Pitch your religion! (ritual, Earth, reincarnation, beliefs, experience)

[michel]

Being awkward (which is a bit of a habit of mine), I have never been able to subscribe to an "off the peg" Religion.

I believe in a single "God" (for want of a better word); I don't even want to make an effort to describe him/her/it, because that would be totally beyond my human ability.

I believe that "God" (apart from the integral 'core' - the innermost part of him/her/it) has the ability to 'shed' parts of himself as Souls.

These souls have to learn to be 'equal to him' through lifetime lessons here on Earth (who knows, maybe other planets too?); the souls carry on incarnating until they become perfect enough to re-assimilate themselves as one with God.

I believe in Jesus Christ, and in his incarnation, and the reason for it.

Come to think of it, it makes "sense" of the conception of the trinity; "three parts of the whole". In fact, since (to me) we are all a part of God, God has innumerable parts to him.

Heaven is the re-joining with him, hell is not being ready to re-join him; to have to keep on reincarnating to achieve that 'perfection'.

[Freedomelf]

Godischange, have you ever thought about submitting your site to the fictional religion category of the ODP (Open Directory Project)? Although I realize that it may not be "fictional", just as my religion isn't fiction to me, I have found that it is a good place to find people who are searching for something that is not mainstream. Many members of the Calyr faith were found through the ODP, and I would be interested in seeing yours listed in that category. (And besides, I think that you would see your entry get approved more quickly in that category than in any other. )

Contact me if you want more info on it.

[Djamila]

Me, I'm Muslim. For me, the fundamental core of Islam is believing in one God and striving to follow the straight path in your life. Everything else varies from different Islamic groups and cultures to the next, but these two principles are universal in the Islamic faith.

I wouldn't necessarily 'pitch' my faith though. I don't believe in trying to influence other people.

[Hacker]

Originally Posted by Maize

-The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
-Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
-Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
-A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
-The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
-The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
-Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

That fits me like a glove!

[Random]

My own personal religion is called Dolorosa. It was born of my estrangment from Catholicism and a lot of existential frustration. I laboured for many years as a lone practitioner of freeform mysticism to establish its boundaries through revelation.

Briefly, it involves belief in a panentheistic God, reincarnation, nondual spiritual evolution and salvation by Theosis. It also has an intricate cosmology, a consistent humanisitc philosophical stance and a commitment to Love in practice.

[PureX]

I pitched my religion a long time ago (right out the door). And life is much better, now.

[Random]

Originally Posted by PureX

I pitched my religion a long time ago (right out the door). And life is much better, now.

PureX, you do know you have "Taoist/Christian" displayed on your RF profile, right?

[PureX]

Originally Posted by Godlike

PureX, you do know you have "Taoist/Christian" displayed on your RF profile, right?

Yup. See Post #4 of this link.

[FerventGodSeeker]

I think most people (Americans, at least) have a general idea of what Christianity (specifically Catholicism) teaches, but just to summarize, Catholics believe that God, an immaterial, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent being, created the universe, making all things good and wholesome, including man. However, through the disobedience of mankind, the world has become an imperfect, in fact often evil, place. However, in order to redeem mankind, out of His love for us, God sent His only Son from heaven to Earth to die in our place. God had mandated from the beginning that to turn away from Him meant death, and therefore Jesus Christ (God's Son) died when we deserved to die. Jesus then rose from the dead, defeating both sin and death. Through the sacrifice of His Son, the penalty for turning away from God has been paid, and we are called to accept His gift of salvation, which is the opportunity to spend eternity with our Creator in heaven, forgiven from the guilt of our wrongdoing. Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong summarizes the Catholic Gospel (good news) like this: "We are saved and attain eternal life by the blood of Jesus, shed on our behalf when He died on the cross and took our sins upon Himself. And we have the promise that all three Persons of the Trinity: God the Father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit, will come and dwell within us and help us to be Jesus' disciples and to live holy lives, devoted to God, and in service to others, with great peace and joy, if we are regenerated and have thus entered into communion with the Triune God.
Catholics believe that baptism, the Eucharist, and other sacraments play very important roles in the Christian life and aid in ultimate attainment of salvation (which is always by Grace Alone, in the final analysis), and that God left us an authoritative Church, which preserved His apostolic doctrine."

One of the largest Catholic sites on the Internet is www.catholic.com
In addition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is the official statement of beliefs of the Church, can be found online in English, here: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm
The personal webpage of my favorite Catholic apologist, Dave Armstrong, is here: http://socrates58.blogspot.com/

FerventGodSeeker