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Religious/Spiritual Disposition?
I was thinking about different perspectives on religion, and I began to wonder what you all defined yourselves as in terms of your theology or lack thereof - that is, if you have a definition of yourself in this capacity.
I'm not sure I do - I have always sort of believed in God in the sense that I was exposed to many different religions growing up, thus I've always understood that the concept of 'God' is interpreted in many ways, but I would say I had a relatively clear sense that whatever "it" was, it definitely existed.
I never questioned the existence of a supernatural being (for lack of a better term) until relatively recently, more because I wanted to believe in the ideas I'd grown up with than because I had any deeply held belief in something.
Anyway, I consider myself agnostic these days, but I was wondering about others in this group? What do you consider yourself to be? Or what are your thoughts on the idea of religion, etc.?
I'm not sure I do - I have always sort of believed in God in the sense that I was exposed to many different religions growing up, thus I've always understood that the concept of 'God' is interpreted in many ways, but I would say I had a relatively clear sense that whatever "it" was, it definitely existed.
I never questioned the existence of a supernatural being (for lack of a better term) until relatively recently, more because I wanted to believe in the ideas I'd grown up with than because I had any deeply held belief in something.
Anyway, I consider myself agnostic these days, but I was wondering about others in this group? What do you consider yourself to be? Or what are your thoughts on the idea of religion, etc.?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ronnica on -
I consider myself a follower of Christ. You might ask, "What kind?" but I don't really like to label myself denominationally, though the closest fit would probably be Southern Baptist (though that by no means I accept everything they say as dogma). I seek to live out my faith in Christ, though I do fail more often than I'd like to admit. My faith affects everything I do.
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Permalink Reply by cooper on -
Brought up Roman Catholic, attended a Quaker "Friends" School n Australia most of my life until high school I am agnostic. I may only be agnostic because I'm to chicken to call myself an atheist, but that is yet to be determined. The fear there is nothing else, is in my opinion, the thing that makes most people believe. It's probably the reason I do not designate myself an atheist.
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Permalink Reply by Erini CS on -
What Friends school?? Not that I would actually know, since I haven't been to Australia... But I was born and raise a Quaker... still am one to this day. I don't attend a Meeting right now, but there aren't very many in Chicago... It'd take at least an hour for me to get to the closest one.
From what I've heard, Friends schools are generally really good... but most of them are very expensive, which to me is an issue (other Friends have the same problem with them)....
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Permalink Reply by cooper on
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It's in Hobart, I lived in Tasmania most of my elementary and middle school years. The school, looking back, was really very good.
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Permalink Reply by Oribi on
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I am spiritual, but not religious. I believe that all religions are correct and that we are all manipulating the same 'life energy'. Everything is made up of this energy and we manipulate it in ways that are the easiest for us to comprehend. Christians manipulate this energy through prayer, theistic Satanists through rituals, Wiccans through nature worship, etc. So really no religion is "wrong" - we just follow what's easiest for us to wrap our minds around.
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Permalink Reply by Kristi Rifenbark on -
From the moment I was born I grew up in a small christian religious group which has been described as a cult by others - because of the way they deviate from the typical christian beliefs. As a woman in the group there was no cutting your hair, no wearing makeup, only wearing a dress/skirt, etc. I had decided fairly early on that these people were hypocritical and a delusional but for some reason I held on to this group; finally around the age of 24 I completely cut that out of my life. After I started researching other religions and their beliefs and practices I have come to the conclusion that I do not want or need any religion in my life and now consider myself agnostic.
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Permalink Reply by Muppet on -
The ever popular "Spiritual but not religious".
I like elements of religion - prayer, ritual - but basically I believe in G-d, just not in the men running religions nowadays.
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Permalink Reply by Amiable on -
I am an atheist because no proof has ever been shown for anything supernatural.
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Permalink Reply by Writing to Reach You on -
I'm a very liberal Christian.
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Permalink Reply by Dawn on -
I think this is a very interesting thread and I like reading everyone's responses.
I am a Christian, though I cringe at the term because, sadly, there are many negative connotations to the term nowadays. I hate pushing what I believe on anyone, but I will proudly talk about it if asked. I believe in God because I think the world is too complex and amazing to have just existed out of nowhere. I don't have a denomination. I think it's silly that denominations fight and I think it makes them look like they have no clue what Christianity is really about.. I also think that Christian churches in general have become too seeker-friendly and there is too much emphasis placed on the person in power (AKA the pastor).
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Permalink Reply by Janie on -
I guess I would classify myself as Wiccan, purely because I believe there is energy in everything. I also believe that if one wanted to, they could harness that energy at least in some way or another. I believe in treating each other and the earth with some respect. That being said, I don't really classify myself as a witch like a lot of Wiccans, and doing any sort of ritual is very rare for me. I choose to act upon what I am comfortable with. I don't go around telling people I am Wiccan because I don't see it as relevant, I suppose. It's not a central part of my life, it's just a part of my belief system. I guess a part of me is embarrassed about it to some small extent because of the idea I think so many people have about Wicca. For the record, I'm not into unicorns and my favourite colour is neither black nor purple. I don't own a robe or any fairy or dragon statuettes. And a lot of us aren't, but a lot of us are, and that's why I stay mum about it a lot of the time.
And I think religion should be more open-ended, which is I guess why Wicca sits right with me. I believe that you should find a religion that works with what you believe and not alter your beliefs to sit with a religion. The bible brings me great comfort. There are parts of Buddhism that speak to me. Why should I feel weird about reading the first chapter of The Corinthians just because I also believe that life flows within the earth?
I find the idea of any form of faith beautiful, and believe that no matter what you have faith in, embrace it.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Bishop on -
I would have to say I am an atheist. I feel like I've been talking about this more and more recently but I think its only because it's been coming up more in conversation.
My most recent thoughts I've been wrestling with have been, If God does exist, as a supernatural beyond comprehension "thing" that controls everything .... would it really have human emotions like jealousy. Why does it get upset at me for not believing in it. That alone is enough to discount religion completely and recognize that it was just an easy way to control groups of people by scaring them into conforming to a specific idea.
And no, i do not credit religion for our present day morals and laws. I credit natural selection and that phenomenon of adapting to your surroundings to survive. We learned that by killing each other we seize to exist ... so we stopped doing it. Not because a supreme being tells us not to.
That's just me grazing the surface of some of my most recent thoughts. I could go on for hours about how I don't like religion but I've also learned that it's very hard and near impossible to change people's minds about this. We all hate to be wrong, including myself.
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