What is the purpose of the Religion & Spirituality Category ?

Question

Will this Category help me to gain an appreciation and understanding of other people’s beliefs ?
Am I allowed to participate in this Category if I am not Religious ?
I grew up with Religion, but stopped believing in it when I got older…
(The result of a disastrous marriage to someone with different Religious beliefs)
Whilst I may not be ‘Religious’ myself… I do respect the right of other people to believe as they choose to believe !

Will participating in this Category help to restore my faith in Religion ?
Will it perhaps help me to learn about other Religions, to the extent that I may wish to convert to a different Religion ?
I have never stopped loving and believing in God. Will participating in this Category help me to put my love for God to practical use ?
Does it matter that my understanding of God, may be different than how other Members understand and view God ?
Are we allowed to see God through different eyes ?
Are Members of this Category ‘tolerant’ of the beliefs (or non-beliefs) of someone like me?
Am I welcome here ???

Answer 1

Frankly, the main thing that you'll get out of participating here is an understanding of how poorly developed most people's religious side is.

I've learned that faith is largely absent from religion, at least among the believers here, as most insist that they have evidence or even proof for their beliefs. There's a fair amount of mental illness here among believers as well, and it has become more clear to me as a result of participating that religion persists largely because of its strong appeal to desperate people who cannot cope with their place in the real world.

I am sometimes dismayed at some of the juvenile insults that come from people on my side of the fence as well, and I probably excuse those more than I should. I'm also amazed at how many nonbelievers get excited about "Biblical contradictions", as though what's wrong with religious belief is that there are some errors in the details.

I've also learned that many people - both believers and agnostics - mistakenly believe that being an atheist means claiming to be 100% certain that there is no god. Obviously such a claim would be wrong, but you don't have to claim 100% certainty to say that you don't believe that there is a god, or even to say that you know there is no god. That point is lost on many believers, which isn't surprising, but I am surprised to find that it's also lost on many agnostics.

There are a lot of good answers though from atheists, and sometimes believers manage to come through with good posts as well. In this environment, I find that very impressive: there are certainly some good ones out there.

Answer 2

The way I see it, religion is one thing and spirituality is another, as is faith. Religion is no deferent than old times politics seeking control and power at the expanse of ignorance and naiveté. On the other hand, spirituality and faith are exclusively personal qualities that have absolutely nothing to do with organized religion(s).

So, if you really want to get closer to God, you must use your own personal spirituality and/or faith to accomplish that. The hypocritical baselessness of any religion won’t do that for you or anyone else. Joining any religion and expecting to get you closer to god is like joining a political party to get you closer to a truly constitutional democracy.

Good luck

Answer 3

This site is meant to ask and answer questions. This site was meant to be used so that people can learn about different religions and religious beliefs as well as non religions or non religious beliefs. This site was never meant to be used to convert and deconvert people to and from religion. People who are doing those things are misusing and abusing this forum.

Answer 4

To clear confusion. Understand the purpose of life. Exchange info about religions. Misconceptions and communication b/w people of different religions.

Answer 5

i don't know what the purpose of this area was meant for, but i know what does happen here, is usually a fight between those who claim Atheism, or skepticism, and those who claim an actual religion.

i like to do answers here because I enjoy a good debate, and like to post answers based off of how I feel like answering at that exact moment...

Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!

Answer 6

I'm not sure. Because asking a question about religion and spirtuality usually gets you opinions and not answers soooooo.....who knows?