9 Other.

I used to (kinda) be a christian when I was younger. Then thoughts kept creeping up about how I'm only being scared into this religion because of hell. Starting thinking maybe thats why Christianity is so popular, not because its the truth but because its one of those religions that use fear to convert people. These thoughts started accuring around when I learned of other religions. Didn't know which was the right one so I read up on a lot of them... I read a variety of different beliefs and religious books. From Muslim to Wiccan. Buddism has always been a favorite of mine, more so of Daoism (which is a more of a philosophy or way of life rather than a religion).

After all this pointless researching I've decided not to have any religion. I just believe we are here, existing, and theres nothing we can do about it... except accepting it. I believe in "God" but its more of a personal god.

9) Other.

I've transitioned throughout my life. I feel that this is important to do. As we evolve and grow as people, I feel it's natural to question beliefs especially those that were taught to us as children, and to test the waters to figure out what our relationship to our spirituality is. Right now, I consider myself somewhat of an agnostic with a few Buddhist and mostly Taoist ideas, working on becoming more of a freethinker. I can see the beauty in a lot of different things: nature, the lives of Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu, Joan of Arc, etc. I've been sort of also on the line where science and religion dovetail. Metaphysics interests me. I believe that energy flows through everything and perhaps there is a lot to reality that we don't see, or that we feel and don't understand yet. I am trained in Reiki and briefly in martial arts (which to me is NOT a sport, but much more) so on some level the whole energy thing makes sense to me. I also don't completely doubt reincarnation. It sounds like a mishmash, but I get it so that's what's important as far as I'm concerned. I could go on and on here, but that's the basic jist of where I'm at right now in time.

hmm...i really dont knowm what i am... my friends say im a non-conformist when it comes to religion, but i am theistic. I do believe in a higher power (whether it be one god/godess or many). I have always been raised as a Southern Baptist...but my parents are the biggest hippocrits ever...so i have no respect for christianity... all my life i have been told that "jesus is the way", and well the same "people" who preached that to me were the same "people" (the "people" be christians) who told me about drugs, sex, alcohol, and other socially unaccepted things. i do not mean to offend any christians out there, i'm sure the rest of you have had different experiences as me. Anyways...other people have considered me Wiccan, because i have some Wiccan values such as the Threefolds Rule. Those of you who are Wiccan know what i'm talking about.

Christian background.. i am what you would call 'on the fence'

Do you think you'll keep walking the line, or do you forsee yourself jumping off to one side?

I was raised Haitian Christian Baptist. While I'm not fully practicing, I still go to church every other week. More out of habit and family loyalty than religious devotion.

9) Other.

Kinda dents your faith a bit when you are told you have a 50/50 chance of living, although pulled back from that I now have 70/30 in my favour Was that a 'god' or chemotherapy?

LaVeyian Satanist/Individualist.

I come very close to being a Death Priest.

I'm leaning towards 7. But not devoutly. Just like a passing appreciation of the values that it involves. When I'm older, I may look into it further, but at the moment I'm happy being unattached to any religion. But that doesn't mean I don't believe in a 'higher power' of sorts.

I'm happy being unattached to any religion aswell :p

lol... Death Priest. Sounds cool.

I was raised Lutheran, but in my early teens I realized that I was not really believing the way that it was being spoonfed to me. Not that I am criticizing Lutheranism per se - my way of believing just evolved into something far more all-encompassing.

I don't know if there's a name for what I believe, but in essence I think there is an all-powerful energy, and everything here on this Earth, including each of us, is part of this energy, and we come and go, have influence on and are influenced by, the flow of this energy all around us. Our personal energy is our spirit, which existed before we came to this plane. We chose to come here to learn and develop an aspect of our spirituality, and when we have learned what we came here to learn, our spirits return to that all-encompassing energy, perhaps to take other journeys to develop other aspects of our souls. This all-powerful and all-encompassing energy is called many things - God, Buddha, the Great Spirit, the "force" - it doesn't matter what you call it, it's really all the same thing.

The sad part is that the world's modern religions get stuck on man-made customs, rules and traditions, often based on misinterpretations or literal interpretations of multi-translated documents and on wilful manipulation or suppression of scripture in order to preserve political power systems. This naturally divides people and sets them at odds - witness the bloodshed throughout history in the name of religion. I think we all have a lot more in common than our religious leaders would have us believe.

I'm a solitary Witch. I do my own thing with my own stuff. Pagan kinda covers me

after several months of deep discussions, soul searching, a variety interesting experiences and a handful fascinating, heavily spiritual dreams, i'm looking into the Quaker(currently referred to as Friends) belief in fostering a personal relationship with God, needing nothing else to know His divinity, but my own heart and an ability to listen.

there's more than just sitting quietly in a church, it's more about listening to God for yourself, as he intended us, and having others who relish the presence of God as you do to discuss any, thought you may have had

...not having some old man who thinks he's been divinely selected to retranslate, translated words of God and tell a person how to live to find unity with God, it's that mentallity that kept me away from understanding, the possibilities of living a complete and full life, under his guidance...one day i met people who knew more than me, understood him in levels that i could never find, listening to those who believe they are serving God by passing judgement on others...what right does any man have to passing judgment, on His creations?

God gave us glorious bodies to enjoy, why do some persist it's a sin to use his gifts?

please, point out one place in the bible, His "own words that state sexuality is a bad thing...adultry seems to be the only issue that has dire consequences, and that's understandable, yet there are plenty of examples where...it's been, condoned. *shrugs*

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/111/s...60_1.html#cont

if God intended us to be ugly, he would have made it so...

9)
I don't have a religion at the moment, and I don't plan on having one. I was raised Christian, so I hold to some of those values but only because I like the good manners that I was taught. Otherwise I can't stand to be a part of a religion.

actually they just helped me remember God wasn't the bad guy years of catholicism had convinced me of, i have had time to read the bible, reflect on God and understand what he intends for me...i've come up with many of these ideals asking for His guidance and interacting with those who've been guided by him for years.

Quote:

Re: sexuality- the reasons Christians say sex should only be between married people is b/c we believe marriage to be a symbol of the relationship between God & the Church. Allowing more than two people into that union through sex, which we consider the ultimate expression of unity & trust, perverts the symbol. There's a Biblical phrase that has become part of common parlance: "You cannot serve two masters"; a conservative Christian would see sex with multiple partners as symbolically reducing their allegiance to God in partial favor of someone else. As far as gifts other than sexuality, I don't think anyone of any faith considers it wrong to utilize one's talents.

and where does God say you need a church to worship him, how can anyone even equate the woship of God with interaction between two people, his own words say go forth and multiply...it wasn't until the roman church were at their height in the middle ages that they started to disuade people from sexuality...before than, even popes and bishops had wives and concubines.

God made us with free will and independent thought, why ruin that by not thinking or talking to Him, for ourselves?

this guy is too amazing and wordy to simpley quote, but he expresses this much better, bibically than i do. i've still got half of the old testament to go.

http://monstrous.com/forum/index.php...28546#msg28546