I'm totally OK with Jesus for the most part, but as a human being/humanist rather than the magic/miraculous parts of the stories.
What I don't like about the Judeo/Christian version of God is the patriarchal aspect of it, ie, he's "our father," and he really loves us but if we aren't obedient and don't follow certain rituals to "worship" him etc., he will have to see to it we are tortured in some kind of lake of fire til the end of time.
Kind of like the ultimate mean alcoholic dad, "why did you make me hit you?" The way it's presented is you have "free will" - believe all these stories and do certain things, or face this eternal damnation. What kind of freedom is that, really?
I just don't believe it - never did, even as a kid although I sure learned to keep my mouth shut about not believing it!
QUOTE=lizziness;1852099]My path has been a strange one. I do not attend church, however I did as a teenager and I had a very bad experience. Now I know that doesn't mean that all churches will be like the one I went to - but I guess it really did open my eyes to a lot of things and it did guide me to forming my beliefs and values... however mostly in the opposite direction.
I was raised in a house that rejected religion, my mother was smothered with it as a child & my father came from a household too lazy and indifferent to think about it. When I started going to church as a teen my dad was quite shocked and can be quoted as saying "I thought we raised you better than that." While that seemed pretty outrageous to me then... given the people I was keeping company with I can see his point of view in hindsight and I don't think it had anything to do with the religion.
In the end I took a path that led me away from organized religion and Christianity all together. I don't regret the time I spent going to church and learning about Christianity...I explored other organized religions but in the end I just found that my spiritual life was meant to be private and and shared with others.[/QUOTE]
I have relatives who were convinced both my kids would be damned if I didn't baptize them into the Church, especially my MIL! So I did it to placate them more than anything else....my oldest one was kind of into it for awhile and was even an altar server in Jr. Hi, but the priest/pedophile scandals here in L.A. disillusioned her and now she is more or less like me. She attends a Catholic high school but because it's a great school academically - I would say the majority of the girls there are not religious, or are some other religion (it's by the big Scientology Center so honestly I think there are more practicing Scientologists than Catholics there!)
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Originally Posted by GatorgalstuckinGA
with the new job gary...lately i'm working on the sabbath. However since you asked about do i go to church. No...i was raised catholic and abandoned the religion shortly after college...for a multitude or reasons. I don't attend church for many various reasons, one being i haven't found one that i feel isn't at times a double standard (easiest way to put it). I do feel i live up to high morals and live my life very spiritally...but just haven't found that "church/religion" that seems to make me not question everything. There are times i think about it alot...esp when kids come into the pic (not anytime soon)..i wonder if it would be better to go to church..by my jury is still out for now. I do believe i'm a practicing christian and hold ppl in high moral standards.
I attend a baptist church here in northern Maine and I love it they are very loving and giving . I grew up attending Catholic and Methodist went with my two grandmas I actually went because I was there and kinda had to.I stopped going when I got older .Then 7 years ago my father in law was diagnosed with lung cancer and in the process he accepted Jesus as his Lord ans Savior ,he died a very peaceful death. At the time I was working at a nursing home and I noticed that those who believed and had attended church and had accepted Jesus had very peaceful deaths those who did not were very disturbed,screaming some times they did not want to go because they saw fire .Shortly there after I started going to church and was saved, Go every Sunday unless too sick or on holiday. I can really relate to bad expierences in church I had one.Thanks for the forum it is interesting.
I was raised Pentecostal. I am a Bible believing Born Again Christian. I have a very strong faith in my Lord and Savior. I do not attend church at this time for very personal issues, which are not an excuse, but are valid reasons to me.
Height: Tall enough for my feet to reach the ground
Church is a strange issue in my house....here is why:
Hubby is catholic
kids all were baptized catholic
my immediate family is catholic (although none of us kids were baptized)
and myself, well i had a strange time in my life about 10 years ago and I was baptized baptist just well, because I could...(DUMB I KNOW)
So we do go to the catholic church and practice the catholic faith, but we probably only go every other week (ish)
After being born and raised Catholic, attending a Lutheran college, and living in the Bible Belt for 10 years, it turns out I've discovered I'm actually an atheist! I really tried to give religion a try, over and over again, but nothing fit. My experiences with certain types of Christians, especially over the past 10 years caused me to question my entire belief system. I care very deeply for humanity and this earth, but I do not attend church.
I too would like to commend everyone for sharing without getting argumentative, religion can be a tricky topic to talk about in a civilized manner.
I was raised Catholic, 9 years of Catholic school. I remember I started asking questions in early grade school, and learned quickly that asking questions was generally discouraged, that satisfactory answers were never given, and that blind acceptance was the expectation. I always had a problem with this. The older I got, the more I learned, the more that was pushed on me, the more I pushed back. I used to run away on Sunday mornings to avoid going to church, I remember it as a torturous thing that was forced upon me, and never saw the point in it.
Needless to say the second I went to college I stopped going to church, and have since come to the conclusion that I’m an agnostic and quite happy with that. I’ve never really felt I was missing anything. I believe I have high ethical and moral standards without believing in a supernatural being or fearing punishment for my deeds in an afterlife. I believe there are plenty of things that humans do not understand and can’t explain, but assigning these things to the human construct of “god” and explaining them with the human construct of “god’s word” makes no sense to me. In short, it all seems like it could have been made up by humans. The only thing I know is that I don’t know much. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I believe I have high ethical and moral standards without believing in a supernatural being or fearing punishment for my deeds in an afterlife.
Me too! I think that's the thing I have the hardest time explaining to people who equate atheism with evil. I do follow an ethical code, the golden rule, "do unto others as you would have done to you." It applies in every situation and has never once failed me.
I wasn't raised with a religion, and have only been inside a church for funerals or weddings. My mom offered when I was younger to take me if I wanted to go (Mom was raised Catholic and Dad Protestant) but I never did. I wouldn't say I'm atheist, but I think agnostic is the right word. I do consider myself somewhat spiritual (only in the past couple of years have I felt this way) and was raised with good morals (thanks mom and dad!).
I do not attend church. I was raised very strict Catholic, and later attended some mainstream protestant variety churches, and then some more New Thought churches. Right now I feel like I have evolved away from it all. I am very interested in Spirituality and now it has become an interpersonal thing. I don't feel the need for "fellowship" as I am basically an introvert, and I don't feel the need for periodic indoctrination to keep a belief system going, and I don't think that God would have a need to be worshipped. I will say however ironically that I tend to REALLY LIKE people who go to church. I like people who are seeking, in whatever way, something right, something good, something holy.
I'm sure there are things out there that we don't understand in our current life...but when I see people praying, for instance, about a football game I'm like....how is it with the pain and suffering in this world that somebody up there would intercede in a football game? And even if it was true -- it would be cheating!
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Originally Posted by Amy8888
Me too! I think that's the thing I have the hardest time explaining to people who equate atheism with evil. I do follow an ethical code, the golden rule, "do unto others as you would have done to you." It applies in every situation and has never once failed me.
I'm sure there are things out there that we don't understand in our current life...but when I see people praying, for instance, about a football game I'm like....how is it with the pain and suffering in this world that somebody up there would intercede in a football game? And even if it was true -- it would be cheating!
I think I would have to agree with you if one of the teams was praying for a win. However, I've never attended any sporting event like that. At all the games I ever attended, they prayed for the safety of the players and the safety of all as they traveled back to their homes after the game. But, if I did attended an event where the team "prayer" always said, "please help us to win," I'd definitely have something to say to the coach/administration that let it happen.
My alma mater stopped doing a prayer at the beginning and now a member of the booster squad makes a statement such as, "Our hopes for the team and the spectators are for their continued safety throughout the night." I think that was a nice way for them to keep the sentiments of a prayer without risking offending anyone that doesn't share that belief. And you know what, everyone was fine with it! (I love it when communities stand together in spite of their differences!)
Last edited by Kim_Star060404; 09-13-2007 at 03:03 PM.
I'm a spiritual mutt. Take some Catholicism, add some strict independant Baptist, some other mainstream Christian denominations, some non-denominationals,add a touch of New Thought, and you've got--me.
Lately I have been reading some metaphysical spirituality books. I have enjoyed learning some new schools of thought, but I still get that longing to go to church again. Not sure why--maybe for the fellowship and the community.
My partner is an atheist, and he would DEFINITELY not go. But I don't think he would stop me if I wanted to....
I was born and raised Lutheran (ELCA) in the land of Mormons (Utah). I was chastised at a young age for not being Mormon and often was not allowed to play with my friends because I was not Mormon (or sometimes they said it was because I had a friend who's father was an alcoholic--like that was HER fault). Anyway, early on I equated church with bad memories. I had a few friends who were Presbyterian or Methodist, but very few. Imagine my surprise when I started college and found out that there was a Catholic Cathedral downtown! Who knew! Utah of all places!
I remember throwing tantrums because I didn't want to go to church. Actually it wasn't the church so much that I disliked, it was Sunday School. I couldn't grasp why I had to go to school on Sundays.
I was married in the same Lutheran church that I grew up in. Both my kids, although being born in California, were baptized in that same church. I have good memories of that church (just not Sunday school!).
We don't attend church here, although when my parents visit, they go to the Lutheran church down the street because they have friends from Utah that moved here and go there. If I had to choose a church to attend, it would be that one. I just don't seem to find the time to attend.
DH and I go to church whenever we can; the only exception is if one or both of us are sick. DH is Catholic and I am Protestant; he had stopped going to his church for quite a while, but returned about 7 years ago; we had been going to various Protestant churches together up til then. Now, we go to his church most of the time becuz we both like the priest, the service, and the people there.
I may never be able to fully grasp every single doctrine, but more than enuff to be happy there; I kinda look at the Catholic church as the Mother Church and all the rest are her children who grew up and moved away from home (this is my own view only).
On occasion, we will also go to a Protestant service just for something different (ie Christmas or Easter). Mostly, my faith is more important to me than the denomination. Thru our lives, we both have had good and not-so-good experiences; but, I never held that against GOD and JESUS; becuz humans are flawed and make mistakes.
I may not understand everything either, but I just put my TRUST in GOD that He knows best (like I did my parents when I was a child); and when we take that walk into the next life, I intend on asking him some questions about the things that I didn't understand while I was here.
My faith is also very important to my life; I read the bible every day, and do daily bible study devotionals, becuz I learn so much from them and they help me in my life. My faith is MY SECRET ROCK; it gives me strength to face the day ...
Last edited by Justwant2Bhealthy; 09-13-2007 at 08:44 PM.
(I love it when communities stand together in spite of their differences!)
