuals are going to Hell. My mom says "love the sinner, hate the sin," but that just pisses me off more. She claims to love everyone how they are, but she doesn't. And who are we to say what's a sin? It says in the Bible (I have not read even close to the whole thing, either) that homosexuality is an "abomination," but it also says that eating pork and shellfish is an abomination. It mentions homosexuality and slavery in the same passages. The Bible contains way more admonishments about immoral behavior in heterosexual relationships than in homosexual ones.

Basically, I think that the Bible needs to be taken in cultural context. Now, slavery is seen as completely wrong, whereas in those days everyone had slaves, even Christians. Obviously, some things have changed since then, so I believe that needs to be taken into consideration when you read the Bible.

I used to just blindly follow in my parents' beliefs because it was the easiest thing to do, but now I'm realizing how personal faith is and that I need to take my relationship with God into my own hands. I still have some very strong beliefs that I got from my parents, on the basics of Christianity, but my own personal opinions on some of the finer points are way different than theirs.

In short, I absolutely do not believe that God hates gay people. Nor do I believe that they choose to be that way, because really, who would choose to be ridiculed and looked down on for being themselves? My mother and I have this argument often, and her closed-minded views really tick me off. I really wish I knew what to say to help her understand my thoughts but she simply does not want to consider them. It's extremely frustrating not to be able to speak my mind freely about something I'm so passionate about without being afraid she'll punish me for being disrespectful.

Ultimately, I just think that God is love. That's not to say that we don't have to follow the rules He's laid out for us, but overall, He doesn't want His people to suffer. He wants us all to have a relationship with Him, and He loves each and every one of us, no matter who we are, what we've done, or who we're with.

[noodles]

Mooost of my beliefs mirror Sampson's, so that saves me some time.

However, I DO take an interest in the Bible. Regardless of cultural relevancy, there are countless things in there everyone can learn from.

I'd say more and be poetic about the glorious light that powers all things but I am really tired

[SAL]

[SAL]

[NessySchu]

Just came across this... I think it helps clarify my point a bit.

[Emrin]

NessySchu I love you! Awesome link and I'm so glad you shared that with us. That will definitely come in handy... I don't know when but I feel like it will somehow.

[NessySchu]

Haha well I plan to put a copy on my mother's pillow... I can't verbally debate with her (and we have this conversation a lot) but I think this will help me get my point across. And I'm glad you liked it.

[VerdeHerro]

[SAL]

[Etrian Veteran]

This sums up my views on religion.

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