What is your religion and what reasons led you to choose it? (Jesus Christ, ritual)

[No*s]

Originally Posted by tlcmel

Hi,
I'm currently in the frame of mind right now where I'm sort of seeking out different religions or spirituality belief systems or whatever. And while one religion makes alot of sense to me however some aspects in that same belief system conflict with my reasoning or beliefs. Why do YOU feel so strongly about your chosen religion?
Thanks

It was a combination of several things. On one hand, I have long sought a faith that I could rest in, take to its logical conclusion, and still live a moral, simple, and human life and be consistent with the teachings I embraced (granting this was something of an internal affair and developed over time, not being present in me very early). This wasn't available to me with the other options.

I also wanted something with a connection to the past, but which wasn't stale and dead. Tradition and what people have thought is very important to me (I remember the first time I wanted to learn Latin, for instance. We heard the term Latin on the radio, and being a small child then, I asked my father what it was. When he told me it was just a dead language people spoke a long time ago, but nobody cares about now, well, it sparked my interest. It was old). Who we were gives us the identity we are.

I wanted something where my faith and my logic could rest at ease. They were never intended to war with each other. To varying degrees I found it at war within myself with the other groups (I began attending Christian sects about ten or eleven years ago).

I wanted something that, given its own presuppositions, was internally harmonious. I was a Protestant for a while, and well, I found it to be internally inconsistent (and not old in its teachings). Sola Scriptura, for instance, was logically irreconcilable. This tension began to drive me away (I am convinced that had I not turned Orthodoxy, I would eventually have turned Roman Catholic).

At one moment I considered paganism. However the need for something old disallowed the neo-pagan movements. They aren't old; they are reconstructions of what was lost. I looked at far-east religions, but I'm not an Easterner, and its antiquity couldn't resonate with me. I, also, couldn't accept the logical conclusions of some of its assertions. Sometimes through logic, sometimes because they didn't feel true. I had also settled my mind on Christ: even in periods when I doubted and looked into these, my allegiance to Christ would sway me back very quickly. He is Truth (that is the understanding I came to).

Not only did I believe down deep that Christ is Truth and that all that is true in the ultimate sense revolves around Him. I also came to realize that if I wanted the old, the thing that defined my culture and people, then I needed Christianity. It actually wasn't easy to jump ship to Orthodoxy in that sense, for while it fulfilled that requirement, it was also very foreign.

Orthodoxy also has an appreciation for beauty that other Christian groups tend not to have (well, except words). This was foreign to me also, but I found it to be something I needed. I spend too much time on abstraction.

It also had an organic connection to the Apostles with an organic doctrinal connection, something not found in other groups I looked at (with very few groups with a close appearance to it). This appealed to me, because if I wanted Christianity, I wanted it to be real, and not a reconstruction (a reconstructed religion is not the old religion, it is something new wanting to look old).

Lastly, Orthodoxy felt right. I knew I had found home. Now there were a lot of other factors, but those are some highlights and not telling a chronological story at that. My coming to Orthodoxy was a long time in coming .

[Ormiston]

I've chosen to practice no religion because I don't want to.

[Mister_T]

Originally Posted by tlcmel

Hi,
I'm currently in the frame of mind right now where I'm sort of seeking out different religions or spirituality belief systems or whatever. And while one religion makes alot of sense to me however some aspects in that same belief system conflict with my reasoning or beliefs. Why do YOU feel so strongly about your chosen religion?
Thanks

I guess you could say I'm a Christian. The reason I feel so strongly about my beliefs is because my beliefs are the only ones that I have been able to make a spiritual connection with. And when I say spiritual I'm not talking about an enligtenment and philosophy (although, those are definitley key elements). I'm talking about freaky, supernatural type of spiritual. I have never heard any other belief system claim or experience things that I have experienced and the things that others who share my beliefs have experienced. I have found Christ and his philosophy, teachings, promises, and moral ethics to be true. I found things such as the Holy Spirit to be real and that is something that resides in all of us. When I apply what Christ say to myself and the world around me, everything makes sense. Christ makes the most sense out of this mess we call life.

However, a lot of churches/organized religion conflict with my personal convictions and ethics and I have chosen not to affiliate myself with a chuch or religious title. And although a lot of them say that they're following Christ and his teachings, their actions speak differently. I feel that the majority of organized religion is missing the point of Christ's message. If you don't think and act like them, then your not part of the club; and I feel this robs people of individuality, reasoning and thinking. Keep in mind that all churches are not as I described and that there are real legitimate churches out there. I just haven't found one yet.

Whether you decide to join a church or go at it alone is up to you. The best advice I can give you is to always be open mined and examine everything. If you find a subject that you're in conflict with, pray and meditate on it. Most importantley find something where you feel that you can actually make a real spiritual connection and not just a philisophical one. If there are certain aspects of a religion that go against your moral fiber, examine and study it thoroughly. Don't let other people's thinking influence your judgement. Don't let their truth's become yours because a lot of people take things at face value. Do your own investigation and find out the truth for yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Nick

[Master Vigil]

I was brought up with the concept of god, a concept I thought I knew about. When I started actually studying about it, and studying the way other religions conceptualized god, I knew then that my concept was extremely limited. Through time I discovered the humility and similicity of nature, and the almost perfect oneness they have with Tao, or the Divine. I then realized that all words, concepts, paradigms, and anything that is stuck to our ego blinds us from Tao. So I chose to drop those, and Be. I like to say I'm a Taoist, but that's just another word. I like to say I'm a Vigil, but that's just another word. I could say I'm a buddhist, a christian, Shinto, Romani, Shaman, etc... but they are all just words. Drop the surface areas that we all fight over, and you have it. Drop the texts, drop the beliefs, drop the desires, drop the guilt, drop the hate and the love, drop the past, stop worrying about the future, drop the attachments to what you think is right, and what you think is wrong, drop your desire for life after death, and BE.

[Jaymes]

I look to Taoist texts as a primary source of guidance because every word I read rings true with me. After I'd read and thought about it, it wasn't so much a matter of trying to be Taoist as just letting go and acting naturally. I can't say I feel very strongly about Taoism any more than I can feel strongly about my toes or appendix. It's just a part of me.