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I don't have a religion...

A

abeal2

Senior member
What is the best way to seek a religion? I was raised a catholic but lost my faith during high school. I'm not anti-catholic, so the thought of coming back to catholicism is still open, as well as any other religion. It's just that there are countless questions that come up that makes me doubt the integrity of the religion. For example, no meat on Friday during lent season; where does it say that in the bible? Why is it a "sin" if i don't go to the "mandatory" mass on specific days? Does purgatory exist? What credibility does the bible really have? Is Jesus really the son of God? Does God even exist? What is the meaning of life? and the questions go on and on. These are only a few of my millions of questions, so don't bother replying directly to the questions.

I am currently looking for a religion because I believe it would help me go through life as a happier person. In truly believing in a relgion, I see myself becoming like the little kids who believed in santa claus or that their parents are invincible. I think we can all agree that children are a lot happier than adults. As an adult, I think we have lost touch with what truly matters in life, and therefore stress out at times when things don't even matter. In having a religion, I hopefully will find out what really matters in life and therefore reduce the stress and complexity that life has. children don't view life as complex as adulits, and that's the similar type of happiness that I believe I will attain if I have a religion. There are hundreds of religions out there and they all claim to be the "true" religion. My journey to seek a religion isn't limited to christianity. I'm open to all religion regardless of how outrageous it might seem to some people.

My question is, what is the best method is helping me search for a religion? Some people have told me to go speak to the religious leaders of each religion (ministers, rabbi, etc). But the problem with that is that i might talk to a person who is not good at talking and might not get their point across so fluently. I mean, these people are human just like you and i, and the only difference is their devotion to the religion. Which means that they might suck at speaking/conversation skills and make the wrong impression on me. I have also been told to go read books, but there are so many out there that i don't know where to start.

If u guys have recommendations on books on your particular religion, please let me know. If u have any other methods of learning more about a religion, please let me know as well. Keep in mind that i'm not against going back to catholicism or any religion. I am also not against being an atheist or agnostic either. My journey to seeking a religion/god might lead me straight to declaring that there is no true religion nor god. My mind is open to suggestions.

edit1: I realize this thread will probably turn into a flame war and stray off topic. if it does, no worries cause reading people flame each other's religion is almost as rewarding to me as if you guys were to stay on topic and post something useful. either way, i support both constructive and flame posts 😀
 
Originally posted by: OdiN
Here's a book to read:

The Bible.
Click to expand...

the problem with reading the bible is that i'm not complementing it with any religion. meaning that i will make my own interpretation from my reading, and therefore more or less create my own religion. here's an example of what i mean when i say interpretation....god created the world in 7 days...should i take this literally or not? some religions say yes, others say no.
 
WHY?
If you do not endear, nor embrace the religion you were brought up in, then you might not be a religious person. That's ok, unless you are being emotionally compelled by family or friends to seek religion.

My personal belief, is that one's relationship with their God or maker, is a personal relationship. I'm not a big proponent of organized religion, infact I'm pretty much against it. I believe, but I have my own terms, not what some preacher tells me to do.

If above does not work for you, just watch for the missionaries to come by on their bikes...they'll fix ya right up. 😉

Not trying to offend you, but if you have not already taken a stand, you're pretty much a shoe in for the cult type religions, especially, if you're easily influenced by others. I'd be more concerned about that fact, than anything else.
 
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
WHY?
If you do not endear, nor embrace the religion you were brought up in, then you might not be a religious person. That's ok, unless you are being emotionally compelled by family or friends to seek religion.

My personal belief, is that one's relationship with their God or maker, is a personal relationship. I'm not a big proponent of organized religion, infact I'm pretty much against it. I believe, but I have my own terms, not what some preacher tells me to do.

If above does not work for you, just watch for the missionaries to come by on their bikes...they'll fix ya right up. 😉
Click to expand...

Actually...I would recommend you stay far from Mormonism. It's basically a cult...and I've seen some really brainwashed kids come out of that "religion". And you never really find out what the religion is all about...they have secrets and won't tell people things until they are already way over their heads.

Now...I don't want to bash the people because most of them are really nice people, but the wool is pulled over their heads...I've seen some crazy stuff from that religion.
 
Originally posted by: OdiN
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
WHY?
If you do not endear, nor embrace the religion you were brought up in, then you might not be a religious person. That's ok, unless you are being emotionally compelled by family or friends to seek religion.

My personal belief, is that one's relationship with their God or maker, is a personal relationship. I'm not a big proponent of organized religion, infact I'm pretty much against it. I believe, but I have my own terms, not what some preacher tells me to do.

If above does not work for you, just watch for the missionaries to come by on their bikes...they'll fix ya right up. 😉
Click to expand...

Actually...I would recommend you stay far from Mormonism. It's basically a cult...and I've seen some really brainwashed kids come out of that "religion". And you never really find out what the religion is all about...they have secrets and won't tell people things until they are already way over their heads.

Now...I don't want to bash the people because most of them are really nice people, but the wool is pulled over their heads...I've seen some crazy stuff from that religion.
Click to expand...

Thank you. You said it, and I couldn't put it quite that way. 🙂

 
Originally posted by: OdiN
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
WHY?
If you do not endear, nor embrace the religion you were brought up in, then you might not be a religious person. That's ok, unless you are being emotionally compelled by family or friends to seek religion.

My personal belief, is that one's relationship with their God or maker, is a personal relationship. I'm not a big proponent of organized religion, infact I'm pretty much against it. I believe, but I have my own terms, not what some preacher tells me to do.

If above does not work for you, just watch for the missionaries to come by on their bikes...they'll fix ya right up. 😉
Click to expand...

Actually...I would recommend you stay far from Mormonism. It's basically a cult...and I've seen some really brainwashed kids come out of that "religion". And you never really find out what the religion is all about...they have secrets and won't tell people things until they are already way over their heads.

Now...I don't want to bash the people because most of them are really nice people, but the wool is pulled over their heads...I've seen some crazy stuff from that religion.
Click to expand...

I genuinely didn't know that.
Did you see the South Park episode where they announce in Hell who the "winning" religion is?
 
Originally posted by: OdiN

Actually...I would recommend you stay far from Mormonism. It's basically a cult...and I've seen some really brainwashed kids come out of that "religion". And you never really find out what the religion is all about...they have secrets and won't tell people things until they are already way over their heads.

Now...I don't want to bash the people because most of them are really nice people, but the wool is pulled over their heads...I've seen some crazy stuff from that religion.
Click to expand...

All organized religions look like this to us non-religious people.
 
Originally posted by: Phil
Originally posted by: OdiN
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
WHY?
If you do not endear, nor embrace the religion you were brought up in, then you might not be a religious person. That's ok, unless you are being emotionally compelled by family or friends to seek religion.

My personal belief, is that one's relationship with their God or maker, is a personal relationship. I'm not a big proponent of organized religion, infact I'm pretty much against it. I believe, but I have my own terms, not what some preacher tells me to do.

If above does not work for you, just watch for the missionaries to come by on their bikes...they'll fix ya right up. 😉
Click to expand...

Actually...I would recommend you stay far from Mormonism. It's basically a cult...and I've seen some really brainwashed kids come out of that "religion". And you never really find out what the religion is all about...they have secrets and won't tell people things until they are already way over their heads.

Now...I don't want to bash the people because most of them are really nice people, but the wool is pulled over their heads...I've seen some crazy stuff from that religion.
Click to expand...

I genuinely didn't know that.
Did you see the South Park episode where they announce in Hell who the "winning" religion is?
Click to expand...


Assuming you were raised to know the difference between right and wrong, when you pray, the voice that answers back, is usually your conscience. That's the voice I follow, or the answers to my prayers.
 
If you're fine with the principles of Christianity, but can't stand the 'human additions' to Catholicism, then try going to a Lutheran church...
 
Originally posted by: Agnostos Insania
Originally posted by: OdiN

Actually...I would recommend you stay far from Mormonism. It's basically a cult...and I've seen some really brainwashed kids come out of that "religion". And you never really find out what the religion is all about...they have secrets and won't tell people things until they are already way over their heads.

Now...I don't want to bash the people because most of them are really nice people, but the wool is pulled over their heads...I've seen some crazy stuff from that religion.
Click to expand...

All organized religions look like this to us non-religious people.
Click to expand...

Well I'm not non-religious. But I'm not a huge fan of organized religion. Some people need it, but it isn't for everybody. There is a lot of man-made politics and crap that I don't want a part of.
 
I would say just go to the places of worship of different religions. Talk to possibly the religious leader, but more the actual people of the community. Reading the books I dont think is as important. Just talk to a few people, listen to a couple of the lectures or sermons given by the leader. Many people have come to my mosque and just listened to a few lectures, talked to members of the community and eventually convert to Islam.

And really, religion, no matter which one it is makes you a happier and better person. It just gives you something to follow, a tight knit community, discipline, and many more benefits.
 
Originally posted by: saahmed
I would say just go to the places of worship of different religions. Talk to possibly the religious leader, but more the actual people of the community. Reading the books I dont think is as important. Just talk to a few people, listen to a couple of the lectures or sermons given by the leader. Many people have come to my mosque and just listened to a few lectures, talked to members of the community and eventually convert to Islam.

And really, religion, no matter which one it is makes you a happier and better person. It just gives you something to follow, a tight knit community, discipline, and many more benefits.
Click to expand...

And a way to manage the lives of the masses. Without religion society would be more chaotic than it already is.

 
Originally posted by: saahmed
I would say just go to the places of worship of different religions. Talk to possibly the religious leader, but more the actual people of the community. Reading the books I dont think is as important. Just talk to a few people, listen to a couple of the lectures or sermons given by the leader. Many people have come to my mosque and just listened to a few lectures, talked to members of the community and eventually convert to Islam.

And really, religion, no matter which one it is makes you a happier and better person. It just gives you something to follow, a tight knit community, discipline, and many more benefits.
Click to expand...

Buddhism. My girlfriend and her father are both Buddhist, and they're both incredibly level-headed and chilled-out folks. Her old man also teaches Qigong, and I have enormous amounts of respect for him.
 
read ALOT of religious books and see what grooves with youl. read some about the bible, the quran, some buddhist and hindu teachings, etc and see if something sticks out to you as more likely to be right than the others.
 
To give you my opinion, you can't go around the world at this point and spend your life experimenting with different relegions and what have you.

Why bother if someone already did it for you 😉

Have you ever heared about Huston Smith ?

He is considered to be one of the most reveared scholars when it comes to world relegions, and his book is the standard across many Universities here in the US and abroad .

This man would go and actually live with the ppl of each faith sometimes for years and then report back about what he found and observed.

This is his book.
I use it as a reference for all my inquiries into other's relegions, you will not regret giving this book a shot.

 
You could pick out a few churches to go to on Sunday and see what makes you feel comfortable.

You could also simply go to a non-denominational church.
 
do ayou really need to have a religion at all? seriously, you lost your faith with one, what makes you think you can have faith with another? they're all basically the same anyway.

i question why you feel you NEED to have a religion.
 
I would recommend Protestant Christianity(a denomination of Christianity that isn't catholic. Examples: Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal(anglican), and of course, Assembly of God(that's my denomination, BTW. 😀).
 
Originally posted by: OdiN
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
WHY?
If you do not endear, nor embrace the religion you were brought up in, then you might not be a religious person. That's ok, unless you are being emotionally compelled by family or friends to seek religion.

My personal belief, is that one's relationship with their God or maker, is a personal relationship. I'm not a big proponent of organized religion, infact I'm pretty much against it. I believe, but I have my own terms, not what some preacher tells me to do.

If above does not work for you, just watch for the missionaries to come by on their bikes...they'll fix ya right up. 😉
Click to expand...

Actually...I would recommend you stay far from Mormonism. It's basically a cult...and I've seen some really brainwashed kids come out of that "religion". And you never really find out what the religion is all about...they have secrets and won't tell people things until they are already way over their heads.

Now...I don't want to bash the people because most of them are really nice people, but the wool is pulled over their heads...I've seen some crazy stuff from that religion.
Click to expand...

they are a buncha homophobes and killjoys, but i tells u what...they don't do the whole suicide bomber dirka dirka jihad for allah behead the infidel thing. so whats worse than a cult?
 
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