With all of the religions out there

[kite]

Tweethow do you choose what's "right"? Do you feel that you should just stick with the one you were raised with, choose one that best suits your philosophy or reject them all?

[mick-G]

TweetI was brought up Catholic, but im not sure i agree with alot of their doctrine, which is alittle hypocritical. Iam not practicing anymore, except on holidays, lol! Iam more of a combination of the King James Bible and parts of Catholicism. Now there is a devil part of me that is during cycle, sex and womens. It is my fault tho cause iam a sinner.

[T-Man007]

TweetWell, considering most religions, except Christianity, base your ability to get into heaven or have a good after life are based on your actions I personally think Christianity is the only logical choice. The reason being, if it were based on our actions as humans as to whether we get into heaven or not, we would all fail. No man or woman is going to live a life good enough to deserve righteousness. Therefore, as Christians, we are found righteous through the blood of Christ. Without him dying for our sins we would never make it, we just aren't capable of living a sin free life. Since most religions are based on what you do, as apposed to what you believe, I just don't see how one can expect to be perfect. It's impossible and without someone to pay the penalty for our sins we fall short of God's glory.

At least, that's why Christianity makes sense to me, without Christ there's no way I would be good enough. But with Christ, all I have to do is believe and do my best and his death washes away my sins. I'll take that over any other religion.

[angryoldman]

TweetI believe in God. I pray to him whenever and wherever. I go to church sometimes, but not every sunday. I live my life by the 10 commandments, and I don't confess my sins to a priest. He is no better than me. So I confess my sins to God himself. I NEVER take the Lords name in vein, as the commandments say, and get offended and tell someone I'm offended if they do. I was raised Catholic, but don't believe in some of their ways. I am spiritual, and I'm comfortable with that.

[Klash]

Tweet

how do you choose what's "right"? Do you feel that you should just stick with the one you were raised with, choose one that best suits your philosophy or reject them all?

For me it was a journey. I didn't wake up one day and think, I'm gonna go with atheism. When I first started seeking the truth, I believed I would find it (the truth) within my christian religion and ironically prayed to my christian god to let me recognize the truth when I saw it (when I found it, he wasn't there). I had a strong distaste for the lack of consensus on something that was so important. As I learned more, I was really attracted to the eastern philosophies because of the tolerance displayed toward others who didn't share the same beliefs and I thought reincarnation and karma would be the consequence of a more fair and just god. Eternal damnation for a finite sin, never seemed very omniscient to me. Then I realized there was one major correlation between the western religions and the eastern philosophies and that was faith. I decided I didn't want to believe in something, just because it offered an attractive delusion. So then I learned about reason but at that time I believed the position of the agnostic was more rational, than the position of atheism. Now, I know better!

But I am interested in what leads people to different conclusions. Good thread Kite.

[daved150]

Tweeti was raised catholic. latin services, first communion, catholic school, the whole bit. after i lost my brother (i was just shy of 11) i questioned my faith. i held a grudge for a long time, but never really denied existance(god), i was just po'ed at the man. i have just recently (a couple years ago) put it behind me and patched things up with the man upstairs. now, i do not believe in church, i can communicate with god wherever, and whenever i want. i dont believe i have to sing a certain song to him, he'd probobly rather hear someone he gave a singing voice to, than me. he gave us feel will, so i'm using it. and we get along just fine. i give him praise for sure, but i dont think he needs me getting silly about it. so, i guess i'm of the religion of dave....(tried to think of a fancy name for it, but it's my gig, so thats it)
the one question i have is how do y'all raise your kids in regards to religion? do you let them explore it, or do you force feed it?
oh, by the way, there is a piece of property down the street from me for sale that has a old church building on it. one of those small white steeple's. i told my wife a couple times that i was gonna buy it, and formally name it the church of dave. she thinks i'm nuts....we'll see...

[supasaiyan99]

TweetI grew up Christian. Most of my life was spent in the Pentecostal church. I don't really agree with the Pentecostal doctrine. I am like AOM as I just follow the 10 commandments and try to live a good life. Like T-man said, the ability to be forgiven for our sins also makes the most sense to me. I don't think other religions are wrong though.

[kite]

TweetAs for myself, I was raised Catholic but at about 16 or so, just didn't "feel" anything anymore and was pretty much turned off by Chrisianity. After a few years, I checked out a few other denominations as well as some of the Eastern religions. What brought me back to Christianity was a combination of science (through Dr. Ross, an astrophysicist @ CalTech) and philosophy. Judaism, Christianity and Islam (the big 3, lol) were the only ones that really made sense. I discounted most of the others because their god/gods didn't seem to exist outside of the creation and were oddly enough subject to the physical laws of the creation. The creator cannot be subject to the creation, he can operate within the creation but wouldn't be subject to our laws of physics, etc... Also where I think alot of people get confused is by thinking that antiquity gaurantees authenticity. It doesn't. When I got down to the "big 3", it seemed Christianity naturally flowed from the Jewish faith and Islam was an attempt at combining aspects of the Jewish, Christian and Eastern faiths, which to me just doesn't hold water IMO. Like most of you have said, I still don't buy into much of the Catholic beurocracy, but I also feel that there is no greater source of spritual insight than the "Church Fathers".

[Klash]

Tweet

the one question i have is how do y'all raise your kids in regards to religion? do you let them explore it, or do you force feed it?

Oh man! I think about this all the time. I'm going to raise my kids to be freethinkers but considering the environment we live in, they are going to have alot of pressure to submit to religious doctrine. I know their christian friends will invite them to chruch and religous activities and I have decided I will let them go and when they have questions I will answer them. But when an adult, attempts to psychologically coerce them to submit to the Bible by saying "you and your family will go to hell, is that what you want" - that will be where I draw the line. Is an attempt to coerce someone with a perceived threat, legal?

[mick-G]

TweetI do think tho, it is good to bring up your kids in some kinda faith, whether it be a denomination or just a christian church. Go at least every Sunday. I think its good for the kids to have them see their parents go w/them and practice when they are young. After they are 18 it is up to them how they want to practice it, but they will always have some background to go back on in life. Too many nowdays never went and they have no balance in their lives.

[daved150]

Tweet

I do think tho, it is good to bring up your kids in some kinda faith, whether it be a denomination or just a christian church. Go at least every Sunday. I think its good for the kids to have them see their parents go w/them and practice when they are young. After they are 18 it is up to them how they want to practice it, but they will always have some background to go back on in life. Too many nowdays never went and they have no balance in their lives.

i understand what your saying...but i dont do that. they have gone with friends, and being how we live in a small community, there is only 2 churches...they both have gone with friends to the more popular one, and i dont discourage them, but i will not take part in "organized" religion. i have my faith, my views and i'm not shy about them....they ask, i give my opinion, and always tell them that, that is how i see it...
on the other hand, my brother takes his kids to church every sunday. he's a little bit of a holy roller (mostly, when it bennifits him) i love him very much, but he is very hipocritical...and to tell ya the truth, even my kids see it (no, i do not share my opinion of my bro with my kids). if anything, i'm sure his actions bring more confussion for his kids.

[T-Man007]

Tweet

the one question i have is how do y'all raise your kids in regards to religion? do you let them explore it, or do you force feed it?

Well, as a Christian, it says in the Bible I am responsible for being the spiritual leader of my household, which I am. As such, I am responsible for teaching and leading my children spritually. The Bible says the only way to eternal life is through Christ, so that is what I will teach my children. I will teach them what the Bible says. However, every man and woman must admit they need God on their own. I can not save my children, they must believe on their own. I will teach them my beliefs as I am instructed to do by God, but I will not force them to believe. The thing to realize about Christianity is that no man will come to God on his own, he must be called. My job is to prepare my children for that day. If they choose different then that is their choice, but I hope and pray they don't. I don't want them to make the wrong choice and according to my Bible, a belief in anything but Christ is the wrong choice.

[T-Man007]

Tweet

Oh man! I think about this all the time. I'm going to raise my kids to be freethinkers but considering the environment we live in, they are going to have alot of pressure to submit to religious doctrine. I know their christian friends will invite them to chruch and religous activities and I have decided I will let them go and when they have questions I will answer them. But when an adult, attempts to psychologically coerce them to submit to the Bible by saying "you and your family will go to hell, is that what you want" - that will be where I draw the line. Is an attempt to coerce someone with a perceived threat, legal?

What if one of your children, after they get older, says to you they believe in Christ and they want to be saved and follow him. Would you stop them? I'm just asking because I know you believe in freethinking and if they choose for themselves they want to follow Christ that would be their choice, right?

I'm not trying to start a fight, just wondering what you would do. The reason I ask is because, if you (speaking about atheist in general) were to tell your children that religion was not right, wouldn't that in fact be in opposition of 'freethinking'? I know an atheist who says children should not be forced religion and yet he forces his kids not to believe in it. It seems like a double standard. If one truely believes in 'freethinking' then they should respect the choices of everyone, even those who choose religion. Anyways, just wondering.

[FUZO]

TweetI BELEIVE IN GOD AND PRAY THATS IT

[Klash]

Tweet

What if one of your children, after they get older, says to you they believe in Christ and they want to be saved and follow him. Would you stop them? I'm just asking because I know you believe in freethinking and if they choose for themselves they want to follow Christ that would be their choice, right?

I'm not trying to start a fight, just wondering what you would do. The reason I ask is because, if you (speaking about atheist in general) were to tell your children that religion was not right, wouldn't that in fact be in opposition of 'freethinking'? I know an atheist who says children should not be forced religion and yet he forces his kids not to believe in it. It seems like a double standard. If one truely believes in 'freethinking' then they should respect the choices of everyone, even those who choose religion. Anyways, just wondering.

Freethinking, in this case, refers to being unrestrained by superstition, myth and dogma. I know my kids will be exposed to christianity, heavily and I am not going to underestimate the power of social pressure but I do have reason on my side and remember we are all born atheists - to become religious, you must be indoctrinated. From an atheist perspective, your friend is not forcing his kids to believe in atheism, he is protecting them from indoctrination - thus maintaining their natural position of atheism(a lack of indoctrination). I think it will be extremely difficult for christians to indoctrinate a kid who comes back to very rational, loving, moral and consistent parents every night. But if one of my kids felt compelled to follow the christian doctrine, I would conclude that I failed at teaching my kids how to reason and I would have a "come to reason" session.