Religious decisions. (ritual, beliefs, hell, experience, pagans)

[SoulTYPE]

Can people just "decide" to be a certain religion? I mean, would they wake up one day and just think "I might become a buddhist." Is there any celeberations/initiations one must take? (Depending on specific religions)

[Circle_One]

I can't speak for all religions, but I know with Wicca and a few other Pagan religions, one must first study them for quite sometime before actually being able to call themselves "Wiccan". After this period of study, they are usually initiated with a ritual, though I'm not positive what it consists of because it's only done if one wishes to join a coven, not if they plan to be solitary.

Also, with a few Pagan religions there are ceremonies just like baptisms for babies, though most people don't know that.

[SoulTYPE]

Aw I want a no hass religion that lets me look at anime girls.

Well that's a bit fantastic so I will settle for a "less restricted" one.

[Circle_One]

Originally Posted by SoulTYPE01

Aw I want a no hass religion that lets me look at anime girls.

ROFL! Pagans have nothing against looking at anime girls.

Well that's a bit fantastic so I will settle for a "less restricted" one.

It's not really restricted, it's just a hassle if you want to join a coven. But if you were really into it, you wouldn't exactly see it as a hassle, you know?

But, can't someone just decide to be Christian? There isn't much preparation or hassle with that, is there? Other than professing that you accept the Lord into your heart and recognize him as your savior, and all that stuff. (Not Christian, so I don't know exactly, but it's something along those lines)

[SoulTYPE]

Originally Posted by Circle_One

But, can't someone just decide to be Christian? There isn't much preparation or hassle with that, is there? Other than professing that you accept the Lord into your heart and recognize him as your savior, and all that stuff. (Not Christian, so I don't know exactly, but it's something along those lines)

C1, I was thinking the same thing but held back from posting it to reduce the risk of sounding like I am bashing Christians. A good call.

But, there are many that pretend to be Christian. I know these people too.

[Circle_One]

But, there are many that pretend to be Christian. I know these people too.

As do I. They are usually the ones who condemn me to hell for eternity for practicing my "Heathen devil worship" haha!

Off Topic-Ooooh...look 100 posts! Yay! (Yeah, I know, not a big deal, but exciting to me)

[Fluffy]

As do I. They are usually the ones who condemn me to hell for eternity for practicing my "Heathen devil worship" haha!

Those ones are funny! No offense to them but there are some seriously better ways of constructing an argument or point of view than "Burn in hell" and is more of a reflection on them than anyone else. In my personal experience, they will often know very little about Christianity and so can easily be out talked within their own beliefs if you so choose. This goes for all religions by the way. I equally disliked this group of Wiccans who accosted me when I used to wear leather. Im sure if they had talked slightly more politely and explained their arguments better then they might have won me over.

To get back on topic: I think that anyone will find that their beliefs match those of a particular religion though they might never have heard of it. So you could be a Christian without really knowing it. It would be difficult to wake up one day and suddenly decide to be a Christian however since it would require an acceptance of the Christian God and, I don't know about anyone else, but this is not something that can be called up by will alone. Though it is easy to trick yourself into believing that you believe something .

[Lintu]

I always got the impression when I was a Christian growing up that all you had to do was believe in Christianity. At least with the Southern Baptists, the key was "taking Jesus into your heart." After this you would be baptized, which formally initiated you, but the real point at which you became Christian was when you decided it for yourself.

For Judaism it depends a lot on which denomination, but there's usually a period of study, and at the end there is a ritual immersion, circumcision or tiny-amount-of-blood-taking for men, and going before a beit din (from what I can tell, a beit din interviews you to make sure that you're ready for the change). I have Judaism as my religion on my profile because it's what I'm practicing, but I wouldn't call myself Jewish unless I went through all this.

[SoulTYPE]

My old elementary/primary school enforced "COmmunion" in 3rd grade, and "Confirmation" in 6th. Basically they "set" the choice for you. I do not think it fair for a school to set your religion for you, so I just used to go roaming around the school whilst others did their bit.

[Lintu]

Originally Posted by SoulTYPE01

My old elementary/primary school enforced "COmmunion" in 3rd grade, and "Confirmation" in 6th. Basically they "set" the choice for you. I do not think it fair for a school to set your religion for you, so I just used to go roaming around the school whilst others did their bit.

Enforced Confirmation? Wow. And I thought the whole point of confirmation was...confirming what you believed (though who knows for sure about religion at the age of 11-12-13-14 anyway!)