Welcome to Gaia! ::

I hold with Gorenza. Religion can be generalized to refer to any belief system that includes a belief about God, gods, and/or divine, god-like beings. Therefore, it is impossible to have no religion; as a human, you inherently have some belief concerning God. If you don't believe in God, you are Atheist. If you believe in God but have no loyalties to Him, you are Agnostic. These are just examples. They are both beliefs that require faith - more faith than "traditional" religions, one might argue.


As for my own beliefs: I am a born-again Christian classified as an Evangelical Free Protestant Christian. But in truth, I am part of no "religion." Biblical Christianity is a relationship with your Creator and Savior. It has been said that religion is man's attempt to commune with God, a feat he can never accomplish. A relationship, however, is God coming down to commune with us. You might call me a fundamentalist, but that word brings stereotypes to mind that I do not fit an am against. I am a fundamentalist in that I believe every word of the Bible is true, accurate, God-inspired, and immutable. This must be so, for if even one line of it was untrue, then it would follow that none of it could be trusted. After all, who would say which lines were true? Therefore, I believe in Heaven and Hell; Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection; and His equality with God. My creed is simple: "For by grace you are saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 Which means I believe as the Bible states: the only way to get to Heaven is to accept Jesus as your savior.


On another note, glad to see the amount of activity this thread has generated.

I know. I was just putting in my two cents and explaining my beliefs. Totally on topic.

*tosses you an aspirin* Sorry 'bout the headache. We tend to go deep, don't we. ^^

And here comes the point where I chuckle and laugh to myself because some people might point fingers. sweatdrop

I have always had my own views about life, the universe, and everything in it thanks to a unique upbringing where my family allowed me as much say as they would to an adult. I was baptized Catholic but never went to church because my parents asked me when I was "old enough" to understand and I said no, reading my copy of the Bible was well enough.

The closest description one can define me is an Eeclectic Pagan. I've combined aspects of several different belief structures that have spoke the most to my heart. For example, I follow as much of bushido as I can, while at the same time taking great enjoyment out of following the Norse God Loki.

If anyone wants me to explain further, I can. smile

I'm born, raised and bread christian. I'm open to peoples religions but I dont indulge in it. I believe we have a choice as to what we believe in, because we all think the other is wrong one way or another. I believe in reincarnation, in kindness, love and karma, because everything we do does affect nature. I believe in simplicity because the world is kind and cruely in reality. I love people who love the same sex or the opposite because I am not God and I did not creat the world, I am free to judge but I choose not to. I try to live simply but I am greedy and I want what I have and what you have. I am part of nature and so are you, if you dont believe (you know who you are wholely (you know your being)) then that's your premonition. I live to love to break to cry I try to believe In this I cannot lie.

Eclectic pagan I like that...are the first to coin that term? i have never heard it befor. Hummm...I wounder if anyone else I know falls under that ethos.

Catholic Cristian, though I've been to a Luthern service before, and something else too. Been to a Bar Mitzvar once also.
=]

i'm a deist. it's a belief that i came into after long thought and study.
i was raised by two pastors and was taught the bible from a very early age, but, they also taught me to never take things at face value and to always respect the beliefs of others.
i spent most of my youth bouncing from church to church but eventually the same thing happened at every church: i would question something they felt i shouldn't and then i was shunned.
after that i studied many different religions and philosophies and started forming what i felt to be true in my mind about faith. i had formed my mind around this whole concept of beliefs when i found out that they followed deism almost to the letter(go figure, i spent three years formulating a belief that came around in the 17th cen.)