My take on Religion

People who believe in God are happier than those who don't. If they aren't, there is something not right with their faith. The message of God, as I see it, is simple: I love you, no matter... And if that doesn't make you happier... People who try to tell you that God doesn't love you because... usually just can't believe that God loves them as they are. And about christians: we're a bit slow in everything :) But eventually we get around. We're getting around with divorced people, we're going to get around with gay people too.

This isn't an easy subject. How can you tell a person what way to live their life, or tell them there is only one right way to do it? I think it's different for everyone - like everything else in life.

I have had some experience with different religiions (all bad) and none of it to do with being gay, so maybe i'm not the best person to give advice on this matter. But my advice to you is, believe in yourself. You already have a great attitude about spreading happiness and love, and in the end yes - this life may be all we have. So I ask - would you rather spend your days being happy in yourself, a happy, loving person who wishes no harm on others? Or worry endlessly that God hates you because of who you love?

Let's face it - there's enough hate out there without us hating ourselves, too.

 

Believe what you want to believe, its great to believe in something but I don't want it to ever be knocking on my door and shoved down my throat. My grandmother used to hide from the Jehovah witnesses, which I find hilarious. Honestly it depends on my mood. If I'm feeling light hearted and containing my cynicism (which is rare) I tend to think that god is imperfect and has the ability to make flaws as much as anyone else. Also god lacks any sexuality of gender but encompases everything. Plus god to me would have to be everything living from plants to animals, to me that creates an idealistic idea to respect everyone and everything. My version of god, if there is one is an imperfect one who is more or less like a human being but I don't see the point in religion half the time. There have been far too many "Holy Wars" which to me is an oxymoron. Personally I think if god exists, said god wouldn't want us to be restricted and spread sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. In a book called Dare Truth or Promise a priest said god is really love and to deny god you're really denying love. To me that was sweet and although the book is fictional it was simple and needed. Overall I expect views on religion to always be up in the air and full of vast opinions, as it should, I just think compassion and understanding should be the underlying values in every religious group. In the end I will likely always be uncertain on where I stand about religion because as a Leo my moods sway my mentality and so it really depends on the day if I feel atheist or agnostic. Hopefully that isn't rude or at all ambigious. 

I whole-heartedly agree.

Sadly, I'm just not as articulate as you lol.

And to quote a little Angela here -

Booth: God does not make mistakes

Angela: I don't know - putting testicles on the outside doesn't seem like such a good idea.

A little light-hearted, yes. But let's have some perspective, people.

you know, either way, no matter what religion you're looking at, love or peace is the selling point. it doesn't matter if you're talking about christains or jews, hindus or buddhists, it's irrelevant (satanists aside, obviously). Isn't that where we all come from anyway, ideally? from parents who love eachother, at least at the moment of conception. obviously there are worst-case scenarios, like children of rape or broken homes, or in my case, a total fucking mistake, lol, but in the end it balances out, there are as many loving families as dysfunctional. but the root of them all, the thing that motivates us most, is love. isn't that why being gay is such a big deal to us? because love and acceptance are important, being loved cycles back into love of self, it makes it easier to look past our own flaws and move on productively. how you label where you stand shouldn't be the issue, just like who you prefer to kiss shouldn't be brought into question. people start missing the point after so long. when you're a kid, you dont question that there's some kind of undertow looking out for you and offering you peace, because love is so natural to you then, you're not mislead by opinions about the politics or anything beyond "be nice, jesus LOVES you, obey." if that love we were born with was nurtured instead of corrupted then eventually there would be no children of rape, there would be no children neglected or abused or feeling not good enough for the one thing that everybody is able to give freely and generously, but they don't because of their inner egocentric demons. We would be capable of creating for ourselves the heaven that christains spend so much time uninviting people to. I think that jesus was a wise man, many of the things he had to say were valid, and many of the things he did are within our reach, but we're so consumed with trying to justify our faiths that we're not putting them into practice.

 

Just my opinion.

I honestly enjoyed reading the comments. I find it fascinating how intensely people react to the topic of faith/religion/spirituality and how when in discussion the parties involved must be careful in word choice.

When it comes down to it, spirituality, religion, faith whatever is incredibly personal and is a relationship between you and whatever higher power you recognise. I also want to make sure that when someone reads my comment they understand that my definition of religion and spirituality are different. Religion are spiritual practices or rituals performed in a community. Spirituality is the personal relationship or expression of belief in a higher power.

Personally, I'm Presbyterian and i've always been relatively happy and content. However when I became more spiritual and took true ownership of my faith and my belief I've enjoyed a peace in my life i've thus far not experienced. To some that may sound a bit like mumbo jumbo, and to others it may be broken down piece by piece psychologically. But for me, no matter how you explain what I experience daily, it doesn't make it any less real or lacking in substance.

Moving on, the problem I see in alot of Presbyterian and Baptist churches (I can't speak for other denominations) is the focus being less on spirituality and a person's personal relationship with Jesus Christ and more about the practices of their faith or as I like to call it the law of the Christian faith.

And here is where I insert my own Bible based argument : The new testament talks alot about being freed from the law ( speaking about the law of moses in the old testament) and pushes a person to grow in the spirit of faith and Jesus Christ, which is a spirit of love, acceptance, and non-judgment. In the law ( and here I will use the definition loosely to refer to any religious set of rules) there is a spirit of judgement, of non acceptance, of classes of good and evil do-ers, and accusation. I find it interesting how in books of the new testament where the majority of Christian faith comes out of, this idea of following rules versus living spiritually in Jesus Christ is really wrestled with. I'd say nearly all of the books written by Paul at least point toward this in some manner, and even today 2 thousand years later Christians still struggle with old rules of the church vs personal growth in the faith of Jesus Christ. Above all the church is suppose to be a hospital for people in their faith not a museum for saints. Just my 2 cents.

I think people turn to religion because they wanna feel a sense of belonging and they are scared of death. As humans we need to feel like we belong somewhere, someplace in society. And pretty much every religion operates to make you feel that sense of belonging. And I strongly believe that this is where Fanaticism and Fundamentalists feelings stem from. The church sells you everlasting happiness and mansions in the afterlife just so you can show them HOW MUCH your willing to pay to have that guaranteed ticket to the "pearly gates". They cash in on your fear and desperation. And this is because folks will pay pretty much anything to get that ticket. Lets face it people are afraid of death and the salesmen of religion are using this fear to manipulate you into turning over ten percent of your hard earned dollars for a golden ticket to see the tooth fairy and santa claus.

Finally, to my GOD MAKERS "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." Thomas Jefferson.

First of I would like to say that God loves us ALL and that you're NOT going to hell. If you're a christian-  meaning you accept Jesus' gift of life on the cross - you are good to go... i hate using the word "christian" because a majority of its followers are corrupt an by majority i do mean about 70-80 %. I also hate reffering to religions in general because they just cause problems. They are just different ways people worship God. all that matters is YOUR relationship with Him and you accepting His sacrifice!

you should visit this site and read this book ( not really a book but a short pamphlet). Its free for the first one you order and will arrive within a week. It has every verse condeming homosexuality and its TRUE meaning! I go to a baptist university (ya thats right, Baptist! lol i know what youre thinking) and I aced my old and new testament courses and noticed that ppl going against homosexuality is based on tradition and could be on of the biggest cover ups in the bible..  i not saying that those verses were lies ( then the whole bible would be wrong) but misinterpreted from the hebrew bible. you hae to remember that those laws were made for a certain group of people in a certain time period and that those laws were abolished when jesus died. people today simply choose to ignore that cause the personally dont like homosexuals, and they get away with it because no one really takes the time to STUDY the scripture!

so dont give up on Jesus, remember people were against him at one time...his own people!

but definetly check out that book , its free so you have nothing to lose... and there isn't anything on the package saying it has to do anything with homosexuality so you don't have to worry about your parents checking the mail and having a fit! ha ha

http://www.truthsetsfree.net/order.htm here is the site!

peace and grace- clark