Actually, that's not a bad observation. For me, I'm still in a Methodist family. I was baptised Catholic (dunno how that happened) and raised Methodist. However, despite the fact that I still go to church every Sunday for a few reasons, religion never clicked entirely with me, especially Catholic churches. I've never felt safe in a Catholic church, even before I identified as LGBT. I do still go to church every Sunday to play drums on the 2nd and 4th Sundays and do audio on the 1st and 3rd.
I was raised christian, and still hold many of the basic beliefs, however I don't necessarily agree everything. First I see the belief in God to be overly simplistic, instead I believe in a mass consciousness that is constructed by the combined power of the human mind instead of a single all powerful being. I also see some of the teachings to be poor (not necessarily bad, but overly disapproving) and think that the "bad fruit=bad tree=bad fruit" test is usually pretty good when it comes to religious advice. but to save the trouble I just tell people i am christian because I don't really have a simple one word explanation for it.
I agree. I think a lot of the religious people tend to say away from the religious threads and, as Bassplayer said, aren't too vocal about their faith. It would make sense. I've noticed that there is usually a new thread on religion every 2 - 4 months. If a person has the same faith, I don't think that they would want to make the same post over and over
When actor Vince Vaughan was asked his religious affiliation, he said 'I'm a Catholic who doesn't go to Mass.' I think this applies to many, actually. ---------- Post added 4th Aug 2013 at 06:31 PM ---------- You're entitled! And I'm not offended.
It's more a function of being stuck in this nursing home for the foreseeable future than anything. The church service they have here is by an Anglican priest. He is very kind and compassionate. He also stayed with me for several hours twice a week when I was in the hospital. The catholic priest did come to the hospital but he was in and out within a half hour. The Anglican priest has shown true compassion to all the residents here. He has also encouraged us to look out for each other. Besides the Anglican liturgy is about a third less. :dry::icon_wink
Very much a Catholic. I was raised with it and I feel like it gives me strength and direction, although I would never presume to think that it's for everyone, or is the only "correct" religion. It's right for me. I'm very involved with my church and have been an organist, cantor and choir member for many years. I cringe a little when people use the word "Christian" synonymously with "evangelical, conservative, bible-toting hate-filled redneck Christian". There is a huge difference. Even among Catholics, there's a huge difference between the dead-eyed rosary-chanting types with 12 children who wish the Mass was still in Latin, and the everyday Catholics, who are often quite accepting and not at all weird! While being a Catholic is an important part of who I am, I would be very reluctant to think of it as the only "true" religion or anything like that. It reminds me of a story of a bunch of blind men in a room with an elephant, and they were all asked to say what an elephant was. One felt a leg and said, "An elephant is a tree trunk!" Another felt the tail and said "An elephant is a stick!" Another felt the side of it and said "An elephant is a wall!" And so on. They all had a bit of it right but none of them had the whole story, because what they were able to sense was only a tiny part, and far too little for them to understand the whole picture. I think of all our human religious beliefs as an attempt to understand something that we don't really have the capability of grasping, and Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans or whatever all are touching a small part of the elephant, but none of us really have the whole picture.
I was a devout Baptist for 18 years; that is until I came out and my church told me to leave. After being turned down by other local churches for "my life choice" I'm now I'm a very loose Christian. I'll still witness, but I encourage more of a 1-on-1 relationship with God rather than finding some church to appease. I may return to being a more active Christian later on, but right now I'm more interested in following my Blackfeet Spirituality.
I'm a strong Christian. I have very strict beliefs. My pastor told me he had no right to say anything about homosexuality or trans*gender people and that only God can be the judge, and he loves everyone when I asked about it. So maybe it's because my church is more lose and accepting of gays and trans*gender people that I'm Christian. I don't attend Church regularly. I rarely do, I attend bible school sometimes. It isn't a priority.
Yes! I'm a Free Methodist right now and go to a church of that denomination pretty faithfully. However, I was never raised in church and it was something I decided to do on my own. Because of that, I have experimented with a lot of different churches and entertained the idea of different religions, but I am content with where I am spiritually.
I'm not Christian in the traditional sense. I believe Death of God theology. It's a form of Christian atheism. Basically, I believe that God died with Jesus on the cross. So, in order to really live like Christ, we must suffer the loss of God that Jesus suffered on the cross. So, in short, I don't believe in God because I believe that God is dead and has been since Jesus died.
For all the Catholics, I just heard this segment on The Story, a public radio program. It's old, but I was listening to it as a podcast while on an plane. It was very interesting. Father Bernard Lynch Fights For A Place In The Church A conversation with an Irish priest who came out as gay after he made his vows to the Catholic Church. He chose to stay in the church - "it is my church, too," he says - and presses from inside for change regarding the place of women and gays in the church. Father Bernard Lynch Fights For A Place In The Church | The Story
I'm a Catholic that doesn't really practice too much. I do believe there is a heaven and hell. I just don't believe that certain things that you can't control will cause you to go one way or the other.
Christian born and raised, but I no longer have a specific religious affiliation. I really haven't be to church much at all since November 2011(if you want to know why, that's when we lost my twin sister), I could actually count the number of times on my hands.
Catholicism has always been part of my life. I went to a Jesuit high school and I now attend Notre Dame for college. That being said, I hesitate identifying as Roman Catholic as opposed to Christian for a number of reasons. Then, there's the conflict over leaving the Church due to difference of opinions or staying in spite of it.