i chose other, just because i cant choose more than one i was brought up in a strict hasidic family. even though i loved listening to my father and brother go back and forth about spiritual topics, i just couldnt get into it. i was the quintessential prodigal son did some bad stuff, spent some time in jail, hurt a lot of people, and then had my older brother die suddenly. opened my eyes up real quick to the way i was living my life. plus, a couple experiences after finding him dead showed me that there is an Other, outside of this world and outside of comprehension. i dont find it necessary to get into what happened to me here, because it is that important to me long story short, hasidism (and kabbalah specifically) have completely changed my life. and when i say change i dont mean "ah it makes me feel good" i mean a radical change. it helped me to turn away from my life of crime and hatred in a matter of days, something counseling could never do for me i now aspire to live a life of love and light. something my brother did extremely well. im pretty indebted to him for showing me how to get my life together
You're pretty clearly in the "suffered tragic event and came to religion" category. It's good that you've been able to turn your life around...
my mother was always very strong about her belief, my Dad .. not so much i went to many different types of Churches, put things together for myself with facts I learn here and there. became informed, rather than hazy on the subject I do not believe in forcing my religion onto others, but I am a Christian not because my family members might be, but because it is what I believe and have faith in.
I'm Agnostic, and this is BECAUSE I have studied other religions and was even Christian at one point. I choose Agnostic because I believe that we JUST DON'T KNOW. We just don't know. This is a FACT. But we can speculate...
we have plenty of things to base religion off of, but that is how religion works. you don't have Jesus knocking on your door to come over for a beverage or anything, thats where faith comes into play. so yeah, you are correct - but so are a lot of other people =)
I picked the "other" category as well. I can honestly admit that I don't know, therefore I will remain agnostic until this so called "feeling" takes over me and leads me to religion. At least that's what my Mom says sort of...
The Nazarene Church is VERY religious. I applied for a coaching job at a Nazarene university a few years back and all of the questions on the application were about god and Jesus...not one about baseball other than "how would you instill the values of Jesus Christ in your players?". Another one for the "born into religion/indoctrinated" category... But you are Christian because your mother was Christian. You were raised to believe that there was nothing wrong with that religion and that it was the religion of your family. You may believe in it, but only because you were indoctrinated in it as a child and it seems natural because your mind was developed in an environment where Christianity was promoted. The amazing part is that these people don't even realize that they were indoctrinated. They think they just happened to find the same religion they were raised with because it was right, but in reality they were just brainwashed. Forcing a child to believe in myths, fairy tales and imaginary friends is akin to abuse, you're permanently damaging their minds and their ability to think clearly.
I was raised with my Grandma taking me to church every Sunday. I got tired of the bull shit and actually studied the bible and found it to be full of holes. That is why I'm an atheist now.
Born into Catholicism, turned Atheist then converted back to Catholicism. But I make my own way. My own beliefs are branched off of Roman Catholicism but it is not exactly that. I mean, I believe Jesus was Black. You wont hear many European/ Western Christians say that.
I guess I fall under Agnostic. I believe there IS a higher power and afterlife,but it isn't what religious folk believe it is. I won't really go into what I believe as far as what happens after death,because there is so much to talk about and I don't want to flood this thread with my thoughts/opinions. But I will say,that I believe there is a good higher power and there is an evil.Atleast I hope so,because the thought of some of the worlds sickest people dying and getting to go to a wonderful place after they have done horrific things here on earth is kind of sickening to say the least.
I chose other because, I don't quite know how to define my religion. I've studied just about every religion and I use all the knowledge,lessons, and positive things from all to conduct my life in the best possible way I can each day. I saw how other "religious" people lived their lifes. Sinning all week and then going to church on Sunday and praying. Or being hyprcritical and judgemental. I vowed from the time I was young I would never use religion as a crutch, and thus I haven't. I believe there is a higher power/powers but I am not sure what that is. I don't like to get into talks about it very often. I guess I would be a mystic according to my wife.
I guess I was born into religion because my family is religious, but I never believed in a god. I went to private school from kindergarten to 8th grade and hated it. I remember crying outside of church when I was 7-8 because I didn't believe in a god and I thought that made me a bad person.