What's your religion?

[Zendot]

I identify as Buddhist. It wasn't something I was taught... I was brought up in a Protestant home, although we virtually never went to church or anything, so religion was never a big part of my life growing up.

I was Atheist for a long time. I basically believed in a WYSIWYG universe. It seemed (and still seems) more logical than postulating anything else. I'm not inclined to believe in things without evidence.

However, the turning point for me came when I realized that I was still believing whole-heartedly in an interpretation of my senses and surroundings. It was a scientific interpretation, but an interpretation nonetheless. And as science goes, it's a method rather than a set of beliefs, so the "truth" changes all the time. About 100 years ago we thought the Milky Way galaxy was the entire Universe, for example. And the full implications of quantum mechanics give even the brightest scientists a headache.

That's pretty much what happened to me. Well, minus the protestant part, I grew up Catholic of course, the majority of my country as well as Europe is Catholic.

But yeah, over the course of growing up I just progressively stopped believing more and more in Christianity, until I only believed / semi-believed that there could exist some entity or force and that we have a soul.

But at some point, and this was a big eye-opening moment for me, I thought "but why do I believe in that?", I never had question that and the answer was clearly because other people told me so. And... that's not a great argument is it?

At this point I was already interested in Buddhism and it has remained so to this day.

As I understand it, Buddhism is a method rather than a set of beliefs, very much like science is. It is a recognition that "facts" and beliefs are constructed by the mind as useful heuristics. They are useful tools, but it's important to be able to put them down when they are no longer useful, and not to grow attached and think of them as a "truth". There is no one tool that can solve every problem. Concepts and ideas must always be taken with a grain of salt, especially those having to do with understanding reality itself.

I hope that made sense. ^^;

I could not have worded it better myself!

[Sprinkles]

I identify as Christian but don't attend church. I believe that God hears me wherever I pray. (I also support LGBT rights, but learned through my previous thread that a lot of other Christians do as well.)

[Geckobaby]

I believe in multiple Gods but mostly I worship buddha

[AdapterTwenty]

I am atheist

[silentdreamer1996]

I am a Roman Catholic

[egor]

I am A Catholic and believe in the mysteries of the church. However I do not believe in the High achy as infallible and spiritually guided.

I also do not thing that being a "one hour a week" catholic is a true Christian. They are just self serving hypocrites.

I had my religion challenged to the core when I lived on the Hopi Indian reservation and I see "being spiritual" in an entire different light.

As long as I live my life as an instrument of gods glory and renewal, I am more of a Christian then the "one hour a week hypocrites that judge me (like my mother).

[dogboy]

I'm a Methodist minister of music, but I'm really quite liberal in my beliefs. I believe in the teachings of Christ but the Old Testament I tend to pick and choose. I'm also influenced by eastern religions such as Buddhism. I don't see God so much as a personality, but rather, a force. I see us as energy that maintains it's form, going from this plain to the next. (strike gong at this point....sigh)

[Sapphyre]

I'm a Methodist minister of music, but I'm really quite liberal in my beliefs. I believe in the teachings of Christ but the Old Testament I tend to pick and choose. I'm also influenced by eastern religions such as Buddhism. I don't see God so much as a personality, but rather, a force. I see us as energy that maintains it's form, going from this plain to the next. (strike gong at this point....sigh)

That almost sounds like Taoist influence. The central idea, as I understand, is that the Tao is an all-pervading force, in a sense the Tao is really all that there is, and all phenomena are just manifestations of its flow.