I know this is meant to be a casual conversation and this topic can get deep fast, but I’d love to hear everyone’s elevator pitch for their religion or lack thereof. peace and love<3
No. I don’t understand why anyone is, really. The whole idea is so weird.
I’m not religious because I never believed. From the first time when I was very young and asked at church “where was god?” and they couldn’t answer. I called bullshit on it and I didn’t even know what bullshit was.
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Why would I?
Edit: I don’t have to though since it has already been explained.
“A religion is large popular cult. A cult is a small unpopular religion.”
Its perfect explanation for a otherwise pointless topic.
Nope, I have difficulty taking anyone seriously when they think they have unicorns in their shoes.
Nah, cuz retrovirus in chimps. Also, whales.
lots of people are theistic evolutionists though.
They can have their agency, as do I.
It’s the conclusion I arrived at and there’s nothing in my flavor of abrahamic faith I grew up with that can reconcile that. Well, unless Isa/Jesus comes down from the sky, then I’ll cross the bridge when I come to it.
I’m somewhat religious as I believe some feelings are holy/otherworldly/peaceful but it’s not bible religion and there is only one of me, not a group.
No.
When I was a kid my mom send my sister and I to bible camp. I spent time with friends and I didn’t shun the one kid with a developmental disability like everyone else. Not for any particular reason I just got along with him as well as my other friends.
Those motherfuckers gave me a TROPHY.
Looking back it was the beginning of the end of my religious journey. Now I just make the best of it with my fellow normies.
😳
No, but I try hard not to be an asshole about it. People can believe what they want as long as it isn’t directly hurting someone.
Personally I find religious studies fascinating simply because of the influence it has had on culture both locally and worldwide.
I was raised in a devout Christian family. It never felt right to me. It just never felt capital “T” True.
After expressing that feeling at an early age, I was scolded and made to feel afraid of expressing any dissenting opinions about it. I guess I kind of internalized that fear, more as a coping mechanism than an actual belief.
When I got older, I rejected it outright, and went searching for the TRUE religion. I didn’t find it, lol, and I began identifying as an atheist. Albeit, an atheist with a lot of knowledge of various religious and spiritual traditions.
Then, I read the Principia Discordia. That book changed my perspective on everything. It led me to Leary/Wilson’s concept of reality tunnels. A person who only views things from one perspective (be that perspective religious, philosophical, scientific, or whatever) has a very narrow reality tunnel; a person who views things from multiple perspectives has a wider one. Our perception of reality is based on the perspectives we bring to it.
I think that most religions are structurally unsound as a whole. They fall apart under their own weight. But some of the discrete pieces of those religions can stand on their own, and when I find those pieces, I add them to my reality tunnel.
I’m drawn to non-dual forms of spirituality, because that’s what feels true to me. I feel that way because of experiences I’ve had, or things that just feel true to me.
I don’t expect anyone to feel the same way I do about it though. We don’t have the same perspective, because we haven’t had the same experiences. Expecting others to see things the way I do would be unfair, and wildly irrational.
It’s funny you say this. After I became an apostate and left my faith, as I learned and grew behind that… I came to the conclusion that I knew what true salvation was now. Or at least perhaps one kind of salvation.
Salvation lies within ones ability to embrace different perspectives.
So much pain, struggling, and strife can be resolved by a change in perspective.
Not religious.
Because I was raised well enough to successfully avoid indoctrination into a cult.
No, I’m not religious. There’s no elevator pitch, because it doesn’t need one.
Nope… I dont buy into modern mythology.
I was born in China, I remember very early on, I was taught the concept of 命運 (fate), 投胎 (reincarnation), 上天 (the heavens) 睇住你 (are watching you), and 報應 (karma)… lot of that stuff.
My mom told me that if I “waste food”, i’d 畀雷公劈 (get stuck by lightning by the “god of thunder”; or some bullshit like that)
A lot of Chinese drama has those spiritual themes
One time I was like: “so what religion are we?”
Then my mom was like 道教 (Taoism), but I was so confused like I thought it was 佛教 (Buddhism)?
So idk what ever the fuck their “religion” is?
My mom always said “唔可以全信但唔可以唔信” (you can’t believe it all, but you also can’t no believe any)
And she also told me the story about the tale of man that was “waiting for god to save him” when it was flooding" and said that guy was stupid
I used to believe in Santa, then I found out my uncle was the “Santa”, so yea I just stopped believing. I used to believe in ghosts cuz all the Chinese ghost stories in media, but then I stopped believing.
I read a lot of Western Atheism stuff… Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins… so I believed less and less…
I still sort of hang on to the reincarnation thing as a sort of copism, well not the karma stuff, but more as in “matter cannot be created or destroyed” so it must be recycled, that sort of way…
We weren’t able to see atoms for a long time, maybe there’s a “soul” that we cannot yet measure? (I know atheists are gonna say I’m being silly xD)
Like the “fate” thing is just so bizzare. I wasn’t supposed to be born as a second child during One Child Policy, so I feel like “maybe ‘god’ intervened and saved me?”. So bizzare, I wasn’t even supposed to exist.
edit: typos
Yes. I was raised in an agnostic family (I’m French, and in France agnosticism is very dominant) but the idea of the existence of a creator always seemed like a certainty for me. I searched myself for a time, and I’m now very active in my (French equivalent of mainline Protestant) community. I’m not sure it’s the “right” religion, I’m not even sure there’s such thing as the “right” religion, but it gives me a framework to developp my spirituality while giving me the freedom to question everything. It’s a sweet spot that makes me happy.
Wow! That’s so interesting! Have you ever thought about what would need to happen to confirm or deny that what you believe is the “right” religion?
Unless I radically change my mind, I don’t believe I’ll ever consider any religion to be the true, one and only. For me, religions are like languages; none is necessarily truer than the others. A chair is no more a chair than a chaise, or a silla, or a 椅子. Languages don’t capture reality, but each allows us to interact with it. However, it’s important to master at least one, and for that, you have to practice it diligently, work on it, and study it.
For me, spirituality is one of the essential needs of human beings. It’s therefore important that everyone seeks the spirituality that resonates most deeply with them. There are non-religious spiritualities, and there are even spiritualities that deny being spiritualities or religions when they are in fact (as I move also in Leftist circles, I don’t see much difference between Marxism and a religion…). If we deny ourselves our need for spirituality, then we risk giving a religious character to something that shouldn’t be. It’s often not a big deal, but it can become one, and I see in this one of the roots of political extremism (my nation is a god, my race is a god, my favorite politician is a messiah, this book of political theory is sacred, this other nation is a devil, this other politician is a demon…).
The ideal, then, is to find a spirituality that suits us without ever essentializing it. We don’t all have the same level of spiritual need, and some fulfill their need by following a sports team. Good for them! But if we have a stronger need, then I think we should turn to a religion. Religions offer unparalleled depth, an opening to the unseen that makes the spiritual aspect of other human realities seem bland: someone very active in a religion can then go into politics, for example, keeping politics separate from religion.
Of course, the opposite is unfortunately also possible. Some movements are explicitly or implicitly both religious and political, but that’s a very bad idea. I ground my political action in theology, and I apply my political ideals to the way I participate in my church’s governing bodies, but I keep my affiliations separate. What must be avoided is thinking that one’s spiritual current holds the truth. But by practicing one’s religion as a truth, by practicing its full depth, then one can improve one’s life and the lives of others.
No. I convinced myself I was until I was 16 or 17. It wasn’t compatible with my worldview and it was completely unscientific.
What about your worldview was incompatible with religion? Secondarily, do you think there is any religion that might be compatible with your worldview?
I’m not, but I kind of miss the community connection and discussion of life wisdom that religion serves.
I’ve thought about trying to go to a universalist Unitarian service sometime, since I’ve heard they dont really care if you are a more secular person, they’re not a Christian church, and welcome folks of all sorts of world views
What type of community were you a part of before you chose to walk away?
Oh eons ago I was raised nondenominationally christian. My missing those things is less a reflection of having had them in the past, and more a reflection of having much less access to community in the present. I dont think I really appreciated those things about church when I was a kid, and while it wasn’t a bad experience (except when I joined for adult service, which bored me to tears), I don’t really want back the same kind of church experience I has when I was little. It was lots of kids activities that snuck in ideals about how to be a good person and worship practices.
But I have a circadian rhythm disorder that limits my ability to get together with other people cause everyone’s asleep for the bulk of time I’m awake, so connection to other people is precious to me. I’d love to find a way to participate in that kind of fellowship and discuss how we strive to be people we can take pride in and build good lives and communities for ourselves
I understand why human connection would feel so important when it’s scarce like that. have you been able to find any groups to join that have filled that need?
