Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

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Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by Shameless »

Seeing as the mods are cracking the shits in the Shaytards thread, I thought I'd start a thread over here. Let's try to be at least a little considerate towards each other. I am talking about mainly the Christian types but others can be discussed as well.

My thoughts on religion:

I was raised without any type of religion whatsoever, but I knew what it was as we were taught a little bit in school. Mainly I just ignored it and never really thought about it. Didn't believe it, thought god was fake like the Easter Bunny.

Now that I am older and am able to understand it more, I still don't believe it. I think for the most part it is quite negative and has a negative effect on people as it dictates your life in a way that I personally believe to be unnecessary. In the town I grew up in, the few people who were raised in somewhat religious households grew up to be just as, if not more idiotic (drug users, teen pregnancy, etc.) than the rest of the population.

I think many of the messages that the bible teaches can be beneficial such as "Do unto others as you would have them do to you" and similar ones. I also like the concept of marriage.

I suppose the main reason I dislike religion is because it is very contradicting and most religious people like to "pick and choose" which I suppose is fine but then what's the point of having a religion if you're only going to follow half of it? The Shaytards are a prime example of this, they go along with the modest clothing thing and yet other aspects of their lives are very un-modest such as Shay's constant innuendo jokes and the fact that they film themselves and put it on the internet.

Anyways, your thoughts?

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Izabella

Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by Izabella »

Here are mine:

My thoughts is that I couldn't care less about what other people believe in or practice in, and it boggles my mind that people out there care about what other people do or think in their own time (same with sexuality). You could believe that a Unicorn ruled to the earth and I wouldn't think twice about it. It's annoying when people are in your face about it, but only because it's annoying when people are up in your face about anything, whether it's religion or whether it's an annoying sales woman following me around a store. As long as you keep it to yourself and don't let it affect my life in any way, then do, believe and think whatever you want and as long as you don't make other people feel shitty about themselves for either not believing, for being gay, for having sex, etc. If you don't think something is right then don't do it, but don't make other people feel shitty just because they're not following your guidelines.
By the way, I'm 100% Agnostic. I've been Orthodox for years only because I was raised that way, and I've also been Atheist for years, but I'm at a point where I just can't decide if I believe in God or if I don't, because I just don't ever think about the Universe so I accept that God may exist but I also believe God doesn't, but I generally don't give it any thought and continue on with my life. I'll know when I'm dead.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by VeronicaSawyer »

I am an atheist as well. However, I think you're unfairly targeting Christianity here, and stereotyping all Christians a being one way. Every religion is just as ridiculous as the next, and creates as much unnecessary violence and ignorance as the next. You're no better than preachy religious zealots, if you choose to categorize all religious people, specifically those belonging to one religion, in a certain way

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by Shameless »

lila19 wrote:I am an atheist as well. However, I think you're unfairly targeting Christianity here, and stereotyping all Christians a being one way. Every religion is just as ridiculous as the next, and creates as much unnecessary violence and ignorance as the next. You're no better than preachy religious zealots, if you choose to categorize all religious people, specifically those belonging to one religion, in a certain way
Sorry you feel I have targeted Christianity. I suppose in a way I have because that's the only type I really know about. I am only speaking from my own experiences.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by krandr0205 »

I didn't feel you were targeting anyone. I understood what you were saying, and I agree.

I identify myself as agnostic/atheist. I highly doubt that there is some magical place in the sky that "good" people go to when they die. I find that I believe in spirits, but only in the way that our souls carry on after death. To me, the bible is more like a collection of stories that people re'wrote and retold until it became what it is today. It's the only way it makes sense, because nothing in it is possible. Like someone said before me, I guess I'll find out when I die.

I have never been religious, and I still turned out to be a good person, so isn't that what matters? What gets me about Catholicism/Christianity - as I don't know much about others - is that the idea is if you become baptized/"saved" before you die, then you automatically get to go to heaven. I know terrible, terrible people who are under 18, smoke, have sex, do drugs, commit various crimes, and are general douchebags, but because they actively identify as being in a certain religion they live well in the afterlife. But me, someone who doesn't do anything but play with their cat, go to school, and go to work is going to hell because I refuse to believe that someone who died thousands of years ago is essentially living in the sky and lived a 100% impossible life. It makes no sense to me.

I don't like that religious people pick and choose when they want to believe, and what they want to follow and what they don't. And they think they can get away with it because they are ___. There is this girl who sits behind me in English who is a Mormon. She had her nude pictures leaked to the school last year. How does God feel about that?
Doesn't the bible basically say "treat other's the way you wish to be treated"? Vast majority of the "Chistians" I know, don't follow that very well. "The devil made me do it." No, bitch, you made that decision yourself. The devil did not make you throw soap at that girl, nor did he tell you that it is okay to tell someone it is their own fault for their eating disorder. He did not tell you to fat-shame every overweight person you see on the street, and he def. did not tell you that it was okay to verbally torment overweight kids (in class), as well as the gay kids. There is no one in your head telling you what to do, and if there is I suggest you seek professional help.

My choir teacher is an insanely religious. He comes from a preacher family, and always tries to spew his belief system at us. Anyways, he thinks it is absolutely hilarious to make racist jokes towards me and my friend, as well as just generally saying rude little comments. He told us we didn't mean to wear black socks with our gowns at festival because our skin was close enough. Keep in mind I am biracial. Just fyi, my ancestors have been in America longer than most white people's, so 90% of my family does not look like they stepped off the slave boat like it was just last night. At one point he was talking about slavery and said something along the lines of "these two would be able to tell it better than me." Bitch, does it look like I was ever a slave?! God clearly didn't give you any type of social skills/common sense.

Wow, didn't mean for this post to be an entire novel lol.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by Wombat »

I feel religion is a tool, used however an individual wants to use it.

If a person has been raised with emphasis on morality meaning caring for others, they will use their religion to do good. Most religions have a lot of focus on charity, on caring for those within your community, and on being good to others, and these are the teachings some people draw on.
If a person has been raised with morality meaning believing and acting exactly in accordance with what the teacher's thoughts and wishes are, they will use their religion to do ill. Most religions also have out-dated codes and rules that are generally at odds with modern society. These are the teachings some people draw on.

I've known a lot of religious people, inside and outside of my family. Some have used their beliefs to spew hatred and give excuse to their dislike of certain lifestyles or beliefs. Some have used their beliefs to give action for their wish to help others, by involving themselves in church-run charities.

I've known Christians of various denominations, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Agnostics and Atheists. All of us seemed to be driven more by the political and social beliefs of our parents than any book.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by RabbieWingz »

I've been brought up with religion, I was born as a Muslim and still am one, I love my religion and don't know where I'd be without it. I just hate how it is presented through the media and some "believers".

I think most people concentrate and look at the followers and interpretations of a religion rather than the religion itself. When I was younger, my parents would shove certain teachings down my throat and forced me to practise parts of Islam blindly without any understanding, which eventually caused me to deviate from the religion altogether. Eventually, I decided to actually look into everything myself. I read the Qur'an in English translation, read the teachings and tried to understand everything by myself using the help of people who I thought had a good understanding of it all. I'm glad I did all that; the more I read the Qur'an, the more I fell in love with it, the more I understood the teachings, the more I found peace, the more I saw, the more I believed (cheesy I know lol).

If you really want to know what a religion is like, then you can only do so once you understand everything under a non bias perspective. Don't judge it because of its followers or how it's shown on media etc.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by loopyloo »

I 'came out' as an atheist when I was nine. I got into critical thinking quite early on and as I thought more and more about religion the more ridiculous it seemed. I also went to a very multicultural school and I started thinking that all these different religions could not all be right, especially as some were contradicting each other so much.

I don't care what nonsense people choose to believe as long as they keep it to themselves. I would describe myself as a secular humanist as I do believe in the separation of church and state. It really annoys me when the church tries to influence government policy, especially when so many people (here in the UK) are not Christian.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by JustGlow »

I absolutely agree with Loopyloo. In Norway we had a state church up until 2012!!! That's crazy. We also have a Christian party who are actually elected into the House of Representatives (Stortinget). They almost became part of the new government, and I absolutely hate how much they have a say in the politics. Recently a massive discussion flamed up regarding GP's (doctors) being able to not refer a woman who wants an abortion to the center or clinic that will do the abortion.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by krandr0205 »

loopyloo wrote:I 'came out' as an atheist when I was nine. I got into critical thinking quite early on and as I thought more and more about religion the more ridiculous it seemed. I also went to a very multicultural school and I started thinking that all these different religions could not all be right, especially as some were contradicting each other so much.

I don't care what nonsense people choose to believe as long as they keep it to themselves. I would describe myself as a secular humanist as I do believe in the separation of church and state. It really annoys me when the church tries to influence government policy, especially when so many people (here in the UK) are not Christian.
I agree completely, so I have developed a theory. I think that since every person believes something different, maybe when we die everyone has a different afterlife that goes alongwith what they believe. I don't know if that makes sense. For example, if the people who believe in heaven go to heaven. But each heaven varies depending on the person and what they would consider a utopia. And maybe someone who does not believe in god and heaven and the whole shabang, goes somewhere that aligns with what they believe. I don't know, that's just something I thought of.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by tamithomas »

I myself am neo-pagan aka Wiccan. I give the same respect back about my beliefs that the person gives me. For example if someone goes all "wicca and/or witches are the devils spawn" yea no, not going to take the abuse. But if the person respects that I don't believe in the one and only Abrahamic God then I will respect their love for him. It's all about respect at the end of the day..what we all believe behind closed doors is no one else's business but our own as long as we treat each other properly.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by whataredis »

To put it simply, I believe in God, but I don't identify myself with any type of religion. I will respect anyone's beliefs as long as they respect mine.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by gizcorn »

whataredis wrote:To put it simply, I believe in God, but I don't identify myself with any type of religion. I will respect anyone's beliefs as long as they respect mine.

That's pretty much my belief as well. I don't know if I would call my way of thinking religious or just spiritual because of the non-identifiable religion aspect. None of my friends understand it though haha :)
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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by Diorette »

I was born in a Catholic family, I was raised as one and I've been all my life in Catholic schools, I believe in God but I personally don't identify myself as a Catholic, there are some things I don't agree with, how if you're divorced you can't do a lot of things Catholics do, both my dad's first wife and my mom's first husband were cheaters and asked for divorce eventually, so my parents are not guilty for getting divorced, so I think catholicism should be more considerate with those cases.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by xLeopardPrincessX »

I don't believe in God, I appreciate others opinions or beliefs about religion though and happy they stick to it and would like to learn more about others regions, but to me if there was a God good people wouldn't get punished and there is no proof God is real in my opinion, the bible to me is a fairytale book, like Harry Potter or Cinderella.. that is what I have always believed. I mean no offence by this so I apologize if I upset anyone :)

But Id love to her about everyone's beliefs...

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by SoccerKat »

I am a Christian and it honestly makes me so sad to see how some other "Christians" act. They spew hate to those with differing beliefs, pick and choose parts of the Bible to believe, and are just overall hypocrites. I put the quotations around them because I don't believe they are really born-again believers. Now obviously I don't know what is truly in their hearts, (that's between them and God alone) but to me it doesn't seem like they are living like Christ.

A good example is the Westboro Baptist Church. Those people make me sick. Saying that God hates gays, drunks, etc is point blank unwarranted hate. Jesus himself ate dinner with and hung out with liars, thieves, and other people who the Jewish Pharisees considered evil and unclean. Never in the Bible does it say to look down upon and judge others, but rather to love them.

Quick side note: "Separation of Church and State" is not in the Constitution. It was used in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association to assure them that there would be no National/State religion. He wrote it to tell the people that they wouldn't have to worry about the government enforcing any religion on them. So it was more to protect the Church from the government, not the other way around.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by angelaj0921 »

I hope I don't regret this.
I am a Christian, and in my mind religion is a big problem in today's world. And, I can understand why a lot of people are put off by God and religion, and I think the main reason is churches today. A lot of people take it to the wrong extremes, or use it in defense of their heinous acts which drives me crazy because it makes us all look bad. But, I think the main problem is that for many, many churches today religion is about a bunch of rituals that are basically meaningless and leave you feeling empty. To me, those things don't really matter. What really matters is that you have a personal relationship with God. If your growing and enjoying your relationship with God then that's really all that matters, not how many times a day you can recite the Lord's prayer. You can go to church once a week, pray the prayers, and sing the songs, but if you leave feeling empty then something's missing. I think a lot of churches can be extreme to the point that they're legalistic and want to shun you if you don't dress like them, or if you like to listen to rock music. That's far from Christian-like and only pushes people away. People lose focus, and forget that we should be accepting of everybody and be inviting people in our doors instead of pushing people out. And, some churches go to such an extreme that they've lost focus and are only worried about getting people in their doors so they can make money, but they don't actually minister to people. I'm always skeptical of those mega-churches and their intentions. Lastly, the one thing that disturbs me the most is that some churches are so old-fashioned and stuck in their ways that it pushes young people away. I've been to so many churches that have hardly any people in their early to mid-twenties. They still sing the same songs they sang 100 years ago, and they aren't willing to listen to more contemporary music or be open to new ways of doing things. What they don't realize is that young people are the ones who will be leading the church when they die, but if they push all the young people away then the church will die. As I said, the church has to find more ways to serve the community and to be more relatable to it's community.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by JuiceBox »

I was born into a Catholic family, was and still am in Catholic school for all of my school years. I wouldn't necessarily peg myself as completely Catholic anymore because some of the beliefs are rather over-the-top (I'm one of those Christians. pls don't throw things at me), but I definitely believe in God.

What I really dislike is when religious people are all lumped together and it is assumed that the teachings of Christianity are mostly the same across the board. For instance, the groups that take the Bible completely literally are most often spread out to encase every single Christian ever, hence "omg they're so ignorant that never happened." Or that all religious people are out to make LGBT people's lives absolutely miserable. The absolute worst one is the creation vs evolution debate. Those exist side by side for me, and it's quite annoying to have it automatically assumed of me that I reject science and "critical thinking skills." Obviously, there are definitely people who fit that description but as with any group the extremists are the ones to stand out and be noticed.

I used to defend it blindly, as most kids do, but as I got older I looked into it more and tried to understand what it was that I was standing up for. A few of my reasonings and personally beliefs have definitely changed, but I'm still for it. Even after some soul searching and long, scary nights of depression giving me the lovely "you're an insignificant piece in this whole gigantic universe" big picture.
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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by angelaj0921 »

SoccerKat wrote:I am a Christian and it honestly makes me so sad to see how some other "Christians" act. They spew hate to those with differing beliefs, pick and choose parts of the Bible to believe, and are just overall hypocrites. I put the quotations around them because I don't believe they are really born-again believers. Now obviously I don't know what is truly in their hearts, (that's between them and God alone) but to me it doesn't seem like they are living like Christ.

A good example is the Westboro Baptist Church. Those people make me sick. Saying that God hates gays, drunks, etc is point blank unwarranted hate. Jesus himself ate dinner with and hung out with liars, thieves, and other people who the Jewish Pharisees considered evil and unclean. Never in the Bible does it say to look down upon and judge others, but rather to love them.

Quick side note: "Separation of Church and State" is not in the Constitution. It was used in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association to assure them that there would be no National/State religion. He wrote it to tell the people that they wouldn't have to worry about the government enforcing any religion on them. So it was more to protect the Church from the government, not the other way around.
Sorry for the double post. But, Agreed! I cannot stand the Westboro Baptist Church. I consider myself Baptist, but I would NEVER want to be associated with them. All they do is spread hate which is anything but Christian-like. I don't think God would be pleased with that, and that is not the way to spread the Word. They take the Bible out of context, and blow things up to the maximum extreme, and they are just WRONG! They are the kind of people that just completely turn people off and push them away from Christianity in general. I hate that they are even allowed to call themselves Baptist or Christians because they are not, and the send the absolute wrong message. God loves people, he doesn't hate them, and anybody can be saved regardless of who you are or what you've done.

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Re: Your thoughts on religion? (Christianity etc.)

Post by starlightcity »

I personally am agnostic and I am interested in all religions actually, but my interest is more of a scholastic, kind of admiring one, like I just want to study all of them. But I don't understand why people with differing faiths are oppressed or prejudiced because their beliefs are essentially all the same. Religion developed to keep people in line and "civilized", to suppress our reptilian brains that are the animal part of us and demand survival and reproduction. History repeats everyday, showing that religion and rules have gotten some of us nowhere in regards to committing crimes and killing others and being greedy and lustful. Groups like the Westboro Baptist Church, as people mentioned above, are still full of hatred and ignorance. Knowledge is power but in this world is still very dangerous.

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