What's your input on religion?!

I'm not religious, because I don't feel the need for a god or religion in my life. I haven't had sufficient evidence to believe in a god, and I simply don't want there to be a god, therefore I am an atheist. The majority of people I know are nonreligious but the Christians in my community are mostly very kind and charitable people.

 

I think the Bible is an important witness to the evolving human relationship with God over a number of millennia, but it doesn't speak of our continuing (and evolving) relationship with God and that's one of the reasons why I don't elevate it to a false position. We shouldn't reduce our personal relationship with God beneath the standards set down Bible.

When I read the Bible, I don't just go with a literal interpretation. We haven't always understood the Bible in these terms and to do so now seems rather naïve and silly. Sadly, some churches have chosen such an approach to Biblical literacy and that's why the whole concept of religion has become discredited and people are rejecting a faith journey in increasing numbers. I don't blame them!

I respect holy scripture and tradition, but if I can't approach religion with reason (which is different to a reason for religion) and apply it to the modern world, it becomes hollow and irrelevant. Fortunately, I belong to a church that allows room for reason and I don't have the extremely tense relationship with religion that some LGBT people have and I'm grateful for that.

I would urge LGBT people who wish to follow a religious path to look for a church/community that allows room for reason and tolerance. It may take you out of your comfort zone if you've always been a [insert faith tradition] but it's worth it. Abandoning faith altogether can be extraordinarily painful and it's not at all necessary.

My comments apply not only to Christianity, but other faith traditions too.

 

Hate the religion, not the religious.

 

I've never really got the appeal of religion (I have no religion at all and my family isn't religious) but as long as people practice their religion without being brainwashed and without bashing people who didn't do anything wrong, I'm ok with it. But when someone believes in things that contradict modern science just because "the Bible says so", get stuck with bronze-age mindsets, and starts bitching about how "all the gays will destroy society" etc... don't expect me to be polite. I'll make my anger and their stupidity known.

 

I'm a christian and always will be. I have never read the Bible all the way through, but I've been in many church services in my local Evangelical Lutheran Church and it is a religion I want to follow. I have nothing against other religions or atheism in general, if their followers don't go too far. Same goes for Christianity as well.

I believe that God made us the way we are. He knew us before we were even born and accepted us for who we are. That is the God I love and believe in.

 

Atheist. I think religion is dumb and nonsensical. It has nothing to do with homophobic christians, as I know many who aren't. It's just illogical to me that some invisible man lives in the sky.

 

Even easy concepts can be complicated by sloppy use of language.

We do, in fact, choose our lifestyles. What we don't choose is our sexuality or our gender identity.

Homosexuality and bisexuality are not lifestyles; they are sexualities.

Transsexualism is not a lifestyle. It is a condition of one's gender identity differing from their birth sex.

If a homosexual or bisexual chooses to date and have sex with people of the same sex, that is a lifestyle they are choosing...and good for them, because most humans thrive only when they can be in happy fulfilling romantic and sexual relationships.

If a transsexual chooses to transition and live as a member of the sex opposite their birth sex, that is a lifestyle they are choosing...and good for them, because (aside from important chemical/hormonal considerations) most humans thrive best when they are being their most authentic selves...and radical departures from their most authentic selves tend to lead to increasing misery.

 

For me religion is a sort of hope..a definition of meaning in life for a person. Personally i am probably too pessimistic and overthinking things too much to ever really manage it.

What angers me about Christianity is how people use it as an instrument for hatred. Jesus went to the outcasts of society, the ones people looked down on,feared or hated. Using his teachings to oppress other outcasts pf society(such as lgbt people) is simply tasteless and stupid. People care more about a single line in the old testament than to the core of the entire religion.

 

it's okay but i dislike it when someone whos highly immersed in religon tries to force it on others because you should let others have opinions for themselves and believe in the god (or non god) they want to

 

im agnostic, its different from being atheist js.

 

Religion is like having a penis. It is okay to have them. And it is okay to be proud of them. The problem is when you whip them out, and try forcing it down other people's throats. That's the problem.


Honestly I get that for many it helps them get through tough times. Or motivates them to help out more than the average person. And good for those people.

But it is difficult to turn away from the fact that so many use it to force others to think, act and believe the same way. They use it only to persecute and slaughter. Not to mention how during the Dark Ages scientific progress all but halted.

It's out dated and we should have moved well past the need for it now.

 

Not religious but I can respect that most people are.

 

God may exist. God may not exist. Both are close to impossible to prove.

'nuff said.

 

I am an atheist, and I stand by that. I respect freedom of religion, and I believe that everyone should be able to follow any religion of their choice, so long as they are not hurting others.

In saying that, however, I have NO time for religious people who condemn or belittle others who aren't religious. I have no time for religious folk who purposely try to make me feel inferior because I don't go to church. I will not tolerate being told that I'm a sinner, that I have no morals, that I'm going to hell for being gay, or that I am satanic for being an atheist.

You live your life and I'll live mine. If we can respect our differences, then I'm happy with that.

 

Welp. I grew up in the Bible Belt, was raised very religiously, but it just wasn't the best thing for me. it still isn't.

I'm very highly secular, I've just seen way more than I have bargained for. I read the whole book... Didn't particularly help. I see all this harm others do because of it, needlessly fighting for the wrong side of history and I just didn't want to be associated with it anymore. Afterwards, it was easy to view it from a scientific perspective and realize my mind belongs elsewhere.

I encourage free thought personally, for everyone to see what makes the most sense to them regardless of what they were taught. To always question, never limit your mind. It's what lead me to re-define my morals to my own, and I'm a far better person because of it. Instead of manipulating others, I try to give advice to those I feel I can help. Needless to say it works much better for me, the lack of limits allows me to improve myself without fear.

The problem is many people still taking an ancient text literally and as law, attempting to revive archaic and barbaric constraints to drive us into the wrong direction. Laws that would declare slavery moral, us women as property, yet declare a consumer of a fish stick, a kid in a fiber jacket, an atheist, or a rape victim worthy of the death penalty. Just looking at any theocracy or the dark ages itself highlights the problems I have with this. If one is not to enforce this sort of madness, then I have no personal issue with them. Believe what you want as long as you don't harm others. My interest is in the global benefactor of the innocent, but I doubt such would ever be considered a law as ironic as it is. I feel this is why secular countries tent to be happier, the lack of such gripping laws.

So to sum it up, I don't care if someone walks around dressed as a Sith Lord, so long as they understand it doesn't give them the right to choke me. :icon_wink

Hopefully I didn't go too far. Just my opinion, folks. No offense or anything, I'm talking about the crazies like Pat Robertson, not you.

 

It doesn't make sense to me.

 

We all know what happens when you start one of these threads don't we

This^^^^

Being a very inquisitive person from a young age, much to the dismay of my parents I think :icon_bigg . I once asked them while we were leaving a holiday resort ,just after swimming, "How do we know that everything in the Bible is true?". I was five at the time and even then it made no sense to me, makes less logical sense to me now that I am older.

But I think that everyone is entitled to believe whatever they choose and religion played a very big role in how we evolved over the last 2000 years or so. But basically I will not bother you with my beliefs as long as you don't bother me with yours.

 

:/ Well, you can't prove a negative so it's not like Atheists should even be trying to prove god doesn't exist.

 

Oddly I am atheist. Most of my family are Roman Catholic, except my mother and me. My mother is/was never sure on the whole religion thing, she neither does nor does not believe. So I was brought up without religion being imposed on me, even the RC side of my family never pushed their religion onto me. So I gained my own knowledge on the world and the science that makes it all work. But also due to my families views and attitude towards religion and me, my opinion of religion and those who believe is that of respect. I do not believe in god, the afterlife, heaven, hell ect, but that does not mean other people's beliefs are invalid. If people wish to believe in religion then so be it. I stand with so long as people do not try and push their religion onto me, I will not push my lack of belief onto them.

I have read the bible and it just gave me more questions that I had before I read it. Too many contradictions and cherry picking for me to take it seriously.

 

Personally, I am a complete atheist. It just doesn't make any sense for there to be some all-mighty dude who's controlling everybody's...fates? And religious people have ruined a lot of my life and fried my ability to trust other human beings...but, erm....I have nothing against (most) religious people. I mean, my only friend in real life is religious and she totally excepts me for being Genderfluid and lesbian.