Religion

[FreezeWarp]

Religion is something that is often described as having been created to help understand life, while others simply believe that a religion is your entire spectrum of principles; everything you do in life is based off of your religion. And, some people simply believe a religion is how the world came to be; that it explains all.

So, what is your religion, and how do you follow it? Do you ever go to church, or do you prefer to find the explanation of life on your own experience or merely the holy text? How closely do you follow your religion, as well? Does it kill you if you break a guiding principle of the religion? Do you believe in a heaven or hell, a god or a goddess, angels and demons? Please remember to respect others beliefs.


Personally, I believe in what is my own set of beliefs - I believe that god exists, but not as a physical form, rather as the concept of energy. I also believe not so highly in a heaven or hell, but rather simply an after life where you fulfill your soul, make it complete, to come to another life either as a spirit or as a new physical being.

I also believe in karma, though in a very real way, that anything poor you do, such as commit serious crimes, will result in your life becoming miserable, if even if your own mind.

And, finally, I feel that all other religions are completely acceptable as they give people morales to live on, this is assuming that those morales do not include killing, rape, and similar crimes. No matter if it Christian, Jewish, Atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, or whatever else, you will only come to help yourself in your present life.


Anyway, enough of my own religion, what religion do you follow?

[Shadow]

I follow Islam.
My religion teaches me that a God does exist, there are angels and there are demons, and there's also a Heaven for good people and a Hell for bad people.
My religion also teaches me how to behave, respect, work, and is basically a guide to my everyday life.
It also focuses on many many aspects, such as modesty, honesty, justice, generosity, faithfulness, respect and every other good aspect.
I also believe in my holy book, the Quran, 100%, as it is really convincing and contains numerous proofs of, for example, what do people in Hell say and do, what do they eat, and how do they behave. Similarly, it also says what do people get, have, eat, drink, etc. in Heaven.

What I regret is that a lot of people have a very bad imprint of Islam, all because of a bunch of people who are not in any manner related to Islam because of their terrible and horrible actions and deeds.

For more info about my religion, follow those links: >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
http://www.islam.com/

[Jaredvcxz]

I try to follow Catholicism as closely as I can. I go to church every Sunday unless camping, I try to follow the ten commandments, and I try to be fair to other religions unless they do something to piss me off.






The thing I've never truly understood: If god has eternal love and forgiveness, why would he send you to eternal torture and suffering if you do something wrong?

[Red Globe]

When you think hard, logically; every religion bases on the same concept with different names and somewhat different rules. Religion has during the ages been a tool for manipulation.

I do believe in a "God" that may be somewhere out there. I just don't know if he ever heard for us.

[Yo Shee]

The thing I've never truly understood: If god has eternal love and forgiveness, why would he send you to eternal torture and suffering if you do something wrong?

Two theories I have about this:
One is that, simply, without bad, there would be no good. Without suffering and torture, there would be no love and forgiveness.

The other is that God isn't responsible for the pain that us humans have brought upon ourselves. He only helps those who help themselves. His intention was for us to be happy.

As for myself, I don't follow any religion at the moment, but I respect those who do and I believe in God. I'm open to whatever life may bring to me.

[Jaredvcxz]

Or it could just be a tactic to scare us into being good.

[Palmo]

I follow my instincts and go with atheist because i have too many questions that cant be answerd!!!!

[Daughter of Mew]

I was raised an Anglican, which is part of Christianity. I'm agnostic, though.

[Legend]

I'm Catholic but shouldn't it be part of Christianity?

[FreezeWarp]

I'm Catholic but shouldn't it be part of Christianity?

Ehh... Though the two are directly related, most people classify themselves to be a part of one or the other, but not both.

[SK]

The thing I've never truly understood: If God has eternal love and forgiveness, why would he send you to eternal torture and suffering if you do something wrong?

Well, it's sort of our fault that we're sent to hell if we sin once, since we do have free will, but it's really impossible to not sin because of the original sin passed from Adam and Eve to all the generations of the world, and then our parents, and you. That's why you should believe there is a God and that he died on the cross and took all your sins upon him to save you from eternal death in hell. Religion is the only way to avoid hell.

I am a Lutheran Christian.

[FreezeWarp]

Well, it's sort of our fault that we're sent to hell if we sin once, since we do have free will, but it's really impossible to not sin because of the original sin passed from Adam and Eve to all the generations of the world, and then our parents, and you. That's why you should believe there is a God and that he died on the cross and took all your sins upon him to save you from eternal death in hell. Religion is the only way to avoid hell.

But, wait, how is religion in general avoiding hell, when in fact hell is an attribute to Christian religions? For example, Karma is a belief that I personally believe in (I'm agnostic, kay?), and it essentially would mean that there is no heaven or hell, rather a better or worse life depending on you currently live yours (whether this life be the one you already are living, or a future one if reborn).

As for everything else, I find that idea rather amusing. I should mention that I've never stepped foot in church, nor read the bible (I will try to do the latter in a few years, however I'm not sure how much of it I would understand right now).

[SK]

My belief is that there is eternal life no matter what. It will be in heaven or hell. As I said, Jesus (the Son of God) took all your sins upon him and died on a cross to wash them away. The only thing you need to do to to get to heaven is believe in God. If not, it's eternal death in hell. No mater what, you will be in heaven or hell forever. Personally, I'd like to be in heaven for eternity. ;)

Rephrase your question if you could, FW. I didn't quite understand it.

[FreezeWarp]

Rephrase your question if you could, FW. I didn't quite understand it.

It was more a less a statement, to tell you the truth.

Um... Would thinking of god as the scientific concept of energy be believing in him (technically I believe he exists, just instead as the combination of all life, and all energy transfered in it).

[SK]

I think you have to believe that he sent his son to earth to take all of the past, present, and future sins of the world upon himself, and that he died on the cross to erase all of those sins, but you should still pray for forgiveness for them. As for what God is, I believe that he is the maker of heaven and earth. He is also eternal. He did not have a beginning. He will not have an end. He is an all powerful, all knowing spirit. As for the devil, he was an angel, scheming against God in heaven with some other angels. God then created hell for the Devil and his angels, and the devil now tempts you to sin because he wants you to come to hell with him, and not go to heaven with God.