What Religion Do You Practice/Not Practice and Why?

[GarrotTheThief]

The strongest steel protects the softest cargo.

exactly!...cool new avatar by the way. Didn't recognize you for a second.

 

[johnnyyukon]

whatever

 

[chickpea]

i was raised jewish-ish and there are certain traditions I like, but I can't rly be bothered to keep
up with it. i like religions in theory but in practice my eyes glaze over.

 

[Cygnus]

One thing that pisses me off is when people bitch about how a loving god would never sentence a man to death or let your damn puppy die. If he's the master and author of all creation, he couldn't give less of a shit about your petty human ethos. Mercy is an ant crying out to a titan. Might makes fucking right. If the most powerful entity in all damn existence speaks, it is law, and if the petty humans fail to give him his sacrifice because they want to spare one life, the entire species endures his wrath.


That's why a lot of atheistic scientists strike me better than a lot of agnostics, because they came to their disbelief in a creator out of LOGIC, not this "ethos" bullshit.

 

[robowolf]

Just out of interest, what idea is that? I'm not challenging, just clarifying.

The idea of organizing rituals and stuff. When you introduce a structure into someone else's life, if they accept it, everything they do(/believe) within that structure becomes routine, something that it's there and is a constant, and this leads them to never question it.

Eg if I decided to be a catholic and went to church every Sunday, sooner or later it would become a habit, as opposed to something I do because I believe in the meaning it has (ie it would induce a trance-like state). I would attend weekly masses and respect what the pope says because I'm used to it, not because god commands it or because I want to go to heaven, and this is what most people do where I live (90% of the so called good christians here have never had a bible in their hands and just blindly follow what the priest says. The relationship between many of the followers of an organised religion and their authority figure is like the one between sheep and their shepherd dog). Not everyone is prone to this and it probably depends more on the individual than it does on the organisation of the religion, but still it happens a lot and I know it would happen to me. I don't hate organised religion (as long as the worshippers leave me alone), it's just not for me.

Also if organised religion has nothing to recommend it are you suggesting that disorganised or unorganised religion is some how superior or preferable?

Nah, it's just a matter of personal preference and beliefs.

 

[Mole]

Worship is something we do. It can be done in the style of a particular religion to a particular God. But actually worship is a human capability. So we have the capability to worship anything.

However the act of worship is very powerful, so society usually codifies it into a religion or practice.

And worship is very powerful because what we worship, we become.

Traditionally we knew what we worshipped, as it was mapped out for us in our religion. However mainly in the West, religion is falling into disuse, and so we don't know now what we worship.

So now it is up to each of us to discover what we worship, for that is what we are becoming.

 

[tinker683]

I would say I am an atheist, as I do not believe I have any reason to believe in a diety. That being said, I really like a lot of the ideas espoused by Taoism and Confucianism...but to say I am either one of those things would be dishonest as I do not observe any rites/holidays/or traditions. I merely find a lot of the ideas fascinating and inspirational.

As for WHY I am an atheist...it's because while I believe that "God", such as it is, can not be proven or disproven I do not feel I have any compelling reason to choose to believe and follow the doctrines and traditions in these religious sects.

 

[Riva]

You forgot to mention the Jains. They'd be so pissed off they'd curse you to eternal hell.

 

[Lark]

The idea of organizing rituals and stuff. When you introduce a structure into someone else's life, if they accept it, everything they do(/believe) within that structure becomes routine, something that it's there and is a constant, and this leads them to never question it.

Eg if I decided to be a catholic and went to church every Sunday, sooner or later it would become a habit, as opposed to something I do because I believe in the meaning it has (ie it would induce a trance-like state). I would attend weekly masses and respect what the pope says because I'm used to it, not because god commands it or because I want to go to heaven, and this is what most people do where I live (90% of the so called good christians here have never had a bible in their hands and just blindly follow what the priest says. The relationship between many of the followers of an organised religion and their authority figure is like the one between sheep and their shepherd dog). Not everyone is prone to this and it probably depends more on the individual than it does on the organisation of the religion, but still it happens a lot and I know it would happen to me. I don't hate organised religion (as long as the worshippers leave me alone), it's just not for me.



Nah, it's just a matter of personal preference and beliefs.

I know what you're talking about because its one of those catch 22's how you manage to create a vehicle for the preservation of the knowledge of the ages across generations while keeping its vitality, personally I think that its only a matter of any organisation being as good as its membership or the individuals who make it up.

If this is a problem which can be conceived of so easily then a solution can be conceived of too, perhaps not so easily but anyway, you know.

My point was that sometimes the primitive or spontaneous state which preceeds organisation or officialdom is undesirable whatever the real problems are with the organised and official state of affairs. Its my view when it comes to the formal codification of law too.

On that note dont you see the same processes alive and well in many other things too? Comic Con and geek culture for instance? I see it, I think its almost inevitable.

There's a great book if you get a chance to ever read it called Geek Wisdom, highly recommend it.

 

[Avocado]

I

One thing that pisses me off is when people bitch about how a loving god would never sentence a man to death or let your damn puppy die. If he's the master and author of all creation, he couldn't give less of a shit about your petty human ethos. Mercy is an ant crying out to a titan. Might makes fucking right. If the most powerful entity in all damn existence speaks, it is law, and if the petty humans fail to give him his sacrifice because they want to spare one life, the entire species endures his wrath.


That's why a lot of atheistic scientists strike me better than a lot of agnostics, because they came to their disbelief in a creator out of LOGIC, not this "ethos" bullshit.

I agree, and it is the hard facts of math and logic that make the god claims of every religion impossible. The only reason that I affix agnostic as a prefix to my description is to indicatethat, though incredibly unlikely and ridiculously anthropocentric, a diest-style diety could exist. I respect what the religious teachers of old brought to the table, but it is really time to move on. Morality has been rethought over the millennia and evidence counters much of their thought. All ideas die someday.

 

[Evee]

I'm a Spinozist.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Apatheist

I don't put any value in the idea of belief.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I roll with the tao

 

[Rambling]

Although God is quiet and elusive, He exists profoundly. That is the paradox of God.

He is in our every cell, in our DNA, in our soul. He created us, we are not an 'accident'. As such, He knows us. He has a special mission for each of us.

I love Christ. I tried, but there is no way to get around His original and epic teachings. He is the most beloved Son of God, mighty Yahweh.

God always loves me perfectly, in the exact way I need. No one else does this. Though some might get close I love being His servant and his love.

He is EVERYTHING but all He wants from me is my love. My obedience, yes, but that is mostly for my own good and our own good; it affects Him naught.

How awesome is it that He wants nothing more than the love from each of us. That is why He created us, to be in communion with Him.

Praise Him, praise Him.

Getting past the historical evidence for the Reurrection of Christ is also problematical. Plus the fact that when I attempted to obey the teachis of the Bible my life certainly changed and con incidences began to happen. 30 years a Christian now, and still more to discover about Christ.

Though the title of this post is a little irksome, since religion is practiSed; practiCe is a noun.

With that said, a relationship with Jesus is pretty much the opposite of any performance of ritual which might be suggested by the word 'religion'.

 

[Rambling]

Apatheist

I don't put any value in the idea of belief.

And do you believe yourself saying that? (Dangerous to walk out into the path of an oncoming INTP, but just occasionally it can be fun...)

 

[Lark]

Getting past the historical evidence for the Reurrection of Christ is also problematical. Plus the fact that when I attempted to obey the teachis of the Bible my life certainly changed and con incidences began to happen. 30 years a Christian now, and still more to discover about Christ.

Though the title of this post is a little irksome, since religion is practiSed; practiCe is a noun.

With that said, a relationship with Jesus is pretty much the opposite of any performance of ritual which might be suggested by the word 'religion'.

The last part there is interesting, maybe it reflects an alienation with tradition which has spread even to those who depend upon tradition or who ought to have the greatest appreciation for it.

Jesus was a traditional Jew you know, he practiced many of the precepts, as he understood them, which is important as he had a greater understanding than many but there are Jews who have indicated that Jesus was one of many itinerant preachers, such as the Essenes or, laterly, hasidics, even some contemporaneous agnostic jewish schools of thought.

Its all there in the sayings of Jesus himself, directly.

 

[Totenkindly]

I grew up Christian (more conservative in environment, although I was more mystic/open myself, I guess).

I'm more in the ballpark of agnostic, agnostic theist, or absurdist nowadays, after my experiences + digging into things [actually trying to find more evidence of God].

I'm open to a variety of spiritual expression, although I'm not much into militant religion that insists it is more than just someone's belief.

I don't adhere to one, but I try to learn from what they all have in common and what they have to teach. Whatever, lots of religious tomes have good stuff in them. Any particular religion to me seems way too specific in its outlook. So, ignosticism is all up in there for me:

Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that every theological position assumes too much about the concept of God and other theological concepts; including (but not limited to) concepts of faith, spirituality, heaven, hell, afterlife, damnation, salvation, sin and the soul.​

Basically, I find many religious frameworks to be too prescriptive and narrow for me to be bothered to adhere to them.

Thank you for posting this. I didn't realize there was a term for this.

But it's one of my big issues and why I feel like I'm in "quasi-agnosticism" -- I'm open to the possibility of spiritual intervention/engagement, yet my main issue with religion is where it demands a much larger specificity of belief than warranted by evidence, i.e., constructs an entire doctrine that is really quite speculative but ultimately restrictive of belief and action and that is insisted upon by its adherents. I find I personally still hold many of the same broad values I held while explicitly within the Christian belief system, but it's the demand of many unverifiable specifics as doctrinal points as well as the judgments passed based on them that lead to my disagreements.

 

[Lark]

I've internalised so much of a certain psychoanalytical message that I think people all practice religions, some people are aware of it and others are not.

That's not intended as a response to anyone, just a general point, I maybe made it already, I dont remember.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I'm a Christian.

Trying to explain it or justify it just lends credence to the premise that it should be (or needs to be) explained or justified (which is ridiculous).

I think the most reasonable course of action is to let folks come to their own conclusions about such things, and to not let differences of opinion on this front keep us from being able to connect with one another.

 

[Lark]

Apatheist

I don't put any value in the idea of belief.

Interesting.

I would say this is the creedo of 99.9% of people I've met.