and how much is the result of what others have told you to be the truth, whether it came from parents, friends, acquaintances or associations? How much original thinking have you achieved?
2006-09-07 00:18:08 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
That's a fantastic question, one which everybody should ask themselves at some point.
For myself, I'd like to think that my beliefs have developed out of my own thinking. Most people would say that, I suppose. But given that you can't open a newspaper, turn on the TV or listen to the radio these days without other people's opinions being forced down your throat, it's hard to gauge just how unbiased our opinions are. The tabloids are full of this sort of thing: 'The Sun Says'...'Voice of the Mirror'...to name but two. Basically a shameless vehicle designed to tell people what to think.
Your handle suggests that you're thinking in religious terms, perhaps? Well I'm no Heathen - I do believe in God. But I don't subscribe to organised religion for precisely this reason. Faith isn't something you can learn from other people. You have to nurture it for yourself, learn to see God in your own way. That way it becomes personal, and it begins to matter to you much more than it could if you were just being spoon-fed church sermons.
2006-09-07 00:53:34 · answer #1 · answered by FrozenCamel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of what I believe stems directly from what I have read for myself. I do not attend a church because I do not think I am any less capable of reading and comprehension than anyone else. I think it is important to GOD that you take the time to read for yourself so that when you decide to come to Him it is really from freewill and not because you are a sheep following the largest herd. I have read about many types of religions and found some to be quite scary and others to be just blatant blasphemy while claiming to follow the bible. Therefore I walk my own walk with Jesus and intend to encourage my children to do the same.
2006-09-07 01:24:19 · answer #2 · answered by mortgagegirl101 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I only became a Christian when I met with Jesus, up to then I'd rejected it as boring and irrelevant, and I didn't know I could actually have a real relationship with a living God. Nobody prayed over me or preached at me, I simply felt His presence one day, and when I reached out to Him I was instantly cured of depression. I've been used to heal others at times and heard countless testimonies from other Christians of; the ways Jesus has blessed their lives. God talks to me, through the Bible or other people, so I know He's there.
2006-09-07 02:31:41 · answer #3 · answered by good tree 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mmm. I've taken reading + personal experience to create my belief system. The most formative writers on it were Carl Jung and Brian Greene, but neither espouses a religion or beliefs per se--I just figured, okay, if this is how it works than I'm running with it.
2006-09-07 00:22:28 · answer #4 · answered by angk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Thinking" is just the term given to how we process information - information often stems from many of the references you have mentioned....
Each one of us is totally unique - our experiences, age, gender, sexuality etc... therefore, the "original" aspect comes when our individual brains combine and intrepret this information and new thinking is therefor spawned...
I believe every thought is unique in some way... if for no other reason than due to how a given thought entered our heads...
I have a friend who speaks total crap the whole time and I pray his thoughts are unique or the world in which I live has just got a little darker....
2006-09-07 00:24:30 · answer #5 · answered by ShowMeTheLite 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This should be easy to answer for everyone - all you have to do is ask if you believe anything for which there is no credible evidence. If you do, then you have not done enough independent thinking.
2006-09-07 00:22:07 · answer #6 · answered by bonzo the tap dancing chimp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say about 80%. The rest are from reading & educated people who I trust.
2006-09-07 00:22:40 · answer #7 · answered by Claude 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I got the information from books and tv. I thought about about it myself with influence from a friend who is an atheist.
I am an atheist. other than that one friend my CLOSE friends are christians (other than one who is a buddhist), my family is firm catholics.
2006-09-07 01:10:27 · answer #8 · answered by lalala2512 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1%.
And I still believe it is a very high achievement.This tell me my body, because it feels comfortable, no matter that generally our society treat such level very low.
2006-09-07 00:23:18 · answer #9 · answered by oceangleam 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a fair bit because of personal experiences
2006-09-07 00:20:05 · answer #10 · answered by martin r 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋