Your path to a religious stance

[Teranfirbt]

Called bullshit on the whole thing when I was like 5 and have believed so ever since...

[Jamie Bond]

And God was great for many days, but on one day, Teranfirbt didst declare "Bullshit" and God said unto him "Oh...", and all was.. um... something.

okay, I have no idea how to write bible verses =p

[Nukinblackmage]

I'm about in the same boat as Teranfirbt...

Though, none of those really fit me...maybe 3? But I didn't work it out from all sorts of angles, I just took a look at what was in front of me, went "Total bullshit!" and stopped.

[RadicalDreamer]

[quote="StruckingFuggle";p="580403"]I'm caustic towards organized religion, and opposed to Christianity (and, I believe, though I haven't been exposed enough to truly say, to Judaism and Islam, as well) .... but as for Catholicism ... well. We've never had a thread specific to Catholicism, which is why maybe there's no bitter ex-Catholic impression, but ... 'bitter' isn't the right word. 'Profanely, unprintably antagonistic' is getting close, though ...

(Humanity should not live its life feeling guilty for being human!)[/quote]

Meh. I think the guilt-trip thing is, like a lot of Catholic cultural-thingies, just some useless baggage left over from the old church teachings. I'll be more than glad when it's gone.

[Bigity]

I agree RadicalDreamer,

I hear plenty of sermons/lessons these days, that stress the idea that we don't need feel guilty for sins we have confessed and asked forgiveness for. But I guess religion is one of those things that takes awhile to effect a change in.

[Dudeman325]

My father's family wasn't very religious, and my mother came from a family that was very closely related to Mennonites. Neither of them wanted to push a religion onto me, and instead let me choose on my own. So in the end I never really bothered so I guess I'm agnostic. I don't really get into the whole religion thing, but if there is a God or whatever, thats cool, but if there isn't, no big loss either.

[amlthrawn]

Here is my progression in a nutshell timeline. Unfortunately, Tank, I don't fit much into the choices you provided.

• Raised as a Cradle Catholic, went to church with parents as a young child. Little interest (I'd rather watch cartoons)
• Attended Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes on Saturdays during grammar school
• Parents stopped going to church, and so did I. Even after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, still had no interest in attending mass.
• Attended a Catholic, all male high school (my choice; academic reasons) but still didn't go to church. No interest
• Got a girlfriend. Said girlfriend forced me to go to church
• Strange combination of circumstances got me involved in some ministry work for my Church, and I had a gradual "Epiphany"
• Now am a practicing Catholic, actively involved in ministry work. Have seriously considered a Religious vocation.

[PVTHillbilly]

"I found Jesus!"

"I didn't know he was lost."

Seriously though, I use to be a very religious person, not so much anymore. I don't know what happened, the army maybe I'm not sure, But I was raised very strictly by my parents about the church we were in.

[The Cid]

What if you created a religion in a fictional story, and started believing it?

And before you say it's crazy, it CAN'T be as messed up as Scientology!

Actually, I'm joking. Though I did write a story that has a couple of made-up religions in it. I'm a (religion censored because, frankly, I don't like divulging that information), and I became such as a result of my own studies and conclusions I came to on my own.

[YH]

I'm, uh, sorta undecided, sorta not. I'm just "spiritual" at the moment, but I want to make the transition into "religious" sooner or later. I'm not sure why, but it feels appropriate.

I've been reading books from people like Marcus Borg, who is part of the movement of "progressive Christianity". I've always had big doubts towards the Bible (when I had Religious Studies in my Catholic high school), because I hated the "literal truth" it presented (exclusivism, dogma... etc.). But I feel more comfortable with it now, now that I know that there is a pluralistic perspective that can fit in with my conscience.

I pop up at the Catholic Student Center occasionally, sometimes I attend mass.... not too sure yet, though. I'm also willing to understand a bit more about other religions before deciding.

[Accer]

[quote="RadicalDreamer";p="580440"]
Meh. I think the guilt-trip thing is, like a lot of Catholic cultural-thingies, just some useless baggage left over from the old church teachings. I'll be more than glad when it's gone.[/quote]

I think this has come up before but... I was raised Catholic but never really got the guilt-trip lessons at all, not from Sunday school, clergy, or parents. I think it really is a cultural/regional thing. And a "It's your own parents that are messed up anyway" thing.

For me it's a combination of all 4... so I picked #3.

[amlthrawn]

[quote="RadicalDreamer";p="580440"]
Meh. I think the guilt-trip thing is, like a lot of Catholic cultural-thingies, just some useless baggage left over from the old church teachings. I'll be more than glad when it's gone.[/quote]

My understanding of Catholic doctrine/teaching is that one must only feel guilt for those actions when we fall short of our potential to live a Christ-like life (also known as "sin"). This guilt then is washed away after a perfect act of contrition is made.

This teaching will never go away, so don't hold your breath.

[Arminius]

I did believe in Santa Claus when I was young. Damn I've been sad when I realized he wasn't real.

[SevTiZ]

I've never really had a "crisis of faith", but I can't say that I never questioned the religion I was raised in, either. I was raised as a Latter-day Saint (with some Catholic influence from a close family friend) and served a mission when I was 21. I was exposed to a lot of negative viewpoints that I hadn't heard before, and my only response to that was "How sad that they have to stoop to mudslinging." The more I compared what I had been taught to what other religions taught, the more I felt that Latter-day Saint doctrine made sense, ESPECIALLY the more exclusive doctrines that other churches seemed to feel deserved the appellation of "cult"--again, mudslinging, as the only way to define a cult is to either include themselves in the definition, misdefine the Latter-day Saint religion, or simply say "We don't like you, so you can't sit at our table". Yeah, that kind of argument is REALLY gonna win over a band geek that sat with the same person ALL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL--and met that person in Adaptive P.E. in junior high school.

Religious exclusivism aside, I stay with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because it teaches that the need for prophets and apostles did NOT end after the first century C.E. Paul wrote that such were needed until a unity of the faith, which is NOT the case at all--ecumenical councils may be held, but they usually result in even FURTHER splintering into other groups. I believe that prophets and apostles are still necessary, and that they will be necessary until the day that Christ returns.

There's a LOT more to how I feel, but I'm not feeling particularly coherent right now--I'm working tonight, and I still need to get in a nap. My lingering snifflage isn't helping clear thought processes either.

[Deacon]

What Christian churches teach that the need for prophets and apostles ended with Paul's death? Many of the more lifeless branches of Christianity may seem to imply this, but is this from some particular teaching I'm unaware of?