[Bob C]

40 years ago, I dropped out of the Lutheran church my wife and children and I belonged to because of the prejudice against ‘others’, Catholics, Jews, etc. which I interpreted as lack of morality. I decided that, if religion had a place in the world at all, it should be to further morality – tolerance, acceptance or love of those different than we. My research turned up one such religion, I thought. At that time it was Unitarianism. After a merger in the 60s, it is now Unitarian Universalism, UUism. As we moved around the country, we have been in and out of UUism. I’m now back in with both feet as president of a Florida congregation.

User Detail :  

Name : Bob C, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 73, City : North Palm Beach, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : Mechanical engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Mahashunya]

Religion is the structure by which priests, rabbis and other parisites feed on the unwary. Religion has little to do with God. God will make herself available to any true seeker. Though it may take a lifetime or two. True seekers quickly see through the lies of religion and many simply step through its boundaries towards a greater truth. Some may return to their birth religion with a clear understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. Some spin on forever, lost in the maelstrom. But it is better to die a truth than live a lie.

User Detail :  

Name : Mahashunya, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Hindu, Age : 53, City : san jose, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jamie20915]

I don’t feel I abandoned my birth religion so much as I moved on from it. As I have gotten older I have found that religions raise more questions than they answer. There are too many ‘holes’ and too much hypocracy in religious teachings. To be a believer a person must often ignore reason. I can’t believe in something because someone tells me to. I need to live my life knowing that I am doing the right thing, because I know it to be the right decision to make, for myself and those around me.

User Detail :  

Name : Jamie20915, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 30, City : Windsor, State : NA, Country : Canada, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Matthew]

I was brought up Jewish by my parents, who were brought up Jewish before them. At one point in my life I questioned this. I examined this idea that I should faithfully believe in this this set of rules constructed around an invisible but all powerful entity. After examination of this belief, and others, I rejected religion as a crutch that people use. There is no proof for the existence of god, and no reason for me to follow a set of rules created by clerics of their supposed god.

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Name : Matthew, Gender : M, Age : 35, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, 

[Nicole20039]

I am agnostic, meaning I haven’t quite chosen a religion, not sure if there is a God yet. For one, it is hard because of so many religions out there that preach far-out, unbelievable things. Which one do you believe? And in this day and age, science proves a lot more than religion ever did.

User Detail :  

Name : Nicole20039, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 18, City : Washington, DC, State : NA, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 

[SamSlick28291]

It’s so sad that those things happened to you as a youth.Many times people turn to a gay lifestyle after experiencing sexual abuse.I believe it is because they are confused as to what real love is. They assume that the ‘love'(abuse)they received was normal and that’s how things are and that it’s ok.This is my opinion only.I do know for a fact that God did not have anything to do with your abuse.The devil is the one who comes to steal,kill and destroy.Man is unfortunately the one who pays for sin in the world,but then man did bring it on.God does not want man to suffer the affects of sin,that’s why God sent Jesus to pay the penalty of man’s sin.You must have tremendous pain inside for what your mother did/ contributed to.I know that God is eager to heal that pain and give you peace in your heart/mind. I’ve been homeless,addicted to drugs/alcohol/ porn/nicotene,in jail,in rehab repeatedly.My life was a mess and spiraling out of control until I called upon the Lord to save me and set me free,I had had enough and couldn’t get free myself.God loves you sir and wants to help you,I promise He can.Don’t seek after ‘religion’,seek after a relationship with Christ.I will pray for you and God bless you.

User Detail :  

Name : SamSlick28291, City : Dayton, State : OH, Country : United States, 

[SamSlick28293]

Paul, God did take on our pain and suffering,He did it on the cross.There are many things that happen that we don’t understand,but that’s no reason to doubt a loving God or His existance. Many people forget that there’s an adversary (Satan;Hebrew for adversary).The Bible says that he comes to steal,kill and destroy.Also,much of the suffering of today is linked to man’s sin. God supplied a relief from that sin in Jesus. Ask Him to be the Lord of your life today and experience the peace,blessings and saving power of God.

User Detail :  

Name : SamSlick28293, City : Dayton, State : OH, Country : United States, 

[Sarah28120]

I was lucky enough to have parents that allowed me to choose my religion. I studied Christianity, Judaism and Islam. They all preach the same message: be good. That simple. So I chose I don’t need a religion. I am good. I give to others, I don’t lie, cheat, envy, I give a lot to charity. So why do I need religion. I don’t believe God is so selfish that he/she would want us to spend our whole lives just praying to him/her to get to heaven. I am good because I just am not so that I can get a way into heaven. Yes, I believe in God, heaven and hell. And if God is so selfish as to leave me out just because I did not choose to pray to him once a week, 5 times a day what ever I don’t want his/her company in my after life. What has religion done so far? Just killing, suffering, prejudice . . . Where is the good when you look at the world as a whole? Not just your community but as a whole world? It does not exist. Look at the middle east, look at what we had to suffer through? No, religion to me is just a way for some heads of these ‘institutions’ to make us all into sheep. I don’t follow what they say, I follow my inner-self and I am so complete and happy for that. I love what my parents did for me and can never thank them enough.

User Detail :  

Name : Sarah28120, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[sue27742]

For me, I gave up ‘religion’ on Yom Kippor after 9/11. Part of it was due to dreams I had upon praying about the issue. Largely it’s because I feel that religion is an attempt to make God into Mans image instead of vice versa. Seeing people kill themselves in this stupid ‘my God is better than your God’ showdown seems silly and completely idiotic. I don’t believe that a higher power/God needs us to kill or hurt others to define it, and I don’t believe we have any right to define it anyways. If God unconditionally loves humans, why can’t we unconditionally love God and not try to peg God into some category or another? My other major problem is that people consider books to be the one and only true word of God. Could these books have been inspired by God? Very possible, but the writers must have put in their own slant. And if they didn’t, people who’ve done multiple translations and editing have. There are tons of different versions of the ‘true word of God out there’ even within the same religions. It seems to me that these books can be used as tools, but calling them the word of God is worshipping man-made books instead of God. If I’m wrong, I hope God forgives me. This is just my opinion.

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Name : sue27742, Gender : F, Age : 22, City : Newark, State : DE, Country : United States, 

[Lady-J26190]

I was born and raised up in a religious family in the Bible belt. I was forced to participate in religious activities until I left home to go to college. Christianity NEVER felt right. Many things within the doctrine just didn’t gel. So, I began to explore other religions. I converted to Islam and found that I disliked it even more than Christianity. I studied most of the major orthodox religions and found that I don’t like being told how to attune myself with my higher nature. I turned away from my childhood religion when I discovered that parts of the Bible was taken from older texts, that many of Jesus’ disciples never knew Jesus, the resurrection was based on the the story of Osirus, that most of the Biblical stories about Jesus were taken from other stories that predate the Bible by thousands of years, the horrors that have taken place in the name of religion ‘God’, that most of the Biblical chracters and stories didn’t take place and/or are allegoriesand. I do believe that Jesus existed, but the writers of the Bible spiced up his character a bit with excerpts from other stories. If I were to succumb to having my beliefs labeled, they would be most accurately described as pagan. My belief system does not acknowledge the existence of a male ‘G’od (nor a devil). I align myself with the thinking of ancient sages who acknowledged god as being a genderless, divine consciousness that gave birth to all of creation and continues to sustain it. My belief system centers around honoring that divine consciousness in its many expressions. My belief system honors the divine consciousness as it exists in myself and all other things. I have experienced exponential spiritual, emotional, and mental development since I began a serious study of religion and different systems of spirituality. I would directly attribute my personal development to discovering the many bits of information that is available and to cultivating the ability to engage in different types of meditation.

User Detail :  

Name : Lady-J26190, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Pagan, Age : 26, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : Web Administrator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Mixcoatl20273]

The thing I most dislike about religions, is that they are turned into an ‘institution’, in which there are leaders, you have to give money, and you must follow rules ‘or else’. The real world is not like that. I wouldn’t imagine a god characterized as a person, with human characteristics. Right now I don’t have an existing religion. But personally I decided to go back as the ancient Toltecs and Mayans thought. I believe there is a supreme dual god (Ometeotl), which we live thanks to him (ipalnemohuani), which doesn’t have a name because he names himself (Moyocoyatzin), and he is everywhere and everything (In Tloque In Nahuaque). It is dual because it represents good-evil, black-white, day-night, beauty-uglyness, order-chaos. And basically the whole universe is dual.

User Detail :  

Name : Mixcoatl20273, Gender : M, Race : Hñahñu/Asturian/Toltec, Age : 20, City : Nuevo Laredo, State : NA, Country : Mexico, 

[Summer]

I just wanted to say that you answered that perfectly. I agree with you 110 percent. Thank you for responding with compassion and sincerity.

User Detail :  

Name : Summer, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 19, City : David City, State : NE, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Rick29898]

Just watch the evening news. Half the show is dedicated to negative stories about religion. A better question for you to ask might be ‘How can a thinking person NOT be disillusioned with religion?’

User Detail :  

Name : Rick29898, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Dayze day]

I believe this accures for many reasons and had happen to me personally. I grew up in church by choose but turned from god from a lack of knowledge and understand in what I was taught and because I believe my church to be a little corrupt. These things accure because first lack of true understanding. The contradictions may point out are due to the manner in which the Bible is written. Example after Judia hung him self one disciple saw a rope, one saw him dead on the ground and the other hanging in the tree. This is a sequence of events not a contradiction. We also have to keep in mind that no man is perfect and without sin except Jesus. So the faults we find in churches and leader are human error. The Bible even addressed this to the churches and those people will be judge for those sins with the strong arm of God. Keep in mind Santa wants the leaders and teachers of the church on his side, because they are people building Gods army. These leaders are human and will sin but many will ask for forgiveness and continue to be Christ like. With out full knowledge and understanding of the word of God it becomes easy to find fault and point the finger. However, God wants you to come to Christ by faith and not by fact.

User Detail :  

Name : Dayze day, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Joplin, State : MO, Country : United States, Occupation : Real Estate / Webmaster / Programmer, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[OMara]

I think people are beginning to realize that all religions are similar. I had many friends from many different races with many different religions. We often talked about our beliefs and by talking and attending the different churches, temples, synagogues, etc, I learned that all those people believe in God or have faith in a greater power. I now realized people are too busy being divided by the titles of their religion that they don’t realized we are believe in God or have faith in our creature. I think if people would just look around them they would see that we were created equally and the only different is our outer appearance. As an Asian person, I have two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth, two arms, two legs, and I have all essentials that human to function in this world. If I was not equal to other people outside my race, why than did the creature keeps creating us? STOP KILLING EACH OTHER IN GOD NAME, if God did not want the different people in this world WHY DID HE/SHE KEEPS CREATING THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE? THINK ABOUT THAT QUESTION.

User Detail :  

Name : OMara, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Buddhist, Age : 33, City : Germantown, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : Executive Secretary, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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