TOPIC:

All religions have good and bad in it
People who worshiped many gods had good and bad ones think back then it depended what your class disiction was
Today there are still religions with more than one god
We can all find good or bad thinks about them same as cusomes pity we cant take all the good stuff from the diffren religions and cusomes and apply that all around the world xx

I haven't been on here much lately, but I find this an interesting topic. I was baptized, confirmed and married in the Lutheran church. I still consider myself a Christian and raised my daughters as Lutherans. I do not attend services any longer. Some of it boils down to just not feeling well enough to go anywhere for an hour. Too much pain.

My eldest daughter is more of an agnostic, I believe. Searching, trying to fit in the world as a lesbian woman.

I will soon attend my first atheist wedding. My nephew, also raised Lutheran, has pretty much rejected his faith. His fiancee is an atheist, as is her family. I have to be honest, and I mean no offense to anyone, but this grieves me. I'm really torn up about it. Perhaps even angry.

In short, I'm pretty sure that I would have taken my life a long time ago had it not been for my faith in God and would hope that others could find comfort in their faith. I'm amazed at the strong, enduring people here that choose no faith at all and still manage to put one foot in front of the other each day. I couldn't do it, to be honest.

Jane I also in the last 3yrs have thought about taken my life I have never thought that before because as a Christian (phraps not a good one)only God could decide when I would met him
My son was gay but it did not change who he was if family don't believe in God do not feel upset you have enough faith in your heart for them all
Hope you understand what I mean x

I so ignorant of god(s) I must be agnostic or ignostic (see ignosticism in Wikipedia).

If one chooses to believe in any of the available gods that's a personal choice unless the individual is indoctrinated from childhood and thus acquires faith. Faith is necessary only if evidence is non-existent and it's possible to have faith in anything or any god and why not if it gives comfort. What is wrong is the insistence on others believing as you believe, if others refuse your faith don't take it as a personal attack they're only responding to the prompting of their own conscience rather than pretending in order to keep the peace.

I accept that some people need faith in a god or gods, and that's OK except when they think their beliefs should affect my life. IMO that is not because I am agnostic; I think some Hindus, Muslims, and others would be annoyed by a missionary trying to convert them to another religion or to atheism. Moreover, a secular government such as the USA that constitutionally guarantees separation of church and state has no business allowing government run schools to teach ideas of only one religion.

I was raised Baptist, converted to Atheism at age 15, and stumbled upon what I consider to be philosophic Taoism during a rough spot in life about ten years ago. I don't consider myself to be evangelical in the least--I don't try to persuade anyone to believe or not believe anything. As I see it, it's a personal experience and path you choose to follow in life.

I don't believe any historical figures are any more divine/unique than any other. The bible may have been inspired by being(s) from a higher level of existence than we currently experience, but it was penned and printed by the hands of men. Men make mistakes, it is one of the few things that define us as a whole.

I wonder if any other members here believe in...absolute truth? Our opinions and beliefs are indeed personal but cannot change or negate truth.

I think we are designed to have healthy beliefs systems innately. As long as they are not harmful to self or others.

On Earlybird's point: A great many truths are provisional, it's too easy to claim knowledge when what we honestly mean is belief.

Scholar: I have reservations about your post but rather than discuss (I don't have time and don't want to waste yours) I'll just add that as long as we don't impose our belief system, on the young by indictrination, and remember that all genuine believers in, let's say other faiths, are just as sincere and ready to defend their imposed belief as those committed to any other set of beliefs.

The problem is religion is different from a belief system. A belief system is usually gained through experiences, for example, domestic violence victims believe that they are worthless due to their abusers behaviour towards them, which inevitably perpetrates a cycle of dependence upon the abuser to validate the victims existence, its a bit more complicated than that but you get my point.
Religion has become a system of self serving "groups" who are amongst the richest organisations on the planet, yet serve no one. They hide abusers amongst their numbers, in many guises and for many crimes.
My belief is that organised religion should be banned, assets distributed amongst the communities and abusers put in prison. We live in a time when most people have the right to free thought, at least, so if they choose to believe in a guy from over two thousand years ago and how his father is the creator of all. Oh lord heal me! Huh? No? Nothing! Oh I see, I'm supposed to devotevmy life to worship in the hope that I'll get something good at the end?? Shut up! Go to your local car dealership and sign over your bank account in the vain hope you'll be given a car!

Why can't humans just have positive regard for one another?! I respect everyone, until they give me grounds to think otherwise. Don't forget, religion has been, and is still being used, for the purposes of war between brothers and sisters. This is shameful. We will be the only species to have wiped themselves out totally. Maybe the vatican has shares in the arms industry!