Raised Methodist, atheist by around age 11... very much doubt that'll ever change.
Where does your faith come from?
- Thread starter LucyDuke
- Start date
It is a possibility, but it seems less likely to me than that they are.
Again, a possibility, just because I have seen, before, people who were absolutely convinced of their faith or lack thereof, change it to something else.
aneeshm
Deity
I've never had any faith, in the Abrahamnic sense of the term, and don't see myself acquiring it in the foreseeable future.
Winner
Diverse in Unity
I am an atheist, so it comes from nowhere, I suppose.
At some point, you decided that Hinduism provided a good framework for understanding reality. On what grounds did youmake this decision?
Then you don't believe in the unseen? How can you trust that Hinduism is right without faith "in the Abrahamic sense?"
Ziggy Stardust
Absolutely Sane
My faith comes from mistaken certainty.
See sig for explenation
See sig for explenation
silver 2039
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2003
- Messages
- 16,208
My parents are Hindu and as a kid they forced me to go to some "Vedic class" on Sundays to learn about the glories of the Hindu religon and culture or some nonsense. I always hated going to that when I could have been doing something else instead.
Anyway I mostly paid lip service to Hinduisim to please my parents, though I suppose I did believe in gods till I was about 11 or 12.
At 13 I realized that this religon and all religons were a load of bollocks to but it mildly. I actually thought about religon and its concepts a great deal and found massive amounts of flaws and illogical aspects about religon and I was liek this is ridiculous. I also came to far more satisfactory conclusions on my own than the one's religon answers and I am content with the conclusions that my own mind and logic has drawn. And thus I became atheist.
And I have remained atheist till now and frankly I dislike religon greatly.
Anyway I mostly paid lip service to Hinduisim to please my parents, though I suppose I did believe in gods till I was about 11 or 12.
At 13 I realized that this religon and all religons were a load of bollocks to but it mildly. I actually thought about religon and its concepts a great deal and found massive amounts of flaws and illogical aspects about religon and I was liek this is ridiculous. I also came to far more satisfactory conclusions on my own than the one's religon answers and I am content with the conclusions that my own mind and logic has drawn. And thus I became atheist.
And I have remained atheist till now and frankly I dislike religon greatly.
Swedishguy
Deity
Reason and intellect. Which came from Asperger's Syndrome.
They couldn't have come from your own character?
You're tarring a great many respectable people by generalising 'protestants' as people who scream hallelujah and undergo rebirth.
Those represent protestants about as much as the Spanish inquisition is an accurate summary of Catholicism.
Protestants are people who have rejected many of the sillier aspects of Catholicism, such as the belief that the Pope is particularly holy, or infallible, the desire to follow church doctrine rather than one's own thoughts, and the way that any conscience can be salved simply by saying a few hail Marys. And, of course, the idol worship of the saints, especially Mary.
I was raised in the CofE. My belief is a conscious choice, as it should be. I have never had faith that God exists in the way so many people seem to expect. For me God has always been a possibility; from when I was old enough to consider God at all, to now. If I had a 'divine revelation' I would assume that I had accidentally taken a hallucinogen.
I like the CofE for the comfort the fine architecture, nice people and wonderful wording (in the prayer book and King James Bible) give me. I pay less attention to the fine detail of Christian doctrine.
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
I have those too. You're making a poor case.
Masquerouge
Deity
I think the beginning of an answer can be found in this post by Aneeshm:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=5053578&postcount=1
and in particular by reading the article linked, which (very, very) basically explains how it is a mistake to assume that "Hinduism" is a faith like Christianism, Islam or Judaism.
CartesianFart
Deity
I guess i was brought up in a household that did not attend to a particular church by way of ritual or associate with anyone who is a habitual church-goer.I have to conclude that my family is Christian in some sense secular.
The majority of us do not believe it is reasonable to believe that Jesus was a son of God but just a mere man who was divinely inspired and suspicious of organized religion as a mere racket to fleece out people pockets and pretend to be holy in a pretentious building that is called-the church.
Of course,i am in the minority and say that i can care less if there is a God or not but do like to agure with them if there is one or not.
The majority of us do not believe it is reasonable to believe that Jesus was a son of God but just a mere man who was divinely inspired and suspicious of organized religion as a mere racket to fleece out people pockets and pretend to be holy in a pretentious building that is called-the church.
Of course,i am in the minority and say that i can care less if there is a God or not but do like to agure with them if there is one or not.
Hinduism is incredibly annoying to anyone who just wants "the gist" of it. It transcends so many definitions.
Let's see. I was born and baptized into a Lutheran home, spending the first three years in a school led by the wife of the then-bishop. I spent school years 4-9 increasingly agitated by the conformity and general evangelizationary agenda of the church. From 7th grade or so onward I began drawing my own conclusions. During 13th grade, a few months ago, I officially left the church. My current belief is skeptic-deistic agnosticism.
LucyDuke
staring at the clock
Did you ever question what you were raised with?
I for one am not asking for an argument about that, just wondering what does it for you.
Do you consider yourself Catholic? Have you ever questioned it?
I don't specifically mean the Abrahamic sense, either. What I'm talking about (in less elegant words) is the feeling that your worldview is correct.
Have you ever wondered if you were wrong? Have you examined and rejected any other faiths, or just not been interested?
Yes, but reason and intellect implies that you reasoned with your intellect. What was the course of that reasoning? Were you taught that there was something divine in the universe, or did you find out on your own that some people think that? Did you question it immediately? Did you come to a conclusion immediately?
I think that's the case with a lot of American culture, which is very interesting to me. Our society as a whole, religion set aside, tends to retain a lot of Christian culture, like our winter solstice celebration, our weekly calendar, our marriage traditions, and so on.
Alan Watts, quoted in your sig, was a Zen Buddhist.My faith comes from mistaken certainty.
See sig for explenation
Well, my spiritual experiences (which are not just some generic "feel good" thing but rather indescribable) came first as a response to specific prayers, and second in the sorts of situations I would expect them in if my religion is genuine.
LittleBoots
The Bloody Banner
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,979
My father was a fanatical atheist, my mother was a closet Catholic who abandoned her faith because of my father. I was far too intelligent to believe in this ridiculous religion stuff that makes no logical sense, just as my dad. My mother's family was lower class pretend Catholic and my dad's was intelligensia Country Club "Anglicans" without any real belief. I have long been a logical rhetor fighting against the irrational horde that is religion.
A couple years before I shipped off to university, my mother returned to the Church, created a massive rift in my family. My younger brothers professed their faith and my dad and I fought the good fight of Truth and Reason. One day, my hapless mother challenged me. She said, "If it doesn't matter, invite the Lord into your heart and if you're right, it won't matter anyway." In true self-righteous form, I arrogantly and mockingly did so. I considered it a joke.
Christ did not.
In the year and a half preceeding college, I (read: Christ) began softening my heart. I ceased persecuting my mother so harshly. It was obvious she was not going to listen to my arguments, no matter how often I stumped her. I instead began trying to help her out and condescended to look at things from another point of view. Kierkegaard's leap of faith (that I fully contend is faith, in the truest sense of the word) and, like Soren, landed firmly on Christ. I began truly examining my own beliefs, studying philosophy, and theology. I started checking out different religions, different churches.
They say a little philosophy takes you away from religion and a lot brings you back. I have to say I whole-heartedly agree with this. I would also whole-heartedly recommend C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, and The Great Divorce to all those who are curious. I would start with Mere Christianity and I would demand that you abandon the arrogant attitude so many of us atheists (and former atheists) have (although I do grant it is certainly not a quality unique to atheists, although it is somewhat more peculiar there and so all the more aggravating). Realize that you may not know it all after all and give things a chance. The faith the size of a mustard seed and everything...
I have not stopped, resting easy. It is always a struggle. The logical should look to St. Augustine and especially St. Thomas Aquinas if they want more. The Summa Theologiae is a brilliant work. St. Anselm is impressive as well, although many will look at his argument and dismiss it prima facie because they don't take the time to look deeper.
Anyway, my dad has become something of a deist. The fanatical atheist of atheists decided that it was completely ridiculous of him to assert atheism. He decided it was intellectually dishonest; that the only way one could know for certain whether there existed a supreme being would be for one to have complete and total knowledge of the entirety of everything (omniscience); in effect, the only person who could be an honest atheist is God. He said agnosticism was more honest, but that basic deism/theism was more believable (to be perfectly honest, after a few conversations with me, as well as with his new wife).
New wife? Oh yeah, they got an annulment from the Catholic Church and both have since gotten engaged/remarried.
I am personally not a Catholic, although I sympathize with them. The Magesterium and Traditio hold a large amount of appeal for me, as do the Saints. However, I have my theological reservations that push me more toward Anglicanism. However, that is a discussion for believers, I suppose, and not a thread such as this.
Questions are welcomed and enjoyed, whether in PM or in thread. Also, this is my formal "Hello" to the Off-Topic forum. Lurked a lot, commented only recently.
A couple years before I shipped off to university, my mother returned to the Church, created a massive rift in my family. My younger brothers professed their faith and my dad and I fought the good fight of Truth and Reason. One day, my hapless mother challenged me. She said, "If it doesn't matter, invite the Lord into your heart and if you're right, it won't matter anyway." In true self-righteous form, I arrogantly and mockingly did so. I considered it a joke.
Christ did not.
In the year and a half preceeding college, I (read: Christ) began softening my heart. I ceased persecuting my mother so harshly. It was obvious she was not going to listen to my arguments, no matter how often I stumped her. I instead began trying to help her out and condescended to look at things from another point of view. Kierkegaard's leap of faith (that I fully contend is faith, in the truest sense of the word) and, like Soren, landed firmly on Christ. I began truly examining my own beliefs, studying philosophy, and theology. I started checking out different religions, different churches.
They say a little philosophy takes you away from religion and a lot brings you back. I have to say I whole-heartedly agree with this. I would also whole-heartedly recommend C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, and The Great Divorce to all those who are curious. I would start with Mere Christianity and I would demand that you abandon the arrogant attitude so many of us atheists (and former atheists) have (although I do grant it is certainly not a quality unique to atheists, although it is somewhat more peculiar there and so all the more aggravating). Realize that you may not know it all after all and give things a chance. The faith the size of a mustard seed and everything...
I have not stopped, resting easy. It is always a struggle. The logical should look to St. Augustine and especially St. Thomas Aquinas if they want more. The Summa Theologiae is a brilliant work. St. Anselm is impressive as well, although many will look at his argument and dismiss it prima facie because they don't take the time to look deeper.
Anyway, my dad has become something of a deist. The fanatical atheist of atheists decided that it was completely ridiculous of him to assert atheism. He decided it was intellectually dishonest; that the only way one could know for certain whether there existed a supreme being would be for one to have complete and total knowledge of the entirety of everything (omniscience); in effect, the only person who could be an honest atheist is God. He said agnosticism was more honest, but that basic deism/theism was more believable (to be perfectly honest, after a few conversations with me, as well as with his new wife).
New wife? Oh yeah, they got an annulment from the Catholic Church and both have since gotten engaged/remarried.
I am personally not a Catholic, although I sympathize with them. The Magesterium and Traditio hold a large amount of appeal for me, as do the Saints. However, I have my theological reservations that push me more toward Anglicanism. However, that is a discussion for believers, I suppose, and not a thread such as this.
Questions are welcomed and enjoyed, whether in PM or in thread. Also, this is my formal "Hello" to the Off-Topic forum. Lurked a lot, commented only recently.
