What's your religion?

[Ronald Zeeman]

Ok, I guess I feel comfortable enough with these forums to just let loose. I don't even know what I'm going to say yet, so I suppose it will be from the heart.
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I was born into a Jewish family, from both branches, for as far back as anyone knows. I always had doubts about Judaism, and the final straw was in my bar mitzvah training, I asked the rabbi why we had to wear the specific garb. I understood reciting the Torah, it was just about yarmulke and tefillin, basically. And the response was "Because G-D wants us to."
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So that was it. Straw that broke the camels back. I wasn't Jewish. Today I understand that I respect Hebrew culture and traditions, they are in my DNA, and I am proud. But this is a religion post, so that was how I lost my religion.
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After that, teenaged atheism for a while, which turned into a simmering agnosticism in my low-mid 20s.
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I have always been a precocious and curious person. I am a "gifted" person who thinks visually in at least 6 dimensions, it has always been very difficult to do things. (I am not aware of 6-d thought but I see the shadows of it, like in applied physics to see results of things - I'd say I'm conscious of 4d with glimmers of 5d, and a known 6th. Which is like a Calabi-Yau manifold.... But this is me rambling, just to explain that my brain is ... very unique).
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So the very idea of a G-D or god or God or ... well to me it became an interesting variable.
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I went through the Astrology phase. It appealed to me because of the gradients of 12, and the symbols attached. I was "psychic" for a while. I was a dragon misplaced. I was an alien implanted into a human's brain.
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So what is God to me?
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I had a strong feeling when in my 20s that before my life ended, the world would enter a strange space where world politics and economy would be majorly upset. I believed I would die at 63 (this is still in existence today, but malleable, as I can see 67 but not 68). I believed I'd be important somehow, not to the masses, but to some group of people.
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I can't say that any of this is true.
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I don't believe in any form of deity. I love myths, and dead religions, and to some extend modern ones (though they are currently so emotionally charged, it is difficult to understand what is real or opinion about it). I do believe in a "something" that I am part of, and not the only part of.
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I suppose that is where I stand.

Adam You might like this out this together years ago check out the inflection points

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

All over the place. I believe in the existence of a God, Heaven, and the Afterlife. However, I don’t agree with some things of the Christian/Catholic religion. My dad was raised Catholic and went to a private school that was very strict. He never implemented religious values like going to church. My close friend (who is a Christian) wants me to go to Church with her despite the fact I’ve never been to one and my parents never forced me to attend church.

My Catholic training was from the Jesuits where we were taught not only rhetoric, but the history of religious thought from Aristotle to Aquinas. Basically I saw that religion was wedded to the thought of an ideal where real conception is that of pure reason at its highest realisation of energy: thought evolving thought from itself. Mental masturbation without the reality of empiricism. That led to the distortions of neoplatonism. Finally the enlightenment and natural philosophy far outstripped all reasoning by religious philosophers and god became "the god of the gaps" which are growing ever smaller as science models the cosmos.

Added as important. At 15 I read Bertrand Russell's "Why I am Not a Christian" and discovered ethics. The humanism of that provided me with an internal compass that religion was incapable of doing.

 

[Metalhead]

IMO, the ultimate blasphemy is violence and hate in the name of God. That is far more blasphemous than any Satan metal album could ever be.

 

[Gerontius]

Roman Catholic and very happy to be in it.

Back in the pre-modern era, many autistic people either went to the military or the church.

To update my position here:

The trouble with this is that I find myself rapidly "deconstructing" my way out of what I realize was a mix of radical traditionalism. See I thought I did that as a teenager, but again find Catholicism in the USA is heavily admixed with a bizarrely right-wing culture.

I don't believe in the right wing. Proliferation of prolife isn't the Only Social Thing we're Allowed to have Interest In (well, it was when I was growing up. Politics.) I think I am tired of rich people, politicians, and a vaguely intellectual people from conservative colleges telling me whom should I hate.

My concept of God is changed.
My concept of families and homes have changed, too, for I don't believe in "complimentarity" but in equality of the sexes.

The whole thing is pretty distressing for me to lose perhaps one of the few things I actually loved, a sense of belonging in my own religion. It is the loss of an old friend and I am by no means even allowed to mourn, for mourning is looking back.

I remain in the church every Sunday morning and hope I can eventually make it. Mystical or spiritual things hold delight whereas "the church" is about as romantic as "the post office", something beautiful but only existing to serve a practical purpose.

I'm also bailing out of the whole tradcath everything even if it costs me my father's respect.

Physically I remain a Catholic I guess. Mentally I find myself more comfortable as wanderer in the kindly heart of the God I believe to be an eternal act of Love. And I think now I know that my "self" is a continuing process of becoming, not a fixed constant.

I am sure most of the people who I grew up with would think I'm off the rails here but I do not think it's so bad. Maybe it's how to actually have a religious belief. Who knows?

Things have changed a lot since I wrote the post ahead in 2021 or whenever.
Maybe it's for the best.

 

[AdamG]

To update my position here:

The trouble with this is that I find myself rapidly "deconstructing" my way out of what I realize was a mix of radical traditionalism. See I thought I did that as a teenager, but again find Catholicism in the USA is heavily admixed with a bizarrely right-wing culture.

I don't believe in the right wing. Proliferation of prolife isn't the Only Social Thing we're Allowed to have Interest In (well, it was when I was growing up. Politics.) I think I am tired of rich people, politicians, and a vaguely intellectual people from conservative colleges telling me whom should I hate.

My concept of God is changed.
My concept of families and homes have changed, too, for I don't believe in "complimentarity" but in equality of the sexes.

The whole thing is pretty distressing for me to lose perhaps one of the few things I actually loved, a sense of belonging in my own religion. It is the loss of an old friend and I am by no means even allowed to mourn, for mourning is looking back.

I remain in the church every Sunday morning and hope I can eventually make it. Mystical or spiritual things hold delight whereas "the church" is about as romantic as "the post office", something beautiful but only existing to serve a practical purpose.

I'm also bailing out of the whole tradcath everything even if it costs me my father's respect.

Physically I remain a Catholic I guess. Mentally I find myself more comfortable as wanderer in the kindly heart of the God I believe to be an eternal act of Love. And I think now I know that my "self" is a continuing process of becoming, not a fixed constant.

I am sure most of the people who I grew up with would think I'm off the rails here but I do not think it's so bad. Maybe it's how to actually have a religious belief. Who knows?

Things have changed a lot since I wrote the post ahead in 2021 or whenever.
Maybe it's for the best.

Thank you for elaborating on your quoted post. This was good to hear. Not just honesty, but self evaluation.

 

[AdamG]

Adam You might like this out this together years ago check out the inflection points

So basically, other than being extremely visually pleasing, on a statistical level, 70 is a pivot point for "weeding out" the non-immortals.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

The way to interpret the inflection point is the rate changes after you pass it amazingly accurate based on oldest person and then working backwards. I went to a bar to watch Eddie play told him his dad was on inflection point.
98 years old 99 would have been Christmas day dad died a few weeks after I spoke to Eddie freaked him out.

 

[Luca]

I listen to a lot of Satanic metal music.

But I really believe God doesn’t hate any human. He watches us beat each other up and mourns.

I also truly believe that God and Jesus love everyone, and that people hating each other and harming people and essentially just being evil, in the name of religion, is absolutely not what they want.

I also love metal music. I find it so funny when certain Christians think metal music is "evil," because most metal musicians and metalheads are some of the kindest and most open-minded people you will meet.

I'm glad I belong to a Unitarian Universalist congregation because it is one of the few religions that allows me to marry my partner. There are three Unitarian churches and an Episcopalian church, and a Jewish temple, in my town that endorse same-sex marriage, despite my town being largely Catholic and somewhat on the conservative side.

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

I'm glad u are all Christians.
I used to be Christian but was criticised all the time for bring who I am and told to be less autistic in my struggles, beliefs and values.
I am really sad about it but I could not cope with being something I was not.
Always God put me through too hard things i did not understand when I was struggling and deserved more.
God never says I deserve more so if I have picked up my cross and worshipped Him earnestly everyday then I should never lose.
I am glad other autistics feel welcome in the faith.
I am happy to hear they do.

Not sure what happened with me, hope u all feel comfortable being who u are and aren't criticised when u have human struggles that are difficult for
an autistic and also trauma.
I am sad about it because I really enjoyed my faith and being a Christian.
I guess sometimes I just need to hear from God and others, that I love you, I am here for you and I am proud of you and thankful for what u have given

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

I also truly believe that God and Jesus love everyone, and that people hating each other and harming people and essentially just being evil, in the name of religion, is absolutely not what they want.

I also love metal music. I find it so funny when certain Christians think metal music is "evil," because most metal musicians and metalheads are some of the kindest and most open-minded people you will meet.

I'm glad I belong to a Unitarian Universalist congregation because it is one of the few religions that allows me to marry my partner. There are three Unitarian churches and an Episcopalian church, and a Jewish temple, in my town that endorse same-sex marriage, despite my town being largely Catholic and somewhat on the conservative side.

You know that is right, there is no shame in metal music and there is some metal music in christianity too.
Music is a gift from God, same with music ability and brings a lot of joy to others.

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

I listen to a lot of Satanic metal music.

But I really believe God doesn’t hate any human. He watches us beat each other up and mourns.

You are right, u can love metal
But yes u are right, He does not hate us no matter our actions even if we sometimes feel He does.
But sometimes, I do believe in kindness but also I think there is something to be learned from people and their hatred or indifference. It is just not meant to be a perfect world, people can give anyone thr shits at times
I believe God is love abmnd love comes from God
But also God wants us to always live our truth because we should be ourselves but I believe in being the best version of yourself if u can be.

 

[Alexej]

HI and welcome @lovely_darlingprettybaby

Hope you enjoy hanging out with us

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

HI and welcome @lovely_darlingprettybaby

Hope you enjoy hanging out with us

Thanks, I will and love you all

 

[Goofyg]

I am a traditional latin Roman Catholic and I go to St Joseph's church on Sunday for the traditional latin Mass. They are served by the priestly fraternity of St Peter. But I also take my sister to a church that I used to be registered with called St Bridget's Church

 

[Twilight]

I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness but left for various reasons, including issues I had with JW theology specifically and problems I had with the Bible itself.

I’m technically an agnostic atheist with strong leanings toward pure atheism. Due to the existence of suffering, I wouldn’t want to worship an all-powerful god. I recognize that there could be something out there that is not all powerful and/or something that does not care about humans.

In any case, I base my beliefs on evidence. “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” That’s my stance with anything. If I see compelling evidence that supports the existence of a deity and that couldn’t be caused by something else, I will change my stance. Until then, my personal position is one of disbelief.

It’s hard impossible to prove that something doesn’t exist. I can’t prove that fairies don’t exist for example. Maybe they can flutter off into another locale or dimension when they detect humans approaching. Eyes can’t be in every place at once after all. I think it’s safe to say that they probably don’t exist. The baseline for me when it comes to fairies (and gods) is disbelief even though I really wish they were real. Once again, my stance will happily change if I’m provided valid evidence to the contrary.

With all that being said, I find some tenets of secular Buddhism appealing and healthy from a psychological standpoint. It’s less about believing in something and more about a general approach to life/existence.

 

[NB79]

I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness but left for various reasons, including issues I had with JW theology specifically and problems I had with the Bible itself.

I’m technically an agnostic atheist with strong leanings toward pure atheism. Due to the existence of suffering, I wouldn’t want to worship an all-powerful god. I recognize that there could be something out there that is not all powerful and/or something that does not care about humans.

In any case, I base my beliefs on evidence. “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” That’s my stance with anything. If I see compelling evidence that supports the existence of a deity and that couldn’t be caused by something else, I will change my stance. Until then, my personal position is one of disbelief.

It’s hard impossible to prove that something doesn’t exist. I can’t prove that fairies don’t exist for example. Maybe they can flutter off into another locale or dimension when they detect humans approaching. Eyes can’t be in every place at once after all. I think it’s safe to say that they probably don’t exist. The baseline for me when it comes to fairies (and gods) is disbelief even though I really wish they were real. Once again, my stance will happily change if I’m provided valid evidence to the contrary.

With all that being said, I find some tenets of secular Buddhism appealing and healthy from a psychological standpoint. It’s less about believing in something and more about a general approach to life/existence.

Speaking about suffering, in my opinion this world would be a paradise if we would obey the gospel, and bring God to our lives, but we reject him, and do any kind of horrible stuff (by ourselves), and then complain is God fault.

 

[Twilight]

^ God could stop childhood cancer, child sexual abuse, and war crimes committed against the innocent, but he chooses not to (if an all-powerful god exists).

People are free to believe and practice whatever faith they want to. (I personally find Buddhism appealing.) I’m just stating my personal stance since you responded to my post.

 

[NB79]

^ God could stop childhood cancer, child sexual abuse, and war crimes committed against the innocent, but he chooses not to.

People are free to believe and practice whatever faith they want to. (I personally find Buddhism appealing.) I’m just stating my personal stance since you responded to my post.

I believe people can talk about anything if they can keep it cool

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness but left for various reasons, including issues I had with JW theology specifically and problems I had with the Bible itself.

I’m technically an agnostic atheist with strong leanings toward pure atheism. Due to the existence of suffering, I wouldn’t want to worship an all-powerful god. I recognize that there could be something out there that is not all powerful and/or something that does not care about humans.

In any case, I base my beliefs on evidence. “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” That’s my stance with anything. If I see compelling evidence that supports the existence of a deity and that couldn’t be caused by something else, I will change my stance. Until then, my personal position is one of disbelief.

It’s hard impossible to prove that something doesn’t exist. I can’t prove that fairies don’t exist for example. Maybe they can flutter off into another locale or dimension when they detect humans approaching. Eyes can’t be in every place at once after all. I think it’s safe to say that they probably don’t exist. The baseline for me when it comes to fairies (and gods) is disbelief even though I really wish they were real. Once again, my stance will happily change if I’m provided valid evidence to the contrary.

With all that being said, I find some tenets of secular Buddhism appealing and healthy from a psychological standpoint. It’s less about believing in something and more about a general approach to life/existence.

I agree about lack of proof and Buddhism. I have found that once you remove the superstition from Buddhism, its tenets are very humanistic.

 

[Bolletje]

Agnostic.