Hi
- Thread starter Morandres
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zippy2006
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Hello :wave2: Where do you sit religiously?
Hey there zip, just watched and read what you posted in my post. I sit in a chair called "I don't know" and currently being a student and learning so many things at once, I am having a terrible time trying to rationalize religion after learning to rationalize. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in scientisim, but I sure don't know how I can make a judgement to believe in a religion that I have not been "graced by" or can not rationally come across a way to start practicing. I feel as if religion is so heavily disputed, mainly due to the fragmentation of all these religions, that choosing one would be irrational. I was brought up Catholic.
zippy2006
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:chuckle: You remind me greatly of ...myself :shocked:
Grew up Catholic, left the church around 10 or 12 in my mind, truly stopped going around 14 or 15, remained atheist/agnostic for a few years and then started poking around religion again as I was working on a B.S. in Computer Science which I finished last year. I read and studied quite a few different religions. Huston Smith's The World's Religions was a book I found interesting and from there I started reading and learning mostly about Buddhism but also Hinduism and Judaism (the sufi mystics interested me though I never truly left atheism in this period). After that I figured I'd be dumb not to at least give Christianity a fair shake, so I started talking to my parents' priest. He made some really good points and about a year and a half later I would be a Catholic again having stepped along the stones of theism and then "mere (non-denominational) Christianity." The swing for me was reading Augustine, some Aquinas, Peter Kreeft, C.S. Lewis, Huston Smith, and listening to/watching lots of debates on religion. I would recommend Lewis and Chesterton though, I think they are really great apologists for the faith.
Stay humble, ask questions, keep an open mind, never sacrifice your intellectual integrity, and I'm guessing you'll find what you are looking for (I know, I know, you're not looking for anything
) Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
-zip :e4e:
:chuckle: You remind me greatly of ...myself :shocked:
Grew up Catholic, left the church around 10 or 12 in my mind, truly stopped going around 14 or 15, remained atheist/agnostic for a few years and then started poking around religion again as I was working on a B.S. in Computer Science which I finished last year. I read and studied quite a few different religions. Huston Smith's The World's Religions was a book I found interesting and from there I started reading and learning mostly about Buddhism but also Hinduism and Judaism (the sufi mystics interested me though I never truly left atheism in this period). After that I figured I'd be dumb not to at least give Christianity a fair shake, so I started talking to my parents' priest. He made some really good points and about a year and a half later I would be a Catholic again having stepped along the stones of theism and then "mere (non-denominational) Christianity." The swing for me was reading Augustine, some Aquinas, Peter Kreeft, C.S. Lewis, Huston Smith, and listening to/watching lots of debates on religion. I would recommend Lewis and Chesterton though, I think they are really great apologists for the faith.
Stay humble, ask questions, keep an open mind, never sacrifice your intellectual integrity, and I'm guessing you'll find what you are looking for (I know, I know, you're not looking for anything
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
-zip :e4e:
Zip,
I am not trying to be prudent, but what do you loose from believing in a religion? That's where I am at now, you meet "hopefully" relatively good people that worship, you learn awesome quotes like that one above, and feel good about yourself?
I already feel good about myself how I am now my only real question is where do I start?
If I read the Bible which is filled with great stories and morals, wake up early to attend church, believe that I am created to live more than a life that is graced by the fractional amount of time on Earth, and if I sin less I am already a better person. Who would attempt to deny that?
Person:"You believe in something that's not real"
My response: "At least I try to believe in something that makes me a better person as I progress through life."
Person:"I do that without religion!"
My response:"Religion can only help you do that"?<<<<< is that correct?
Which religion is right and how can one religion really say that another religion is entirely false, when proving one or the other is impossible.
Do I choose the religion with the majority, or the one that best suits my needs and current morals?
If it takes a "grace by God" to start believing, which God is gracing me, when where how why.
Also I don't want to be a person that solely relies on God to progress through life, for example not study for a test because I believe God will be there to help me, that's entirely irrational, and if it was true I bet there would be alot more religious people.
zippy2006
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