Why do you believe in YOUR religion

sherry · 06-27-2008, 01:07 AM

First off I apologize if this has already been asked in a previous thread. I looked but did not see anything.

I've spent the last 8 years hearing "their belief is wrong because..." and many bad, or stereo-typical things about other relgions that don't fall in line with "Southern Baptist".

I don't want to hear steroe-types.. they are judgmental and group things together as a whole instead of giving them to chance to prove themselves on an individual basis.

To me, there obviously is something there in those other religions to not only cause such devotion to them, but to (as my husband drilled it to me last night..) "take the chance with your soul that you are wrong.."

So, my question to you is this..

What moves you so deeply inside about your chosen relgion? If possible I would like to hear YOUR words not "because < > says so...."

Alex P · 06-27-2008, 01:20 AM

I am my religion I believe in me...

What moves me? The push within, the push that makes us move.. We have some amazing gifts, we need to sometimes stop, pause and listen to them.

Take a chance with your soul that you are wrong? What about his soul if he is wrong?

See this comes down to "truth" and I believe we all have our own truth/path and we are the only ones that can find it, we cannot be forced upon it, we cannot be removed from it, we can only hope to find it, and find it we shall, but alone. It's that pause as I said (for me.) I look, I learn I understand, and then I feel.... Question yourself, question your belife, question your motive....

"Is this right for me?"

If there is hesitation... Perhaps it isn't...

Dawud · 06-27-2008, 01:30 AM

I'll answer the question after I tell you about an article I saw in the newspaper this morning. There was a great article (in my opinion) that said that seventy percent of Americans believe that people of many religions can gain eternal life. On the side they listed different religions and showed what percentage of followers of each religion believes that people of many religions can gain eternal life, and Hindus were at 89% if I remember correctly. Very open and accepting of other religions. Baha'is also believe that people from all religions can gain eternal life. Now back to topic.

Why do I believe in my religion?

I have a lot of reasons, but I'll give a few. I see my religion as a way to unite people all over the world, at least as an example that unity is possible on a glabal scale. Baha'is come from every religious background, therefore unity is possible, whether in this form or another. I believe this works. I believe Baha'u'llah for many reasons, mostly because of the Writings of Baha'u'llah. Even though I love to read, I'm very picky when it comes to books. Most books I won't read more than once because there's something wrong with them, something that doesn't work for me, but when I read the Writings of Baha'u'llah, I have no complaints whatsoever. They are perfect for me and I read them over and over and over again. I love them every time. Another reason I believe Baha'u'llah is prophecy. Baha'u'llah wrote to the kings and emperors of His time and told them the course of history that would soon happen to all of their kingdoms and empires. Even though many of the predictions were in stark contrast to what most people thought would happen, what Baha'u'llah said would happen did happen. In every case that I am aware of. Everything He said that would happen to all of those kingdoms and empires happened.

path_of_one · 06-27-2008, 03:09 AM

I don't have a single religion. I believe in my spiritual experiences because they are mine.

I know, that's a kind of non-descript answer, but it is the truth. I am basically a mystic- a person who seeks after a personal relationsnhip with the Divine. My spirituality is based on my experience of the Divine/God/Spirit and the beings (human and not) that exist in my life. From these experiences, I generate ideas that I hold as my beliefs- which are basically my best theories about the nature of the universe and the Divine and myself that I have given what I've experienced so far. So they are open to change as my spiritual journey evolves and I move forward on my path.

The religions that I primarily draw from in my own practices, in order to have some community and tradition to which I can participate, is Christianity (the closest I get to a denomination is liberal Quaker, but I'm not really Quaker in all regards) and modern Druidry (which is a Neo-Pagan tradition). I consider Christ my guide and follow his teachings; I follow the practices and many of the beliefs of modern Druidry. The two are not difficult for me to synchronize, but I ditched much of the doctrine of some Christian denominations that I couldn't find in the Bible and that didn't feel right when I brought it to God/Divine in prayer.

I have substantial overlap with Judaism and Islam in certain of my ideas, particularly about how I think about God. I have substantial similarity to parts of Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism, much of which is because modern Druidry has many similar practices and concepts.

I am basically... a path of one.

A path of and toward The One. I'm on a journey of unification...

As for taking chances with my soul, I don't believe in hell. So, what chance is there to take? If I steadfastly love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself, then what more is there? To those who would say to convert to this or that religion to avoid a proposed hell, I would say that is a lousy reason and almost certainly insincere. If there is a God who condemns people to hell, I doubt He'd take people who converted only to get a reward and avoid punishment. It seems to me a selfish and fallacious reason to join any religion. We should do good and love God and each other and worship because the Divine is what it is. Because we've been given a life. Because this is so amazingly beautiful and our potential is so great. And if we join a religion, it should be because it makes us more loving and thus makes our lives more sacred, not because we live in fear of some idea (hell).

Fear is never the best place from which to make decisions. And fear is not compatible with love.

So that is why I follow "my" path...

bananabrain · 06-27-2008, 05:53 PM

because my religion deserves my trust. we have been around for 3000 years, most of which has been spent trying not to be obliterated. it is not just a religion, but a family, a way of life and an approach. it has an inner music that is not obvious to the outsider, but speaks in 70 different voices. it is full of paradox, yet speaks of unity. it is universal, yet particularist. and we don't do missionary work!

b'shalom

bananabrain

wil · 06-27-2008, 07:13 PM

Because it works for me.

Why do I use a cross cut saw in one case and a rip in another and a backsaw in another...because they are the tools that I know how to use and work best for the situation at hand.

The situation at hand is life, and I've found a comfortable set of tools that work for my life. If it wasn't working I'd see if I was using the tools wrong, and if that still didn't work I'd look for a new set of tools.

Currently it is usually just my skill that needs improving and sharpening...

gp1628 · 06-27-2008, 09:00 PM

Because it makes sense to me. I was born into a major religion, and have tried others. But basically, when I really thought about it, I just couldnt quite accept the belief that God would operate that way. Its not like I expect to understand everything God does. But some of the extensive "knowledge" about what God wants in some religions just did not sound like God to me. No matter how popular those religions are. In fact,the more I thought about it the more it seemed like the messages, methods, and results were quite the opposite.

So now Im in a religion which seems to make sense to me. About God, the world, the things I feel are right and proper to believe in, etc. Im much more comfortable with my religion now.

Gandalf Parker

arthra · 06-28-2008, 02:51 PM

I became a Baha'i some years ago because I recognized the truth in the major world religions and accepted them ... by being Baha'i I don't reject what has gone before..also the universal teachings such as recognizing the oneness of humanity and abolishing prejudice will help establish peace on earth.

- Art

Dawud · 06-28-2008, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arthra

I became a Baha'i some years ago because I recognized the truth in the major world religions and accepted them ... by being Baha'i I don't reject what has gone before..also the universal teachings such as recognizing the oneness of humanity and abolishing prejudice will help establish peace on earth.

- Art

In high school I read a book called World Religions and also read about every religion I could find in an encyclopedia set. I couldn't pick just one, saw so much truth in all of them. In the Baha'i Faith I found that I could, and in fact to be a Baha'i I must, believe the Founders of each of the major world religions. It's not syncretistic, we don't put together the beliefs of other religions, we believe they are divine in origin. I love the Baha'i scriptures more than anything... that's probably my number one reason to be a Baha'i.

Nick the Pilot · 06-28-2008, 09:48 PM

Sherry,

I like my belief system (I prefer 'belief system' over 'religion') because it makes absolute, perfect, logical sense to me. I cannot find any flaws in it whatsoever.

"take the chance with your soul that you are wrong.."

--> Such a thought does not occur in my belief system. I believe that every devout Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc., is making progress.

lunamoth · 06-28-2008, 10:46 PM

I love bb's answer so I'll just say I feel the same way about my religion.

sherry · 06-28-2008, 11:51 PM

Thank you guys for taking the time to share! I've been anxious to get on here the last few days, but by the time I got home from work my eyeballs felt like they were on fire and any thought of staring at the computer screen for even another 5 seconds was agony in itself. (I'm a bookkeeper, it's month end = bloodshot eyes)

Quote:

Originally Posted by path_of_one

To those who would say to convert to this or that religion to avoid a proposed hell, I would say that is a lousy reason and almost certainly insincere. If there is a God who condemns people to hell, I doubt He'd take people who converted only to get a reward and avoid punishment. It seems to me a selfish and fallacious reason to join any religion. We should do good and love God and each other and worship because the Divine is what it is. Because we've been given a life. Because this is so amazingly beautiful and our potential is so great. And if we join a religion, it should be because it makes us more loving and thus makes our lives more sacred, not because we live in fear of some idea (hell)

I swear Path_of_one that you stole this thought right out of my head!

Tao_Equus · 06-29-2008, 10:26 AM

I have chosen to be religionless. Atheist. For most of my life I entertained the 'hope' that there was 'something' and that i would find it. Dismissing the major religions was easy, most of them are blatant fabrications of a bygone age that are so hypocritical and ridiculous I find the only miracle is that anyone believes in them at all. The minor ones I found to borrow wholesale from the major and their devotees to use the same psychological reasoning to support their faith. I believe the psyche to accept faith into your life to be universal throughout all religions and though complex and multifaceted is a side effect of self awareness. There has never been any proof at any time to demonstrate any sentience is at work, yet millions of false claims. If this was any other field of questioning it would have been dismissed aeons ago. But unfortunately it has become so culturally ingrained, through millennia of indoctrination by greedy power mad institutions on the poorly educated, that it is nigh near impossible to shift. La Folie.

tao

greymare · 06-29-2008, 12:42 PM

Im not still looking and wondering

Dawud · 06-29-2008, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by path_of_one

To those who would say to convert to this or that religion to avoid a proposed hell, I would say that is a lousy reason and almost certainly insincere.

I don't think anyone actually converts to a religion for that reason--to avoid hell. More likely people would stick with whatever their parents taught if that's their only concern--avoiding hell. By converting to another religion, different from what I was raised in, I'm viewed by those of my former religion as lost. Some of them would think I'm going to go to "outer darkness" for leaving their religion. Personally, I believe in seven heavens, and people from any religion can make it, and progress.