What's Your Religion?

[Darkslash]

Originally posted by Inuchance
Like I said earlier (I think, too lazy to go through the thread and see what I said earlier, if I even said anything at all), I'm agnostic, so I don't really hold any firm beliefs at all, though I periodically recheck my stance on things.

Recently, though, I've decided that if God did exist, and he wanted us to worship him and everything, he'd make himself known. However, since he doesn't make an obvious presence, that leads me to believe he wants us to continue on with our lives as if he didn't exist, while he runs things behind-the-scenes, assuming that he does exist.

Like Deism? Deism holds that God wound up the universe like a clock and just sat back and watched it all.

[kourukon]

i picked Atheist..... though i believe in something... don't know how to call it... "nature"? or maybe "fate"? but no, not God.

[Inuchance]

Originally posted by kourukon
don't know how to call it... "nature"? or maybe "fate"?

The Force?

[A-non-a-mus]

Originally posted by Inuchance
Recently, though, I've decided that if God did exist, and he wanted us to worship him and everything, he'd make himself known. However, since he doesn't make an obvious presence, that leads me to believe he wants us to continue on with our lives as if he didn't exist, while he runs things behind-the-scenes, assuming that he does exist.

ehm... it wouldn't be a 'faith' then if he were to make an obvious appearance...

becides, IMO he does make himself known, you just have to look carefully........ but you decide whatever... I'm not here to force beliefs into others...

[Dare]

Anyone who claims to be God these days is either

A) thrown in the looney bin
B) the leader of a cult

[unregistered user]

Originally posted by A-non-a-mus
ehm... it wouldn't be a 'faith' then if he were to make an obvious appearance...

becides, IMO he does make himself known, you just have to look carefully........ but you decide whatever... I'm not here to force beliefs into others...

I was going to say faith too.

[nafklt]

Originally posted by Wicked
Anyone who claims to be God these days is either

A) thrown in the looney bin
B) the leader of a cult

:P

:P Canadian dollar coins are also called loonies...:P

Originally posted by Ravoc
We don't know if they were apples or not, it doesn't say, somehow someone out there decided to say it was apples they ate, but we really don't know.

Original sin... according to the dictionary...: In Christian theology, the condition of sin that marks all humans as a result of Adam's first act of disobedience.

And SW, hehe nah.. I wasn't calling you an oxymoron

Oh... okay...

But is there an actual Garden of Eden or may it be a metaphor of the whole entire world? It sounds sort of logical if it is because if the world is controlled by God, Adam and Eve would be portraying from the original Adam and Eve to all the peoples of the world we see today...*confused*

Originally posted by StalkingWolf
hey nafklt, in the Bible it tells the story of Adam and Eve, and Satan was in the garden also, because of the temptation from Satan he tricked Eve and told her that if she ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then she would become as gods, which was a lie! That is where the "original sin" came into place(like Ravoc said), and it has passed on from generation to generation!!!!! The Bible does not say whether what Eve ate was an apple, it just says the "the fruit of..."

Oh, and Ravoc I knew ya didn't call me that I was just kidding with ya

That reminds me of a famous painting called "Eve Tempted" by John Stanhope...

If the Devil's name is Satan, what is the God's name?

[Prince Simba]

Originally posted by 2 Die FR
Definitely a good place to find Mormons, Dark/

yeah, Gilbert, AZ too =\

I, however, am not Mormon.

Officially, I'm Christian, but I haven't been to church since i was 7 or 8, and even then i didn't really like going.

Personally, I'm a non-believer, but mainly because I find no reason to believe coupled with the fact that I hate talking about religion... it's just one more way to make people different so you can discriminate more easily.

Besides, I find things like evolution more likely than things like creation. Just my personal belief. I don't like the idea that some omniscient being is in complete control of every element of my life because if that's true, I'm really screwed because whatever divine being is "out there" he/she/it is never on my side.

[unregistered user]

Not so Prince Simba.

First the evolution thing- Have you ever thought that Evolution and Creation not to be two different things? Scientists say there was a 'Big Bang', well.. in the Bible, God says 'Let there be light'.. now, if there had never been light before, don't you think that it would come into existence with a bang? Think of how a star forms, or for that instance think of starting a fire, the spark appears in a flash. The rest of evolution though (monkey/human thing, I completely disagree with though).

Nafklt, you could be right, we don't know for sure if the Garden of Eden was a metaphor or not, hard to say, it could've been though, very nice theory

Last one for ya Prince Simba, as for the omniscient being, being in control. Yes he is, but he gives all of us free will, he doesn't have us moving around like robots and such. I believe that he has a special purpose for all of us, but it is up to us and our actions if we fulfill that purpose. And don't be so certaint hat he's not on your side, God is with you always, has been and will be untill the day that you die

It all depends on faith though, your choice =)

[Darkslash]

Here's pretty much how I sum up my beliefs and reasons for believing:

+ God created the world. It is impossible to say exactly how long it took.
+ He created humans in his image, perfect; but Eve by indulging in the forbidden fruit, being influenced by the serpent/devil introduced sin into the world. All humans are inherently doomed to hell because they fall short of God's perfect standard.
+ Jesus died in order to be a purifying filter for us (filtering out our sins before God) -- if we accept this. One cannot go to heaven without accepting Jesus -- who hence "saves" us.
+ I believe that there is a perfect standard of behavior that, if one was able to follow it perfectly, could lead to heaven without Jesus. Since this is impossible to do, the prime object of life should be to strive to behave as close to that standard, however hard to define (but easier to recognize by experience and study), as possible.
+ Some people's actions fall closer to the standard than others. Regardless, I believe that if one does not strive with all their power to behave according to this standard and yet accepts Jesus' saving power, they are mocking God and really do not have that purifying filter... and will be at God's mercy.

I guess that's it.... never really took the time to spell it all out until now. You could say I'm a fundamentalist, I suppose.

To Prince Simba: (don't answer these if you don't want to)

What makes you hesitant to discuss religion?
Why do you think religion invites discrimination?
What has led you to believe that God is a controller who works against you?
What do you find appealing about evolution over creation?

[Prince Simba]

Originally posted by Darkslash
To Prince Simba: (don't answer these if you don't want to)

What makes you hesitant to discuss religion?
Why do you think religion invites discrimination?
What has led you to believe that God is a controller who works against you?
What do you find appealing about evolution over creation?

1) I don't like the word athiest. It just doesn't sound appealing to me. And I don't like being labled. And I'm not really hesitant to discuss it, it's just that I don't like talking about it because most people who I talk to will either call me a sinner or try to convert me... or just think less of me.

2) It just adds another difference to the "discrimination table" or whatever.

3) Nothing, and that's incorrect. What I meant to say earlier is that I don't agree with the idea that God can influence almost anything that happens to me. It's one of those He-can-end-the-world-if-he-wants-to kind of things, and I really don't agree with that. Besides, if God has ever granted - or even heard - a single one of my prayers, and there have been many in past, it was an answer to something that has not yet happened.

4) My reasons for not believing in God give me enough reason to not believe in Creation of most sorts, and the theories about how aliens created the human race and put us here is complete crap. So it's either Creation or Evolution, and I pick the latter.

[Darkslash]

Originally posted by Prince Simba
And I'm not really hesitant to discuss it, it's just that I don't like talking about it because most people who I talk to will either call me a sinner or try to convert me... or just think less of me.

I'm a pretty fundamentalist Christian... but I think no less of you for believing what you believe. I cannot call you a sinner, for that is a label for God to apply, not humans. I can see why you'd dislike it when people try to convert you... it would annoy the heck out me as well if people presumed they knew what was best for me. All I can do is encourage you to keep thinking/reflecting upon matters of "what do I believe?"

It just adds another difference to the "discrimination table" or whatever.

That's very true -- it's another difference -- but I'm not entirely sure that a difference has to lead to discrimination. That does happen quite often, however, and in matters of religion, even more often. It's one of the sad realities of an imperfect world. What I can say is that defining where you place your faith does not have to separate you from anyone -- and shouldn't cause people to separate for you; in fact, realizing what you truly believe binds all peoples together in understanding... if that makes sense.

What I meant to say earlier is that I don't agree with the idea that God can influence almost anything that happens to me. It's one of those He-can-end-the-world-if-he-wants-to kind of things, and I really don't agree with that.

...and God did end the world once... The Flood. But he hated that he had to do that... and promised never to destroy his creation again. And there's no reason to -- Jesus has purified the world of its sins (which invited the Flood in the first place).

Besides, if God has ever granted - or even heard - a single one of my prayers, and there have been many in past, it was an answer to something that has not yet happened.

I can relate here. I'm not a big person on praying, much less in public or anything like that... I don't even bother to pray for anything... mostly I just thank God for things. In other words, I believe first that God has made me and the world full of potential... and the realization of my full potential shouldn't need too much divine intervention. So in other words, I don't really put too much faith in God's "answers" -- because often he has things the way he wants already, and it's for the better even if it doesn't seem so at the moment... or even years in the future.

My reasons for not believing in God give me enough reason to not believe in Creation of most sorts, and the theories about how aliens created the human race and put us here is complete crap. So it's either Creation or Evolution, and I pick the latter.

I'll leave this debate for another day... mainly because, unlike many atheists (and here I think is the difference, as you claim you don't like to be called or classed with "atheists"), you believe in Evolution because you don't believe in God, rather than like many atheists, not believing in God because of Evolution.

I have the utmost respect for ya, Prince Simba.... don't take anything above too seriously!

[Prince Simba]

^ Well, it was easy to connect with the first paragraph. That's a bit of what I'm doing right now. "Who am I?" and "What do I believe" are common questions I ask myself.

[lion_roog]

Interesting points. religion does not lead to discrimination...people are the sole cause for discrimination and the downfall of societies.

I believe that both evolution and creation are both true. Our bodies were designed to change, and evolution is just animals changing to adapt to their enviroments. On the thing about answering prayers, God isn't going to help you if you fail to believe he will help you. God gave us all a blue print, called the subconscious mind, and with that you can do anything. Anyone can accomplish anything. Everything you see, hear, do, ect affects your subconscious mind, so make sure you feed it things that wont have a bad affect on it. "If it's to be, it's up to me"....Have you ever noticed that bad things tend to happen to people with a negative attitude, and good things happen to people with a good attitude?

[StalkingWolf]

WOW!! lots of thinking going on here!!! Question to both Prince Simba and Darkslash! Do you believe in the Bible?? (The only completely true book in this world, meaning everything in it has happened or is to happen, and all of it is truth!!!) And, do you read the Bible often???

[StalkingWolf]

hey nafklt, in answer to your question, satan has several different names, as well as God does too! I don't know if you already knew this or not but, Satan before he became "the devil" was actually and angel of God's, his name was "Lucifer" The bible has a description of him and he was said to be a very beautiful angel, until his pride got a hold of him and he thought that he could be better than God, after that happened God banished him from his kingdom, and that is when he became i guess you could say bitter towards God! that is when he decided to try and make people trust in him rather in God, and he has succeeded with many people in this world to lure them away from God!

[unregistered user]

SW, I hate to say this, and please don't take it the wrong way or anything like that. But anyone can read the Bible.

What matters is properly understanding and interpreting it

[Simba '04]

and having Faith

[lion_roog]

From what I've heard from people who read the Bible in it's original language, is that the Bible that is translated to English is quite different in certian parts....mainly from difficulties translating some words and such.....

[unregistered user]

Indeed '04.

Yes lion_roog, but the new king james version of the bible is the most accurate Bible we have to date. Peices of the old testament were uncovered, sad part is, is that no one is really allowed to see the ancient texts due to religious sacredness.. only a little bit at a time.