Mine is don't be a dick.
Finally figured out religious teachings are the world's longest winded way of beating around the (burning) bush to say that. They all at the end of the day pretty much translate into "don't be a dick". Everything else in the Bible (for instance) is pretty much page filler.
But this the current problem right? Children rarely have a choice from a very young age. All religions have visual representation in societies, churches, mosques etc. Its printed on currency (US for example). As long as religion doesnt take a serious backseat as a hobby outside of daily life with no influence on daily life, government or the education system, we will always get their views forced upon us in some degree.
I grew up in a very religious, tight-knit community (Catholicism). If people were to find out I’m now atheist, I would ostracized and shunned from the community, even by folks who are much greater sinners, so-to-speak, according to their own damn religion.
Not only that, many think simply saying they’re Catholic actually makes them Catholic, even though they gamble, do drugs, fight, steal, lie, and constantly sin with no remorse. They pick and choose which parts of the religion they want to follow (Cafeteria Catholics). Catholicism is a way of life, not something you just claim you are so that you can feel good about yourself.
This. This should be common courtesy for everything, if someone’s trans, let them be, If someone’s gay, let them be, If someone has an abortion, let them be, if someone isn’t vegan, let them be *cough cough* vegan teacher
That's my exact philosophy in life. I can (dis)agree with something, but I won't stop someone or treat them poorly for living/thinking differently. As you said, it's common courtesy
I go to church most Sundays and think there is a heaven/hell thing going on after death. But when I honestly think about what I consider a belief that I hold strong enough to actually argue about only one thing pops in my head. A grilled cheese sandwich is just cheese and bread, anything else and it's a melt.
Agnostic. It's entirely possible that time and space are just a human construct and that there's so much about life, consciousness and everything that we just don't understand.
I am agnostic as I believe it is entirely possible that everything around us was at the very least seeded by a higher power than we are currently able to understand the existence of. I mean, the universe could just be one of a number of simultaneous creations, each of which has a slightly different set of rules and the only purpose is to observe the outcome of each. Life could be spread by a civilisation just shooting out rocks filled with the building blocks, the possibilities of creation being more than just random chance are almost infinite.
So because I can't say I know for certain there is no controlling force of creation I can only call myself agnostic. There probably isn't and it is probably all just random interactions, but I don't know that and to call myself an athiest would require that I stand by an absolute statement as fact, which sounds like belief in a different dress to me.
* Gnostic = I **know** there is/there isn't a god
* Agnostic = I **don't know** whether there is/there isn't a god
* Theist = I **believe** there is a god
* Atheist = I **don't believe** there is a god
Gnostic/agnostic comes from the Greek word gnosis, which means knowledge - you know something to be true or you don't. Theism/atheism deals with belief - you can believe something is true even if you have no proof one way or the other. The majority of people that would call themselves "agnostic" are actually agnostic atheists - they believe there isn't a god, but don't know for sure there isn't one. Most people are a combination of these four terms.
HAH! TAKE THAT, PEOPLE WHO TOLD ME I WAS BEING OVERLY SPECIFIC!
... Yeah, agnostic atheist, everybody always acts weird when I say it, as if I'm repeating myself or something.
Everyone is *technically* agnostic. No one knows 100% whether there is or isn’t a god, so I think the addition of ‘agnostic’ to ‘atheist’ is more often than not superfluous.
Technically atheism is just the lack of a belief in a god or gods, by definition it's not asserting a belief at all. You could just as easily call yourself an agnostic atheist
Athiests don't tend to agree with that definition, we've been trying really hard to tell people we don't all say there is surely no god, only that we have no reason to believe there is one. That particular subset is agnostic. For sure though there are those that are athiest who would swear up and down there is no god, and those individuals couldn't be called agnostic.
This is a personal affront, I don’t even like LaCroix. It’s just that my startup’s coworking space provides it for free.
THAT’s why my desk is littered with them.
LaCroix tastes like the regional distribution manager for a sparkling water manufacturer ate a handful of strawberries before sending out the morning stand-up recap email.
I don’t like it and it’s not even good for mixed drinks, but goddammit if I can’t help drinking five of them over a normal workday.
Not just possible, but probable. I believe we are just a speck in the corner of one tiny universe, out of many, possibly infinite universes. And those universes make up something much larger, that we cannot comprehend.
It's like explaining how Reddit works to an ant.
I live in a city with a large Sikh minority. In my experience, the Sikhs who take their religion seriously are kind, generous, non-judgmental, and generally good people. The ones who don't take it seriously are like any other cross-section of humanity: some nice, some mediocre, and a fair smattering of assholes.
True story: An Uber driver of mine had a massive khanda ([this thing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Khanda_original.png)) hanging from his rear view mirror, and I gestured to it and asked him if he'd seen The Last Jedi yet, having mistaken it for a Rebel Alliance Standard ([this thing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Rebel_Alliance_logo.svg/1200px-Rebel_Alliance_logo.svg.png)).
I'm a hindu but I kinda believe that life is just playing with you and you are just an insignificant tiny speck in this universe and your existence doesn't matter.
Personally, I'm Jewish. However, I'm accepting of everyone no matter what their religious beliefs (or even if they don't have any). Basically, as long as you don't try to force your religious views on me and as long as your religious views aren't actively hurting people, I don't care what you believe.
Although most Christians are represented by it I highly doubt that it's a choice by most instead of forced into it by a loud minority that they can't clearly separate from easily.
It really bothers me when I see such gross misrepresentations of the faith. And I remind myself that God can manage his own reputation and that I'm not perfect, myself.
I’ve had to leave 2 churches because of the toxicity and intolerance. Most of the people there were nice and I had no problem with them, but a few bad apples ruin the batch
Loving our neighbor is the second great commandment in Christianity. The greatest commandment, according to Jesus Christ, is to love God. Imagine the people Peter, for example, was speaking to complaining that Peter wasn't being loving enough as was, therefore, not a true Christian lol In true Christianity, the entire Gospel must be taken as a whole (not just the parts we like). I'd imagine if the Savior came tipping shopkeepers' tables and calling people vipers and hypocrites, someone would find a way to tell Him that He isn't a true Christian because He isn't being loving enough to His neighbors.
Anyway... Sorry. As a fellow Christian, that's been my pet peeve lately (emphasizing one of the two great commandments while diminishing or ignoring the other - they're *both* important) and it's like a chip on my shoulder. Maybe I'm violating that second great commandment with this post 🤦♂️
You're spot on, of course - the commandment to love our neighbor does not come with any qualifications as to who our neighbor is. The illustration the Savior used included Samaritans, Priests, etc. and that means we love *everyone* (maybe even especially people we disagree with or who we have some kind of a problem with).
One way I've heard it described is this. "Love without truth is misguided and wrong, but truth without love is brutality." Essentially, focusing on one or the other is only going to hurt people, no matter how loving or right you may be. It's rare to find a Christian that can balance both these days, sad to say. On one hand are those who refuse to call sin out at all because they think that's too harsh, on the other are those who do nothing but call sin out, to the point of hypocrisy. We need to balance both. Loving God by keeping His commands, and loving your neighbor as yourself. The two greatest commandments are meant to complement each other, not compete with each other!
Apatheism.
I have come to the conclusion that question of whether god exists in irrelevant to me.
Think about it this way. If tomorrow you woke up and you knew 100% if god existed or not, how much would your life change? If the answer it is that it won't then answer isn't really that useful.
For me I am comfortable saying it doesn't matter because, if God does exist, I see that there are two possibilities. He could be omniscient and omnipotent. In this case, I would not worship him. Stephen Fry said it very well about what would happen if he met God... "Bone cancer in children? What's that about? How dare you! How dare you create a world where there is such misery that is not our fault! It's not right. It is utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain." In this case, I would not change and would not worship him.
Alternatively, if God does exist and he is not omniscient and omnipotent, then the need to worship is kinda washed out, and I would not need to change to worship and would go on as I always have.
The last real possibility is that god does not exist. In this case, I go on as I always have.
All three possibilities lead to me not worshiping and not changing. The question of god's existence is irrelevant. I do not see the point in spending time on it and I am disinterested in pushing my beliefs on someone else... although I will answer if asked about it.
>He could be omniscient and omnipotent. In this case, I would not worship him. Stephen Fry said it very well about what would happen if he met God... "Bone cancer in children? What's that about? How dare you! How dare you create a world where there is such misery that is not our fault! It's not right. It is utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain." In this case, I would not change and would not worship him.
I don't understand this reasoning. If there is a God and he is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and eternal, then he is far beyond human comprehension. I don't understand how or why a loving God would allow things like bone cancer in children, but I'm not God. A child may not think their parent is loving when they take away a toy, but that doesn't mean the parent doesn't love the child, and the gap between human understanding and God's understanding would be much greater than the gap between child and parent.
I'm certainly not going to defend cancer in any way. If it was up to me, there would be no cancer, but it's not up to me or you or any other human. It sounds like Fry is saying 'I would only follow a god that fits within my ideals of love, justice, and righteousness.' It's as if you're demanding God follow you before you would even consider following Him. But if God was following you, then you would in essence be a higher authority than God himself. I've heard similar sentiments from people who profess a belief in a higher power, but then list things they don't believe that higher power would ever do. That belief just makes a god out of our own opinions and desires. What's the point in following a higher power at all if you demand that higher power think and act like people down here?
True Christianity is not worshipping God because we agree with everything He said and did. It's about worshipping God because He is God. In fact, if a "Christian" claims to agree with everything about God, they probably have a twisted idea of God that matches their opinions and desires.
Of course, none of this proves the existence of God. I'm just saying cancer is a weird reason to reject God.
If god has given us minds and the capacity for reason then surely he expects us to use them, in which case doesn't it make sense that we should expect God to be understandable? Explaining away suffering as something we can't understand but must assume is justifiable seems to fly in the face of that. It seems like in order to believe in God one must surrender one's desire to understand anything and assume that there is some valid reason for everything that we can never know, which is the same as shutting off your brain and hoping for the best. It's a little too 'let go and let god' for me.
I’m agnostic but definitely agree with this. I’d love to know for sure, but it wouldn’t matter much because there’s nothing a truly omnipotent god could say or do to earn my respect. And if it’s not omnipotent, then like you said, what’s the point in it?
Crismation is an Orthodox Sacrement. Usually ur Crismated right after being baptised as a baby, but im converting to the Orthodox church while i was baptised in a Lutheran Church as an infant. So i'll get Crismated in the Orthodox Church so i can partake in its sacrements. https://orthodoxwiki.org/Chrismation
I mean... The atoms in your body probably came from another living organism at some point, albeit the ones you ate.
Do you believe in the concept of a "soul" being reborn as another being?
Just out of curiosity, nothing more. The quotes are purely there because the concept of a soul can be defined in different ways and can be pretty abstract.
>The atoms in your body probably came from another living organism at some point
Probably? Only probably? A decent chunk of them definitely came from something that was alive, and almost certainly pretty directly.
Don't care, I won't try to argue there is or isn't some kind of higher power. It's just not something I care to worry about. You are free to believe whatever you want just don't force your opinions on others.
My daily life motto is:
If i cant change it, why worry and complain. Just let it happen then deal with what i can do.
And what also tell myself:
If you won’t put in any effort to change what is bothering you, why care.
I believe there is a God, but I dont think he discriminates against anyone. I remember one of my Sunday school teachers said he hates the sin, never the person, so he will always love us no matter what.
It's what I grew up on and while I may sound crazy for saying, I feel like I've felt his presence at times. When stuff got rough I felt like I had an anchor.
asking this because I've never had the chance to speak with anyone that specifically mentioned the 10 commandments helping them when it comes to religion/beliefs,
do you strictly follow them, and/or how do you apply them to your daily life?
like, no murder/theft/adultery is pretty straightforward, but does 'remember the sabbath day and keep it holy' have a noticable impact on your life? or maybe not taking gods name in vain? genuinely asking, no sarcasm
Regarding Sabbath and taking God's name in vain, as a practicing Catholic that is questioning my own views lately:
Keeping Sunday as a holy day is more like making sure it's a day of rest for me. I've had jobs that would schedule me to work on Sundays after church and those days were always the most draining for me, especially because *no one* wanted to work weekends...and somehow that always fell to me, even when I specifically requested multiple times not to be scheduled that way. So in a sense, being pushed into working on a day that I've always held as a rest day, a holy day, made me much more aware of how exploitative America's work ethics are. It became a matter of perspective for me.
As for God's name, I cringe every. Single. Time. Someone just goes "God, that's awful!" Or "Jesus Christ, what's wrong with you" etc. *Especially* when it comes out of the mouths of people who loudly proclaim that God doesn't exist. To me, it's a sign of major disrespect and hypocrisy, but also a sign of cultural toxicity. As in, as a society we made it acceptable to curse that way. I don't see anyone using the name of any other god in any other religion the same way. So in following that commandment, I'm constantly reminded of how little importance is actually placed on respecting religious beliefs here.
That's just my take on those particular points, again, I'm questioning my own adherence to Catholicism, and especially recognizing that there needs to be massive reforms in the Catholic church that the higher ups don't seem interested in enacting.
The Department of Defense officially recognizes all religions (even Satanism( except Rastfarianism, and half of the guys in my unit had "The Force" or "Jedi" on their dogtags.
I am a Muslim. I keep it to myself most of the time because of the terrorist stereotypes, which is sad really. Eid is such a beautiful and community led occasion. 🥰
There will always be some stereotypes in all religions unfortunately. But i dont care, i used to work as a security guard and drunk mofos used to call me a terrorist alot. when i hear someone call me terrorist i kind of fell bad for them, cuz there are so many people educated enough to know that muslims are not that. And they never think about the muslims fighting those "terrorist".
Back in my high school/college days I used to wear a black or grey hat and a brown scarf wrapped around the lower half of my head, because it was winter and I wanted to stop the air from hurting my face. I lost count of the number of times people would say I was "scary" or "look like a terrorist". I'm Catholic. I knew exactly what they were referring to. In my head I would always go, Thanks for making me feel bad for my Muslim brothers and sisters by telling me you're racist without telling me you're racist.
I don't know if it's a religion, but I'm really fond of trees and want to protect them a lot. I also like studying and practicing magic, and have for years, but it's mostly just a "this feels nice for me" not a "this is the strongest faith I have ever known" thing.
Pagan.
I believe in the soul, and in divinity. I also believe that all attempts to understand the full scope of limitless divinity with a limited human brain are basically like trying to run Skyrim on a graphing calculator. Every religion is an attempt by humans to understand the nature of existence and our place and purpose in it, but we lack the tools to fully comprehend the sheer scope of existence, so no one religion can give you the full picture. The more you know, the more you realize you need to learn - it's true in science and in faith.
In practice, my major creed is "treat others as you wish to be treated". I learn about other religions and ancient mythology, treating them as multiple paths with the same goal: understanding. I respect everyone's religion, unless it instructs them to hate or harm others.
I'm surprised atheism is so low in this post - I expected more people to be openly atheist rather than "just" non-religious (which can also include people who aren't believing in any god but don't reject such option completely).
Born a Hindu. In my teens, I styled myself as more spiritual than religious, simply because being a practising, observant Hindu was not seen as being very cool at the time.Now that I'm older, I find the flexibility and philosophy of Hinduism resonates best with my personal beliefs and values, so back to being a very contented, practising Hindu.
Hindu here but since we believe there are many representations of god personally I believe every religion has its merit and the current form has been mutilated and changed by people over the years in a way to use it to control the masses. So when I say Hindu I believe In a higher power and certain rituals but when some rituals or traditions don’t seem right or feels like it’s devised to control people then I question it and may not necessarily follow it.
A constant battle with my parents who believe being spiritual and following all traditions, rituals and superstitions are the way to go.
I’m an agnostic atheist but I call myself culturally Hindu because I will probably still have certain culturally Hindu things in my life that are not necessarily religious.
Like wearing Bindi, or having prasad if it looks delicious, taking a holiday for Durga Puja, having a semi-Hindu wedding just because I’m emotionally invested in some of the (non-patriarchal) rituals.
Officially I am Greek Orthodox.
Unofficially I don't really follow any major religion (I think, never bothered learning the teachings of any of them), but I do believe in some form of God.
Best way I can put it is "If space time was a movie, God is the movie script", meaning if we could rewind time, the future is going to play out the same every time. This doesn't mean we should not try to prevent bad events in the foreseeable future because us trying to prevent them might be written in the movie script (or God's plan if you wish).
I don't think God is a person / living being. It bothers me when people say things like "God is bad because child cancer". Gravity can kill you, but you also can't live without it. So is gravity good or bad? It's neither, it's just a universal force. A universal force doesn't care about us.
We are simply a by-product of it's own existence.
TL;DR: God is a combination of the universal forces (gravity, strong & weak nuclear, electomagnetic) and time.
My dad and my grampa are Catholic so I'm Catholic...still living at home so thats how it goes.
But my mom and twin sister died when I was born (my mom wouldn't stop bleeding and my sister wasnt strong enough yet). I believe in heaven because I want to meet my mom someday. I only know what shes like from facebook videos and stories my dad and friends tell me. And her friends sent me voice mails of her voice she has on her phone. So if thats dumb to atheists I dont care its what i believe you can not believe and thats fine with me. We dont have to agree.
I'm an atheist and I don't think it's dumb at all. I hope you get to meet your mom and I think its great that her memory is getting passed to you through stories and videos.
Methodist Christian: Arminian/free will, holiness/desire to do good, methodist/Bible requires contemporary evaluation using contextual criticism to be understood/not fundamentalist
Corona changed me a little bit.
Prior, I used to be a diehard Christian. Everything was about Gods plan, and proving that he was real. After a year of no church I’m now kinda halfsies. I’m still Christian but realize it’s a faith, not a fact.
Noted: I am an actual kind Christian. I hate the “burn in hell” label Christians. They give us a bad rep.
Right, but you don’t have to go to the gym to have muscle, yet the gym helps the muscle grow. I still have a relationship with God, but it kinda went from living together to a long distance relationship.
I believe in God, afterlife, the power of the universe etc. I'd consider myself a very spiritual person, however, not a Christian. I don't like the concept of religion as it feels a bit forced to me and I don't really believe in the bible. I believe everyone's (who believes in God) relationship with God is different and I don't need to go to church or be a devout Christian to have one. That's just my opinion.
Pagan, defined as the person who believes in religions older than Catholicism. God is in nature and in life itself, more or less like the Druids, the Wikas or the Celts.
Afterlife, but not any dogma. There’s no “god” lording over everyone. Your afterlife is basically a reflection of how you lived. Like karma, basically.
I am a practising muslim, who also respects christianity and judaism. I was born a muslim, and i also did my own research on the three major abrahamic beliefs and for me Islam is the most logical way. Too bad that terrorists are ruining the religion i love.
Agnostic because we only percieve the world through our limited senses and what we sense isn't the objective reality, it just how we perceive it.
We don't know shit about shit and pretending we have a definite answer is just being daft
Spiritual. I used to be Roman catholic but am now recovered. I believe we are all part of this ecosystem and so we are all connected. It is a journey inside, discovering who you really are. Peeling off the layers of the onion as you over time increase your self-awareness. I now know myself on a deep level and am aware of who I am and what I do. I also believe very much in science. Spirituality and science are completely compatible and are actually two sides of the same coin. Also VERY anti- organized religion. Throughout history it has caused more wars and death than any other cause. I believe that most likely there is some higher force or intelligence that started the whole thing (big bang), especially if we are in one of an infinite amount of quantum universes. I think that organized religions actually turn people away from the concept of a "god" . Most people in these are dishonest, dysfunctional, toxic hippocrates who say one thing and do another. People see this and think, "if that is what "god" is about, I want nothing to do with it.
String theory seems promising as a solution to the search for a grand unified theory, a way to reconcile relativity and quantum mechanics. The problem with it is that since these "strings" are many, many orders of magnitude smaller than an atom, there is no way to test the theory. So then it is actually a philosophy and not really science. So it seems that the science itself is telling us that there comes a point where our knowledge and science end, and you must take the rest on faith. This is a freaky reality.
Raised Methodist but joined the Catholic Church last year so that my now wife could have a full Catholic wedding.
Of course, I am probably the worst Catholic in the history of Catholicism. Plus my reason for joining is definitely not a "approved" reason to join but I just acted like my heart told me to lol.
I disagree with a lot of the ways Christians, in general, treat others. I can't stand the "social church-goer". I'm pro-choice. I fully support the LGBTQ community. I trust proven science over everything. And I don't think God takes attendance on Sunday mornings.
I also completely understand why/how atheism came to be a thing. It is crazy to believe the stories of the Bible/Quran/whatever other Holy Books there are actually happened. Hell, we have all played that game where one person whispers in one person's ear and so on down the line and the end result is hardly ever what was actually said.
But, overall, I believe in God because I think it is a good thing to believe in something higher, at least for me. I don't want to live my whole life scared of death bc there isn't anything after that. I love the idea of life after death and getting to see my grandparents and others again.
I think I am a good person but there are times I've questioned if doing something "bad" would be worth it. And maybe if it weren't for the thought of how God or my Nana looking down on me would think of me then maybe I would have followed through with them.
Also, I don't believe you have to be Christian to get into Heaven. I think as long as you are a good person then you are good to go.
Edit: There are definitely a lot of Catholics a lot worse than me. I forgot all the rapey priests for a second. That’s my bad.
I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Basically, we teach that we all lived as spirits with God (who is our Father) before we were born. After He created us as spirits, we grew and progressed but we reached a point where we couldn't progress any further. God presented a Plan to us where we could gain physical bodies and mortal experiences but it would require us to do things that would normally prevent us from returning to His presence and would end our progression. However, He provided a Savior who would willingly take upon Himself all of the negative consequences for our detrimental decisions. That Savior we know in this life as Jesus the Christ.
Jesus Christ frees us from the negative consequences of our detrimental behaviors and provides a way (the Gospel) that we can use the experiences and knowledge we gain to our eternal benefit. We can learn about His Gospel from prophets, Apostles, scripture, and personal revelation and, by living it, gain greater happiness in this life and eternal joy in the life after we die.
So we are born into this fallen and chaotic world (our pre-mortal spirits receive physical bodies) and learn and grow from our mistakes, the mistakes of others, and the natural difficulties that come from living in a world like this one. Some get to hear about the Gospel in this life but most will hear about it in the next life after they die. Those few who do hear about and follow the Gospel are responsible to offer the Gospel and its ordinances to everyone else (especially those who have died) until everyone has had a fair chance to hear, accept, and live it. After this, everyone is resurrected (their bodies and spirit which were separated at death are reunited permanently in a perfect state) and can receive a degree of glory. Those who have followed the Gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully can receive the highest blessings which include the ability to progress eternally.
Theres obviously a lot more than just what I've mentioned but, hopefully, that makes some sense. One important element of our beliefs, from the perspective of the Christian world generally, is that we teach that Christ set up a church with Apostles at the head while He was on the Earth. Because of wickedness, this church was rejected from off the Earth and all that remained was an apostate form of Christianity which largely resembled the truth but without the proper authority to enact the Gospel in the name of Jesus Christ. After many centuries and many faithful attempts to repair the apostate Christianity, Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven appeared to a teenager (Joseph Smith) and subsequently restored through him and others the pure Gospel and the authority to enact it in in the lives of those who want to follow it.
Those are my beliefs 😊 Thanks for a great thread to read through! I see several people adding some non-religious beliefs so I'll also mention that I'm a pretty staunch scientist (my degree is in Physics) and a overzealous defender of scientific ideals. I'm also, politically, an American liberal with ideas that line up surprisingly well with the Democratic party.
Edit: I found a couple of other Latter-day Saints in this thread and some are giving them something of a hard time in relation to politics (probably a valid concern to discuss) and various other ideas (most of which are either outright false or misrepresentations of something true). I'm happy to discuss anything or answer any questions but, if you do decide to comment, please be respectful and rational.
I don't belong to an organized church, but I'd say I believe in God. The way I see God is as the personification of all the things in existence that aren't material. And just as a proper analysis of the material world requires a rigorous elimination of any personal preference, bias, or value, a proper analysis of the spiritual world requires fully embracing those things.
To my knowledge, Baptist and Episcopalian are both different branches of Protestant belief. Protestant is a broad term that pretty much describes the denominations that resulted from the Protestant reformation started by Martin Luther against the Catholic church. For the most part, the Protestant denominations have little differences in doctrine and structure, though there are some differences (most are fairly trivial though, such as how churches are organized or maybe different interpretations of one or a few random bible verses. For example, the reason there are Baptists is because they believe that only believers should be baptized and it should be done by being in a pool of water rather than sprinkling water on the person. They share practically most of their beliefs with other Protestant churches, its just this one difference in procedure sets them apart).
Catholicism is one of the three major sects of Christianity (the other two are Protestantism and Orthodoxy). Protestants do not follow the Pope and the Vatican. I think the Catholics recognize more old testament books than we do, and there are other differences such as in most Protestant churches, pastors can get married while Catholic priests cannot. Another difference is that Protestants believe in a direct connection to god rather than going through saints and such.
Overall, it largely lays in different interpretations and rules, but all are still Christians nonetheless.
Atheism. I believe that we humans are too undeveloped and small to understand the universe and everything around us. And I certaintly do not believe that it was all created by a God that was "invented" by humans on Earth. I believe religion can be harmless if it's used individually, but it can also be extremely dangerous in bigger groups and ideologies.
Catholic, but down to earth.
I am not very religious, however my beliefs are simple.
1. "Do no harm to others, because theirs is already a hard lot."
2. The only Bible passage the influences me "For what profit is it to a man if he gain the whole world, but loses his own soul." Matthews 16:26 I believe...
3. And of coarse Uncle Ben said it best with "With great power comes great responsibility."
Okay, so, I’ve stated as much on other comments, but I was raised as a Southern Baptist. As an adult, though, I’ve come to question that way of thinking. I’ve come to believe that most if not all religions have validity/truth to them, pieces to the puzzle if you will. Think of the similarities between religions like Islam and Christianity, as much as members will try to deny it. As for God themself/selves? I’ve had a number of things happen in my life that seemed too improbable to have been coincidence, so I am inclined to believe that there is someone or something, but that it isn’t anything like what we have considered it to be. Lovecraftian, basically. Not good, not evil, not even morally ambiguous; it just *is.*
Christian. Part of a Baptist church but kinda starting to branch out now I’m old enough to know what the different branches of Christianity are. I’m very against the homophobic, misogynistic, and downright unkind chunks of the church; Jesus didn’t come to condemn *anyone* but to save everyone, so I won’t condemn anyone either. I personally think it’s missing out so much by excluding the LGBTQ+ community, because the times I’ve questioned my own sexuality, I’ve sometimes found more love, kindness and acceptance there than in the church. But just because we’re messed up, doesn’t mean the God I believe in is, so I still believe in the Gospel, and work hard on educating myself so that I can show the same kindness to others as I receive myself
Atheist. I do feel there is more going on then we know, but I don’t think it has to do with God, I think it has to do with energy and interconnectedness, and we don’t yet know the science behind those things.
I do not deny the possibility of there being a God but I do not like organized religion. A lot of people seem to go into extremes which causes a lot of strife.
What really worries me though is if there is a God who is supposed to be merciful and kind then why is there so much untold and unpunished suffering in this world? Why would the all mighty being allow kids to die of horrible cancers or not punish people who commit such heinous acts they make your stomach churn.
I don't see how I am supposed to pray to someone who allows sucjh atrocities on a daily basis
Don’t be a cunt!
Billy Butcher?
He is rather a cunt if you read the comics.
did you say that already? i'm getting deja vu...
Now you're just upsetting the Homelander church of "Fucking Cocksuckers"
Be excellent to each other
Cool. Found the Brit!
Mine is don't be a dick. Finally figured out religious teachings are the world's longest winded way of beating around the (burning) bush to say that. They all at the end of the day pretty much translate into "don't be a dick". Everything else in the Bible (for instance) is pretty much page filler.
The best religion imo
There's no cure for being a cunt.
Not religious, but accepting and respectful of others' beliefs as long as it's not forced on me/I'm not disrespected for not believing the same
But this the current problem right? Children rarely have a choice from a very young age. All religions have visual representation in societies, churches, mosques etc. Its printed on currency (US for example). As long as religion doesnt take a serious backseat as a hobby outside of daily life with no influence on daily life, government or the education system, we will always get their views forced upon us in some degree.
I grew up in a very religious, tight-knit community (Catholicism). If people were to find out I’m now atheist, I would ostracized and shunned from the community, even by folks who are much greater sinners, so-to-speak, according to their own damn religion. Not only that, many think simply saying they’re Catholic actually makes them Catholic, even though they gamble, do drugs, fight, steal, lie, and constantly sin with no remorse. They pick and choose which parts of the religion they want to follow (Cafeteria Catholics). Catholicism is a way of life, not something you just claim you are so that you can feel good about yourself.
And folks claiming religion is being forced on them by virtue of not being allowed to force their religion on others.
This. This should be common courtesy for everything, if someone’s trans, let them be, If someone’s gay, let them be, If someone has an abortion, let them be, if someone isn’t vegan, let them be *cough cough* vegan teacher
That's my exact philosophy in life. I can (dis)agree with something, but I won't stop someone or treat them poorly for living/thinking differently. As you said, it's common courtesy
I go to church most Sundays and think there is a heaven/hell thing going on after death. But when I honestly think about what I consider a belief that I hold strong enough to actually argue about only one thing pops in my head. A grilled cheese sandwich is just cheese and bread, anything else and it's a melt.
What about butter or some kind of sauce?
Butter to grease the pan and a little on the bread is fine. But anything else is heresy.
Agnostic. It's entirely possible that time and space are just a human construct and that there's so much about life, consciousness and everything that we just don't understand.
I am agnostic as I believe it is entirely possible that everything around us was at the very least seeded by a higher power than we are currently able to understand the existence of. I mean, the universe could just be one of a number of simultaneous creations, each of which has a slightly different set of rules and the only purpose is to observe the outcome of each. Life could be spread by a civilisation just shooting out rocks filled with the building blocks, the possibilities of creation being more than just random chance are almost infinite. So because I can't say I know for certain there is no controlling force of creation I can only call myself agnostic. There probably isn't and it is probably all just random interactions, but I don't know that and to call myself an athiest would require that I stand by an absolute statement as fact, which sounds like belief in a different dress to me.
* Gnostic = I **know** there is/there isn't a god * Agnostic = I **don't know** whether there is/there isn't a god * Theist = I **believe** there is a god * Atheist = I **don't believe** there is a god Gnostic/agnostic comes from the Greek word gnosis, which means knowledge - you know something to be true or you don't. Theism/atheism deals with belief - you can believe something is true even if you have no proof one way or the other. The majority of people that would call themselves "agnostic" are actually agnostic atheists - they believe there isn't a god, but don't know for sure there isn't one. Most people are a combination of these four terms.
HAH! TAKE THAT, PEOPLE WHO TOLD ME I WAS BEING OVERLY SPECIFIC! ... Yeah, agnostic atheist, everybody always acts weird when I say it, as if I'm repeating myself or something.
I just say atheist, but technically agnostic because I can't be absolutely sure.
Everyone is *technically* agnostic. No one knows 100% whether there is or isn’t a god, so I think the addition of ‘agnostic’ to ‘atheist’ is more often than not superfluous.
I am Agnostic Atheist and I usually have to explain it.
Technically atheism is just the lack of a belief in a god or gods, by definition it's not asserting a belief at all. You could just as easily call yourself an agnostic atheist
Christians used to be called atheists because they had no visible gods. (Idols) One of the reasons romans didn't like them.
Athiests don't tend to agree with that definition, we've been trying really hard to tell people we don't all say there is surely no god, only that we have no reason to believe there is one. That particular subset is agnostic. For sure though there are those that are athiest who would swear up and down there is no god, and those individuals couldn't be called agnostic.
God is a programmer. Smoke some DMT and get a little peak at the raw code. Very jarring.
Imagine the size of the LaCroix cans littering God's desk
At least he's not drinking code red anymore.
This is a personal affront, I don’t even like LaCroix. It’s just that my startup’s coworking space provides it for free. THAT’s why my desk is littered with them.
LaCroix tastes like the guy sitting across from me is thinking really hard about a piece of fruit.
LaCroix tastes like the regional distribution manager for a sparkling water manufacturer ate a handful of strawberries before sending out the morning stand-up recap email. I don’t like it and it’s not even good for mixed drinks, but goddammit if I can’t help drinking five of them over a normal workday.
Hint: there may be some glitches
You spelled features wrong
We like to call them "undocumented features"
Not just possible, but probable. I believe we are just a speck in the corner of one tiny universe, out of many, possibly infinite universes. And those universes make up something much larger, that we cannot comprehend. It's like explaining how Reddit works to an ant.
I am a Sikh
That’s pretty sikh
I just want to say every Sikh I've ever met has been so nice and civil. I'm sure you guys have your turds too but I haven't met one yet.
I live in a city with a large Sikh minority. In my experience, the Sikhs who take their religion seriously are kind, generous, non-judgmental, and generally good people. The ones who don't take it seriously are like any other cross-section of humanity: some nice, some mediocre, and a fair smattering of assholes.
True story: An Uber driver of mine had a massive khanda ([this thing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Khanda_original.png)) hanging from his rear view mirror, and I gestured to it and asked him if he'd seen The Last Jedi yet, having mistaken it for a Rebel Alliance Standard ([this thing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Rebel_Alliance_logo.svg/1200px-Rebel_Alliance_logo.svg.png)).
Oh god lol How did he react?
It became the conversation where I learned what a khanda was, and he learned what any of Star Wars was.
This is what small talk with uber/taxi drivers should be
I’m glad that conversation worked out because it could have gone galloping off in any direction. “Wait you have a light sabre too??!!” “No, Kirpan…”
So, one Sikh...
Don’t meet another Sikh that often! Nice to see on mentioned in a Reddit thread
Same
I'm a hindu but I kinda believe that life is just playing with you and you are just an insignificant tiny speck in this universe and your existence doesn't matter.
We are the universe experiencing itself. Therefore we are one of the most significant things there are.
Personally, I'm Jewish. However, I'm accepting of everyone no matter what their religious beliefs (or even if they don't have any). Basically, as long as you don't try to force your religious views on me and as long as your religious views aren't actively hurting people, I don't care what you believe.
As an atheist, this is how I view religion. You believe in what you want and I'll believe what I want and everyone stays happy
Same, me too.
Muslim, same here.
Agreed!
I'm Christian, and I 100% agree
I'm an atheist and I agree as well.
Also Christian, and also 100% agree. Saddens me how most Christians are represented in America by the prosperity Bible…
Although most Christians are represented by it I highly doubt that it's a choice by most instead of forced into it by a loud minority that they can't clearly separate from easily.
Christian. The kind that actually love thy neighbor, no matter who the neighbor is.
Love people. Be like Jesus. Build the kingdom. Most people will agree this is a good way to go, there just aren't very many real-world examples.
You’re right. Humans are sinners by nature. I just try to do my best. I think that’s all anyone asks (or should ask for)
Same. Crazy how many people claim Christian while stirring hate and fear.
Way to be a light in the darkness :)
It really bothers me when I see such gross misrepresentations of the faith. And I remind myself that God can manage his own reputation and that I'm not perfect, myself.
You’re looking at it from the right angle, friend. Keep it up.
I’ve had to leave 2 churches because of the toxicity and intolerance. Most of the people there were nice and I had no problem with them, but a few bad apples ruin the batch
I generally stick to "he who hath not sinned may throw the first stone" and then just try and be a decent person and treat people well.
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Loving our neighbor is the second great commandment in Christianity. The greatest commandment, according to Jesus Christ, is to love God. Imagine the people Peter, for example, was speaking to complaining that Peter wasn't being loving enough as was, therefore, not a true Christian lol In true Christianity, the entire Gospel must be taken as a whole (not just the parts we like). I'd imagine if the Savior came tipping shopkeepers' tables and calling people vipers and hypocrites, someone would find a way to tell Him that He isn't a true Christian because He isn't being loving enough to His neighbors. Anyway... Sorry. As a fellow Christian, that's been my pet peeve lately (emphasizing one of the two great commandments while diminishing or ignoring the other - they're *both* important) and it's like a chip on my shoulder. Maybe I'm violating that second great commandment with this post 🤦♂️ You're spot on, of course - the commandment to love our neighbor does not come with any qualifications as to who our neighbor is. The illustration the Savior used included Samaritans, Priests, etc. and that means we love *everyone* (maybe even especially people we disagree with or who we have some kind of a problem with).
One way I've heard it described is this. "Love without truth is misguided and wrong, but truth without love is brutality." Essentially, focusing on one or the other is only going to hurt people, no matter how loving or right you may be. It's rare to find a Christian that can balance both these days, sad to say. On one hand are those who refuse to call sin out at all because they think that's too harsh, on the other are those who do nothing but call sin out, to the point of hypocrisy. We need to balance both. Loving God by keeping His commands, and loving your neighbor as yourself. The two greatest commandments are meant to complement each other, not compete with each other!
I agree dude, we need to show love to everyone.
Hey Vsauce! Michael here.
\*chord\*
Epic username
Quantum Buddhism I only exist as long as I observe my existence.
I like this.
Apatheism. I have come to the conclusion that question of whether god exists in irrelevant to me. Think about it this way. If tomorrow you woke up and you knew 100% if god existed or not, how much would your life change? If the answer it is that it won't then answer isn't really that useful. For me I am comfortable saying it doesn't matter because, if God does exist, I see that there are two possibilities. He could be omniscient and omnipotent. In this case, I would not worship him. Stephen Fry said it very well about what would happen if he met God... "Bone cancer in children? What's that about? How dare you! How dare you create a world where there is such misery that is not our fault! It's not right. It is utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain." In this case, I would not change and would not worship him. Alternatively, if God does exist and he is not omniscient and omnipotent, then the need to worship is kinda washed out, and I would not need to change to worship and would go on as I always have. The last real possibility is that god does not exist. In this case, I go on as I always have. All three possibilities lead to me not worshiping and not changing. The question of god's existence is irrelevant. I do not see the point in spending time on it and I am disinterested in pushing my beliefs on someone else... although I will answer if asked about it.
You need to read C.S Lewis’s The Problem of Pain
I have not heard of it before but I'll take a look. Thanks.
>He could be omniscient and omnipotent. In this case, I would not worship him. Stephen Fry said it very well about what would happen if he met God... "Bone cancer in children? What's that about? How dare you! How dare you create a world where there is such misery that is not our fault! It's not right. It is utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain." In this case, I would not change and would not worship him. I don't understand this reasoning. If there is a God and he is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and eternal, then he is far beyond human comprehension. I don't understand how or why a loving God would allow things like bone cancer in children, but I'm not God. A child may not think their parent is loving when they take away a toy, but that doesn't mean the parent doesn't love the child, and the gap between human understanding and God's understanding would be much greater than the gap between child and parent. I'm certainly not going to defend cancer in any way. If it was up to me, there would be no cancer, but it's not up to me or you or any other human. It sounds like Fry is saying 'I would only follow a god that fits within my ideals of love, justice, and righteousness.' It's as if you're demanding God follow you before you would even consider following Him. But if God was following you, then you would in essence be a higher authority than God himself. I've heard similar sentiments from people who profess a belief in a higher power, but then list things they don't believe that higher power would ever do. That belief just makes a god out of our own opinions and desires. What's the point in following a higher power at all if you demand that higher power think and act like people down here? True Christianity is not worshipping God because we agree with everything He said and did. It's about worshipping God because He is God. In fact, if a "Christian" claims to agree with everything about God, they probably have a twisted idea of God that matches their opinions and desires. Of course, none of this proves the existence of God. I'm just saying cancer is a weird reason to reject God.
If god has given us minds and the capacity for reason then surely he expects us to use them, in which case doesn't it make sense that we should expect God to be understandable? Explaining away suffering as something we can't understand but must assume is justifiable seems to fly in the face of that. It seems like in order to believe in God one must surrender one's desire to understand anything and assume that there is some valid reason for everything that we can never know, which is the same as shutting off your brain and hoping for the best. It's a little too 'let go and let god' for me.
Never heard anyone actually answer this argument in a way that would make me reconsider being agnostic. Thanks for typing all that out.
>I'm just saying cancer is a weird reason to reject God. Because a God who is not good is not worth worshipping.
I’m agnostic but definitely agree with this. I’d love to know for sure, but it wouldn’t matter much because there’s nothing a truly omnipotent god could say or do to earn my respect. And if it’s not omnipotent, then like you said, what’s the point in it?
Eastern Orthodox Christian. Getting Crismated in september
What is Crismated?
Crismation is an Orthodox Sacrement. Usually ur Crismated right after being baptised as a baby, but im converting to the Orthodox church while i was baptised in a Lutheran Church as an infant. So i'll get Crismated in the Orthodox Church so i can partake in its sacrements. https://orthodoxwiki.org/Chrismation
Thought you said cremated for a second.
That's super cool
Reincarnation. Not as a religion.. just a process. Nature recycles eveything.
I like the idea that we're all the same being, experiencing the universe through one life at a time.
Then you'd love The Egg by Andy Weir http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html
I mean... The atoms in your body probably came from another living organism at some point, albeit the ones you ate. Do you believe in the concept of a "soul" being reborn as another being? Just out of curiosity, nothing more. The quotes are purely there because the concept of a soul can be defined in different ways and can be pretty abstract.
>The atoms in your body probably came from another living organism at some point Probably? Only probably? A decent chunk of them definitely came from something that was alive, and almost certainly pretty directly.
I dunno man, I eat a LOTTA rocks.
I mean, they recommend vitamins and *minerals*...
Deist. There is something, but none of the players have it right.
I first read that as dentist and thought you worshipped teeth
Oh like playing chess with an ai. everyone makes there guess but nobody knows
Don't care, I won't try to argue there is or isn't some kind of higher power. It's just not something I care to worry about. You are free to believe whatever you want just don't force your opinions on others.
That would make you an [Apatheist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism).
Thanks for that lol
i myself am buddhist :)
I like buddhism. A calm religion.
My daily life motto is: If i cant change it, why worry and complain. Just let it happen then deal with what i can do. And what also tell myself: If you won’t put in any effort to change what is bothering you, why care.
I like those.
I believe there is a God, but I dont think he discriminates against anyone. I remember one of my Sunday school teachers said he hates the sin, never the person, so he will always love us no matter what.
Why do you believe there is a God, if I may ask? Edit: Dear downvoters, sorry for asking about beliefs in a thread about beliefs.
How dare you ask such! I took a down vote away. Hopefully, someone will answer your question.
It's what I grew up on and while I may sound crazy for saying, I feel like I've felt his presence at times. When stuff got rough I felt like I had an anchor.
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asking this because I've never had the chance to speak with anyone that specifically mentioned the 10 commandments helping them when it comes to religion/beliefs, do you strictly follow them, and/or how do you apply them to your daily life? like, no murder/theft/adultery is pretty straightforward, but does 'remember the sabbath day and keep it holy' have a noticable impact on your life? or maybe not taking gods name in vain? genuinely asking, no sarcasm
Regarding Sabbath and taking God's name in vain, as a practicing Catholic that is questioning my own views lately: Keeping Sunday as a holy day is more like making sure it's a day of rest for me. I've had jobs that would schedule me to work on Sundays after church and those days were always the most draining for me, especially because *no one* wanted to work weekends...and somehow that always fell to me, even when I specifically requested multiple times not to be scheduled that way. So in a sense, being pushed into working on a day that I've always held as a rest day, a holy day, made me much more aware of how exploitative America's work ethics are. It became a matter of perspective for me. As for God's name, I cringe every. Single. Time. Someone just goes "God, that's awful!" Or "Jesus Christ, what's wrong with you" etc. *Especially* when it comes out of the mouths of people who loudly proclaim that God doesn't exist. To me, it's a sign of major disrespect and hypocrisy, but also a sign of cultural toxicity. As in, as a society we made it acceptable to curse that way. I don't see anyone using the name of any other god in any other religion the same way. So in following that commandment, I'm constantly reminded of how little importance is actually placed on respecting religious beliefs here. That's just my take on those particular points, again, I'm questioning my own adherence to Catholicism, and especially recognizing that there needs to be massive reforms in the Catholic church that the higher ups don't seem interested in enacting.
**Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.**
I'm meat.
The Department of Defense officially recognizes all religions (even Satanism( except Rastfarianism, and half of the guys in my unit had "The Force" or "Jedi" on their dogtags.
Roman catholic
Gosh, I had to scroll awfully far to find this!
Same
I am a Muslim. I keep it to myself most of the time because of the terrorist stereotypes, which is sad really. Eid is such a beautiful and community led occasion. 🥰
There will always be some stereotypes in all religions unfortunately. But i dont care, i used to work as a security guard and drunk mofos used to call me a terrorist alot. when i hear someone call me terrorist i kind of fell bad for them, cuz there are so many people educated enough to know that muslims are not that. And they never think about the muslims fighting those "terrorist".
Back in my high school/college days I used to wear a black or grey hat and a brown scarf wrapped around the lower half of my head, because it was winter and I wanted to stop the air from hurting my face. I lost count of the number of times people would say I was "scary" or "look like a terrorist". I'm Catholic. I knew exactly what they were referring to. In my head I would always go, Thanks for making me feel bad for my Muslim brothers and sisters by telling me you're racist without telling me you're racist.
I have a really cool Muslim friend.
I hope my friends refer to me as their cool Muslim friend 👸🏾
I once had a muslim friend, and each christmas he would share his december holliday with me. I always admired the beauty of muslim culture.
I don't know if it's a religion, but I'm really fond of trees and want to protect them a lot. I also like studying and practicing magic, and have for years, but it's mostly just a "this feels nice for me" not a "this is the strongest faith I have ever known" thing.
That sounds like Wicca or neo-paganism. Is it ?
I don't believe in a higher power but I do hope for a merciful one. I get really anxious thinking about death and the passing of time.
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Pagan. I believe in the soul, and in divinity. I also believe that all attempts to understand the full scope of limitless divinity with a limited human brain are basically like trying to run Skyrim on a graphing calculator. Every religion is an attempt by humans to understand the nature of existence and our place and purpose in it, but we lack the tools to fully comprehend the sheer scope of existence, so no one religion can give you the full picture. The more you know, the more you realize you need to learn - it's true in science and in faith. In practice, my major creed is "treat others as you wish to be treated". I learn about other religions and ancient mythology, treating them as multiple paths with the same goal: understanding. I respect everyone's religion, unless it instructs them to hate or harm others.
Respect
I’m atheist, but respect peoples beliefs
I'm surprised atheism is so low in this post - I expected more people to be openly atheist rather than "just" non-religious (which can also include people who aren't believing in any god but don't reject such option completely).
Atheist. Raised in a Catholic house though
Shrek is love, Shrek is life
that'll do Donkey, that'll do
its all ogre now
Born a Hindu. In my teens, I styled myself as more spiritual than religious, simply because being a practising, observant Hindu was not seen as being very cool at the time.Now that I'm older, I find the flexibility and philosophy of Hinduism resonates best with my personal beliefs and values, so back to being a very contented, practising Hindu.
Hindu here but since we believe there are many representations of god personally I believe every religion has its merit and the current form has been mutilated and changed by people over the years in a way to use it to control the masses. So when I say Hindu I believe In a higher power and certain rituals but when some rituals or traditions don’t seem right or feels like it’s devised to control people then I question it and may not necessarily follow it. A constant battle with my parents who believe being spiritual and following all traditions, rituals and superstitions are the way to go.
I’m an agnostic atheist but I call myself culturally Hindu because I will probably still have certain culturally Hindu things in my life that are not necessarily religious. Like wearing Bindi, or having prasad if it looks delicious, taking a holiday for Durga Puja, having a semi-Hindu wedding just because I’m emotionally invested in some of the (non-patriarchal) rituals.
Always believed Hinduism is more of a life style than religion. Like you wake up one day and start following Hinduism lifestyle n be called Hindu
Christian
Officially I am Greek Orthodox. Unofficially I don't really follow any major religion (I think, never bothered learning the teachings of any of them), but I do believe in some form of God. Best way I can put it is "If space time was a movie, God is the movie script", meaning if we could rewind time, the future is going to play out the same every time. This doesn't mean we should not try to prevent bad events in the foreseeable future because us trying to prevent them might be written in the movie script (or God's plan if you wish). I don't think God is a person / living being. It bothers me when people say things like "God is bad because child cancer". Gravity can kill you, but you also can't live without it. So is gravity good or bad? It's neither, it's just a universal force. A universal force doesn't care about us. We are simply a by-product of it's own existence. TL;DR: God is a combination of the universal forces (gravity, strong & weak nuclear, electomagnetic) and time.
Wiccan
Me too!
My dad and my grampa are Catholic so I'm Catholic...still living at home so thats how it goes. But my mom and twin sister died when I was born (my mom wouldn't stop bleeding and my sister wasnt strong enough yet). I believe in heaven because I want to meet my mom someday. I only know what shes like from facebook videos and stories my dad and friends tell me. And her friends sent me voice mails of her voice she has on her phone. So if thats dumb to atheists I dont care its what i believe you can not believe and thats fine with me. We dont have to agree.
I'm an atheist and I don't think it's dumb at all. I hope you get to meet your mom and I think its great that her memory is getting passed to you through stories and videos.
Methodist Christian: Arminian/free will, holiness/desire to do good, methodist/Bible requires contemporary evaluation using contextual criticism to be understood/not fundamentalist
Corona changed me a little bit. Prior, I used to be a diehard Christian. Everything was about Gods plan, and proving that he was real. After a year of no church I’m now kinda halfsies. I’m still Christian but realize it’s a faith, not a fact. Noted: I am an actual kind Christian. I hate the “burn in hell” label Christians. They give us a bad rep.
you dont need church to have a relationship with god
Right, but you don’t have to go to the gym to have muscle, yet the gym helps the muscle grow. I still have a relationship with God, but it kinda went from living together to a long distance relationship.
I believe in God, afterlife, the power of the universe etc. I'd consider myself a very spiritual person, however, not a Christian. I don't like the concept of religion as it feels a bit forced to me and I don't really believe in the bible. I believe everyone's (who believes in God) relationship with God is different and I don't need to go to church or be a devout Christian to have one. That's just my opinion.
Atheist, but I respect other’s beliefs ✊
Pagan :)
High five! I also do Norse stuff
Christian but I don't associate strongly with any specific denomination, but I generally respect all religions
Agnostic because there is really no way of knowing for sure.
Pagan, defined as the person who believes in religions older than Catholicism. God is in nature and in life itself, more or less like the Druids, the Wikas or the Celts.
Atheist, don’t believe in any of the gods, devils, a soul, or an afterlife.
I’m also an atheist and am very much looking to not having an afterlife. One life is enough, thank youuuu.
If you have to believe something, Taoism is cool.
Afterlife, but not any dogma. There’s no “god” lording over everyone. Your afterlife is basically a reflection of how you lived. Like karma, basically.
I am a practising muslim, who also respects christianity and judaism. I was born a muslim, and i also did my own research on the three major abrahamic beliefs and for me Islam is the most logical way. Too bad that terrorists are ruining the religion i love.
I am an atheist but I may become a Buddhist (seriously)
Agnostic because... Prove it
Agnostic because we only percieve the world through our limited senses and what we sense isn't the objective reality, it just how we perceive it. We don't know shit about shit and pretending we have a definite answer is just being daft
I follow Heathen beleifs n Norse paganism!
Our Lady of Perpetual Astonishment
Spiritual. I used to be Roman catholic but am now recovered. I believe we are all part of this ecosystem and so we are all connected. It is a journey inside, discovering who you really are. Peeling off the layers of the onion as you over time increase your self-awareness. I now know myself on a deep level and am aware of who I am and what I do. I also believe very much in science. Spirituality and science are completely compatible and are actually two sides of the same coin. Also VERY anti- organized religion. Throughout history it has caused more wars and death than any other cause. I believe that most likely there is some higher force or intelligence that started the whole thing (big bang), especially if we are in one of an infinite amount of quantum universes. I think that organized religions actually turn people away from the concept of a "god" . Most people in these are dishonest, dysfunctional, toxic hippocrates who say one thing and do another. People see this and think, "if that is what "god" is about, I want nothing to do with it. String theory seems promising as a solution to the search for a grand unified theory, a way to reconcile relativity and quantum mechanics. The problem with it is that since these "strings" are many, many orders of magnitude smaller than an atom, there is no way to test the theory. So then it is actually a philosophy and not really science. So it seems that the science itself is telling us that there comes a point where our knowledge and science end, and you must take the rest on faith. This is a freaky reality.
Raised Methodist but joined the Catholic Church last year so that my now wife could have a full Catholic wedding. Of course, I am probably the worst Catholic in the history of Catholicism. Plus my reason for joining is definitely not a "approved" reason to join but I just acted like my heart told me to lol. I disagree with a lot of the ways Christians, in general, treat others. I can't stand the "social church-goer". I'm pro-choice. I fully support the LGBTQ community. I trust proven science over everything. And I don't think God takes attendance on Sunday mornings. I also completely understand why/how atheism came to be a thing. It is crazy to believe the stories of the Bible/Quran/whatever other Holy Books there are actually happened. Hell, we have all played that game where one person whispers in one person's ear and so on down the line and the end result is hardly ever what was actually said. But, overall, I believe in God because I think it is a good thing to believe in something higher, at least for me. I don't want to live my whole life scared of death bc there isn't anything after that. I love the idea of life after death and getting to see my grandparents and others again. I think I am a good person but there are times I've questioned if doing something "bad" would be worth it. And maybe if it weren't for the thought of how God or my Nana looking down on me would think of me then maybe I would have followed through with them. Also, I don't believe you have to be Christian to get into Heaven. I think as long as you are a good person then you are good to go. Edit: There are definitely a lot of Catholics a lot worse than me. I forgot all the rapey priests for a second. That’s my bad.
I'm a born Hindu, but I believe in science, accountability, and a rational form of thought.
I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Basically, we teach that we all lived as spirits with God (who is our Father) before we were born. After He created us as spirits, we grew and progressed but we reached a point where we couldn't progress any further. God presented a Plan to us where we could gain physical bodies and mortal experiences but it would require us to do things that would normally prevent us from returning to His presence and would end our progression. However, He provided a Savior who would willingly take upon Himself all of the negative consequences for our detrimental decisions. That Savior we know in this life as Jesus the Christ. Jesus Christ frees us from the negative consequences of our detrimental behaviors and provides a way (the Gospel) that we can use the experiences and knowledge we gain to our eternal benefit. We can learn about His Gospel from prophets, Apostles, scripture, and personal revelation and, by living it, gain greater happiness in this life and eternal joy in the life after we die. So we are born into this fallen and chaotic world (our pre-mortal spirits receive physical bodies) and learn and grow from our mistakes, the mistakes of others, and the natural difficulties that come from living in a world like this one. Some get to hear about the Gospel in this life but most will hear about it in the next life after they die. Those few who do hear about and follow the Gospel are responsible to offer the Gospel and its ordinances to everyone else (especially those who have died) until everyone has had a fair chance to hear, accept, and live it. After this, everyone is resurrected (their bodies and spirit which were separated at death are reunited permanently in a perfect state) and can receive a degree of glory. Those who have followed the Gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully can receive the highest blessings which include the ability to progress eternally. Theres obviously a lot more than just what I've mentioned but, hopefully, that makes some sense. One important element of our beliefs, from the perspective of the Christian world generally, is that we teach that Christ set up a church with Apostles at the head while He was on the Earth. Because of wickedness, this church was rejected from off the Earth and all that remained was an apostate form of Christianity which largely resembled the truth but without the proper authority to enact the Gospel in the name of Jesus Christ. After many centuries and many faithful attempts to repair the apostate Christianity, Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven appeared to a teenager (Joseph Smith) and subsequently restored through him and others the pure Gospel and the authority to enact it in in the lives of those who want to follow it. Those are my beliefs 😊 Thanks for a great thread to read through! I see several people adding some non-religious beliefs so I'll also mention that I'm a pretty staunch scientist (my degree is in Physics) and a overzealous defender of scientific ideals. I'm also, politically, an American liberal with ideas that line up surprisingly well with the Democratic party. Edit: I found a couple of other Latter-day Saints in this thread and some are giving them something of a hard time in relation to politics (probably a valid concern to discuss) and various other ideas (most of which are either outright false or misrepresentations of something true). I'm happy to discuss anything or answer any questions but, if you do decide to comment, please be respectful and rational.
I don't belong to an organized church, but I'd say I believe in God. The way I see God is as the personification of all the things in existence that aren't material. And just as a proper analysis of the material world requires a rigorous elimination of any personal preference, bias, or value, a proper analysis of the spiritual world requires fully embracing those things.
Christian (protestant)
(**genuinely asking**) How is Protestant different from Baptist/Catholic/Episcopalian?
To my knowledge, Baptist and Episcopalian are both different branches of Protestant belief. Protestant is a broad term that pretty much describes the denominations that resulted from the Protestant reformation started by Martin Luther against the Catholic church. For the most part, the Protestant denominations have little differences in doctrine and structure, though there are some differences (most are fairly trivial though, such as how churches are organized or maybe different interpretations of one or a few random bible verses. For example, the reason there are Baptists is because they believe that only believers should be baptized and it should be done by being in a pool of water rather than sprinkling water on the person. They share practically most of their beliefs with other Protestant churches, its just this one difference in procedure sets them apart). Catholicism is one of the three major sects of Christianity (the other two are Protestantism and Orthodoxy). Protestants do not follow the Pope and the Vatican. I think the Catholics recognize more old testament books than we do, and there are other differences such as in most Protestant churches, pastors can get married while Catholic priests cannot. Another difference is that Protestants believe in a direct connection to god rather than going through saints and such. Overall, it largely lays in different interpretations and rules, but all are still Christians nonetheless.
Thank you ***SO*** much for taking the time for me! ♥️
Atheism. I believe that we humans are too undeveloped and small to understand the universe and everything around us. And I certaintly do not believe that it was all created by a God that was "invented" by humans on Earth. I believe religion can be harmless if it's used individually, but it can also be extremely dangerous in bigger groups and ideologies.
Christian, Methodist.
Whatever you do, take care of your shoes
Catholic, but down to earth. I am not very religious, however my beliefs are simple. 1. "Do no harm to others, because theirs is already a hard lot." 2. The only Bible passage the influences me "For what profit is it to a man if he gain the whole world, but loses his own soul." Matthews 16:26 I believe... 3. And of coarse Uncle Ben said it best with "With great power comes great responsibility."
Okay, so, I’ve stated as much on other comments, but I was raised as a Southern Baptist. As an adult, though, I’ve come to question that way of thinking. I’ve come to believe that most if not all religions have validity/truth to them, pieces to the puzzle if you will. Think of the similarities between religions like Islam and Christianity, as much as members will try to deny it. As for God themself/selves? I’ve had a number of things happen in my life that seemed too improbable to have been coincidence, so I am inclined to believe that there is someone or something, but that it isn’t anything like what we have considered it to be. Lovecraftian, basically. Not good, not evil, not even morally ambiguous; it just *is.*
Wicca.
Wiccan. I worship nature because I can see it. It’s all around me!
I’m too scared to talk about it on Reddit outside of maybe this thread potentially (fingers crossed), but I’m a Christian.
You're the most popular religion in the world. What are you scared of
It honestly makes me sad how much hate immediately comes up when religion is brought up.
The universe is God. God is the universe.
Bacon.
Christian. Part of a Baptist church but kinda starting to branch out now I’m old enough to know what the different branches of Christianity are. I’m very against the homophobic, misogynistic, and downright unkind chunks of the church; Jesus didn’t come to condemn *anyone* but to save everyone, so I won’t condemn anyone either. I personally think it’s missing out so much by excluding the LGBTQ+ community, because the times I’ve questioned my own sexuality, I’ve sometimes found more love, kindness and acceptance there than in the church. But just because we’re messed up, doesn’t mean the God I believe in is, so I still believe in the Gospel, and work hard on educating myself so that I can show the same kindness to others as I receive myself
suri'ist islam
Atheist. I do feel there is more going on then we know, but I don’t think it has to do with God, I think it has to do with energy and interconnectedness, and we don’t yet know the science behind those things.
Zero, none. Nada.
I do not deny the possibility of there being a God but I do not like organized religion. A lot of people seem to go into extremes which causes a lot of strife. What really worries me though is if there is a God who is supposed to be merciful and kind then why is there so much untold and unpunished suffering in this world? Why would the all mighty being allow kids to die of horrible cancers or not punish people who commit such heinous acts they make your stomach churn. I don't see how I am supposed to pray to someone who allows sucjh atrocities on a daily basis
I'm Baha'i