RELIGIONS

["Young Blaze"]

What is your religion?

[phatfarm411]

i dont really have a religion, i concider myself a christian.. but i read about all beleifs and religions.. even though i dont go to church at all.. i read the bible.. mah moms has a copy of the New Testamets which ive read and my grandma has the King James Bible,, which im in the prosses of reading right now.. i dont really go to one particular church.. cuz i disagree wit some stuff and agree wit others in almost every church ive sat in

my moms is a Jehovah's Witness and my pops is a Catholic.. dey divorced when i was like 1.. but anyway,, i agree wit alot of shit my moms church says.. and alot of shit mah pops church says, but dey both have little things that i dont,, which i dont get wit christians is they all have the same basic guidlines, jus little things are different

-----------

my moms church doesnt celebrate birthdays or holidays.. one because some holidays are false.. meaning santa clause and the easter bunny and shit, and they have a strict rule on lieing since its a sin.. and they dont beleive u should celebrate christmas in christ's name or easter because their was no confirmed date to when he was born or died..
and also its against the rules in their church to have sex before your married, and knowone is allowed to smoke, and u cant drink heavely

but now mah pops church says dat if a baby dies.. its jus sits their in abiss.. until god makes his dicission for if he is gonna let them into heaven,, and i dont agree wit dat at all

and as far as heaven or hell,, i dont think their is such places.. i think its more a state of mind,, not neccessarilly goin up or down,, more being lifted mentaly or put down

[Young Ru]

I was raised in a Catholic Household....
But the life style i'm living isnt a Catholic Lifestyle....But i still go to church here and there....

[Gemcee]

I grew up going to a Catholic school--

many things I do not agree with. I hate fanatics...


I lke to take bits and pieces of each religion and apply them to my life. I "do unto others as I would have done unto me"...I don't cheat or lie. I do not believe that there is a GOD necessarily--but i strongly believe that WE ALL need some type of belief system. I really like reading tibetan and buddhist principles.


my boyfreind and i have been dating for 8 years---we do not feel the need to get married...i am reminded by his mom daily how I am living in sin....yet we are the happiest couple I know. If we sleep at her house, we are not allowed in the same room---every trip to the dominican...she blesses us with holy water b4 the plane and gives us Scapulars to wear---


thats fantatic.


---Be good, do good, think good--and good will follow.---thats a good motto for me.

[phatfarm411]

^word up

["Young Blaze"]

See Im Christian, But I Go To Diffrent Churches, Cuz I Get Invited, Then People Ask What Church Iv'e Been Too, I Tell Them, And They Start Saying Stuff Like, Well Your A Trader, Your Not Loyal, And That MAkes Me Not Want To Go To Church, I Mean IF Im There For God Then Wat Else Matters

[admin]

YB - There's a song on Christian radio called "If We Are the Body".

In a nutshell, talks about new people visiting a church and everyone staring at them judging them.

Chorus goes:
If we are the body, why aren't our arms reaching?
Why aren't our hands healing, if we are the body?

It's a great reprimand to churches today. It's very easy to jump into a belief system just to spend time pointing at others that differ.

To admonish one another is to hold each other accountable - not to judge. Admonishing one another is a powerful part of being in a congregation. But not a good thing to do for outreach.

It's a hot topic with churches today.

[surprise]

I believe the modern organized forms of Christianity are really apostate churches. They believe I am a heretic.

I believe in the omnipotent God (the unpronounceable creator one of the bible most closely called YWHW). I believe the spiritual teachings and that we are in the age of Jesus the Savior. I believe in the entire trinity.

They believe that the Councils of Nicaea were divinely inspired although really it was a political strategy for a state religion for Rome. The church has been in an apostate existence since its origins as the official religion of Rome. This "divine" council decided what books we would believe in but I don't believe that God guided them to do so. I dont have any foundation to believe such a thing. I also believe that until this day organized Christianity is a religion based on fear of hell.

So yes, I believe in the entirety of the bible, but most of us are just taking Roman Emporer Constantine's (the guy who believed God inspired him to found a huge city in Turkey, now Istanbul), appointed bishop's research and agendas as holy guidance. There could be more to this religion than just what they selected. Its possible that God has made himself known to more than the just the Christian institution's religious leaders even before 325 A.D.

They had some giant state sponsored debate in 325 AD by Constantine and they decided a unifying belief system for ALL of Christendom. I think God intended a little more Free Will than that, especially after observing the fact that lots of us have analytical brains with logic and curiosities i don't think these faculties were intended as a torture test of mental repression.

(Lets also remember that Rome did not have the best human rights record in history.)

Yet these modern organizations mostly believe that 2 billion people will suddenly be raptured and skip out on some tribulation period. Isn't this a dangerous thing to believe? They in essence believe they cannot be deceived in mass scale without triggering apocalypse. Its naive hysteria with no scriptural foundation.

and I'M the heretic?

Martin Luther was on to something when he broke free of the Catholic Church and said that you should follow Jesus not the institution, but he still kept the Nicene Creed. Which still damns free, even believing and loving, souls to heresy.

I'm also a heretic for taking offense to the way Christians believe they were taught to pray. To ask a list of questions and demands, then pay for it with apologies as a spiritual currency. I believe you should not ask petty requests and errands of the God you serve.

Free yourselves from shackles and open your mind to God's true existence outside of the social and political boundaries. ;)

Embrace your own learning, your own form of gnosis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosis).

I would recommend that you ALWAYS be wary of institutionalized instructions and obstinate purveyors of the same information. Just as you would be wary of a government or bureaucracy who rarely have the flexibility or the purity to keep EVERYONE's best interest in mind. What I'm saying is to follow your own path Christianity is the Truth, but which version of the truth can you trust?

Many would not call people who question the churches Christians even though they are. So the best term I can find for me is Christian Gnostic. Even though the word gnostic is largely misconstrued to envelope an odd religion worshiping the mother earth (thats another institutional perversion). What I'm saying is that in my opinion, the best religion is your own inner path of learning and spiritual enlightenment.

Religion goes much beyond the bible. But of course the bible itself is sufficient to save you.

no spelling or grammar check.. long post

[pissedgoodnamesaretaken]

I'm also a heretic for taking offense to the way Christians believe they were taught to pray. To ask a list of questions and demands, then pay for it with apologies as a spiritual currency. I believe you should not ask petty requests and errands of the God you serve.

Free yourselves from shackles and open your mind to God's true existence outside of the social and political boundaries.
Word.. I agree with this 100%, i have had the same conflicts with such prayer methods, Since Jesus died for us we dont need to sit down and kneel and ask for... EX; I want a bike, i want to get good grade on a test.. stuff like that i just dont agree with. We should be open to God, like you said, and when you get down to it, just talk to him.. not really ask for little things like what your getting for christmas... etc. therefore, im suprised that someone else has the same outlook...im glad you posted that Suprise it helps me to see there are other people who think like me

[!FEren]

I'm Jewish.. Kind Of Just a Label I Was Born With.. Dont Really Do Much Withit..

I Do Go To a Jewish School.. But It Could Just Be Like Any Old School.. I Dont Really Practice Religion..

[KMA]

I wasn't raised with any religion, really. I never heard much of anything about religion growing up, and I've only been to church once in my life. And when I did, I was too young to know what was going on.

So I really don't follow a religion. I think Daoism has some really cool ideas and concepts. I like to scout around different religions, just because a lot of them have really great views and values that you can apply to your life without following the religion.

But nah, I don't really believe in God. ASP said in another thread that there is a God in the sense that whatever created this universe is that 'God', regardless of what it was. And that's cool, I can vibe with that, I dig that. But as for God in the Christian sense, nah.

I mentioned in another thread a theory I had about the creation of the universe. Might be worth making a religion about.

Yeah, I'm kidding.

Let's look at humans, how we make a terrarium to recreate an environment, right? Well picture that on a much huger scale: creating a universe. I could believe that outside of this universe, we are sitting in some alien creature's bedroom or something similar. His race has become so advanced they can create miniature universes. Perhaps their environment is nothing like a universe, who knows? But I find it perfectly plausible that our universe is nothing more than a science experiment.

Is that so crazy?

I think not. I dunno.

It's just a theory, I mean obviously there's no evidence that this could be true, but there's no evidence to the contrary. Nobody knows what's outside the bounds of our universe.

[phatfarm411]

Yet these modern organizations mostly believe that 2 billion people will suddenly be raptured and skip out on some tribulation period. Isn't this a dangerous thing to believe? They in essence believe they cannot be deceived in mass scale without triggering apocalypse. Its naive hysteria with no scriptural foundation.

this is wat my mothers church beleives.. but their Witnesses of Jehovah.. some think its a cult.. but ive attended services with them many times before.. and i think otherwise.. not something that i would participate in.. because of their very strict rules.. but i agree wit their beleifs

[Anesthetic]

Organized religion is a sham.

[mc_lite]

I can't get into this too much.. but IMO, Organized religion ruins personal faith.. Religions are the guidelines, both strict and loose, that constrict faith. Any constricture of faith taints the openness of the faith itself. In order to truly have faith in something, you need to be able to believe in anything.

[Young_Ghost]

Organized religion is a sham.

DAMMT ANNIE!!

stop saying what im going to say before i say it!!!!!

:P

["Young Blaze"]

YB - There's a song on Christian radio called "If We Are the Body".

In a nutshell, talks about new people visiting a church and everyone staring at them judging them.

Chorus goes:
If we are the body, why aren't our arms reaching?
Why aren't our hands healing, if we are the body?

It's a great reprimand to churches today. It's very easy to jump into a belief system just to spend time pointing at others that differ.

To admonish one another is to hold each other accountable - not to judge. Admonishing one another is a powerful part of being in a congregation. But not a good thing to do for outreach.

It's a hot topic with churches today.

Thanks, Yea It Kinda Makes Me Feel Like The First Time I Went With My Friend To His All Black Church...LOL...

I Appreciate The Answer, Thats A Good Song, As Much As I Read

[KaMiKaZe_LyRiCiZt]

Lol to tell you the truth i don't know what religon i am...i know my

moms side is catholic but i was never baptaised and not sure about

my dads side...but my parents aren't religous people and i'm not

forced to go 2 church

[Miss-Tiff-Eyed]

I'm not much into the whole religious thang, but the Buddhist Nobel Eightfold Path makes a lot of sense to me!

[KaMiKaZe_LyRiCiZt]

haha buddhist trip me out for some reason...lol

[Miss-Tiff-Eyed]

Not me. My room is full of Buddha stuff.

[KaMiKaZe_LyRiCiZt]

i got like one little buddha that some chinese guy gave me when

i was little

[Miss-Tiff-Eyed]

Ah yes, I got *let me count* like 6 of those little guys, along with a buddha mask, buddha like candles, etc. lol.

[KaMiKaZe_LyRiCiZt]

damn lol

[Bull-Pup]

I'm a Muslim.I am religious,but not fanatic.I respect each and every religion on earth,whether it worships God or any other.

Religion is now just the tool of the trade when it comes to politics,so you shud practice it alone unless you want your mind tainted.

[B.N.G]

nice to find a muslim mate here :D

i'm a muslim too , religious and not fanatic too.<< i hate fanatics , they have so many rules that give us a bad look for people who have another beliefs >>
i respect every opinion over here , who have any , or who don't.
but i believe that you should search for the truth and what is the best for your own.

[intellectual]

my mind is my own church

[Bull-Pup]

LoL,it is hard to find a muslim on Rap battle boards...
Though a lotta rappers are muslms.

And if your mind is your own church,do you mean taht you DO believe in God in your way,or you just got your own religion?

[intellectual]

LoL,it is hard to find a muslim on Rap battle boards...
Though a lotta rappers are muslms.

And if your mind is your own church,do you mean taht you DO believe in God in your way,or you just got your own religion?


Define God.


i believe in humanity, and humankind's potential for...divinity.
An imperfect divinity is the best of all, i think.

[Bull-Pup]

I meant the God above LoL

Well that;s your point of view,and I respect it.

[The Professional]

I'm pretty much Buddhist, though there are a few tenants of Buddhist writings that I don't particularly adhere to, such as the belief in anatman, or "not soul". Personally I feel like we do have a soul, and that's a feeling that I just can't kick..and I'm not sure I entirely believe in Enlightenment either. On the contrary, I use Buddhist philosophy to make a lot of decisions in my life; I try to follow the Eightfold Path and Five Precepts (google em) but I don't always succeed, especially when it comes to refraining from intoxicants lol. But I think that Buddha preached a lot of truth, just as Jesus did, just as Mohammed did, just as Confucius did, just as Laozi (founder of Taoism) did.

Although I do try to make decisions based on Buddhism, I sometimes look to Taoism often. Taoism is all about following nature, and doing what is natural..It kinda teaches me to follow my gut instinct, which I usually find to be right.

Overall I've found that (as previously stated) organized religion does more harm than good, but religion in itself can be a valuable instrument in organizing one's life and finding spiritual guidance. Is there a God? I don't know, but I remain open to the idea. I'm just not going to say that he exists if I don't have any notion to point me in that direction. I think that it just comes down to finding what makes people happy and what gives people peace. Some people find that in (insert religious icon here), but I just happen to find it in myself, because I think true peace can only be found inwardly, and that it doesn't come from outside sources, such as God. I think that organized religions such as Christianity and Judaism do point people in the right direction, and can indeed lead to a feeling of peace and contentment, but personally I think that it's because if one follows a code that they feel is moral, be it the Ten Commandments or whatever, then that emanating kindness is what ends up creating the feeling of peace or oneness with God.

I don't shit on anyone's religion, because as long as other people can find peace, I'm happy for them.

[Spine Shank]

Are you of Asian decent, Professional?

[The Professional]

Not at all lol. I just have a thirst for learning about things like that.

[Boggie Man]

my mind is my own church

co-sign

[surprise]

I am a Truth seeking Christ believer who rejects most formalities and traditional teachings of Christianity as corrupt and apostate. I believe most religions are actually either unified and from the same source, or man made to intentionally oppose the Truth. I believe in free humanity and am therefore opposed to Apostolic Palace who are the truth-counterfeiting fascists of the last two millenia, and the suppressors of science and awareness. They have removed the esoteric realities from their sermons, and even dumbed down the life of Christ into a fairytale, and have denied the origins of the religion.

[Miss-Tiff-Eyed]

I just saw this... cool shit Professional. I'm taking a class in college next semester called Asian Religions, and I will be learning about Taoism and all the other major Asian religions.

I pretty much define myself as Buddhist, so I'm very excited to learn about the other religions.

[The Professional]

Haha that's funny, this past semester I took a "Religions of Asia" course. It covered Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. Very interesting, and I got an A in the course lol. I was definitely Buddhist beforehand, but after taking the course I also developed an interest in Taoism. I think that by now I would most likely define my religion as Unitarian Universalist, with Buddhist and Taoist influences.