How do you view faith or belief in God?

[Gerald Wilgus]

I avoid religions as mass brainwashing. I have yet to see any evidence of a diety and see professions of faith as superstitious thinking. At the age of 15 I discovered Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not a Christian," and I never looked back.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

There is a huge difference between the Old Testament God (hellfire and damnation) and the New Testament in which Jesus essentially replaces the 10 Commandments with just two: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. It has always puzzled me why Christians continue to belabor the Old Testament.

Everything in the New Testament was written long after Jesus died and by people who were not there and did not know him. The New Testament is a collection of stories that over the centuries were edited and rewritten based on the wishes of whomever was in power at the time.

So much of what I see misunderstood could be remedied with a course or two.

The experience of something greater than one’s self, something beyond our understanding is ineffable. It can’t be put into words, even though we try. Some beautiful poetry, of Rumi for example, tries to express the experience of God.

I found a home with liberal Hicksite Quakers. We are seekers. We don’t have answers or live by rules/dogma. Quakers experience in their meetings communal mysticism in which there is direct experience of the divine. There is no hierarchy, no ministers or priests. Just friends.

It’s a rather nice place for autists: the meeting is largely silent. There is generally a reminder not to wear strong perfumes. There is active and open acceptance of all LGBTQ+ friends and people with disabilities.

Quakers are active in working toward peace, justice and equality the world round, but generally quietly, in the background.

 

[autism-and-autotune]

You know. I am kinda asking the same thing really. It almost seems oxymoronic to both have love and fear of a supposedly omnipresent God. If anything, I am reading the Holy Bible upon my Uncle's request.

But outside the parallels to humanity between then and now. Allot of it feels like tall tales. But that's how stories are, typically. As such, stories can be altered and manipulated.

As for churches being the way they are. Denominations. There are various versions of the Christian/Catholic faith. Well that, and greed. Not to say that there are none that stick to faith and people of God.

Either way. I really am going to sticking as a explorative spiritualist.

I've tried to make my way through the Bible, too. Lots of names; lots of names...

I agree that much of it feels like tall tales too.

 

[autism-and-autotune]

I actually never felt welcome in a church and I've been to them thousands of times. Sensory overload. Too loud (earplugs helped a bit), too many fragrances (e.g. perfume/cologne, laundry detergent scents, dryer sheet scents), too many other people too close to me, too many competing sounds, confusion, shaking hands with other people.

My concept of God and my relation to that concept: God is analogous to an absentee neglectful father and I'm analogous to being part of a large "family" with many "siblings". Some of those "siblings" are like me while others have blind faith in our "father", advocate for him and believe he's a perfect father in all ways and in every case. Similarly in real life families there can be "golden children" (ie those who only extol the brilliance and virtue of the parents regardless of parental imperfection or fault) and there are "scapegoats" (ie those who are blamed by the parents and "golden children").

I was raised in different and small subsets/sects of Catholicism in an extremely religious household that shared many key aspects of cults. I believed that my need for regular solitary time was a sin and was selfish. No matter how hard I tried with that I always failed. That contributed to the intense self-hatred that I developed from childhood onward directly due to said religion and the way I reacted to it. I found out years later that I wasn't being selfish nor was I sinning in relation to my need for solitary time. Quite the contrary; in fact...I was autistic. See absentee father analogy above.

I have no way of knowing for certain if there is a God or there isn't unless God reveals God's self to me in a concrete way that I can personally understand as a literal person who operates with a framework of logic.

Can the Bible be changed, edited, censored at this point? Can all the passages related to the support of or the condoning of human slavery be stricken? Incest, rape, etc? If so why can't parts like a man leaving his parents and joining with his wife be changed to a person leaving their parents and joining with their partner (gender non-specific)? If one part of the Bible can be changed then why can't any other part of it be changed as well?

Thankfully I'm in a better place now in my life than I've ever been. Religious trauma therapy and support helped with that immeasurably. Self-acceptance has been one of the greatest treasures. While it would be easy for me to look back on the years of being robbed of fundamentally important aspects of a good life, I like to exercise being as present in the moment each day that I can and enjoy my life and the world.

What you say about your revelation with autism is exactly the same for me. Folks say 'I didn't know who I was til I found Jesus' is a mirror of me knowing that I never knew myself til I discovered and accepted my autism.

Regarding the Bible being censored--I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the states/schools which are successful at banning the Bible are headed in the right direction. If parts of the text can be cherry-picked and suited for some needs but not others, and if the Bible is edited to take out all the 'yucky bits' then I don't know what else to really say.

 

[autism-and-autotune]

I avoid religions as mass brainwashing. I have yet to see any evidence of a diety and see professions of faith as superstitious thinking. At the age of 15 I discovered Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not a Christian," and I never looked back.

I think it may be a bit of brainwashing, fear-mongering for control, as well as familiar/peer pressure. Also one's culture is a hard thing to break away from if you're so used to it.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

There is a huge difference between the Old Testament God (hellfire and damnation) and the New Testament in which Jesus essentially replaces the 10 Commandments with just two: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. It has always puzzled me why Christians continue to belabor the Old Testament.

Everything in the New Testament was written long after Jesus died and by people who were not there and did not know him. The New Testament is a collection of stories that over the centuries were edited and rewritten based on the wishes of whomever was in power at the time.

So much of what I see misunderstood could be remedied with a course or two.

The experience of something greater than one’s self, something beyond our understanding is ineffable. It can’t be put into words, even though we try. Some beautiful poetry, of Rumi for example, tries to express the experience of God.

I found a home with liberal Hicksite Quakers. We are seekers. We don’t have answers or live by rules/dogma. Quakers experience in their meetings communal mysticism in which there is direct experience of the divine. There is no hierarchy, no ministers or priests. Just friends.

It’s a rather nice place for autists: the meeting is largely silent. There is generally a reminder not to wear strong perfumes. There is active and open acceptance of all LGBTQ+ friends and people with disabilities.

Quakers are active in working toward peace, justice and equality the world round, but generally quietly, in the background.

Great post

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

I do believe in God.
But I don`t call myself christian.
My faith is my own and I generally don`t agree with the masses about a lot of things.
My general experience with very religious people is that they are untruthfull. They hide away thinsg because their church might condemn them for it. Which in turn often hurts a lot more people than it helps.
And if their God is allknowing. Why lie about it? He knows anyways. And since he is the only thing that matters I don`t get it.

I'm glad you believe in God.
You are right christian people can pretend to know everything and follow stupid rigid systems that they claim is right.
However heaven is not based on works and actually a gift from God that is through Jesus Christ.
So it is legit judge not or be judged, we are all guilty.
And I'm glad others do not go through what I do as a Christian that is for sure.

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

I cannot relate to those who are religious, because for my I need something tangible. Pure faith alone in a being as complicated as God is curious to me; I do not understand how he can be relentlessly all-loving yet his followers must fear his wrath? That doesn't sound like a healthy relationship to me. This last point may be harsh, but: if a human being did some things that Old Testament God did, they'd be institutionalized. I cannot endorse a god expects to be praised while testing one's faith (Job, for example) or manipulating one to do something heinous (Abraham sacrificing his son, for example). If someone did that in a romantic relationship, they'd be labeled as 'toxic.'

In similar, I can understand how passionate some of us are in our beliefs and fixations. Religion is for some what Baroque music is for me. But one the whole I don't understand what it's like to 'feel the presence' of a holy spirit because...well, isn't it all in one's head? An imagination? That being said, most of religious consolation can be substituted with modern psychology.

Something else I wonder is this: why wouldn't all churches just accept folks as they are, no matter what, because that's how God made them?

I feel bad about some of what I've written because I don't want to discourage you from your faith or dissuade you from being involved with what makes you happy. I just..well, hope for a discussion of sorts to see from your point of view.

Everything you said makes sense to me.
It can feel rigid faith system at times and it does not suit everyone.
In my eyes too a loving God would forgive mistakes, let people be who they are and some things in the bible do seem crazy for a human.
I think we are not supposed to be like Job or Abraham but relate our challenges and struggles to them.
Fearing God has seemed oppressive and confusing to me as well.
And I think for some having the holy spirit may be too suffocating especially since it always gives direction when really in tune with it.
I think the holy spirit is essential my just like a gateway or connection to God. But I think I see it as a bit limiting to some.

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

You know. I am kinda asking the same thing really. It almost seems oxymoronic to both have love and fear of a supposedly omnipresent God. If anything, I am reading the Holy Bible upon my Uncle's request.

But outside the parallels to humanity between then and now. Allot of it feels like tall tales. But that's how stories are, typically. As such, stories can be altered and manipulated.

As for churches being the way they are. Denominations. There are various versions of the Christian/Catholic faith. Well that, and greed. Not to say that there are none that stick to faith and people of God.

Either way. I really am going to sticking as a explorative spiritualist.

You are right in my eyes you should do things out of a love for God not because you fear Him.
I do not always understand fear of God.
But if I ever did anything really wicked wrong then I know He would come down on me in coals and flames.
But it is often hard as unwell autistic because you feel like everything you do is wrong.
That is why it us hard as an autistic to obey God because you probably do everything wrong and mess up everything and then need God's help fixing it.

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

I actually never felt welcome in a church and I've been to them thousands of times. Sensory overload. Too loud (earplugs helped a bit), too many fragrances (e.g. perfume/cologne, laundry detergent scents, dryer sheet scents), too many other people too close to me, too many competing sounds, confusion, shaking hands with other people.

My concept of God and my relation to that concept: God is analogous to an absentee neglectful father and I'm analogous to being part of a large "family" with many "siblings". Some of those "siblings" are like me while others have blind faith in our "father", advocate for him and believe he's a perfect father in all ways and in every case. Similarly in real life families there can be "golden children" (ie those who only extol the brilliance and virtue of the parents regardless of parental imperfection or fault) and there are "scapegoats" (ie those who are blamed by the parents and "golden children").

I was raised in different and small subsets/sects of Catholicism in an extremely religious household that shared many key aspects of cults. I believed that my need for regular solitary time was a sin and was selfish. No matter how hard I tried with that I always failed. That contributed to the intense self-hatred that I developed from childhood onward directly due to said religion and the way I reacted to it. I found out years later that I wasn't being selfish nor was I sinning in relation to my need for solitary time. Quite the contrary; in fact...I was autistic. See absentee father analogy above.

I have no way of knowing for certain if there is a God or there isn't unless God reveals God's self to me in a concrete way that I can personally understand as a literal person who operates with a framework of logic.

Can the Bible be changed, edited, censored at this point? Can all the passages related to the support of or the condoning of human slavery be stricken? Incest, rape, etc? If so why can't parts like a man leaving his parents and joining with his wife be changed to a person leaving their parents and joining with their partner (gender non-specific)? If one part of the Bible can be changed then why can't any other part of it be changed as well?

Thankfully I'm in a better place now in my life than I've ever been. Religious trauma therapy and support helped with that immeasurably. Self-acceptance has been one of the greatest treasures. While it would be easy for me to look back on the years of being robbed of fundamentally important aspects of a good life, I like to exercise being as present in the moment each day that I can and enjoy my life and the world.

I am glad you accept yourself and love yourself for you.
I think aspects of the bible do need to change, I believe in marriage that is for men and men, women and women etc too. I believe God does not condemn that.
It is understandable you would feel like that after being raised in a strict religious home. I have heard so many parents that are like that and it makes me sad that it limits people and their ability to be themselves and self express and turns them from having any faith.

 

[kazmen17]

I believe in God, but am only Christian by association and the need to mask. I like studying other religions as well and comparing and contrasting their differences as well as the concepts I agree with. I have been attending bible studies this past year and have learned more there than I ever did when I went to Sunday services. I agree that a many Christians don't live up to words and lessons of Christ, but the select few I do associate with do or at least try to as best as they can.

I have spent much of the last decade of my life contemplating on my spirituality and my relationship (as well as humanity's relationship) to God. I don't have all the answers nor do I expect to have them but I hope to be a little closer by the time I leave this world.