Unfortunately I have the horrible luck of living close to Scientologist central, Clearwater FL. Its not that I’m against their religion, but they keep trying to convert me whenever I go to the 7/11. They are also building the “Super Power Building” and it really freaks me out on what they think they will accomplish there. They made a machine they think will unleash some sort of spirit that will make a new world or something.
They did that in Europe too. They called it the Large Hadron Collider
Ha! I didn’t get it until I wikipedia’d it.
I don’t believe in a higher deity or associate myself with an organized religion (although I suppose you could call me an atheist). But I have morals! Really, I do.
I went to church the other day, and really enjoyed it! This will probably turn into a normal thing!
I’m Catholic, born and raised.
There are some things I disagree with though in my faith…
I was also born and raised Catholic. The only bad thing is, the History Channel uses the Bible to prove the Apocalypse. The only part of the Bible they use is the Book of Revelations, which does have many end-of-the-world predictions. And I believe them. Stupid 2012 stuff…
Born and raised Catholic as well, and proud!
As a catcholic you are not supposed to pay heed to superstition or other gods. The 2012 thing comes from the fact that the next cycle of the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. The Mayan’s, however, worshiped “pagan” gods. (even if their calendar did kick the butt of any European calendar at that time.)
I used to be a very faithful Protestant. Then I thought about all the different religions and said, “All of them claim to be right, as does mine…but who should I be listening to?”
Now I believe that there is a creator of the universe who’s out there somewhere. I just don’t know who he is yet.
I am a non-denominational Christian. I believe that Jesus was the son of God and that he came down here to save us through his death. He paid the consequence for our sins and if we believe in his ability to save us. We believe that works will never save ones self as it never has before. I believe that the bible is the book that God inspired men to write so that his message would go across the world.
Its really quite simple if you just look into it…and yes church can be fun sometimes. I can remember once or twice i had a feeling of complete overwhelming happyness unlike anything i had ever felt before. It was almost overpowering…
I’m a Christian, and I am not ashamed of it.
I’m pretty much with little_chef_eva09, Mitch, Pixfan, and Al-Bob (Pardon me if I left anyone out)
It’s more Christian than any other continent, but that’s because lots of people can pass off as a “Christian” just because it’s “cool” or to “fit in” or whatever other reason they might have. People go to church, say they believe in the Bible, and call themselves Christians, but really aren’t living their lives for Christ. Christians in third world countries aren’t playing around with their faith - it’s genuine; because if you’re a Christian, you could get killed for it. That gets rid of the fake Christians real quick.
Who, meaning whether he’s the God of the Christians, god of the Muslims, god of the Buddhists, etc?
Exactly, and it’s depressing that there’s a lot of people out there who are like this. I’m genuine, and I feel for those who say that they’re Christians but who aren’t living a Godly kind of life. No one is perfect, of course, but it’s still saddening.
– Mitch
There is no such thing as god. I’m glad to be an Estonian.
I’m a devout Christian (Roman Catholic, to be more specific). I go to mass every Sunday, and I do my best to live up to the teachings of God in all aspects of my life.
I also want to bring up that I’m an engineering student, and as such, am deeply involved in all sorts of scientific things. I wanted to say this because a few people seem to believe that if you choose to be a scientist or an engineer, then you must neglect religion altogether because science and religion just don’t mix. As a matter of fact, science and religion are in complete harmony with one another! St. Thomas Aquinas himself gives a nice explanation regarding this subject in his Summa Theologiae, but even if you’re not familiar with that work, the brief answer (which I’ve paraphrased in a not-so-elaborate way) is that science came about because of God, and there is no reason to believe in such a contradiction. This kind of reminds me of the following anecdote (I don’t know if it actually happened or not, but it’s a fun little story):
I’m not a theologian, so I can’t say I’m entitled to say anything more. But the only important thing is that I have faith, and I acknowledge the fact that I am imperfect and incapable of explaining all things ineffable. There’s no way I can go through this life without God.
Sorry for the double post, but Christians, Jews, and Muslims, which some people call the Abrahamic religions, all believe in the exact same God (and are all monotheistic). It’s just our understanding of this one God that differs.
I think Buddhists are spiritual, but lean more towards atheism… I’m no expert on this subject, however, so please correct me if I’m wrong
Edited. I combined both of your posts. – Mitch
Hinduism is one fo the world’s oldest religions, they believe that the world is ‘Maya’ this means that the world is subject to flux and change, and there is no truth in it. The true world is one of Brahman, the universal essence, and it is from Brahman that all souls (Atman) come from. It is seperated from Brahman be ego. Ego surrounds the Atman with ‘sheaths’ one of these sheaths is what is believed to continue between lives, however no memories or sense of the previous persons life continues between rebirths. The goal of Hinduism is to escape the cycle of rebirth (through yoga) and achieve enlightenment (Moksha) at which point the Atman will be reabsorbed into the Brahman.
Buddhism is more recent and they believe that a person is made up of ‘skandas’ which momentarily come together and then part. I like to picture two parallel strings which are vibrating, everytime the strings touch that is a new life for that person, however it is an illusionary life with illusionary conciousness. A persons ressurections are determined by the Karma he/she accrued in her previous life. The goal of Buddhism is to escape the circle of Samsara (rebirth) and enter Nirvana, this happens over many life times.
Also when it comes to the relationship between science and religion I think Albert Einstein says it best:
‘Science without Religion is lame. Religion without Science is blind.’
Go you, mei! Never be ashamed of it! Right when we think we are the only ones out there, we slowly realize that we are not alone. And I don’t believe you left anyone out…
This is very well put, mei. Seriously, if America didn’t allow freedom of religion and killed people off for being true Christians, then I think a lot of people (nominal Christians) would get their act together pret-ty quickly.
Although, I’m becoming convinced that our mouths are slowly trying to be sewn shut by the government… but for the sake of anger management, I won’t get into that.
little chef
To an engineer perhaps. I wonder what percentage of evolutionary biologists or Astronomers are religious.
So? An aspect of science is to always question authority. Pasteur did great things for food preservation but is still just a man and open to mistakes just as any other man. The quality of any aspect of science rests on the data, not the individual.
He does not mean religion in the sense most people think of religion as. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Ein … ious_views
… The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. These subtilised interpretations are highly manifold according to their nature and have almost nothing to do with the original text. For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them. - Einstein (14 years after the previous quote)
Eh? America is majority christain. It’d more likely be the other way around, eliminating gays and what not.
I think what Mitch is saying, is people who claim to belong to a ceratain demonination, but don’t hold all the beliefs, or follow the rules of that demonination. You hear people say, “I’m Catholic, but I don’t believe in this, this, and this.” Are you really Catholic then? If you don’t agree with the basic principles of a religion, I really don’t think you should indentify yourself as one of them. Now, I am not saying this means they aren’t Christian. Being a Chirstian simply means you follow the teachings of Jesus. If you do that, I have no problem with you saying you’re a Christian, even if you follow his teachings in a different way then mine. I’m just saying that if you identify with a specififc demonination, but don’t hold all the same beliefs, you should probably find a different demonination that fits your beliefs better.
DocKenobi - But one person can read the Bible and take a message one way (metaphor vs. literal, doesn’t apply to today vs. does apply to today) and another person’s interpretation could be totally different. To me, a “true Christian” wouldn’t deny others rights, like gay marriage rights, but from Mitch’s point of view, a “true Christian” would. So, again, there is no such thing a “truth”, only perception, which is why I don’t think anyone can say that they are a true anything, because of the conflicting content in the Bible, and it’s also human nature to interpret information differently than the next person. What would be the measuring stick to being a true Christian?