18 replies to this topic

[Eggie]

Do you/do you not believe in anything, and why? Were you raised religious? What do you think happens after we die? Do you worship? How do you feel about religion and state, do you think they should be run hand-in-hand or no?

 

I'm interested in hearing your opinions and perspectives. All I ask is that it's kept civil.

[Adam]

Religion is fine as a moral compass, but the second your religion impedes on someone else's right to live their life...then there's an issue. Your religion shouldn't impede on someone else wanting to get married. Your religion shouldn't allow you to alter a child's body without his or her consent (circumcision is oh so very wrong, unless there's an immediate health risk). Your religion shouldn't dictate what anyone else does with their body. Your religion shouldn't tell you to hurt others because they don't believe in your crap.

 

That being said -- I was raised Lutheran, but I don't buy a majority of the stuff the bible says, and science has seemed to disprove a lot of the writings. I don't worship, and don't plan to any time in the near future. I've never gone into a church service, and felt good about myself. I always heard something along the lines of "You're a sinner, and you DESERVE to die."...nope nope and nope. Church and state should two completely separate entities.

[KaibaSama]

Religion is fine as a moral compass, but the second your religion impedes on someone else's right to live their life...then there's an issue. Your religion shouldn't impede on someone else wanting to get married. Your religion shouldn't allow you to alter a child's body without his or her consent (circumcision is oh so very wrong, unless there's an immediate health risk). Your religion shouldn't dictate what anyone else does with their body. Your religion shouldn't tell you to hurt others because they don't believe in your crap.

 

I believe this as well. I was raised Jewish (don't have an opinion on circumcision though), and I'll go to temple sometimes on Friday nights, and I'll go for High Holy Days, but that's about all I do with my religion. On some Fridays our services are done with a ton of music, guitars, pianos, rain-sticks and such, rather than just the usual singing of the prayers. Those are always really fun to go to. We get cookies and tea/coffee/punch after services and those are always delicious. 

 

As for what happens after we die, I don't know. I haven't seen any proof of anything one way or another (so no poof of heaven, yet no proof that we just lie in the ground), so I don't really believe anything that people/religions say happens after we die. If someone can find me some actual proof of something, then I might believe that. 

[Swar]

I don't know what I believe. Sometimes I wonder if there really is a God out there (not a human God, but a superior entity kinda thing). My family is Catholic, but my parents never forced me into anything other than going to church when someone died. I'm thankful for that, because my cousin, whose parents are extremely religious, had no choice into believing in what he wants. He's only 12, and I can see he's not interested in much of that, but he has no choice.

When something really good happens to me, I wonder if it was just luck, coincidence or a stronger force that made it happen. I have my doubts about what happens after we die. I'm more inclined into believing that we simply die, poof.

I don't think church should be working with state, and I don't worship (and probably never will).

[Torque]

I think it causes more harm than good. Physically, mentally, socially, and morally.

[Fikri]

i'd probably be a really devout muslim if islam doesn't prohibit homosexuality because i'm such a raging homo.  my family is REALLY religious and my dad is the neighbourhood mosque's committee member. since i don't wanna offend my friends/family i still join them for prayers and whatnot but any chance that i got i'll avoid doing any of the practices because there are no point.

 

i'm not gonna say i'm an atheist tho. more like agnostic? there's still a part of me wanting to believe in god. perhaps this is the result of years of brainwash lol. not sure what will happen after death tho. i hope we will be reincarnated. that'd be cool.

 

and yeah government should be kept secular. religion is a personal matter who should only affect the believer.

[Eggie]

If I offend anybody with my views, I apologize. That's not my intention.

 

I attended a private Catholic school for 10 years by the wish of my overtly religious grandmother and I was indoctrinated from a very young age. One day during a school mass when I was 13 something suddenly clicked and amidst the drone-like responses from the church audience it started to feel like a brainwashing session. I started researching the validity of what I had been taught for so many years and started questioning what I had been told from nearly day one. Ever since, I've become a firm believer in evolution and no longer believe in any sort of deity or higher power much to the dismay of my family. I have no problem with anybody believing in whatever they want to believe and I understand that religion is comforting to many people, but I just can't bring myself to believe in something that I find to be impossible just for sheer comfort. I personally don't need religion to have morals and a concept of right or wrong, and I honestly don't believe that the world would fall into anarchy in the absence of religious teachings.

 

As uncomforting as it sounds, I believe death is much like how it was before we were born; simply nothing. I don't believe in a heaven/hell, souls, or the paranormal. The idea of reincarnation intrigues me, but only as an idea and I don't believe it has any basis in reality.

 

As for religion and state, totally different things in my opinion. I don't think laws should be enacted based on religion or religious views.

[Rocket]

Religion is funny - I view it as a cult and I'm sorry if that offends you. I'm not going to go out and bash anyone for their religion unless they are completely stupid and deserve to be criticized.  I don't look down on or judge people based on what/whom they worship. I grew up Christian for the first 15 years of my life, went to church, was baptized and all that good stuff. But once I started researching, getting a mind of my own and seeing that it doesn't all add up I started moving away from it, and realized how corrupt it can be.

 

I see myself as non-religious, I guess I could be classified as "Agnostic". This has been a real hard thing for my parents(and most of my family) to accept as they are all really religious. My mom constantly tries to shove Jesus down my throat and I just sit there and take it because I'm an adult and don't want to hurt her feelings. I pretty much just say "I appreciate your point of view, but it's not going to change my views." And it frustrates the fuck out of her lol

 

My dad and his wife are very accepting of my choices and don't push it on me anymore(my dad did for a long time and was very resentful towards me). If I'm having dinner with them and they want to pray, I'll be polite and sit there and close my eyes. They sometimes ask if I'd like to join them at church or say they "pray for me" and I don't take offense to it. It's their views and whatnot.

 

Basically I'm the black sheep of my family, and the butt of many many jokes. 

 

As for Church and State I believe they should be kept completely separate. I don't think we need to go take God out of all of our past/current governmental things (i.e taking "in god we trust" off of currency would be stupid and would probably cost us tax payers more than it's worth), but going forward it should really be separated more and more.

[Sehunie]

I'm an Atheist, I don't believe in miracles or God or anything similar..

I used to take religion classes at school (Catholic) but that was because of my grandmother. My mum isn't religious either, so she's fine with my decision.

Even the worst criminals ever used to believe in God; Theodore Bundy used to write quotes from the Bible in his letters to Ann Rule and Jeffrey Dahmer was baptised in prison while I highly doubt that 'He' would forgive them. I don't necessarily exclude the fact that there might be 'something', but I won't believe in what cannot be seen.

[stagsong]

Religion is funny - I view it as a cult and I'm sorry if that offends you. I'm not going to go out and bash anyone for their religion unless they are completely stupid and deserve to be criticized.  I don't look down on or judge people based on what/whom they worship. I grew up Christian for the first 15 years of my life, went to church, was baptized and all that good stuff. But once I started researching, getting a mind of my own and seeing that it doesn't all add up I started moving away from it, and realized how corrupt it can be.

 

I see myself as non-religious, I guess I could be classified as "Agnostic". This has been a real hard thing for my parents(and most of my family) to accept as they are all really religious. My mom constantly tries to shove Jesus down my throat and I just sit there and take it because I'm an adult and don't want to hurt her feelings. I pretty much just say "I appreciate your point of view, but it's not going to change my views." And it frustrates the fuck out of her lol

 

My dad and his wife are very accepting of my choices and don't push it on me anymore(my dad did for a long time and was very resentful towards me). If I'm having dinner with them and they want to pray, I'll be polite and sit there and close my eyes. They sometimes ask if I'd like to join them at church or say they "pray for me" and I don't take offense to it. It's their views and whatnot.

 

Basically I'm the black sheep of my family, and the butt of many many jokes. 

 

As for Church and State I believe they should be kept completely separate. I don't think we need to go take God out of all of our past/current governmental things (i.e taking "in god we trust" off of currency would be stupid and would probably cost us tax payers more than it's worth), but going forward it should really be separated more and more.

 

I can understand where you're coming from with feeling like it's a cult. I don't think it's fair to paint all religions with the same brush based on a bad experience with one, but am very sympathetic as to why people do.

 

As for religion and state - they should absolutely be separate. Period.

[Required]

My parents are catholic but never forced me into anything. I attended a catholic school pretty much my whole childhood and teenage life. However, I never felt close to God or anything. Around the age of 17 I came to the conclusion that I don't believe in anything. I respect everyone but I'm a kind of person who uses logic and science to prove most things and I've always found it really hard to believe in a superior being. Nonetheless, the immensity of the cosmos is something that has always kept me wondering about a deeper meaning in life.

[redlion]

If you're asking if I have a set of principles that I follow in making moral decisions, I do.

If you're asking if there's a category, group, or church that I belong to, there isn't.

I follow the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. You could equate those with the Nicene Creed, or maybe the Shema. Statements of belief that imply systems of thought. However, not every Jewish person would agree on doctrine, although they would universally agree on the words and tune of the Shema. The same is probably true of the Adhan.

Religion is different from dogma, which is different from doctrine. When discussing any one of these topics, they're often conflated with the others, leading to missing the forest for the trees.

Most of the time if someone I meet has strong convictions about their religion, I find that they are dogmatic about other aspects of their lives. That's the part that's truly objectionable - dogmatism.

[Rauul]

actually, i dont know what i believe, but used to be catolic (i used to go to church when i was younger, with my family) my parents forced me to do that

 

when i was 16 or so, realized catholicism was not made for me, and started to be atheist. one summer mi Japan family came to my country and they showed me buddhism, tried to believe and practice, but no  

now i only love Thor.

[Padme]

I respect religion and find it very intriguing. If I could get an entire degree on it and it not cost me an arm/leg I would do it.

The way it has influenced culture, architecture, societal norms, etc are fascinating.

I think much like anything it has its pro's and con's.

I think extremism is scary as hell.

 

I was raised Catholic. I'd consider myself spiritual and searching. 

I love to read about religions and study their histories. 

I could go on and on but this is hella touchy. 

Essentially if your beliefs infringe on others rights (sexuality, freedom, autonomy, diets, privacy, etc) then I think you need to back right off.

Too many religions don't evolve with the times and follow the words of influential historical people who had money to record their beliefs and ideas. This needs to change, it's vital imho. 

[Fikri]

now i only love Thor.

 

if god looks like chris hemsworth i'd worship him too. *drool*

[Karla]

I feel that as long as it doesn't impede on others' way of life, then it's okay.  There have been several instances when I've witnessed several religious followers force their beliefs on others, and I just don't like it.

 

I was brought up Christian, and followed it for a bit.  But after witnessing Christians argue with people of other religions and lifestyles that God was the only god, and not believing in Him would condemn you to Hell, I started to question if this is was "true Christianity" was.  Later on in life I took another read of the bible, and started to question its morals (and its events and whether or not they were technically possible).  I didn't want to be part of a religion that punished and discriminated against people for their lifestyles, choices, how they were born, or how they were raised.

 

But that's just my belief.

 

In the end, I'm a strong believer of separation of church and state.  If one religion became law, it would just piss people of different faiths off and cause disharmony among others.

[Grumpy]

I'm just going to second what Karla said.  Pretty spot on with how I feel as well.

[Blanc]

I don't have a specific relligion, cuz I don't know the "God" existance. But, about the others, I don't care. After all, everyone have they own relligion, faiths and beliefs )

 

What do i think what happen when we die? Well, nothing, we just die.

 

Worship? Nah.

 

What I feel about Religion and State? Well, in my counter, it's Laic, so it's ok, everyone has they own Relligion and don't should disturb the others beliefs.