I once was lost but now am found - share your story

[shunyadragon]

As related in the previous post I began to question every church and religion skeptically. In my studies of philosophy I embraced Socratic skepticism. The result was not to reject all religions and philosophies. and not believe, but but to keep all questions on the table, because of the fallible nature of human belief, beyond the more consistent predictable world of science.

The elephant in the room for reasons to believe remained the nature of scripture and claims of Revelation and the relationship between God and Creation and humanity. The problems of origins, translation and interpretation of ancient scripture, and even the scripture of more modern religions like the Baha'i Faith loomed large in contradictions from the human perspective. These problems ultimately ruled out any one church nor religion, and there scripture, as being 'true' from any absolute perspective as many claimed. Progressively I began to move toward the more diverse open ended religious choices like Unitarianism, none temple Buddhism (more on this in later posts), and the Baha'i Faith. Also, Atheism and agnosticism remained the most consistent and reliable, but problematic in considering alternative in the evolving nature of human spiritual experience.

An important source of inspiration for me was the anthropology writings of Joseph Campbell, and his insight into the role myths, legends and ceremonies play in the many diverse cultures throughout the history of humanity and how they evolved and changed with time.

More to follow . . .

 

[omega2xx]

True, but that confirms the problem 'depends,' because 'walking in the right pair of shoes' becomes an anecdotal subjective claim based more on ones culture and the desire of a 'sense of belonging' that results in many diverse choices, mostly based on one'a cultural background, and peer approval.

Although it may sound like it, don't take what I says as self-serving or insulting to your religion, but you are accepting a secular view,of religion. Secularism not only will not, but cannot understand anything with a spiritual basis. I did not have a background in Christianity, in fact I was converted after I had decided never to go the church again.I did not return because of a desire of belonging, and while I like to have peer approval It is not necessry.


My search began in Roman Church high school in Costa Rica in the 60's when the Vatican II was published, and the controversy of reform in the Roman Church. I was considering priesthood in Saint Francis Order, At the same time I began to do an intensive study in comparative religions.

The first conclusion which I call my first little awakening was that an unbiased search 'truth' or validity of a religion and its teachings was not the primary motivation for the reason to believe. There was very little or no effort to understanding other beliefs, and there was a universal problem of a distorted view of those who believe differently, and the primary goal was the egocentric self justification of what one believes. My interest in science was growing, and how religions relate to science, The result was that religions were the fallible human perspective of God and the relationship with humanity and Creation. IF God exists, the nature of God is universal beyond any human perspective of 'What is God?' and 'What is Creation and Revelation?'

My only awakening was that God gave me a spiritual gift that went against my nature. When I was in college I made a vow never to read another book if I graduated. I graduated a I kept the vow for 20years, but when I was converted, I had a need to read and study God's word because He was going to make me a teacher of His word. I did not start reading and studying the Bible with the idea of becoming a teacher. I just had an inner need to do it. I have never ask to teach, but other have ask me to teach.

I accepted the possibility that God(s) do not exist, but realized that atheism itself is philosophical alternative, like all possible choices of Theism, is not based on objective verifiable evidence..

Conservative Christianity say without any doubt or hesitation, God does exist and IMO, science prove is it.It is impossible to have a creation without creator and you can't have one that works perfectly all the time without an Intelligent designer. The only science in the Bible is "after their kind," which is proven by observation 1000's of times every day.

You are right about at least one thing, man corrupts every religion he belongs to.

Still searching and exploring ALL alternatives, and . . . 'everything is in pencil and in reality I do not know.' As a fallible human I found it illogical and irrational to cling to any belief system that claims exclusivity especially ancient worldviews.

More to follow . . .

God luck on your quest. The Bible says God will reveal Himself to all who search for Him with all their heart. I believe you are doing that. He called me after I had quit looking. so there is hope for everyone who really wants to know.

 

[shunyadragon]

Although it may sound like it, don't take what I says as self-serving or insulting to your religion, but you are accepting a secular view,of religion. Secularism not only will not, but cannot understand anything with a spiritual basis. I did not have a background in Christianity, in fact I was converted after I had decided never to go the church again.I did not return because of a desire of belonging, and while I like to have peer approval It is not necessary.

Your misreading my post. I DO NOT accept any view, theist, secular nor atheist/agnostic on face value, because of the reality of many diverse conflicting religious and philosophical beliefs and claims held strongly based on ancient scripture or reject off hand the scripture is the elephant in the room you are ignoring,

The other elephant in the room is science, which is the most consistent and predictive of any discipline concerning the nature of our physical existence. Yes, you cannot look to science as guidance for the spiritual side of humanity, but you cannot look to religion for guidance of natural physical nature of our existence.

What is your religious background before becoming a Christian?

The rest of your post was poorly formatted and I could not respond to it.

 

[syo]

I was a seeker, found my religion, but I haven't stopped searching, so I still think of myself as a seeker.

 

[SabahTheLoner]

I always wanted to have a religion to call my own. I didn't feel like Christianity was my own. I became atheistic and was non-religious at a very early age. Atheism was something that happened naturally. When I started to question who God was, I didn't believe in him anymore. Not rejecting that he exists, I just felt like I wasn't obligated to an invisible force who never seemed to work in my favor. I can't be happy if misfortune and sad feelings were happening to me all the time. And when I did pray to God, things seem to have gotten worse. So I abandoned faith entirely.

After some years of being non-religious, I started to notice that I seem to be able to sense spirits. I talked to the energies that I felt and noticed that they made me happier, because I could tell them what was wrong, and even if they couldn't do anything, it made me gain courage and strength to move on.

After I moved to another state, I met a Wiccan and started to reconsider my non-religious stance after I learned about Wiccan traditions. I was always an atheist, but I also always felt I was something more. I ended up not joining Wicca because I couldn't agree with the Rede (in fact, the Wiccan I met, who clearly believed in the Rede to do no harm, emotionally harmed me, even though I did nothing to force them into a situation.) Eventually I researched a bunch of other belief systems: Satanism (in many forms), Paganism, Witchcraft (Wiccan magic and general witchy stuff) and the occult in general. I ended up agreeing to the philosophies they had, sometimes perfectly, and now I practice a mix of atheistic, spiritual beliefs. It has helped me to heal, grow and become happier as a whole.

And here I am now.

 

[metis]

As a born-again agnostic, I nevertheless did develop a deep appreciation for many different faiths, and let me include secular humanism in that group as well. Many of the nicest people I have ever met, including a young Italian Catholic woman I dated over 50 years ago who changed my life, and another Italian Catholic woman that I've been married to for 50 years this last March, I saw and still see the effects their deep faith had on them and then I, which in turn has been passed on to our "kids" and grandkids.

 

[shunyadragon]

I actually was never lost, nor ever found. You cannot find which you have not lost.

 

[trablano]

I am a seeker and I always be a seeker, though I am also watchful to learn from what life gives me and I try to be a faithful man who does not forget what I have been given by the gods. I was brought up as an atheist and more or less loved that perspective though that changed when the supernatural stomped into my life in an intense time I had in 2000. It was intense and partly good and partly bad, I mean I discovered that "there is something or someone out there" but in the same time I was also hit by a demonic affliction in my mind which sometimes played out as an illness (schizophrenia) and sometimes as trips I would occasionally take into sometimes good and sometimes bad realms of life (and sometimes mixed). I tried to explain these things with christianity I first and I did get in touch with Jesus but over time I figured that christianity could not be my only material and so I wrote poetry and explored the thoughts of other poets like Rilke and Pablo Neruda and various others (Georg Trakl, Else Lasker-Schüler, Heinz Kahlau). I also tried to furthen my political horizon and since then I am a spiritual communist/socialist, depending not just on feasibility but also on the democratic will of the people. Then I got into hinduism and hellenism and I became a polytheist and specifically try to search the gods in the context of a life with agape love in it. Sometimes I have been rejected and sometimes I have been accepted. Being open to more than just one God and one religious way of thinking remained very important. Right now it is my aim to weaken the false ego in my life though hindu exercises, to get rid of my vulnerability to demonic fears through both christian and hindu exercises and to reduce my "bentness" of self that I had acquired in my time in fundie christianity (was never really a member but took them serious after a series of shock events in my life in 2006).