• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Wondering if I belong in a syncretic religion

I've been here before. In the past, due to my conflicting beliefs with Islam, I chose to pursue Unitarian Universalism so I could believe in whatever I wanted without the pressure to conform to any sort of creed. Then, a year later, I decided to pack up and leave on a journey to find where I truly belong. What exactly do I believe in and how do I want to conduct my life based on those beliefs? These were answers that I could have asked myself while at the UU Church, but I decided that doing a more in-depth search by visiting other places of worship and immersing myself in their ways would be better. I'm glad that I chose to do this too, because it gave me a better appreciation and understanding of each religion I came into contact with. I've found beauty in each religion, and that's wonderful. Something I never thought I would have realized.

But now I'm at a place where I'm starting to figure out more of where I might need to be. I'm wondering what my rabbi will have to say about this, but I'm currently at a fork in the road where I'm split between Judaism and Islam. I believe in the core beliefs that Reform Judaism has to offer, and yet when it comes to ways to connect with G-d in a meaningful way, I identify more with Islam's way of doing things. It's likely because I was raised muslim, but it's still important to me. I don't think G-d would really mind, but it sure as heck would mind to everyone else around me. I'm dipping my feet in two pools at once (for now, anyways) and I'm just wondering if I shouldn't just go back to the UU Church. I'd be fine there and no one would judge me, but then maybe there's a way I can do this and still pick a path. I don't know. I'll have to ask my rabbi later on at our next appointment.

This has been another rambling session by SFG.
 

arthra

Baha'i
I'm dipping my feet in two pools at once (for now, anyways) and I'm just wondering if I shouldn't just go back to the UU Church. I'd be fine there and no one would judge me, but then maybe there's a way I can do this and still pick a path. I don't know. I'll have to ask my rabbi later on at our next appointment.

Baha'is are sometimes accused of being syncretist... but we do have our own Writings and regulations. Cafeteria religion as they call it means I suppose you don't have to have many standards or measures. What do you think?
 

Shem Ben Noah

INACTIVE
I get where you are, even though I have a Xian background. I've been a practicing Jew for 25 years, yet don't feel I've had the connection to God that I crave. Nothing works, all falls short. Never tried UU but seems like a good place to seek from. Perhaps no religion is best, though all have some things right. I feel what I was meant to be was a Ger Toshav, but the Jews won't re-establish the Ger Toshav, so I'm without a path.
 
Thank you for your responses everyone. It's nice to know that I'm not all that alone in my search, and it's also good to remember that, yes, I don't need to belong to anything unless I choose to.

Hope I'm not spamming the Seeker's section with too many posts, by the way. It's just nice to be able to share my journey with other people who are willing to listen to me.
 
Top