What are your beliefs or religion?..Were you raised with them or did you discover them on your own later on?
What made you believe in whatever it is you believe in now?
2007-01-24 13:51:58 · 54 answers · asked by Dani 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
God
2007-01-24 13:55:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
I believe in doing no harm- well, everyone should have the freedom to do what they like, just so long as they preserve other people's freedom. I guess it's a cod-anarchist philosophy, I was inspired when I was 18 by an old draft dodger who somehow managed to get himself into a professorship in peace studies. Eventually I turned vegetarian as part of what he taught me...
As for spirituality and religion, well... I can't believe that there are many gods, and I would describe myself as athesist really... all relgions seem to aim for a basic human goodness in my eyes, and the frills surrounding them seem to lead to conflict. We need a certain spirituality to sustain us, but we shouldn't be fighting over it. There is a light within us all shining brightly, it's just a question of how clearly we allow ourselves to project :)
What made me believe in all this (and the other stuff I've not mentioned 'for reasons of space')? Well, like I said, I had a mentor for a brief time... and add a kind of atheistic British grammar school up-bringing.to the mix, plus a love for literature and poetry, and a lot of pig headed stubborn-ness, which must come from mother really... I'm just a product of circumstance/the times...
So many beautiful responses! It's a shame that some people seem to be preaching a little, but on the whole, it's been great to read everyone's responses to this question...
2007-01-24 14:03:04 · answer #2 · answered by Buzzard 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am atheist with no religious beliefs. I was raised in a home where mom never really said what she believed (no dad around) but she would send us off every Sunday to whatever church ran a bus by the apartment complex. So I was exposed to religion early on.
There really isn't a single event I can point to as the source of my beliefs (or lack of). I just tend to be a logic minded person and the idea of an all powerful super being just doesn't make sense to me. I realize science can't answer all of my questions right now - and some of them may never really be answered. However, I believe enough can be explained by science (archeology, physics, astronomy, etc.) to suggest the universe is controlled by natural laws rather than the hand of God.
2007-01-24 13:59:20 · answer #3 · answered by Justin H 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
I'm 17 and was raised on Catholicism for all them years. Upon entering high school, I went to a Catholic school and there I began to question what I had been taught in Sunday school.
What followed was a strange and difficult path that has made me completly grateful for how I was raised, basically so I can understand that it's not for me. Beingn raised how I was, I thought questioning religion was bad, until I took Christian Awareness (a required class) my freshman year of high school. I learned that it was okay to question what you believe and that religion should be, after all, something that suits your own personal feelings. And so I found myself heavily compatible with Reform Judaism, although I'm still young and haven't been able to research everything yet.
2007-01-24 14:00:21 · answer #4 · answered by Mandi 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Bide the Wiccan Law ye must,
In perfect love and perfect trust.
Live and let live,
Fairly take and fairly give.
Soft of eye and light of touch,
Speak little, listen much.
When ye have a true need,
Hearken not to other's greed.
With a fool no season spend,
Lest ye be counted as his friend.
Merry meet and merry part,
Bright the cheeks and warm the heart,
Mind the Threefold Law you should,
Three times bad and three times good.
1.Know thyself
2.Know the craft
3.Learn
4.Apply knowledge with wisdom
5.Achieve balance
6.Keep thy words in order
7.Keep thy thoughts in good order
8.Celebrate life
9.Attune with the cycles of the Earth
10.Breathe and eat correctly
11.Exercise the body
12.Meditate
13.Honor the Goddess and the God
Till realms of the Gods receive us
In peace at the end of our days.
And Do What You Will be the challenge,
So be it Love that harms none,
For this is the only commandment.
By Magic of old, be it done!
*{+WITCHES+}*
We are not evil
We don't harm or seduce people.
We are not dangerous.
We are ordinary people like you.
We have families, jobs, hopes, dreams.
We are not a cult.
This religion is not a joke.
We are not what you think we are from looking at t.v.
We are real.
We laugh, we cry.
We are serious.
We have a sense of humour.
You don't have to be afraid of us.
We don't want to convert you.
And please don't try to convert us.
Just give us the same right we give you--to live in peace.
We are much more than you think.
2007-01-24 14:00:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
That's a good question. I believe in finding a purpose in life or creating one. Basically your here so DO something that MEANS something. I believe in treating others with respect no matter who they are and being understanding of everything around you whether it be other people's beliefs or their actions. I believe in listening to people and what they have to say. I could go on...
I'm an atheist and a Unitarian Universalist. I did not grow up with the influence of my parents or anyone else. I believe what I believe because that's just who I am.
2007-01-24 14:02:50 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
My grandparents had some influence when I was young by taking us to sunday school. When I was 10 I decided it wasn't for me & stopped going.
I have a lot of Buddhist & Pagan friends so have the influence of those two beliefs in my life.
I now call myself a Spiritualist due to the work I do & I believe in the great power of Nature & the Universe.
2007-01-24 15:31:10 · answer #7 · answered by Screamin' Banshee 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I was not exposed to many religions growing up. My grandmother was Catholic and I would go with her. I dated a Mormon for a while and I would go with him every once and a while.
However I officially became a Buddhist in April of last year. IT was a long search. I feel like I was always a Buddhist but never had a name for it. I did it kinda backwards I guess. I looked at my life and saw how I acted and what I believed in.. then I went looking for a religion that felt like me. Then I studied it. It ended up to be Buddhism. ( My friends call me Lisa Simpson)
2007-01-24 14:08:07 · answer #8 · answered by akholler 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I was raised in a Christian family, but have never felt like a Christian. It wasn't true to my heart, although I try to follow the one basic rule (The Golden Rule). After I learned about different religions, I discovered that none of them truly and completely fit my beliefs.
I believe that God is nature and everything in it.
2007-01-24 13:59:10 · answer #9 · answered by T Time 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
i don't think organize religion is good i think its better to have ideas and not beliefs as for me i don't have ant 100% beliefs i guess you could say i don't believing belief structures i was raised in a church environment not every week but we did go and i did hear it all at 10 i thought how do we know a long as i have faith ill be ok isn't that good En-of. remember it doesn't matter what you have true faith in it just matters you have faith without some whimsical of hope would we really be here wouldn't we have all killed our selves by now without that hope that faith even faith in death in many gods heaven hell it all helps
2007-01-24 13:59:48 · answer #10 · answered by ziggy420 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I was raised to believe in god, but later on I discovered that I need to see it to believe it. I'm not saying there is or is not a god, that's just how I feel
2007-01-24 13:56:18 · answer #11 · answered by Koolaid1730 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋