Religious, yes or no.

SeaBreeze said:
No. Spent 8 yrs. in Catholic grade school when I was a kid because it was near my home, walked away from it when I started high school. I do not belong to any organized religion.
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As the joke goes, I don't belong to any organized religion. I'm an Episcopalian. About half of the Episcopalians I meet are former Catholics.
 

JaniceM said:
which are also common characteristics of cults
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Yep I might say that about most major religions.

Religiosity is maintened by tradition and repetition, any deviation outside of the written law is heresy. Religions rsstrict outside influence as a concern might disrupt the power that controls the religious and the religion they follow. Should there be doubt, religion is tested by the religious to maintain or reconstruct based on new information.

Understanding religion is beyond my comprehension. What is the reason and purpose of religion? There is more to religion than in preparation for the afterlife. Religions provides support for human services, helping the poor and impoverished, but what must the recipient pay to receive services of this type? A lifetime of devotion, without question or freedom to be as one may hope to be?

How much do people know about religion? I encorage everyone not to think as they are told but think as you will.
 
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This is a question that means different things.

People may not belong to a specific organized church/ or named group but have personal beliefs and practices.
When People ask this i always wonder what they are getting at .... which church do you belong like a club ?... are you in the right fraternity or something?
are they planning to make assumptions based on if catholic or baptist or whatever?
My guess is yes they are checking every stereotype box in their head they can.........

I went to many different churches but seemed to focused around attendance and how much money are you giving.
 
I know that I am an eternal soul currently living in a physical body until that body dies, at which time my spiritual identity will continue its journey. While I'm in this material life I try as much as is reasonable to not harm any other beings, or myself and to be helpful. That's about as sophisticated as my aspiration for advanced consciousness gets.
 
It seems like a lot of religious Christians don't actually follow the teachings of Jesus. They just believe in him so they can get into heaven when they die.

Personally, I don't believe in an afterlife, so there's nothing in the creed in it for me. I try not to be an a-hole, though, and that's something that Jesus taught... I believe in the Sermon on the Mount where he preached the words, "Blessed art thou who be not an a-hole."
 
Sachet said:
Those of you raised in a church background, are you still religious or did it turn you off ?
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I was raised in a church background and am still religious all these years. I pray several times a day, because it is important for me to communicate with God, no matter where I am. I love reading the Bible but don't do it as much as I used to. There is so much wisdom in those pages, particularly in the Proverbs. But the Bible is not my religion. I look at it more as a tool to learn about God, but I have found that it is not the only way to seek Him.

I seek Him in my heart and soul. I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus died for our sins. I believe that He trampled death so we could live. Amen.
 
I now consider myself spiritual but not religious. My parents were “C & E’s,” people who went to church on Xmas and Easter but rarely at other times. I‘ve done the organized religion thing, and been a church elder, board member, and assistant Sunday school superintendent; also played with “praise teams,” sometimes doing three gigs a Sunday. When you’re active in a church and fairly good at something, you tend to be rewarded by being asked to do more and more of it until you burn out. I’ve also seen too much bad politics in churches, like pastors with an “edifice complex,” determined to build bigger and strap their congregation with the bill. And then, there’s the “judging and condemning” thing that goes on a lot… 😫
 
Palides and Fortuna, I am not religious but I admire your dedication and faith, regardless of whether we share the same views. We have all had different experiences in our lives that determine who or what we follow, but we all need to be dedicated and to have faith in something, whatever that is. 👍
 
Lara said:
Many people celebrate their birthdays on a different date
out of convenience, weather, or other reasons. Most have.

December 25 was chosen to replace an evil celebration (pagan)
with a good celebration. I'm sure Jesus is pleased.
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I doubt JC cares either way about when or if his birthday is celebrated or if Santa is real or not. His birth was important only because it suited God‘s plan.
 
Lara said:
I'm not religious as there are too many varying definitions of that.
But I'm a Bible believer, love Jesus, and I follow the New Testament for my everyday living.

I haven't been to church in 20 years but I'd like to find a true Bible-believing Church so I can help others and make like-minded friends.
I believe the Holy Spirit is my Helper who fills me with love, peace, patience, kindness, self control etc IF I'm closely following God's Word.

Everyone makes their own choices and I fully accept and respect that because God created us with the ability to make our own choices. That's what He wants all of us to do. When I share my faith it's just free speech...it's not to change anyone's mind for them.

I should be free to share my beliefs just like anyone else freely shares their UNbelief...without being judged nor frowned upon.
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I think a Southern Baptist Church is what you are looking for in terms of your belief and faith. Have you tried any of them?
 
dseag2 said:
I was raised as a Southern Baptist and went to a Southern Baptist high school. I will never forget the Wednesday chapels with the visiting "Fire and Brimstone" preachers and the Invitations played until absolutely everyone got up off the pews to "repent". I then joined Church of Christ after graduating. Negatives, rather than positives, were constantly pushed down our throats, and I found that so many statements about people who were "unsaved" were so false I could no longer tolerate them. I was completely turned off to organized religion.

So, the short answer is that I believe in morality but not religion. How can Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Muslim, Buddhism, etc. all be the onIy "true" religions? I do believe there is some type of greater power that is responsible for our being. Still, I don't criticize those who are members of some type of organized religion because many times it gives them the faith they need to get though life.
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I was raised Southern Baptist as well.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I enjoy some of the televangelists.

I see them as motivational speakers and not as religious leaders.

I used to enjoy tuning in to Dr. Robert Schuller on Sunday mornings.

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My mother went to his church for decades. He started out in a drive in theater in Orange County where we attended service in our cars and later built a very expensive church. He may have also preached at a church as a “guest” in Los Angeles but I was so young I might be mistaken remembering.
 
win231 said:
^^^^ Bingo.
People who know me are surprised & disappointed that I'm not religious; I don't fit their theory.
They make the mistaken assumption that "Religious people are all good & non believers are bad."
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I am not surprised but then I do not know you 😂
 
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