Thread: What do you believe in?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I like the way you set this up!!!! If you want to vote, vote... if you want to post, post.... and if you don't want to do either.... DONT.....
I voted and I am not posting what I voted on.... that my business......

Nice set up JMS

Amen. At only 38, I've already become an old fart with no energy to debate, much less argue, religion. Those who are eager to debate are usually those that haven't been around long enough to fathom how little they actually know. In the words of the ever-wise duo, Bill & Ted, "the only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing".

I guess I'll put my two cents in. I was raised Catholic and pay lip service to it for family reasons. But in recent years I've come to the belief that the idea of organized religion is, for me at least, a terrible way to engage your spiritual side. We're all different, we all believe in different ways, but religions tend to apply a rigid structure on top of it that doesn't allow for your own little quirks and nuances. For many, many, many people that's just fine and they love it and I'm very happy for them. But it just doesn't work for me.

That's a really bad way of saying I'm an agnostic. I've been called an atheist but that's not accurate...I think the best way to describe what I believe is that I believe in something that most religions will interpret as God or a god, but I just don't label it as such, because I just don't believe it's something that can be labelled accurately. Does that make sense?

It does.

Religion is ultimately personal thing. What others do or think has no effect on me. For a long time I would think I was angry because some prick made me angry. Now I realise if i am angry it is because I allowed myself to become angry.

I don't believe , but if there's an afterlife with a decent internet connection, I'll let you guys know what I find!

Originally Posted by ndw76

Religion is ultimately personal thing. What others do or think has no effect on me. For a long time I would think I was angry because some prick made me angry. Now I realise if i am angry it is because I allowed myself to become angry.

I don't need anger management, I just need people to stop pissing me off!

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

That's a really bad way of saying I'm an agnostic. I've been called an atheist but that's not accurate...I think the best way to describe what I believe is that I believe in something that most religions will interpret as God or a god, but I just don't label it as such, because I just don't believe it's something that can be labelled accurately. Does that make sense?

Amen, brotha! Er, I mean, peace also be unto you. Or something.

Originally Posted by Bruno

That depends on the majority. Recently I was in a discussion where I was seriously on the defense and the atheists were piling on me.

When I then mentioned that science will always have to rely on some leap of faith (because all theories are inevitably based on one or more axioms) I got the flame treatment, telling me that at least science was trying to explain stuff, and I was just being a sheep, and one day we might be able to explain the examples I've given on current axioms (which will just lead to other axioms), ....

On the whole, I think how people treat each other has more to do with the kind of people they are, rather than whether they are religious or not.

Bruno, you mistake me. I was speaking in a much more literal sense. You, coming from a European cultural milieu, may not grasp this easily but an "out" Atheist in the USA is in danger of losing job, family, friends, and indeed is under a fairly strong threat of violence. Threats of violence and more are pretty much run-of-the-mill in many parts of the country. Simply having a Darwin sticker on your car is often an invitation to vandalism.

Try googling "Jessica Ahlquist" for a very visible example. I myself, as a Highschooler in rural Kansas, was often the target of anonymous threats because I was not a vocal Christian. Anonymous only, because the cowards were afraid to say anything to my face, but they were threats nonetheless.

So you might have been called a sheep, but you were never put in fear of your safety, so I can't really say it's the same thing.

Granted. I don't know what it would be to be an atheist in the bible belt.

Among my colleagues (ditto for my friends), I have Christians, a couple of Muslims, a bunch of atheists, couple of pagans, and a majority of which I just don't know. People's religion just isn't a factor anywhere. There are some logical exceptions, for example, board members of Catholic schools (which are still the best in general) are expected to be Catholic.

Originally Posted by TURNMASTER

Christian... By that I mean I believe in the Holy Trinity. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Salvation is through believing in Jesus Christ as my savior.

I have seen many things and believe in the super natural and have chosen to believe in God the Creator.

I hope that I give all a reasonable amount of respect, I do make the effort. Though its not always my first inclination, I tend to revert to my old nature sometimes.

God Bless
Jeff

Excellently said. +1 to this. I am a Christian.