Religion

I don't believe in a god. Never have, even when I was a little kid. Unless it is proven without a shadow of a doubt, I never will.

 

I like your first point, Tracy Lord, but I'm less keen on the second one. Do I think that your faith in your gods and goddesses is real? Absolutely. Do I think that your gods and goddesses themselves are real? Allow me to quote Ricky Gervais on the topic:

Again, I fully believe that your faith exists, and if that faith helps you in any way, big or small, then I'm glad you have it. But I'm not going to concede that your gods and goddesses are real unless there is more to prove their existence than your faith.

 

Personally, I'm Jewish, but Reconstructionist (we're sometimes called Atheist Jews, although that's not necessarily true of all of us). Personally, the culture, the ethics, the deep amount of thought that goes into the questions and answers, that appeals to me. The idea of a G-d that gets involved in my day-to-day life? Well, I'm not sure on that one - I'm a fence sitter there. To me, religion should make the world better, and do less damage than good at least. It should give people some framework in which they can have faith in what they want, and it should let go those who don't work within that framework. Works for me, at least.

 

This basically.

 

I'm atheist and I really dislike religion.

 

I myself am a Christian mystic, or something similar. But in a weird way, I think we're all right.

I picture the universe and existence like one giant symphony. Now let's say a Christian is a trumpet, and a Hindu is a violin. Do they sound the same? No, but they are both part of the same song.

 

I am a former Catholic and I consider myself to be atheist. I am still "in the closet" about it with my immediate family. No need to worry my mother about my eternal damnation and burning in hell any longer than necessary .

I recognize that religion can have its benefits, but overall I think it is detrimental nonsense and I wish that I had become an atheist long before I actually did. The gods of the major world faiths seem bizarre and even monstrous to me now, and gods that people make up for themselves are just imaginary beings that lack any evidence to prove their existence. As an atheist I am so much more empowered and free than I ever was as a Christian.

So yeah, you can tell where I stand from that little spiel.

 

When it comes to religion I don't label myself. People should be free to practice their chosen faith (or not) as long as it does no harm to others and no one should question or attack them for their choice.

 

I am a Christian; of the Anglican/Episcopalian variety and very pleased on the Church's move towards inclusion, especially in the USA and Canada.

 

Me too! I like studying Shinto and Buddhism to an extent because I find them interesting, but I don't practice them.

^ Everything I had to say.

 

I will add to this and say that I still enjoy some of the "artifacts" from my Catholic upbringing. Catholicism was such a big part of my life for so long that I will always have things that have a purely sentimental meaning to me. For example, I still have a crucifix, and I still have a few church songs on my iPod that remind me of being young and of my old priest whom I always looked up to. As I said though, now my attachment to these things is only sentimental.

 

I'm not sure what to call myself, but I'm likely an agnostic.
Now, about all the various types of religions. There's an Epica song called "The Divine Conspiracy" that states all the religions in the world were created/influenced by God. The reason that there are so many is because people naturally have different worldviews and philosophies, but the overall message remains the same. Christian or Pagan, we're all human.

 

so really your answer is, 'i agree'...?

You're both saying the same thing, just in different ways. Your faith is still faith, just in a different form. You don't assert any kind of existence that is in any way transmissible to any other person but yourself.