Why Did You Chose Your Form Of Religion?

[zorro307]

went to Episcopal church until early teens, Christian prep schools, went to Methodist center during college, later in 20's tried the "man's search for meaning" visiting various protestant denominations Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal (same as little kid too even a few unitarian's. stopped in mid 30's now in my mid 40's I still like to think I'm a Christian hopefully GOD agrees with me, and starting to actually read the bible to see in print all the stories I heard in Sunday school classes & services

as for Catholicism vs. the protestants, I have started looking into this too. I really admire the Catholics for their ability to stick together the past 2000 years fighting amongst themselves to resolve issues, while the protestants just split to form a new denom. I can see many benefits to both approaches because the prots get more people involved with theology reading their bibles but then how to know who actually is a Christian because they all have their own different interpretations. the Catholics have bishops & a pope to decide all that, so I can live my life with a few basic rules and not spend all my time trying to determine what a Christian is

 

[Ody]

Welcome to RF

 

[ΩRôghênΩ]

Over time i experienced a mystical and universal connecion with god by extreme prayer, chanting, bible reading, and meditation. I found that God is an ultimate universal spirit, rather than just a god of the jews. I also found that God was an ultimate immaterial Spirit of Light. after this connection going from Christianity to the more mystical side (though my religion is more unique than anything else) i found that I couldnt doubt the Light that was shining in my heart.

Actually, right now i am writing a book on my unique religion.

 

[Mr. Hair]

Well, I'm not sure if I 'chose' my religion, I'm not even sure if I'd call it a religion...

In my own way I seek harmony with Tao. Some would argue I'm not very good at it and sometimes I'd agree with them. As for why, I'm not sure that words can define why anyone chooses their faith. It felt like my personal path; when I began learning about Taoism and Taoist thinkers, in a little of it I found a reflection of what I already felt and believed, and in a lot I found a clarity, wisdom and potential that I felt I was lacking.

As for whether it is true or not; I think for me, right here and right now, it's true enough.

 

[Ody]

Welcome to RF Nordic :jiggy:

 

[ΩRôghênΩ]

Wait a sec. You asked for details on how we arrived at our current religion. If Bangbang feels that the Abrahamic God is cruel and disgusting, I certainly think that's a relevant detail! I agree with him and if you're going to tell me that I must refrain from calling God cruel and disgusting then everyone else here must refrain from saying such things about Lucifer as well! I can just imagine how well that's going to go over.

I believe that you are seeing your religion as offensive to other people so you are being defensive of it in a maniacal manner. Calm down. I am against your religion, but im not going to banter you about it. i just pray that you fall upon the right path. Thats all.

 

[ButcherGEIN]

Because I felt depressed when I tried to believe in god and christ and it just didn't work for me. My life actually got worse!

Thelema fulfills me and interests me on a level beyond what any other system has.

 

[Buttons*]

Because I felt depressed when I tried to believe in god and christ and it just didn't work for me. My life actually got worse!

Thelema fulfills me and interests me on a level beyond what any other system has.

I'll bet you havent tried Choodianism!

 

[1nharmony]

I suppose labeling myself a heretic is not a religion, per se, but it puts me in some distinguished company. Because he believed the world was round, many people considered Christopher Columbus to be a heretic. Even Jesus was considered a heretic by many of his time. Here is how I have come to the position of holding views that are not commonly accepted.

As a teen and young adult I called myself a Christian. I now realize that I was "taught" to be a Christian through indoctrination forced upon me in my younger years and then by my willing self-deception (Bible studies) in later years. As questions and doubts mounted, however, I became disillusioned. The "truth" was not setting me free, but instead was stifling and replete with guilt trips. So I went in search of what was real and true.

I have not found that any particular religion "feels right" as others have proclaimed in this thread. What I HAVE learned is that people are incredibly capable of self-induced brain washings when they find a "path" that suits them or thier personality. They begin researching a belief system and the more it "feels right", the more they read and study, the more they "believe". I have noted this here on RF time and time again.

In my case, I happen to love nature and the outdoors, so I find myself very comfortable with Native American ways of living and thinking. I cannot quite get comfortable with the entire philosophy, but it probably comes closest to what I think about God. And that is that if there really IS some great, incredible superhuman spiritual being that wants to connect with us.........if there is a God............then we wouldn't have to be taught about it. This "God" would commune with our spirits and we would know intuitively, or spiritually, all that it might wish us to know. The Native American Indian trusted this spiritual communion with thier Great Spirit more than any other people I know of. And this trust was well deserved, since the "visions" they recieved (generally through the sacrifice of prayer and fasting) were quite accurate.

The fact that people must be taught about a god, or must read and research on thier own to learn about any of the possible belief systems out there regarding God, strongly suggests to me that god is a creation of man.

Through much reading, deep thinking and soul-searching of my own I have come to a place of inner peace and harmony with my own thoughts and beliefs, which at this point seem to lean towards gnosticism at the least. Yet, I will always be looking for new knowledge and wisdom. :bow:

 

[9harmony]

I was raised Catholic and thought I was comfortable with my faith except it always bothered me that everyone else was going to go to hell... When I was 4-5 I would tell my family that I knew I would witness Christ's return. They thought I was silly...
I was probably 9 when I first heard of the Baha'i Faith...Listening to a Seals and Crofts album and noticed "from the Baha'i Sacred Writings" under some of the lyrics...I ran around the house asking everyone what's this, what's this...no-one knew. 19 years later...I applied for a secretarial position at a Community Action Agency. I felt the interview went will and was optimistic as to the outcome. I received a call saying I did not get the position but would I come in to interview for the position that was vacated by the person who did get that job. I went in for the interview. I felt it went even better than the first and I knew when I left there that I really wanted this position. I went home feeling confident and nervous at the same time. So I closed my eyes and prayed "Dear God, if it be your Will, may I please get this job" Instantly I knew I had to write a letter saying how much I would enjoy the job and promised they wouldn't be disappointed. So I did. A few days later I received another call. This time saying, "when can you start?".

So I began my new job in November -92. I was now clerical support for the Iowa WIC Program...we would set up mobile clinics in nine Iowa counties. I used to be on the WIC program with my children and always thought that I would enjoy that position and now here I was...It was fascinating to me that this was not even the job I originally applied for. My co-workers were all quite spiritual people, 3 Catholics, including myself, Several other Christian denominations and 1 Baha'i. I didn't realize she was a Baha'i until some time later when one of my Catholic co-workers said "Don't mind Janet, she belongs to this weird religion, and doesn't eat for long periods of time." Of course that peaked my curiosity so one day when Janet and I were working together alone I asked her what religion she belonged to . She told me she was a Baha'i and told me a little about it. I recognized the word Baha'i and asked is she had any literature I could read. A few days later she brought me "Thief in the Night" by William Sears. I couldn't put it down, this was all so incredible, I set out on a thorough investigation. I read everything I could put my hands on. The principles of this faith were everything I had always believed in, I just hadn't known the source of my beliefs. Now I did. I signed my card in March '93.

Janet later told me that Jan (our boss) had decided to hire another lady, but didn't call her right away as she usually did. She procrastinated just long enough to receive my letter and called me that night. It's still so amazing to me how things worked out. If I would have gotten the job I originally applied for, I would never have gotten to know Janet. It is so Awe-inspiring to actually witness His invisible hand at work.

 

[Darkwolf]

One of the gods came knockin'. Anubis visited me, and as I was looking up information about him on the internet, I came across Kemetic religion. A lot of the concepts were very interesting to me, such as the idea that god is both one and many. I had a similar belief, and to see that there was a religion that believed that as well was exciting. Then there is the concept of ma'at. My personal code of ethics was to do what was right within a given situation. Concrete rules seemed unrealistic to me, since in any situation there are a number of factors involved. And here was a religion that didn't have a set of rules, but a concept that one should simply do what is right. It was a big 'click' for me.

The other religions I've studied and been involved in have never felt as right as Kemetic religion.

 

[Ody]

Thank you for posting welcome to RF