Losing your religion?

[Dondi]

I want to pose a PURELY HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION. I am interested to know that if for whatever reason your found out that IF your current system of beliefs or religion proved false, which religion would you likely to gravitate to? I would also ask why you would chose that particuler alternate religion. I would include atheists/agnostics in this also, since the lack of belief in God is still a belief.

Now if you don't feel comfortable with this question and you feel that even entertaining such a thought would jeopardize your existing belief, don't feel obligated to answer. But IMO, I think everyone ought to take an accessment of thier position and step out of your box and see whether what you believe is really true. And I'm not looking for answers such as, "well, that could never happen as my religion is true." I'd like an honest answer.

An example of what i'm talking about was posed to me by a Muslim associate with whom i was debating. He asked my that if they found with certainty the bones of Jesus Christ, how would that affect my belief in Christ? I replied that I would have to abandon Christianity, for is Jesus Christ did not rise from the Dead, then my faith is in vain and therefore my sins could not be forgiven on that basis.

What religion would I gravitate to? I would probably convert to Judiasm, since the OT scriptures wouldn't necessary be affected in Christ not being the Christian view of the Messiah. I would in effect follow the Torah as best I can and await for the coming Messiah as the Jews believe, who would unite all nations under the rule of G-d.

What route would you go?

 

[Bandit]

i think that is the biggest mistake. people want to bounce around & join religions then try to follow all these rules & dogmas someone created expecting some kind of magical wonder. get all disapointed then jump to a new religion & do the same thing or try to mix.... .

i never had a religion except for Jesus & the bible... so i have nothing to lose.

 

[bruceg]

I agree with Bandit somewhat. I approach religion the way I do a scientific theory. As long as it works, and there's no counter-evidence, great. When counter-evidence shows up, time to rethink and modify the theory to fit reality.

It gets a bit more complicated with religion, obviously, because some of the theory (like "do not hurt others unless they're hurting you") is not subject to proof or disproof outside myself (I hold to that because I would like myself less if I broke it...).

One of the problems I have with formal religion is that if I'm in a group that says "you shall believe thus and so, and act thus and so" it usually becomes difficult to modify the theory enough inside those boundaries (ok, I hate pigeonholes, period). So I'm not in a formal group Others mileage differs.

 

[lunamoth]

I agree with Bandit somewhat. I approach religion the way I do a scientific theory. As long as it works, and there's no counter-evidence, great. When counter-evidence shows up, time to rethink and modify the theory to fit reality.

It gets a bit more complicated with religion, obviously, because some of the theory (like "do not hurt others unless they're hurting you") is not subject to proof or disproof outside myself (I hold to that because I would like myself less if I broke it...).

One of the problems I have with formal religion is that if I'm in a group that says "you shall believe thus and so, and act thus and so" it usually becomes difficult to modify the theory enough inside those boundaries (ok, I hate pigeonholes, period). So I'm not in a formal group Others mileage differs.

Much the way I look at it too. Although I feel I've found a "formal" group that allows me to think for myself.

 

[path_of_one]

Hmmm... well, considering my "flavor" of Christianity doesn't depend on a literal interpretation of the Bible, there's not much I could anticipate that would shake my faith in it. If they found the bones of Jesus Christ tomorrow, it wouldn't shake my faith that He is/was the Christ, or that His teachings are path to God. My faith in Jesus as a manifestation of God and His love and wisdom for us is not based on a literal interpretation of the gospels, but rather my personal spiritual experience with Christ and God. It's pretty hard to disprove one's own experience, so there's little that can shake my faith.

As for beliefs, or theories about what my experiences mean... well, I don't really have a religion, just a set of beliefs based on my own spiritual experience, and these are all open to revision as new experience and information comes. So I don't tend to bounce around in religions, just adapt my own beliefs to where my journey takes me.
So it's a bit unthinkable to switch from one religion to another when I have no one religion, and it's completely normal for me to revise my beliefs, since I'm used to doing that anyway.

 

[Awaiting_the_fifth]

I think this is a good exercise and I am confident enough in my beliefs to answer the question.

If my Buddhist beliefs were somehow disproved tomorrow, what religion would I turn to?

I would most likely go back to Atheism as I simply do not believe in a creator god in the monotheism style. The Jewish-Christian-Muslim god is just a bit to 'human'. I certainly would never turn to Jewdaism, Christianity or Islam, I have no belief whatsoever in their prophets and there are some very scary things in their holy books.

I really don't know what sihkism is about, I have yet to find a Sihk who is willing to explain it to me.

I would consider Taoism. I dont know much about Taoism but what I do know (if I understand correctly) is that the Tao is an unknowable life force that creates and sustains. I think I could dig that, but I would have to look into it a lot more closely.

There is a very remote possibility that I would gravitate towards the Baha'i faith. The Baha'i concept of God as an unknowable essence seems sensible, but I do have some problems with Baha'u'llah's authenticity. My main problem with the Baha'i faith is that it seems to want to control the secular life of it's adherants and I firmly believe that the Church and State should be kept well apart.

I dont think Hinduism would work for me, although Pantheism does have a certain appeal, I simply do not like worshipping gods, and this is really my problem with most religions. I see no reason to worship gods.

 

[dauer]

I disagree that agnosticism is a belief. Atheism is a belief, because it's a belief in the absence of God, but agnosticism simply says that it doesn't know whether there is a God or not. It's simply a shrugging of the shoulders and saying, "I don't know."

But getting back to me. Let's say I gave up on experiential Judaism. It's most likely it would be me saying, "What's the point of having separate religions anyway?" And seeking to get beyond that, but that seems unlikely because I see a real good reason for separate religions. It's human nature to form communities. Even larger communities form cliques. Maintaining our religious heritages allows us to cultivate a sense of belonging to a unique community and to focus on one specific spiritual path instead of going off in every direction, not that I have anything against anyone who choses to do that. I encourage it.

I guess the other alternatives are that I would become Buddhist, Neo-pagan, Orthodox, or become a spiritual humanist. But it would be difficult for me to let go of my cultural baggage and difficult for me to take on something that seems like an outmoded reality map to me so it's likely I'd become a spiritual humanist if I left my current path. But wow, I really am stuck on Judaism. Gotta love Yah.

Dauer

 

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,


in my own case.. i would choose the Taoist Alchemical praxis, in particular, the Northern Complete Reality school... as apposed to the Southern Complete Reality school... i'm not that old, yet

though... i've read some good things about the Fellowship of Reason, iirc, Eudaimoinst.

metta,

~v

 

[seattlegal]

I want to pose a PURELY HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION. I am interested to know that if for whatever reason your found out that IF your current system of beliefs or religion proved false, which religion would you likely to gravitate to? I would also ask why you would chose that particuler alternate religion. I would include atheists/agnostics in this also, since the lack of belief in God is still a belief.

It would depend upon the nature of evidence presented, as well as the source of the information.

 

[Iyad]

I'm a muslim and if there was no Islam yet (as in before the final prophet was sent)
I probably would choose the Abrahamic faith..
I would most definitely believe in Jesus and Moses, but I don't think the current versions of Judaism and Christianity represent the origins of both...

If I lived at the time of Abraham I would follow him...
If I lived at the time of Moses I would folow him...
If I lived at the time o Jesus I would follow him...
I live after Muhammad so I'm following all of the above just the same...

I think all of those people believed in one thing... and that's what I believe.

Basically the Idea of Ong Creator is the only thing that makes sense to me... without that, I'd go nuts

If I was on a remote island with no references or contact with humans... I would worship God the almighty (however you wanna define that)
A supreme creator who sustains everything...time, universe, living things...all

 

[_Z_]

Hmm, what if one does not believe in gods [or worship or belief], but is not an atheist or agnostic! If I were to change from Druidry, I think it would be to Buddhism or Taoism – why not both eh!



But I think I’ll stick to just simply being a philosopher seer with a universal perspective.

Z

 

[e=mc2]

This is an interesting question as well as it is also interesting to read the answers of you all. I am new to this board and surprised to see such honest and heart felt posts and replies with regards to such a hot topic as religion when it is so easy for people to make a verbal assault and commence to attack another’s faith.

For me, finding God came at a time in my life when I was at the end of my rope (figuratively speaking) and I have no doubt that the spirit of God (who I believe to be that of Jesus Christ) literally saved my life – physically, emotionally, psychologically, etc. I made a personal choice to turn my life over to Him and words cannot describe how my life has changed since that happened in 1998.

You can call it a rebirth, enlightenment, revelation, or who knows what, but all I know is that God saved me and it changed my life. When a person has an experience like that - there is no, "what if you found out it wasn’t true" - you already know with every ounce of your being that there is a God and He is real!

I will say however, that during and after my experience I became a sponge and began to soak up everything spiritual or religious that I could get my hands on. At that time, I began to study Christianity very heavily at a non-denominational church and labeled myself as a Christian.

While studying Christianity, I also studied, Buddhism, Islam and a few of the denominations such as Jehovah’s Witness, Mormons, & Catholicism and the more I studied these things, the more it all made sense to me. I began to discover the agendas behind each and every one of them. Additionally, the more I studied, the more similarities and problems that I found in each of them, specifically those of Christian origin.

It was very disconcerting to find out the lies, corruption, wrong / biased / mis-interpretations, contradictions and flat out BS that I was finding. And I’m not just talking about Christianity either.

So you see, your question is very interesting to me because I had nearly what you are asking – happen. The only difference is that I knew something real happened to me. The problem was explaining what that was exactly.

Net result? I decided that I would continue to study all world religions and anything to do with God, Creator of the Universe; which is a fascinating and never-ending rabbit hole. I did however decide to quit calling myself a Christian specifically and to this day, I refer to myself as neither of them and all of them as weird as that may sound – but I have no other explanation. In other words, based on what I am finding, I am a believer in all of them yet I am none of them.

 

[17th Angel]

That's me in the corner, That's me in the spotlight... Losing my religion. Trying to keep up with you, And I don't know if I can do it. Oh no I've said too much I haven't said enough..... I thought that I heard you laughing, I thought that I heard you sing, I think I thought I saw you try..........

Every whisper, Of every waking hour I'm Choosing my confessions. Trying to keep an eye on you, Like a hurt lost and blinded fool. Oh no I've said too much
I set it up..............




Sorry.... I just had to do that.

 

[wil]

It is a a great question. And I believe all religions have some uncomfortable parts....stuff we don't quite understand....concepts we are told to just accept....it'll come in time.....don't question that....and frankly some mistruths.

I really don't want to get into particulars here....as it could turn ugly...but if we all look within...and really contemplate our belief system, I think we'd agree.

But the question lies...if it is broken at the core, the essence and 'truth', the foundation is pulled out from under us...where would we go.

And I can't honestly answer that, I'm not there. I've explored and enjoyed many other systems of thought. And odds are if it would happen, I'd be exploring again. But as said by path of one, my faith "is not based on a literal interpretation" and therefore the entire thing could become null and void, but it is the stories and the undercurrent of information that will always be valuable.

 

[Tao_Equus]

Lmao 17th Angel, the tunes been running thru my head since I saw the post heading too.

But to the question;
About 10 yrs or so ago I remember reading a report, in either New Scientist or Nature, that a tomb had been uncovered in Jeruselam that was infact the family crypt of Jesus' family. Amongst others it contained the bones of Jesus, his wife Mary and thier son Judah. (I went on to name our second son Judah in honor of this) This find if true, and I have come across no further information, should not sway a christian from his/her faith tho for the moral lessons are what matters.
I believe that every religeous text to be the work of the human hand and mind. And i do not believe in devine revelation either. I am not an athiest nor an agnostic and my love of Tao is because I cannot see it as a religeon. Any of the anthropomorphised religeons are thus out whether they be monotheistic or multi-diety. So if I were to have my beliefs overturned there would be but one thing left. Non belief.

 

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,


in a related vein...

does anyone have a religious belief which advocates that the adherent stop believeing it or practicing it, at some future time?

Buddha Dharma has this view, however, i am curious if other Dharma traditions and Adharma traditions may also have something like this.

metta,

~v

 

[wil]

does anyone have a religious belief which advocates that the adherent stop believeing it or practicing it, at some future time?

interesting concept...reminds me when I read books where in the introduction says, "you've read enough books, contemplated enough thought, quit reading, start doing!", or "if you haven't done the exercises, answered the questions, and seen results from the last books you've read, put this one down and go back to the others"

is there a time frame or a date when you are to quit practicing?

 

[_Z_]

Hi vajra

does anyone have a religious belief which advocates that the adherent stop believeing it or practicing it, at some future time?

Buddha Dharma has this view, however, i am curious if other Dharma traditions and Adharma traditions may also have something like this.

Sounds interesting! Could you elaborate please!





Z

 

[pohaikawahine]

as of this moment in time I have no formal religion to lose and I study and appreciate all traditions .... the original way of my people, kanaka maoli, was simply to live a life of balance and harmony .... the words "he hawai'i au" mean literally "I am Hawaii", but it is not the islands .... I am Hawaii because I give breath to the values of our ancient culture by the way I live my life .... it is a culture before the arrival of kings and queens when community councils of elders made decisions (just so you don't mistake it for the stuff one reads about Hawaiian culture) .... I also believe that the sacred underlying message in most religions and ancient cultures is to live in balance and harmony with our earth, our universe,and each other .... if I were to choose a religion it would probably be Judiasm, I don't totally know why yet but it draws me like no other .... time will tell ,right now I am comfortable with where I am.... he hawai'i au, pohaikawahine

 

[juantoo3]

Kindest Regards, Vaj!

does anyone have a religious belief which advocates that the adherent stop believeing it or practicing it, at some future time?

Buddha Dharma has this view, however, i am curious if other Dharma traditions and Adharma traditions may also have something like this.

About the closest I can come is a lesson I took from a passage in one of Paul's discourses, that for me paraphrased says to seek wisdom where one finds it. Sift through and throw away the garbage, but keep and hold those things that are good and wise. Mind you, these are my words, and the exact passage escapes me at this moment, but that is how I understand it.