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Question about how we adress the religion

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
For some time i have noticed that many people say or write " MY religion" or "in MY religion" this got me wondering about how different people look at the religion they believe or follow.
Why does it get presented as if the religion they follow/believe in is "their own" religion? Did they create it?

Or sometimes there is to read "MY God" similar to that the person owns God? :confused:
So one question that arises is: Do some people look at religion and God/s to personal? from a POV of Ego?

Would it be better if people said" in my understanding, God means this" or" The God i believe in say so and so"
Or in any religion with a God or Buddha or other deities," where there is teaching" would it be better if Humans said. In my understanding of the teaching, it means..........
 

PureX

Veteran Member
I think it's better to refer to God and religion as "our own" rather than it is to presume it to be some external, objective reality that exists apart from and beyond ourselves. I think it's more honest and accurate to label our understanding of God and religion as what it is: OUR understanding of such.

I also think that because we are referring to OUR understanding of these things, we are free to alter that understanding in any way we see fit, for whatever reasons we choose, whenever it suits us. One of the biggest reasons I avoid any form of organized religion or group theism is because in nearly every instance of these, they insist of proclaiming their views on God and religion to be some sort of universal reality, when it clearly isn't. And that kind of arrogant dishonesty turn me away, because I believe what Gandhi said is true: that, "lying is the mother of all violence". And that the biggest lies start by lying to ourselves.
 
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SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
For some time i have noticed that many people say or write " MY religion" or "in MY religion" this got me wondering about how different people look at the religion they believe or follow.
Why does it get presented as if the religion they follow/believe in is "their own" religion? Did they create it?

Or sometimes there is to read "MY God" similar to that the person owns God? :confused:
So one question that arises is: Do some people look at religion and God/s to personal? from a POV of Ego?

I don’t think anyone is implying exclusivity when they say “my religion” unless the walk a path that unique to them. As @Rival indicates, it simply means the religion with which they identify.

Would it be better if people said" in my understanding, God means this" or" The God i believe in say so and so"
Or in any religion with a God or Buddha or other deities," where there is teaching" would it be better if Humans said. In my understanding of the teaching, it means..........

I personally use such terminology when I speak of my understandings, but I don’t think it’s necessarily better or necessary.

Why do you take exception to such a trivial thing?
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
I don’t think anyone is implying exclusivity when they say “my religion” unless the walk a path that unique to them. As @Rival indicates, it simply means the religion with which they identify.



I personally use such terminology when I speak of my understandings, but I don’t think it’s necessarily better or necessary.

Why do you take exception to such a trivial thing?
It was only a question that rises when I read the forum, and I could not understand why some people would say those things. Maybe it was the only curiosity from my side.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Generally I find that we all learn from various sources (rarely if ever from just a sole doctrine or creed) and it is a bit of an oversimplification to describe our beliefs by a short label.

As it happens, I also think that we should take responsibility for which teachings we decide to lend prestige to, regardless to the degree of authorship that we may have towards them.

In that sense, yes, we either create our own religions or should accept the duty to act as if we did.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
The pronoun 'my' is misused a lot, and I think it's that simple. Technically, it's not your wife, your country, or your language either. I agree with what Rival said above. Saying 'the country that I am a citizen of', 'the woman I'm married to' the language I'm familiar with' are all too cumbersome. It's a handy shortcut, and most everyone gets it. That's what pronouns do.
 

SomeRandom

Still learning to be wise
Staff member
Premium Member
I agree that it’s merely just shorthand. Which in a language as flowery and intense as English is kind of interesting. But we don’t speak as formally as we perhaps used to.
 

dianaiad

Well-Known Member
For some time i have noticed that many people say or write " MY religion" or "in MY religion" this got me wondering about how different people look at the religion they believe or follow.
Why does it get presented as if the religion they follow/believe in is "their own" religion? Did they create it?

Or sometimes there is to read "MY God" similar to that the person owns God? :confused:
So one question that arises is: Do some people look at religion and God/s to personal? from a POV of Ego?

Would it be better if people said" in my understanding, God means this" or" The God i believe in say so and so"
Or in any religion with a God or Buddha or other deities," where there is teaching" would it be better if Humans said. In my understanding of the teaching, it means..........

Don't get so analytical. It just means "the group I belong to." or "the things I believe in." It's not a claim of 'this belongs to me,' but rather 'I belong to this." You know, like "My school," or "my club,' or "my family..." It's MINE, because I identify with it."

In fact, I would imagine that this is true most of the time it is said.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Don't get so analytical. It just means "the group I belong to." or "the things I believe in." It's not a claim of 'this belongs to me,' but rather 'I belong to this." You know, like "My school," or "my club,' or "my family..." It's MINE, because I identify with it."

In fact, I would imagine that this is true most of the time it is said.
Maybe the question has no meaning to others :) But who is actually this I that people speak of? does it not means people cling to their ego ( very common to do ) But yes in written language the word "I" is used to point at the person
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
I think it's important to remember when replying here that English isn't @Amanaki's first language.

His question is more than valid with the common misuse of the pronoun "my."
 

wizanda

One Accepts All Religious Texts
Premium Member
In my understanding of the teaching
Have occasionally put In 'our' opinion, yet only if I'm citing something directly; the rest is clearly my own understandings, and most might not see it the same.

Tho for me the Source has ultimate knowledge on all things, so it is known by Oneness, and thus we as people should be able to correlate ideas the same - if we can be logical together.....

In my opinion. :innocent:
 

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
For some time i have noticed that many people say or write " MY religion" or "in MY religion" this got me wondering about how different people look at the religion they believe or follow.
Why does it get presented as if the religion they follow/believe in is "their own" religion? Did they create it?

Or sometimes there is to read "MY God" similar to that the person owns God? :confused:
So one question that arises is: Do some people look at religion and God/s to personal? from a POV of Ego?

Would it be better if people said" in my understanding, God means this" or" The God i believe in say so and so"
Or in any religion with a God or Buddha or other deities," where there is teaching" would it be better if Humans said. In my understanding of the teaching, it means..........
I don't think it means anything more or less than a distinguishing of mine being different from yours, as in my religion is Judaism while yours is not. Let's not make more of it than that.
 

Jesuslightoftheworld

The world has nothing to offer us!
For some time i have noticed that many people say or write " MY religion" or "in MY religion" this got me wondering about how different people look at the religion they believe or follow.
Why does it get presented as if the religion they follow/believe in is "their own" religion? Did they create it?

Or sometimes there is to read "MY God" similar to that the person owns God? :confused:
So one question that arises is: Do some people look at religion and God/s to personal? from a POV of Ego?

Would it be better if people said" in my understanding, God means this" or" The God i believe in say so and so"
Or in any religion with a God or Buddha or other deities," where there is teaching" would it be better if Humans said. In my understanding of the teaching, it means..........

yeah, I can see what your saying. I am a Christian and I don’t like the word religion very much. I say “my faith”. Within that, Jesus is MY personal Savior.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
Yep, people are becoming marginally more secular which proves that (a) people are becoming marginally more secular. and (b) the @Skwim eagerly embraces even the slightest opportunity to gloat.

Otherwise, there's not much news here.
 

arthra

Baha'i
Would it be better if people said" in my understanding, God means this" or" The God i believe in say so and so"
Or in any religion with a God or Buddha or other deities," where there is teaching" would it be better if Humans said. In my understanding of the teaching, it means..........

In the Writings of the Baha'i Faith is suggests that the essence of God is unknowable but we can be aware of His attributes and we can learn from His Manifestations such as Krishna, the Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah:

"While the true nature of God will always elude us, the purpose of our lives is to recognise, love, and grow closer to Him. “I have breathed within thee a breath of My own Spirit, that thou mayest be My lover.”4

"What we can know about the unknowable God has been taught to us by the succession of Founders of the great world religions, the Manifestations of God. Throughout the ages, our belief in God—and the paths we have taken towards Him—have been shaped by Their teachings.

"Bahá’u’lláh, the most recent of God’s Manifestations, teaches us that the signs of the existence of God are everywhere: “Every created thing in the whole universe is but a door leading into His knowledge, a sign of His sovereignty, a revelation of His names, a symbol of His majesty, a token of His power, a means of admittance into His straight Path…”5 The beauty, richness, and diversity of the natural world are thus all expressions of the attributes of God. “If we wish to come in touch with the reality of Divinity, we do so by recognizing its phenomena, its attributes and traces, which are widespread in the universe.”6

An Unknowable God | What Bahá’ís Believe
 
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