Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 49 replies, 50 voices, and was last updated 21 years ago by
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Some people think that I converted from Catholacism to Evangelicalism. But in fact, I saw the holes in the Catholic religion as they proclaimed God’s truth, but didn’t live by God’s Word, and embraced the pure teaching of the Word. To read, to understand and to live by the Holy Scriptures and by the Spirit of Jesus Christ is to walk in true faith.
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Name : Ronald-V29459, Gender : M, Religion : Christian, Age : 49, City : Edmonton, State : NA, Country : Canada,You have used two terms that don’t necessarily mean the same thing: ‘faith’ and ‘religion.’ Faith is the belief in a power greater than oneself (simply stated). Religion is a whole other kettle of fish. Organized religion is taught; faith is felt. Religion is divided, i.e. Catholic, Jewish, etc. Faith just is. Once you become caught up in the various ‘teachings’ and ‘divisions’ of religions, it’s no wonder people become disillusioned. Not to mention the atrocities commited against mankind in the name of religions.
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Name : Serene, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 43, City : Chandler, State : AZ, Country : United States, Occupation : Business Owner, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,For me it was two factors: having been raised Catholic, I disagreed with may of the Church doctrines and their inflexibility. In addition, with many religions I see both leaders and adherents twisting their scriptures to promote agendas of hate and intolerance. While I no longer consider myself a Christian, I do believe in a higher power, but I just have not found it necessary to give a name to him, her or it.
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Name : Dave M., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : undecided on religion, Age : 26, City : Phoenix, State : AZ, Country : United States, Occupation : sales, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Let me preface this by noting that my comments concern a Judeo-Christian background (Catholic). I cannot accept the notion of an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving God that allows terrible things to happen to innocent people. Formally, this is known as the Problem of Evil. However, I did not reject my upbringing on the basis of abstract reasoning; rather, I could not bear the immediate sight of innocent suffering. I realized that I could not feel love or awe for a deity which could prevent suffering, yet did not choose to do so. T.S. Elliot put it much more eloquently than I can: ‘If you love someone, you don’t want them to suffer. You want to take their sufferings on yourself. If even I feel this way, why doesn’t God?’
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Name : Paul J. N., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 23, City : Baton Rouge, State : LA, Country : United States, Occupation : Graduate Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,It’s hard to have faith in a God that leaves you in the hands of a sexually abusive mother who rents you out to men. Having been abused as a child is certainly one reason people don’t believe.
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Name : Jason-G31228, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Disability : Post Traumatic Stress, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 52, City : Rockwall, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Mgr-Disabled, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I can only speak from my own experience. My father is Jewish and my mother agreed to raise us in his faith (I don’t even know what religion she was before she met my dad). We all attended temple, and not long after my two older brothers were bat mitzvahed, my parents stopped making me go to Saturday school and Hebrew school. Soon, no one was going, so my sister and I never did get bat mitzvahed. It was very important to my father to have his sons bar mitzvahed, because this is what his father would have wanted, had he lived to see the boys turn 13. Basically, the message I got as a child was it wasn’t important enough for me to finish, maybe because I was female. So I lost interest in organized religion, and I haven’t ever found a religion that answered all my questions satisfactorily.
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Name : Sue27741, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 36, City : Canoga Park, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I’m an atheist. I realize the benefits of religion. It can teach so many good morals to people. But too many people get caught up in thinking that there is one god, and it is theirs. Then they start discriminating against other religions and people in the name of their ‘God.’ Some people get blinded and start acting in opposition to their religion in their quest to promote their god. Plus, religious people often think that EVERYTHING about their religion is right, even stuff they know in their heart is wrong. So they’ll take the good with the bad. I believe in faith, but I don’t think I have to believe in a ‘God’ to have faith. I really don’t know if there is a god, and I really don’t care. I think it’s more important to do what is right than to believe in a god. Those religions like Christianity, which I grew up in, tend to say that if you do right your whole life to other people but don’t believe in a God, you’re going to hell. That makes no sense to me, and I really doubt there could be a god like that that could be so cruel. When I explain this to people who are religious, they ask me why am I good if I don’t have a God to punish me if I’m bad. I respond that the way I act now affects my happiness on this earth. If I treat others mean, I certainly get meanness in return.
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Name : Yuna24334, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 18, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States,It was the ‘one size fits all’ syndrome that turned me away from religion. It seems that all faiths profess to be the one true faith, most in a very distasteful ‘We know better than you what you should think’ zealotry. I didn’t like being treated like a mental defective who needed detailed instructions from some nebulous source on how to live my life, feel my emotions and think my thoughts. I came to prefer a rational, science-based outlook that makes much more sense to me than some submissive theory of proper behavior. In addition, I find that the more a religion shouts that it is The One, the more I disdain and actively promote its demise. In a rational world, we’d all believe in science and ourselves, not a pack of fairy tales spun to control us.
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Name : L., Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 44, City : Honolulu, State : HI, Country : United States, Occupation : clerical, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Many people just wake up to the fact that the only reason they have a religion in the first place is that it has been taught to them by their parents and other influences – much in the same way racial prejudices are taught. If you are told all your life that other races are inferior, you will most likely believe it, until you start asking real questions. Then you can make up your own mind. A thought: at one time everyone thought the earth was flat. Why? Everyone’s parents and teachers told them so.
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Name : Gunter-VH, City : Ottawa, State : PA, Country : Canada,I very nearly renounced Christianity after becoming involved with a very controlling, manipulative and sometimes downright abusive church. They did many hurtful things to me claiming it was for my own good, and the way they used the Bible to justify what they did made me wonder if following the Bible really meant following the same evil they did. In the end, I believe what kept me from leaving was the realization that while there are too many people who do evil in the name of God, there are many sincere Christians who focus on compassion and kindness. If it had not been for some examples I had known while growing up, it is quite possible I would have been writing this response from the perspective of someone who is no longer a Christian. So, I think the prime reason for those who leave is a saying some cynic whose name eludes me coined long ago: ‘The worst advertisement for religion is its adherents.’
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Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am very seriously questioning my faith right now. I have seen some passages in the Bible that bother me, especially in the book of Joshua. There is lots of genocide and prejudice in that book. Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? An all-good God should have manna falling from the sky to feed everyone in poor countries. Has anyone ever watched some of those shows on the Discovery Channel? The whole predator/prey system is very cruel and sadistic. I feel sorry for the prey. God should give someone a face to face interview, explaining what the true religion is and why. Poof, no more religious intolerance! Why does God just ignore us? I am seriously questioning my faith.
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Name : Seth, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 16, City : Victoria, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : don't have a job, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class,In my opinion people turn away from religion because it’s the easy thing to do. Atheist will argue with this, but ask yourself what’s easier… believe in one God that created the universe and man in his own image. Or believe that it all happened randomly by some quirk of cosmic fate. People expect God to help them. They can’t understand why God let’s children die in car accidents and other horrific events. People don’t understand the concept of free will and what an important part it played in the Bible. God put the world in motion and although He does interact from time to time, He allows people to make there own decisions. If He did play a role in our everyday lives, that would turn us into robots and that’s not what God intended at all. God allows his children to make there own decisions. Many times, they make the wrong decisions and end up hurting themselves or others. They make those decisions because they give in to the temptations that exist, meaning sexual impurity, alcoholism, abuse, etc. I agree, organized religion is way off base many times. It preaches to the choir and fails to walk among the masses, instead throwing stones. That is another reason why people have a hard time coming to God. Why would someone want to come to a God whose children spend the day telling them what horrible people they are. Faith is tough and no matter what concrete proof people look for, it doesn’t exist. You have to believe in God based on faith and many people just can’t. It’s too bad. I hope I’m not cut up for this post because this is an open forum. I will say one thing though, if you believe there is no God you better hope that you’re right.
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Name : Clay, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 30, City : Kansas City, State : KS, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I was raised to be a Christian.However I started asking questions,the answers I received were not satisfactory.Despite the numerous religions on this planet each group say they are right and the others wrong.The Christians say Jesus was a messiah,the Muslim faith teaches he was just another prophet,while the Jews preach he never existed. The lack of tolerance among the Christians is terrible.Their whole world revovles around their church.Which reminds of when in BLACK BOY Richard Wright’s grandmother yells at him for reading something other than the Bible.It will make you worldy she tells him.What is wrong in learning about the world? Self righteousness and intolerance which are prevalent among believers lead to conflict and war.Not love and brotherhood.
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Name : Dwight Kalas, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 50, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : factory, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class,We believe that God has revealed himself in nature. ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands’ (Psalm 19:1). ‘Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse’ (Romans 1:20). So there is no excuse for atheists. Since the requirements of the law are written on people’s hearts, the consciences of people also bear witness that there is a God to whom they are accountable (Romans 2:15). However, nature and conscience present only a partial revelation of God and one that is not able to show the way to heaven. I will pray for all of you.
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Name : Tulip, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 33, City : Hartford, State : CT, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,For me the ‘abandoning’ of my faith and religion was a gradual thing. I was raised in my parents’ Catholic faith. Throughout my religious education, I was taught that Catholicism, and Christianity in general, was a very personal faith. However, this was at odd with what I saw at church. At church, so many people there seemed to be only going through the motions, with no personal involvement. I even saw people doing things like writing out offering checks while reciting some of the most important prayers in the service. It became apparent to me that a congregation who worshipped by chanting pre-written and thoroughly memorized prayers cannot be having much of a personal connection to their messiah and creator. Where was the wonder? Where was the joy? It all seemed so hypocritical. As I entered my early teen years I started looking at the world in a critical way. I started questioning the supernatural explanations for many things. For example, I knew that refraction of sunlight through raindrops caused rainbows. Therefore, unless god created refraction AFTER the flood, rainbows always existed. That, coupled with distress over why a loving god would allow so much suffering and confusion about god’s apparent multiple personality disorder (compare the old testament god with the new testament god from an impressionable child’s point of view), led to find religion more and more illogical. Also during my early teen years, I started to realize that I was gay. My religion told me that being gay was inherently evil. Since I wasn’t led into being gay, it meant that I was inherently evil. What kid wants to think of himself that way? I prayed and prayed, staying up entire nights pleading with god to take it away from me. You know what, he never did. Eventually, I decided one of two conditions existed. Either god wanted me to be evil or god did not exist. Since the first one required me to believe that no matter what I did I would go to hell, I chose to accept the possibility of a godless universe. That choice was the only one that fit all of the available facts and feelings I had. I don’t feel a need for god. I do feel a need for spirituality, and currently Buddhism is filling that need without the onus of a supernatural father-figure. If Catholicism was more internally consistent in its teachings and did not resort to calling some of its followers inherently flawed and evil, who knows, I might still be a Catholic today.
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Name : John K., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Buddhist, Age : 35, City : San Diego, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Quality Assurance Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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