What appealed to everyone when they chose their religion or Atheism?

Question

Please note that I am not asking for anyone to tell me negative opinions on other people's religions and why you didn't choose theirs. I only want to hear the positive points of your own and why you chose it. Everyone is welcomed Christians, Atheists, Pagans, Muslims, Hindus, Agnostics, whatever you are.

Answer 1

Hi~Nicely phrased question. The truth is, I never chose. I am who I am, & always was. Studying world relgions in depth was fascinating & enlightening. I found a few things in Eastern religions that were acceptable to me, but none I could embrace, but then, I wasn't studying in search of anything, just for clearer understanding of others. In those journeys, it seemed that at the root of all of them was DOCTRINE, & most interesting was how Chrisitanity had evolved by borrowing on ancients. It's really quite beautiful, humans are awesome. There is very little in any organized faith that is truly original. Religions grow from one another, & my perception is that: "Modern religion is a collage; an assimilated historical record of man's quest to to understand the 'divine.'" A friend insists I'm an Agnostic, because I'm spiritual, as if that were the province of those who have a diety, or aren't quite sure if there is one. I've been doing a bit of research on anti-matter, & the possibility that it could explain genesis, bring science & religion together--at last. I believe that an energy force unites all living things. The molecules in my body are united with all living things. In that sense, it would be impossible for me to consider "a God out THERE." This "interconnectedness" gives my life harmony. I have no negative opinions about any religion, or non-religions. I'm only trying to explain that who I am wasn't a matter of choice, & that the things I said are the "positive points."

Answer 2

Discordian or something like it...it's kind of hard to figure out what a stereotypical Discordian is...

I've always felt a certain sense of insensate insanity lurking down inside me...and then i finally hit on the Chaos Magick/ Discordianism idea...First time I read a version of the Principia Discordia, ahh, it was like finally hearing what I've been saying all along to myself...but this time with neat pictures...

So here i am...when I should be doing the dishes...The nice thing is, there really is no neat category to fall into for this, and alot of it is really just a do it yourself kit bashing. Kind of a religious version of Radio Shack...Lots of fun to just get parts and work from there...

I mean, There is no Deity, and at the same time, There is Deity...It all is just a matter of how warped you're feeling like looking at the universe, isn't it?

Also, Looking back at that, thank Goddess for Spell Check...my spelling is bad tonight...

Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!

Answer 3

I am agnostic, and I arrived at that because no other belief system fully suits my needs. Atheism is too black & white, all Christian religions are full of hypocrisy, and though I use some things from Wicca, Buddhism and Taoism, I don't agree completely with any one of them.

I do not believe in any higher power in my life other than my own will, and that belief has served me better than anything I was forced into growing up.

Answer 4

Truth was the appeal. I am Agnostic/Atheist (either label works, I use Agnostic most).

Religion always seemed absurd to me, even though I remained loosely affilated for half my life. I finally traded Noah for Darwin, it took finally doing my homework with respect to evolution, and once I understood it, there was no going back. I couldnt go back if I tried, I mean, evolution is a truth the same as gravity.

Answer 5

I was raised as a Christian, but I didn't really know what it meant. So I drifted away. Later I questioned my beliefs, and began to study religions. After some time I came back to Christianity, and accepted Jesus as Lord. The more I study the Bible, the more I find truth. It is accurate in history, as well as science (as seen in a previous question on thermal dynamics).

Answer 6

> someone is born and raised in a town where there is no concept of religion whatsoever My impression is that such a thing does not exist in human culture. Evidence of religion exists from the earliest archeological finds of humanity (I think as early as 60 thousand years for the first ritual burial) and in every human culture I have ever read about. If the town had no outside influences it would develop its own set of bliefs and rituals about the parts of reality Hamlet refers to by "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." > The religious belief a person chooses to have is based purely upon geographical location, family traditions, upbringing etc. Well, we have the Eastern and Central European experiment - where for about 70 years the religions were all purposefuly eliminated and the people were indoctrinated to official Atheism. Once the state impromptor of Atheism was lifted, the societies have on the whole "reverted" to religiousness. Largely this was to the religion of the individual's ancestors but also, the American Christian fundamentalists have had some success there as well as invented "neo-pagan" nationalist religions. Of course, many individuals in these states have remained passively Atheist/Agnostic. > I would consider myself relatively neutral... Judging from the little flag at the bottom of your post, may I respectfuly submit that you were in fact brought up in a society permiated with Anglican values and your secular moral views quite likely integrate the moral teachings of many generations of Anglicans. (if you've never read Jonathan Swift - read some - you will be surprised at what percentage of his jokes and observations are almost inherently a part of you) In fact, it may well be that your personal Atheism implicitly defines the God you disbelieve in as essentialy the Christian god. There is some wonderful Russian science fiction out in translation -- the "Night Watch" trilogy. If you pay attention while reading, you can see how your assumptions of ethics/morality/interpersonal relations subtly differ from the writer's Russian version of the same. Unfortunately, the book in the series that actualy mentions these things straight on is not available in translation. > Nowadays we laugh at the ancient Greek belief systems Who is "we"? Those of us who have studied comparative religion tend not to laugh at any of them.

Answer 7

I am agnostic deist. In my life I have frequently doubted the existence of God. While at the same time, as a small child I knew that I had lived before.

When the screaming gibberish Pentecostals left me running from God, He would not let me go. He refused.

I just go by what makes sense to me, what I feel in my heart as well.

Answer 8

I couldn't say atheism appealed to me. I saw no proof of god, I looked and thought and the concept of god did not make any sense at all. So,,, I'm an atheist. That was the name of the fact that I had no belief in god, There was no structure or prayers or meetings that appealed to me. I thought of what I did and did not believe first, The name was secondary.

Answer 9

Just to be clear, atheism is not a religion. It is the lack of religion. Athiests do not believe in a supreme being. They believe that things happen in nature and thats that. Basicly, sh*t happens and we are here.
I myself am an agnostic. I believe there are some things you cant explain but you have to prove to me its caused by a greater being than us.

Answer 10

I did not choose atheism - it became the only rational conclusion after researching various religions. To choose anything I would have to pretend to believe what I cannot. To be an atheist, I simply stopped pretending.