Other What's your religion?

[Xion136]

Christian. Proudly covered by the blood~

 

[Katie Jensen]

Don't really know if I should say it but I'm a Satanist. Contrary to popular belief I don't sacrifice virgins, goats or infant children. I just choose to believe that Satan is actually the creator of us all. If you're going to hate on me and yell at me go ahead but it won't change my beliefs.

 

[cumbernickle]

im somewhere between agnostic/atheist :^^]

 

[DrTrollinski]

I wanna thank you for showing me your point of you. I really appreciate it, as this is my thread.


As far as evidence for God's existence, I recommend two things... The Cosmological Argument and the Teleological Argument. Those are the best evidence for His existence.


I also would like to remind you that God gave us free-will. It is both a luxury and a curse. It's a luxury because we're not mindless puppets, it's a curse because it gives us the option of doing evil.


I believe that the reason for so much evil and suffering is because we are, even today of all days, being punished for what is known as "The Original Sin". Adam and Eve, and all of their children and grandchildren, including you and me, are suffering for their lack of obedience. Because of them, we are forced to have to work in order to eat, and for women to have painful childbirth.


Evil came from us, not God. And God has no desire of eliminating the evil in our world because it serves a purpose for him. It punishes yet strengthens people's resolve. It weeds out the strong and righteous to the weak and evil of the world. Our faith is constantly being tested, over and over and over again. And to quote the Bible in regards to this, here's a favorite of mine...


The life of man upon earth is a warfare. - Job 7:1

We're being punished for the original sin?


I'm sure my father would have loved to hear that when he was on death's door with cancer, haha. Luckily he survived. I don't put his survival down to God - its down purely to the treatment he received. 


Here's a question for you, if punishment like that exists, why do murderers and child predators walk free from it while the best people seem to be struck by it? My dad worked for 40 years to put the worst people alive behind bars, and somehow he's the one that's punished for "The Original Sin"?


Another prime example. Michael Bublė's son, Noah, three years old and just diagnosed with liver cancer. 


Does he deserve to be punished for 'The Original Sin'? 


If there is a God, I would not want to follow under the leadership of one that allows such selfishness and unjust suffering to take place, nor one that claims to be something he's not.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Don't really know if I should say it but I'm a Satanist. Contrary to popular belief I don't sacrifice virgins, goats or infant children. I just choose to believe that Satan is actually the creator of us all. If you're going to hate on me and yell at me go ahead but it won't change my beliefs.

I have nothing against you. People should do their research about it before they explode at you - the concept of Satan being the one who created us is more than plausible in a lot of aspects. I'm sure everyone here will respect your opinion all the same.

 

[Katie Jensen]

I have nothing against you. People should do their research about it before they explode at you - the concept of Satan being the one who created us is more than plausible in a lot of aspects. I'm sure everyone here will respect your opinion all the same.

Usually when I say I'm Satanist people turn the other way and run or they get angry and tell me I should die or tell me that my religion is wrong. The truth is Satanism is a kind of self centred relgion, it's also atheistic since we see Satan as more of a symbol than an actual God but I choose to believe he's the original creator too.

 

[Crispy Fries]

Yeet, atheist time. Fun fact: every Sunday, we gather in a science lab and worship shrines of Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and Carl Sagan

 

[Temptress]

I am proudly Wiccan. 

 

[Sunbather]

None. I don't think anyone is actually any religious follower though, since pretty much all religions are inherently contradictory, and thus cannot be followed properly.

 

[YanaAi]

You guys lost me on page 8. This thread has been long and eventful and that's all I'm going to say about it.


I used to be a devout Born Again Christian. But now I put my faith on my own free will. Call it what you will; I must say everyone here is rather well-versed in terms. I still believe in the God I used to worship, but now I'd rather do that on my own terms and not put up with any specific religious sect. An antireligious theist, perhaps? 

 

[spookie]

agnostic leaning heavily towards atheist, but i hope that after death comes non-existence...

 

[Shireling]

We're being punished for the original sin?


I'm sure my father would have loved to hear that when he was on death's door with cancer, haha. Luckily he survived. I don't put his survival down to God - its down purely to the treatment he received. 


Here's a question for you, if punishment like that exists, why do murderers and child predators walk free from it while the best people seem to be struck by it? My dad worked for 40 years to put the worst people alive behind bars, and somehow he's the one that's punished for "The Original Sin"?


Another prime example. Michael Bublė's son, Noah, three years old and just diagnosed with liver cancer. 


Does he deserve to be punished for 'The Original Sin'? 


If there is a God, I would not want to follow under the leadership of one that allows such selfishness and unjust suffering to take place, nor one that claims to be something he's not.

There is the idea here that everything is necessarily related to God or God's fault in a direct sense. While certain sects of Christianity do believe in this concept of "predestination," generally the consensus is that natural phenomenon such as disease and the weather can be influenced by God, but generally is not.


There is a passage in the Bible that states in Matthew:


  "So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. "


So, this can be interpreted two ways. Because the apostle uses the active verb "makes" it suggests that God is exercising his agent in making it rain on the just and unjust. This has also been interpreted to mean that the natural order set up by God is indiscriminate. Either way, it plays into this verse from Luke:


And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.


Basically Jesus is saying, "Just because these people got leprosy doesn't mean that they're worse than anyone else, but everyone is equally a sinner."


Now, that logic applies well to non-believers. But why does shit happen to believers? In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes:


More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.


So when bad things happen to believers, generally it's to test their faith.


Now, there's another angle this can be approached from. The ethical angle here is, wouldn't it be unjust for God to grant people the ability to believe what they wanted to believe and then heap benefits on Christians while giving all non-believers AIDS? Of course not. That would be completely unjust. According to the Bible, evil will exist in the world so long as there is sin. So might as well dispense the evil evenly? That's only fair right? Because, in the end, all sins are equally bad. All crimes are not equally bad, but all sins are equally bad. An important distinction.

 

[DrTrollinski]

9 minutes ago, Shireling said:



There is the idea here that everything is necessarily related to God or God's fault in a direct sense. While certain sects of Christianity do believe in this concept of "predestination," generally the consensus is that natural phenomenon such as disease and the weather can be influenced by God, but generally is not.


There is a passage in the Bible that states in Matthew:


  "So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. "


So, this can be interpreted two ways. Because the apostle uses the active verb "makes" it suggests that God is exercising his agent in making it rain on the just and unjust. This has also been interpreted to mean that the natural order set up by God is indiscriminate. Either way, it plays into this verse from Luke:


And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.


Basically Jesus is saying, "Just because these people got leprosy doesn't mean that they're worse than anyone else, but everyone is equally a sinner."


Now, that logic applies well to non-believers. But why does shit happen to believers? In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes:


More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.


So when bad things happen to believers, generally it's to test their faith.


Now, there's another angle this can be approached from. The ethical angle here is, wouldn't it be unjust for God to grant people the ability to believe what they wanted to believe and then heap benefits on Christians while giving all non-believers AIDS? Of course not. That would be completely unjust. According to the Bible, evil will exist in the world so long as there is sin. So might as well dispense the evil evenly? That's only fair right? Because, in the end, all sins are equally bad. All crimes are not equally bad, but all sins are equally bad. An important distinction.




 






 

I find it hard to buy into. Look, religion for me is a very hit-and-miss thing. Although, as nice as it sounds, that there's the possibility of a 'God' of some sort, the simple fact for me is that it just doesn't make sense.


We are one planet of billions, if not trillions, and something makes us so special, apparently. Something makes this man in the sky so drawn to us, out of every other potential species out there. Every other planet he could have created life on, and he chose this one? 


When I was a child, it was nice to believe that there was someone out there that helped to influence me and protect me, but where I am isn't on the back of god, the back of any faith, or the 'guidance' of some mystical hand. I can't look into the sky and ask for guidance when it comes to my difficulties - Simply because if that was the case, then the fate I've been hit with ever since I was six years old would not have befallen me. If people want to try and justify someone getting cancer, or a child dying of some sickening disease, purely because 'all sins should be divided equally', then so be it, but that's not something I have ever, and never will be able to, respect. 


To put things into further context, Stephen Fry had a way of commenting on this. It's quite the known video clip now.


"In an interview with Irish TV host Gay Byrne last week, Fry was asked what he would say to God at the pearly gates of heaven. The ensuing rant – articulate, polite but savage – was widely shared. "I'll say, 'Bone cancer in children? What's that about?' How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right. It's utterly, utterly evil."


And the eye-worm? It's this to which he refers when he says: "Yes the world is very splendid but it has in it insects whose whole life cycle is to burrow into the eyes of children and make them blind. It eats outwards from the eyes. Why?"" 


If the lord almighty wants to spread punishments to those who do not deserve it, then so be it, but that is not a god I would ever want to worship. By the power of god, in theory and in relation to what is stated on the bible, with his power I could hold a glass at my side, release it, and through the power of god the glass will stay right where it is. It's well and good having theories and arguments, but the 'glass dropping argument' is merely a counter-argument, a counter-theory, one that simply tries to imply that the 'power of god' is not all that it says to be. They say that faith can move mountains, but from my experience, 'faith' to one's god has caused centuries of war and suffering among those who are willing enough to carry out the lord's supposed bidding.

 

[Shireling]

I find it hard to buy into. Look, religion for me is a very hit-and-miss thing. Although, as nice as it sounds, that there's the possibility of a 'God' of some sort, the simple fact for me is that it just doesn't make sense.


We are one planet of billions, if not trillions, and something makes us so special, apparently. Something makes this man in the sky so drawn to us, out of every other potential species out there. Every other planet he could have created life on, and he chose this one? 


When I was a child, it was nice to believe that there was someone out there that helped to influence me and protect me, but where I am isn't on the back of god, the back of any faith, or the 'guidance' of some mystical hand. I can't look into the sky and ask for guidance when it comes to my difficulties - Simply because if that was the case, then the fate I've been hit with ever since I was six years old would not have befallen me. If people want to try and justify someone getting cancer, or a child dying of some sickening disease, purely because 'all sins should be divided equally', then so be it, but that's not something I have ever, and never will be able to, respect. 


To put things into further context, Stephen Fry had a way of commenting on this. It's quite the known video clip now.


"In an interview with Irish TV host Gay Byrne last week, Fry was asked what he would say to God at the pearly gates of heaven. The ensuing rant – articulate, polite but savage – was widely shared. "I'll say, 'Bone cancer in children? What's that about?' How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right. It's utterly, utterly evil."


And the eye-worm? It's this to which he refers when he says: "Yes the world is very splendid but it has in it insects whose whole life cycle is to burrow into the eyes of children and make them blind. It eats outwards from the eyes. Why?"" 


If the lord almighty wants to spread punishments to those who do not deserve it, then so be it, but that is not a god I would ever want to worship. By the power of god, in theory and in relation to what is stated on the bible, with his power I could hold a glass at my side, release it, and through the power of god the glass will stay right where it is. It's well and good having theories and arguments, but the 'glass dropping argument' is merely a counter-argument, a counter-theory, one that simply tries to imply that the 'power of god' is not all that it says to be. They say that faith can move mountains, but from my experience, 'faith' to one's god has caused centuries of war and suffering among those who are willing enough to carry out the lord's supposed bidding.

Thank you for giving me your pathos, I will promptly ignore it. I don't care that you don't believe what Christianity has to say on that issue, all I'm trying to do is present you with the ethical argument and you may do with that what you will. Just as you may point out, my religion is not necessarily important to other people. 


Likewise, your feelings aren't important and I don't care. 

 

[Fishman Lord]

I'm an unprogrammed Quaker, although I'm a bit on the agnostic side.

 

[TrueBananaz]

Lutheran

 

[Dugym]

I thoroughly enjoyed and believed that video.


Thanks.

No problem. There's a whole playlist too, going over each commandment. It's very interesting.

every religion*


they are all parallel and in no way contradicting.


When it says you can only be a part of this religion and no other. It does not specify that the "others" we reference are in fact Other religions: they are not.


monotheist are they all (henotheism is monotheism.)

Henotheism isn't exactly monotheism. Monotheism believes in the existence of only one God. Henotheism believes in the existence of multiple gods but only believes in the worship of one.


Also, there is the hypothesis that each religion is true and is just interpreting God differently. It is an intriguing hypothesis.

I'll be honest; there was a lot less burning at the stake than I expected from this thread, so I don't see why not. Besides, it might be interesting to share for the first time in a while.


Much like two or three others who have already posted here, I don't really have a set religion, or a fully-encompassing term for what I am. If you want to put it simply without examining the details; I'm polytheistic, but the gods I believe in are less gods and more spirits, representing aspects and items within this realm. They influence what we see and think, but their influence isn't absolute, and they are actually mortal, their life connected to what they represent. So, it actually started turning into this controversial thing in my friend group that that gives all of us 'pocket' gods because we exist too, and I stopped putting my beliefs into words about then because I wanted to avoid conflict between everyone.

That's interesting.

I'm generally against organized religion. I don't know if there is a term for that? I mean I'm an atheist I don't really believe anything but science. It's the leaders and the extremists In the religions i don't like.

Misotheist?

 

[TeaMMatE11]

I find it hard to buy into. Look, religion for me is a very hit-and-miss thing. Although, as nice as it sounds, that there's the possibility of a 'God' of some sort, the simple fact for me is that it just doesn't make sense.


We are one planet of billions, if not trillions, and something makes us so special, apparently. Something makes this man in the sky so drawn to us, out of every other potential species out there. Every other planet he could have created life on, and he chose this one? 


When I was a child, it was nice to believe that there was someone out there that helped to influence me and protect me, but where I am isn't on the back of god, the back of any faith, or the 'guidance' of some mystical hand. I can't look into the sky and ask for guidance when it comes to my difficulties - Simply because if that was the case, then the fate I've been hit with ever since I was six years old would not have befallen me. If people want to try and justify someone getting cancer, or a child dying of some sickening disease, purely because 'all sins should be divided equally', then so be it, but that's not something I have ever, and never will be able to, respect. 


To put things into further context, Stephen Fry had a way of commenting on this. It's quite the known video clip now.


"In an interview with Irish TV host Gay Byrne last week, Fry was asked what he would say to God at the pearly gates of heaven. The ensuing rant – articulate, polite but savage – was widely shared. "I'll say, 'Bone cancer in children? What's that about?' How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right. It's utterly, utterly evil."


And the eye-worm? It's this to which he refers when he says: "Yes the world is very splendid but it has in it insects whose whole life cycle is to burrow into the eyes of children and make them blind. It eats outwards from the eyes. Why?"" 


If the lord almighty wants to spread punishments to those who do not deserve it, then so be it, but that is not a god I would ever want to worship. By the power of god, in theory and in relation to what is stated on the bible, with his power I could hold a glass at my side, release it, and through the power of god the glass will stay right where it is. It's well and good having theories and arguments, but the 'glass dropping argument' is merely a counter-argument, a counter-theory, one that simply tries to imply that the 'power of god' is not all that it says to be. They say that faith can move mountains, but from my experience, 'faith' to one's god has caused centuries of war and suffering among those who are willing enough to carry out the lord's supposed bidding.

Here's the thing, and I know I posted this earlier.


 as humans, we are all broken.  No one person is better than another.  We're all sinners, whether you'd like to admit it or not, which then leads me to the crucial point: that Jesus died on the cross for the sins that have committed, and continue to be committed.


We're not justifying why someone gets cancer; we're saying that the original sin was the work of Satan (or the serpent), and not God.  God created a perfect world, one in which He did not want to destroy until sin came along.  


Don't blame God for all the wrongs in this world.

 

[Sunbather]

Here's the thing, and I know I posted this earlier.


 as humans, we are all broken.  No one person is better than another.  We're all sinners, whether you'd like to admit it or not, which then leads me to the crucial point: that Jesus died on the cross for the sins that have committed, and continue to be committed.


We're not justifying why someone gets cancer; we're saying that the original sin was the work of Satan (or the serpent), and not God.  God created a perfect world, one in which He did not want to destroy until sin came along.  


Don't blame God for all the wrongs in this world.

Kind of a logical fallacy. If God is all powerful, why can he/she/it not prevent sin? If God is all good, why does God not step in, despite our errors and short-comings. God can't be all good and all powerful, yet this is what, for example, Christianity says. So we know the whole thing's already not entirely correct , but let's assume God still exists: The fact we still live in the world we do means he/she/it's either not as benevolent or as mighty as the faith proclaims, in which case, why would anyone believe and worship such a being?

 

[boo.]

Kind of a logical fallacy. If God is all powerful, why can he/she/it not prevent sin? If God is all good, why does God not step in, despite our errors and short-comings. God can't be all good and all powerful, yet this is what, for example, Christianity says. So we know the whole thing's already not entirely correct , but let's assume God still exists: The fact we still live in the world we do means he/she/it's either not as benevolent or as mighty as the faith proclaims, in which case, why would anyone believe and worship such a being?

Because God is all-good, he gave us humans free will. It's as simple as that. How could He be all-good and not give us the ability to choose our own fate?


But God in Himself is a great mystery. There is really no way that we as humans can understand Him. If we could... Then He couldn't be the way He is.


What way is that? ... I dunno. Go ask a real theologist.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

Kind of a logical fallacy. If God is all powerful, why can he/she/it not prevent sin? If God is all good, why does God not step in, despite our errors and short-comings. God can't be all good and all powerful, yet this is what, for example, Christianity says. So we know the whole thing's already not entirely correct , but let's assume God still exists: The fact we still live in the world we do means he/she/it's either not as benevolent or as mighty as the faith proclaims, in which case, why would anyone believe and worship such a being?

Because Jesus already died on the cross for our sins.  That's how God atoned for our sins, and opened the gates of heaven to even imperfect beings.


We're also forgetting the fact that all the people in the Bible (excluding Jesus) were nowhere near perfection.  Saul (before he was Paul) literally stoned Christians to death.  He then later turned into Paul, his reformed self, after God intervened in Saul/Paul's life.


God works in subtle ways.  


For instance, there's a story of an ISIS member who turned into a Christian.  The story goes like this - he talked to one of his prisoners, and told the executioner told the prisoner that he was going to die the next day.  The prisoner accepted his fate, and gave the executioner his Bible, and wanted the executioner to read it.  (executioner being ISIS member).


The executioner, after killing the prisoner, then went on to read the Bible.  And he kept reading.  And kept reading.  And then he realized that what he's standing for is not correct at all.  He then later on separated himself from ISIS.


This story is no different than Saul's story.  In both of these cases, some external force had to be at work.  

 

[Sunbather]

Because God is all-good, he gave us humans free will. It's as simple as that. How could He be all-good and not give us the ability to choose our own fate?


But God in Himself is a great mystery. There is really no way that we as humans can understand Him. If we could... Then He couldn't be the way He is.


What way is that? ... I dunno. Go ask a real theologist.

So but then you agree God can't be all-powerful, too?

Because Jesus already died on the cross for our sins.  That's how God atoned for our sins, and opened the gates of heaven to even imperfect beings.


We're also forgetting the fact that all the people in the Bible (excluding Jesus) were nowhere near perfection.  Saul (before he was Paul) literally stoned Christians to death.  He then later turned into Paul, his reformed self, after God intervened in Saul/Paul's life.


God works in subtle ways.  


For instance, there's a story of an ISIS member who turned into a Christian.  The story goes like this - he talked to one of his prisoners, and told the executioner told the prisoner that he was going to die the next day.  The prisoner accepted his fate, and gave the executioner his Bible, and wanted the executioner to read it.  (executioner being ISIS member).


The executioner, after killing the prisoner, then went on to read the Bible.  And he kept reading.  And kept reading.  And then he realized that what he's standing for is not correct at all.  He then later on separated himself from ISIS.


This story is no different than Saul's story.  In both of these cases, some external force had to be at work.  

So then that proves he isn't all-powerful AND all-good, since God literally had to have Jesus killed to wash away our sins. God couldn't and/or didn't want to just let it vanish and make everything perfect.

 

[TeaMMatE11]

So but then you agree God can't be all-powerful, too?


So then that proves he isn't all-powerful AND all-good, since he literally had to have his son killed to wash away our sins. He couldn't and/or didn't want to just let it vanish and make everything perfect.

You're forgetting the fact that Jesus Christ and God were the same being.  Jesus was God in human form.

 

[Sunbather]

You're forgetting the fact that Jesus Christ and God were the same being.  Jesus was God in human form.

So let's use that scenario then. Suicide is a sin, no? So then God sinned themselves instead of just making everything perfect. Is that not proof of coming short of being omnipotent?

 

[boo.]

So let's use that scenario then. Suicide is a sin, no? So then God sinned themselves instead of just making everything perfect. Is that not proof of coming short of being omnipotent?

No, saying Jesus was God in human form is not correct. I can see why that confused you. 


God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three seperate beings. They are not the same being. And yet they are one God. And not three being treated as one collective. They are One Being. And yet they are not.


Amazing, isn't it?


Now, back to this whole all-good, all-powerful discussion. Just be clear that I do not understand this, just the same way that you do not likely know everything about your body's very atoms. It's part of who we are, and yet we dont know the full extent. Except atoms can be understood, and God cannot.


Do you think the whole world would love God even more if He had just blinked sin away? Hm? No? That is correct. He needed to show us His love for us. And what better way than to die for us? This was the way to open the gates of Heaven and allow us to enter. And it was not suicide. He gave us humans here on earth the choice to kill Him. And don't forget that Jesus is both God and man. The man part of him did not want to be killed. He even says in the garden before he dies, " Father, let this cup(death and suffering) pass from me, yet not as I will, but as You will."


I know it might not make much sense, but there it is.