A Shocking Discovery

[SearchingForGod]

And when I say "shocking", I mean that this should have been obvious to me, but I'm only now getting this concept.

I started feeling homesick for Islam again yesterday night and decided to look up some quotes to help cheer me up, and what I read struck some chords with me, because Islam is where I came from and back when I was muslim, I held God very close to my heart. I wonder whatever happened to that, because even now on this journey of mine, I'm not feeling God's presence as strongly as I used to.

With Judaism, the teachings are perfect and wonderful, but now that my mood is more leveled out (thanks to the medication that I'm on), it's harder to find the spark that brought me to it in the first place. With Christianity, the figure of Jesus in inspiring, but I can't bring myself to believe that he is the Son of God (at least, not literally). I can only look at him as a prophet perhaps, but not God in the flesh or anything like that.

Anyways, this isn't about that exactly. This is about my discovery. What I have discovered is that I can exist within any religion and still retain the things that I believe and my own identity. I don't have to completely conform to the beliefs of any one religion in order to feel at home in it. I don't need to try to get rid of my sexual orientation simply because some might say my existence is sinful. I don't need to believe that anyone who isn't of my faith is going to Hell. And I don't need to take the sayings of a book completely literally, especially if there are scientific errors within it.

I think I might just pick up my Qur'an again and start reading it, just to check and see if I don't want to change my mind on Islam again. I could always be liberal and muslim and I don't think God would mind very much at all. But in the end, it's all between me and God, and only he would know about that.

 

[YmirGF]

I think I might just pick up my Qur'an again and start reading it, just to check and see if I don't want to change my mind on Islam again. I could always be liberal and muslim and I don't think God would mind very much at all. But in the end, it's all between me and God, and only he would know about that.

It is true that context is king, but one can take interpretation a tad too far at times especially when dealing with emotion-laden issues. That said, what caught my attention was your very last sentence. It is both amusing and troubling how we play cat and mouse with our beliefs and feelings. We pretend to not know things that are within our sphere of understanding to grasp. Why would you not be privy to the why and prefer the answers lay solely in the mind of some narcissistic god?

 

[SearchingForGod]

It is true that context is king, but one can take interpretation a tad too far at times especially when dealing with emotion-laden issues. That said, what caught my attention was your very last sentence. It is both amusing and troubling how we play cat and mouse with our beliefs and feelings. We pretend to not know things that are within our sphere of understanding to grasp. Why would you not be privy to the why and prefer the answers lay solely in the mind of some narcissistic god?

When you look at it that way, I suppose it does make sense that I should put more faith in my own opinion of what God would think of me. Still, I added that for anyone who decided to disagree and make a negative comment about how God wouldn't accept me. In the end, only he could make that decision, so that's part of why I added that.

 

[YmirGF]

When you look at it that way, I suppose it does make sense that I should put more faith in my own opinion of what God would think of me. Still, I added that for anyone who decided to disagree and make a negative comment about how God wouldn't accept me. In the end, only he could make that decision, so that's part of why I added that.

I'm not keen on any supposed "god" that turns its back on it's own creations. Not much of a god, really...

 

[SearchingForGod]

I'm not keen on any supposed "god" that turns its back on it's own creations. Not much of a god, really...

Honestly, I agree with you to a degree. The main reason I am looking for religion isn't exactly for God's judgement purposes, but mostly because without it I feel empty and have trouble feeling like my life has any meaning. It's depressing.

 

[YmirGF]

Honestly, I agree with you to a degree. The main reason I am looking for religion isn't exactly for God's judgement purposes, but mostly because without it I feel empty and have trouble feeling like my life has any meaning. It's depressing.

Ah, grasshopper, you have meaning. The purpose you make is your own. It is your job to make an impact and to change the world how you see fit. No god is required. Feel better about yourself and the feelings of emptiness will subside.

 

[George-ananda]

I think I might just pick up my Qur'an again and start reading it, just to check and see if I don't want to change my mind on Islam again. I could always be liberal and muslim and I don't think God would mind very much at all. But in the end, it's all between me and God, and only he would know about that.

Nice post. I think there can be much good from accepting a liberal Christian/Islamic viewpoint. But as you are seeker, may I suggest going one step further in looking at some newer age things that have sprung from those traditions like Neale Walsch's 'Conversations With God". This might just hit on where your thinking is going.

 

[james bond]

It is true that context is king, but one can take interpretation a tad too far at times especially when dealing with emotion-laden issues. That said, what caught my attention was your very last sentence. It is both amusing and troubling how we play cat and mouse with our beliefs and feelings. We pretend to not know things that are within our sphere of understanding to grasp. Why would you not be privy to the why and prefer the answers lay solely in the mind of some narcissistic god?

Since you outlined what he said in red, I think you're just taking what he said and answering only a portion. What about his reading the Qur'an to overcome his homesick feeling? What about his saying he could be comfortable with any religion or take comfort/benefit from them? What about his talking about his moods and medication? It sounds like depression. What about getting rid of his sexual orientation comment? Is this changeable?

It's like I took this portion,

>>I don't need to take the sayings of a book completely literally, especially if there are scientific errors within it.<<

and said science that is wrong would show something that is correct as errors. Look at how the Nazis took science and used it to exterminate Jews? Or what others have done to commit genocide against blacks. How can someone say that we descended from apes when apes still eat bananas and climb trees and not contribute any posts to RF? Maybe some do that; Some appear to look human, but doesn't show much intelligence. One can tell that there isn't much rational thinking behind it. What if the science that you state does not accept the supernatural? The immaterial? And says that only the material is important? That eliminates a lot of things that we hold near and dear such as love, the mind, thoughts and ideas to name a few. We still have to use science as a search for the truth until we can be sure that it is as close to perfect as we can get. What about science that states something is science when the hypothesis is testable and falsifiable? We do not explore our world this way. Very few, if any, only believes in that which is testable and falsifiable. That's why we continue our search for the truth. Science is only one of the ways. The others are religion and experience. It means yeah, it's okay to read the Qur'an unless it leads to wrong science or exterminating somebody.

 

[arthra]

But in the end, it's all between me and God, and only he would know about that.

Well I can agree with you there... in the end. Of course you could ask yourself is there something you can do while you're here? Can you make a "difference" somehow in the world around you?