What's your religion?
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I would say I lean heavily towards Buddhism. However, I have not taken refuge at this time as I still feel there's still some deeper understandings I would like before taking that step. I'd want to explore some things first through temple guidance that I currently can only explore on my own right now since we are not close to a temple. While I do get to see temple, it's not often enough for me to experience what I feel I need. Eventually though, we will be moving and will be closer.
To many, I probably appear formally as already Buddhist because I do follow teachings, worship, etc but I don't feel I really need to label it right now and I don't want to claim a label until I feel fully comfortable in it.
To many, I probably appear formally as already Buddhist because I do follow teachings, worship, etc but I don't feel I really need to label it right now and I don't want to claim a label until I feel fully comfortable in it.
visibleghost
ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ
i'm an atheist and always have been. my parents are a bit christian i think (????? not super religious but they got married in a church, all their kids are baptised and my three siblings all got a confirmation (?? wikipedia says that lutheran confirmation is called affirmation of baptism but idk how to use that in a sentence).) when i was younger my parents would teach me christian stories snd prayers sometimes and my dad was brought up in a family that was fairly active in the pentecostal church so some religion things are important to him. idk if they actually believe in the bible or god, they don't talk about it much but i think it's i portant for them culturally and they like the idea of an afterlife
i have always felt really awkward with religion and been uncomfortable in churches so idk ive never really been a Fan
i have always felt really awkward with religion and been uncomfortable in churches so idk ive never really been a Fan
idiotdoomspiral
=__=
deist
DarkDesertFox
Your Typical Trickster
Well, sorry you've had such a bad experience but those don't really sound like Christian people to me. The whole point is love your neighbor as you love yourself. Sexuality shouldn't affect that at all. I personally don't know the answer as to why homosexuality has so much emphasis put on as a terrible sin when there are other sins out there that are really horrible. Okay, well let's say you try a slice of pizza at Donatos and you develop a sense of dislike for pizza. However, you decide to give it a second chance and try it at another place like Dominos which uses a different recipe and you discover you actually enjoy it. That's like with church. There's different ones out there both good and bad and I'm basically just saying don't let one speak for all.
nintendofan85
Good grief.
I'm a Christian.
- - - Post Merge - - -
I'm bisexual and a Christian, and I personally don't believe my sexuality cancels out my faith. Just my two cents.
- - - Post Merge - - -
I'm bisexual and a Christian, and I personally don't believe my sexuality cancels out my faith. Just my two cents.
Perks of living where we live </3
I'm not religious. I went to a catholic school and there I met some of the most self-righteous, hateful people I have ever met. That's not to say that religious people can't be kind, I just don't think being religious has any bearing on whether a person is kind. I've met nice religious people and nice atheists, as well as mean religious people and mean atheists.
gravitycrossing
Senior Member
I'm...
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Unfortunately the problem with this is that in some areas, ALL of the churches are this way. Of course these people aren't being properly Christian or actually following the things Jesus said (love thy neighbor), but that doesn't stop them from calling themselves Christian or thinking that they are *being* good Christians. The town I grew up in was small and in the southern US, and you couldn't go five minutes down the road without seeing a church. My family didn't go to church, which meant that in some ways I was socially othered. My high school teachers knew 90% of my classmates from church, we had a church rally twice a year on our soccer field, etc etc. I was once told by a classmate that she thought I was going to go to hell because I didn't go to church and liked to wear black clothing?? When my parents go divorced my younger brother lived with his dad and his dad's girlfriend, who made him go to a Baptist church where they actively spouted homophobic rhetoric. Your analogy falls apart if you consider that some people live in an area where ALL the "pizza" places suck.
(I'm not trying to be hostile, either, I just have strong feelings about this. The older I've gotten the easier it is for me, personally, to separate actual Christians from a large majority of American "Christians" who only use the parts of the bible that suit their homophobic/xenophobic/racist views and ignore the parts that don't support them, but I know a LOT of people who were very negatively affected by church growing up purely because there *wasn't* a "better" church available)
nintendofan85
Good grief.
I definitely agree that these issues exist. However, I firmly believe that LGBT people can still be Christians, as I am both myself.
ririsoup
New horizons is my life now
i think the point wasn't that you can't be LGBT and be christian. But rather that some people have had horrible experiences that have turned them away from faith, and i think that's a respectable decision. As is any decision one wants to make for their own religion or lack there of.
I agree with this. Something I really want to say though is that I don't get why they think God hates gay people and people of non-white ancestry, when Christianity was and still is a Jewish religion (by Jewish I mean from Israel and first practiced by ethnic Jews). They honestly probably think Jesus was actually white (when he wasn't, he was a Jew). Also, the bible never says that God hates gay people, it just says it's a sin, the bible says he loves everyone. The racist Christians are probably the ones going to hell. Also saying that being gay is a sin is probably just a misinterpretation or mistranslation into English. I seriously need to learn Biblical Hebrew and read the Hebrew Bible, because it's probably very different to the English bible.
DarkDesertFox
Your Typical Trickster
No, I understand. Sometimes the availability of a good church may not be nearby. Going back on what I originally said in my first post though, church isn't the defining factor of Christianity. That's why I would say if church isn't an option that someone learn Jesus' ways by themselves. There are plenty of resources available both online whether it be Christian forums, videos (my church posts their church sessions online), or books/articles to read about it. That's if they wanted to give Christianity a second chance. I don't believe in shoving a religion down someone's throat. They should seek it on their own.
Just realised I didn't answer this seriously.
Uh, I guess I'm an atheist. I'm actually very spiritual, and I believe in spirits and the afterlife and all that sort of stuff. My beliefs sway more towards Buddhism, though, which I know isn't a religion.
Religion causes way more trouble than its worth, in my eyes, and I think the world would be better off if people were to just believe in the god-like powers of human beings and togetherness, and the overwhelming power of love (which comes in so many different, disregarded forms).
Uh, I guess I'm an atheist. I'm actually very spiritual, and I believe in spirits and the afterlife and all that sort of stuff. My beliefs sway more towards Buddhism, though, which I know isn't a religion.
Religion causes way more trouble than its worth, in my eyes, and I think the world would be better off if people were to just believe in the god-like powers of human beings and togetherness, and the overwhelming power of love (which comes in so many different, disregarded forms).
mayortiffany
Senior Member
Not religious, although I do understand the importance of faith for some people. For them, their God exists and their religious organization is something that's important to them.
I grew up in a city (and province) that is largely non-religious, although people practice many religions here, so there wasn't any pressure to join a church. British Columbia, the province where I live, is actually one of the most secular provinces/territories in Canada, right after the Yukon. When I was little, I didn't realize that in many other places in the world, there is one dominant religion that influences everyone's lives, because there wasn't really one religion that was dominant where I lived. Lots of people are Christian, but there is also a large Jewish population and many people who are Sikh, plus many others who have no religion at all, so I grew up surrounded by people who had lots of different beliefs.
I grew up in a city (and province) that is largely non-religious, although people practice many religions here, so there wasn't any pressure to join a church. British Columbia, the province where I live, is actually one of the most secular provinces/territories in Canada, right after the Yukon. When I was little, I didn't realize that in many other places in the world, there is one dominant religion that influences everyone's lives, because there wasn't really one religion that was dominant where I lived. Lots of people are Christian, but there is also a large Jewish population and many people who are Sikh, plus many others who have no religion at all, so I grew up surrounded by people who had lots of different beliefs.
