This is not a thread for people to argue over religion. If you attack the belief of anyone else on this thread I will attack you. I just want to get a survey of how most people here believe, and would welcome heartfelt and sincere comments about how you came to your current beliefs.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

I strongly believe that there is some form of a higher power, be it a god or a creator, and that life and existence has a meaning far beyond anything that we can understand.

I believe in the soul and its reincarnation. Everything is cyclical in nature and in life. Why wouldn't existence be cyclical, too?

I believe in karma. I think that, in the end, good things happen to good people.

How have I come to these beliefs?

It wasn't any one thing that brought me to these conclusions. It's been through a lot of reading and personal experiences; some of them are a little too personal for me to share, as I'm not sure how some people would react.

But I will say that some of my beliefs stem from ideas taken from multiple different world religions.

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Wheelhouse

I grew up in a very secular, non-religious Jewish home, believing in God and very little else. In my mid-thirties I met my wife to be, who was more religious, and I felt frustrated by how completely ignorant I was about the religion I was born into.

Well, nothing frustrates me more than feeling stupid, and when I had no real concept of even the most basic traditional Jewish holiday rituals, laws, history and prayers I became determined to get educated. When I did, I realized how much I felt connected to my history, my roots, my background, and what it meant to be a Jew. It was really meaningful, and I gravitated to the traditional Jewish way of life.

Now, this meant following some restrictions and rules that were as foreign to my family and friends as they had previously been to me. Still, it is a path that I chose and have stayed with for about 7 years now. You wouldn't know it from seeing me or meeting me socially, as some of you can attest, and I am more relaxed about some of the dietary laws than many in my world. I also never discuss my religious beliefs with others outside of my immediate inner world as it just draws unwanted attention to a topic of immense complexities that I prefer not to get sucked into.

The best description of my lifestyle and beliefs would be ultra-modern orthodox. I know people with black hats and long beards, even pray with them at times. There are members of my synagogue who look and dress this way. I used to be very bigoted against them for the way they looked, and now feel foolish about that since I know them as people not as a stereotype.

I am repelled by the insular orthodox world, and think living behind such walls only breeds fear, ignorance and Judeophobia. I think one should be as comfortable and fluent in the secular world as they are in the world of the synagogue.

What bothers me is the hate and bigotry that I have faced from my secular parents, particularly my father who has almost completely rejected me and my family for adopting a traditional Jewish lifestyle. It's stunning to be on this end of the hate. I have no hatred towards them, do not for a minute ask them to change anything about their lives, but face a degree of venom for observing Shabbos (the Jewish word for Sabbath) and Jewish dietary laws that is really stunning.

In the case of my father, he has shunned us and will not permit us to come to his home. He has not seen his grandchildren in nearly a year despite living less than a 4 hour drive away. He will not see us if there is anything Jewish in his presence. It's incredibly painful to deal with, and somewhat shocking since we are relaxed in so many ways, and lead an outwardly very secular life.

Anyway, that's my story...

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

I am a dyslexic canine lover who believes in some form of dog........

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

Wrong.

If anyone attacks anyone the thread will be insta closed and deleted.

Religion is a pretty sensitive subject for a lot of folks. Let us tread carefully.

unfortunately there isnt a 3.5. while raised catholic im not really a practitioner of the religion. i attend mass twice a year (christmas and easter) but beyond that, nothing. while i would like to believe in the existence of a god or gods, logic and reason tend to prevent the belief that there is a big dude with a white beard in the sky. A while back i took a philosophy of religion class in college. in that class i learned about monotheism, polytheism and about deism. Deism i found interesting. the basics of it is that god made the stuff and is just watching. not playing any role in the course of history, not fucking with people, nothing. to me, if there is a god, makes the most sense for how he operates.

so i guess religiously, im a fallen deist catholic who only really goes to church when its important.

i more so love the history that surrounds religions and their dogmas.

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Check out my website: http://www.artistzero.com

"That wasn't very nice...I do believe you killed my hat."

Driver of the FIRE LINDY RUFF Bandwagon since 2008.

I believe in hunting and fishing gods, and some days those bastards hate me!!

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"I don't feel like Satan, but I am to them"
Neil Young

I was raised in a very religious family.
I haven't practiced in 16 years though.
I believe in God but I don't get my panties in a bunch over specific dogma.
My daughter hasn't been exposed to any religion at all so that should indicate how important it is in my life.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

Oh, and I believe that for reasons I'll probably never understand, God doesn't want Buffalo to ever have a major professional sports championship...thus the moniker.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

I must admit that I am very surprised with these results 14 votes in. I suspected options 5 and 6 would dominate the voting here, but thus far those choices have received zero votes. It's still early, though.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

I believe there is a God and was raised catholic. I now consider myself a christan i go to church mostly every sunday.

I was born into a Mormon family and have followed it my entire life. I'm 18 now and in College so it's really the time for me to decide for myself whether I believe or not and it's something I'm working on. I still follow my religion, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't swear, I don't go out on the Sabbath etc..
The one thing that is constantly on my mind right now is my mission. In my religion most 19 year old young men and some women as well leave for two years to anywhere in the world to preach the gospel under very strict restrictions. I know it's the right thing for me to do but I know it's going to be hard. Leaving my family/friends/school for two years is a huge commitment and will be tough but at the same time I see how much my friends have grown and matured and really become men because of it. I'm fairly sure I will go but I'm scared as anyone would be when facing a new chapter in their life.

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Norcal's #1 Sabres fan.

Before the NFL was officially formed, the Bills did win several AFC championships which, at the time, were a professional sports championship.

on that note. im sure it says somewhere in the bible that buffalo winning championship is one of the signs of the apocalypse...

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Check out my website: http://www.artistzero.com

"That wasn't very nice...I do believe you killed my hat."

Driver of the FIRE LINDY RUFF Bandwagon since 2008.

My views on religion are pretty obvious, but I'll restate them here for posterity's sake.

I believe:
- there is no God
- prophets of various religions were historical figures, and outside of the message about God or the Goddess or whatever, they had some groovy ideas
- I have no problem with my friends and family being religious, but don't push it on me, or it'll get ugly
- regardless of my personal beliefs, religion is an individual choice. Joshua will be raised in a house with no religion, but will not be raised in a closed-minded environment. As he gets older and researches or gets exposed or whatever, he can make his decision then and I'll respect it.
- I hate the I Leave Peaceprints placards

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mechaphil

I was raised Catholic.
I fell away from it, combination of events in my life I'd rather not discuss on a public forum and general doubting.
I'm an agnostic at best, now.
If I were to begin practicing another religion, it would more than likely be a form of shamanism

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I was raised Lutheran, I do not follow the religion or agree with any of it. I go to church on Christmas Eve because candles are pretty.

I am intensely spiritual, but emphatically not religious. If anything, my religious beliefs lean Wiccan.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

CV, isn't Wicca an organized, polytheistic religion?

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

It's more towards witchcraft.

I was around 7 or 8 when my family found our church and I was baptized and then confirmed in the Lutheran Church, when we moved to NC the Lutheran church we attended was so boring and nothing lik what it was in Bradford, so I stopped going to that church, but still believe in God.

My dad and neighbor went to an open house thing for the current church I go to. It is considered a Southern Baptist Church and it preaches to unchurched bikers, and these people are real, even though I'm not hugely religious I'll stand up for my beliefs and what they mean to me.

I believe in God, and I believe in all that mumble jumble stuff, but I am not a preacher and I will not go out of my way to preach to you, if it comes up I'll mention it, but it's not the most important thing in my life really.

I don't think it needs to be the most important part really, if you have the faith and believe in it, you can do sorta what you want but then again respect your own body and things you do.

I'm more on the borderline of some of it really. I believe in God, but I'm not one of these people who puts him first and foremost in my life, which religion says you should, I don't really.

It is alot harder to explain it really.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Wicca is a loose grouping of various religious traditions - witchcraft, druidism, shamanism (some forms of it). It can be practiced either in a solitary or group environment.

Fun note - the various forms of Wicca are, to my knowledge, the only religious structure that doesn't condemn homosexuality (even Buddhism condemns it).

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mechaphil