What are your religious beliefs?

[Daughter of Mew]

First off I would like to stress that here at PXR we respect each other's opinions. As such, any disrespectful comments will be reported. Arguing in this thread will lead to it's deletion.

Right, now that's out of the way...

I'm really interested in demographics (sad? yes) and PXR is no exception. As such, I was wondering what religions you guys are, or if you're non-religious (e.g. atheist, agnostic...). Is there any reason why? What do you like about your religion/lack of it?

Personally, I'm atheist. I'm not entirely sure why to be honest - I was brought up religious but I was never interested in it. I guess it's a bit like how some religious people say they "just believe" in their god(s). I just don't believe. However, I do draw extremely heavily on the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, because I love the way it emphasises having a clear mind and being compassionate to others!

[Suicune's Fire]

Nooooooooooooooo Bethan whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I hate these threeeeeeeeeeeadsssssssssss

I dunno. I don't know. xD I can't be bothered.

[Braixen]

I consider myself Buddhist, although I don't follow everything perfectly I do believe in the values it teaches and identify with it very well! I did not believe I could ever label my beliefs but I just happened upon Buddhism and it basically met all of them. :)

I am not very vocal about my religious beliefs though, the majority of people I know aren't aware of it and it's more of a personal thing for me.

[The-Hydra]

Just the generic laid-back Catholic kid who eats fish on Fridays anyway. Nothing exciting.

[SLC]

I consider myself agnostic, even though I was baptised. I'm not really too fussed about any God or whatever, it's better to live a decent life and not worry about all that. If other people are religious, that's pretty cool too and since it doesn't affect me whether they are or not, I'm pretty tolerant of other people's religious beliefs.

[Corey]

Ah, religion. xD Here's a link to an old thread if you want to use it for data. But yeah, it's pretty outdated. We needed a new thread! (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?674-What-is-Your-Religion)


Personally, I'm atheist. I'm not entirely sure why to be honest - I was brought up religious but I was never interested in it. I guess it's a bit like how some religious people say they "just believe" in their god(s). I just don't believe.

This about hits the nail on the head for me. I was raised protestant christian, but my family never really went to church all that often, and just stopped going when I was around 8. I never ditched my religious beliefs until much later though, when I was 13 (almost three years ago).

I went from christian to dystheist, to deist, to agnostic, then to Hellenism (only because my favorite video game character was a Hellenistic Greek), back to agnostic, to agnostic atheist, and then to atheist. All in one year. xD

But yeah, I finally stopped at atheism. Religion doesn't matter to me as long as you're a good person and you don't try to force your beliefs on others. I always try to be the best person I can be no matter what! I hate the stereotype that all people without god are cold, bitter, angry, and lifeless. It's total bogus. xD


I dunno. I don't know. xD I can't be bothered.

/bothers
/shot

[VeloJello]

I'm Christian, something that I don't go trumpeting but won't hesitate to talk about. This said, some of my least favorite people in the world are "Christians" - namely those who discriminate against religious and gender minorities using the name of Christ to justify their actions. While I may not agree with everyone, I'd much rather let them make their own choices - giving them my honest opinion should they desire it - rather than pushing them away from God. Hate breeds hate and all that. Not to mention that such hate is blatantly unbiblical and condemnation is God's job, not people's. /rant over

[Caite-chan]

I was raised a Catholic and did everything you were suppose to do as a kid. I just hated going to church because I thought it was ungodly boring. In my views I don't see why you need to go to a building to pray and talk to God. I mean aren't you suppose to feel like you can do that anytime or any place?

[Death's Spook]

I've mentioned this before, but I happen to be Muslim. Shi'a Muslim, specifically. Raised in it, then decided to embrace it wholeheartedly after some soul-searching.

Again, I repeat, the stereotypes are exactly that. I'm quite unlikely to try to hurt you. Actually, I'm interested in medicine because I hate seeing people get hurt. (Well, real people, anyway. Imaginary people are fair game.)

[[Desolate Divine]]

I am Protestant Christian, and to be honest, it wasn't until I decided to embrace it and live it without fear that I found myself at my happiest.

I have seen things happen, miracles occur, which make me incapable of denying that there is a God. I have seen blind people be able to see, after being prayed for. A close friend of mine had two cancerous tumours in her liver, and after three weeks of constant prayer from her and her friends, they disappeared, and a year later they are still gone.

One of the reasons I choose to be a Christian is that I want to believe there is more than this. I want to believe that all the things we do in life lead to a higher purpose. I don't want to believe we spend our eighty odd years on earth, only to die, and eventually be forgotten. I want to believe that all the bad things in life are part of a plan that ends up for the best. Otherwise I would struggle to see a point to it all.

Let me make something clear. Yes, I am a Christian. All that that means is that I believe in God, believe Jesus died for our sins. That does NOT mean I treat homosexuals, women, or people of other beliefs less than other Christians. I believe we are all created equal, imperfect human beings, with a purpose to God, whether we choose to embrace it or not.

[Dragon Master Mike]

I am technically christian, but I consider myself Agnostic. my parents didn't really care what I believed, so in the end I just decided I didn't really believe the bible and in what it says. I DO Believe there could be a god of some sort though, and I believe without a single doubt that there is an afterlife (As well as ghosts, spirits, and that sort of thing). I just can't believe what the bible says, no matter how much I used to try (I gave up a long time ago).

To be honest, I really dislike religion now. I UNDERSTAND NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE THIS, But I can't stand how so many people are against gay marriage for religious reasons, and It drives me crazy when people try to push their religion on me. I also feel like so many conflicts have been caused over religion. I HAVE NO DISRESPECT FOR RELIGIOUS PEOPLE, I even have some close friends who are very religious.

I would get into reasons that I don't believe religions, but I don't want to say anything too likely to start an argument. I already feel like I am pushing some boundries.

[Corey]

DM, I know you don't mind being labeled (as I just asked you xD), but I'm not sure if you want to be labeled, as in, wanting to be called a certain thing. Hopefully this is the case. xD

If the afterlife you believe in is the Christian afterlife (i.e. heaven and hell), and you accept the savior (i.e. Jesus), then I'd classify you as a Christian. Many Christians, even some on PXR, believe the church is corrupt. You may choose to classify yourself with term called "non-denominational," meaning you do not follow a denomination, that you simply believe god exists, Jesus is the savior, and that heaven and hell are real. Despite what many Christians will tell you, you can classify yourself as a Christian if you don't believe the Bible is the word of god. Many of those who are very vocal about their beliefs and believe gay marriage is wrong, abortion is wrong, etc are called fundamentalists, or those that take the Bible literally (Also known as the people I avoid). These beliefs are not totally confined to fundies though, as I've heard of a few atheists who are pro-life and against gay marriage (Though I'm not sure why, since they're both mainly religious things). It's your choice if you want to label yourself as a Christian or not. :)

However, if the afterlife you believe in is not the "Christian" afterlife, and you are not sure if there is a god, then the term you would be looking for is Spiritual Agnostic. There are two types of agnostics, however:

Agnostic Theist - Believes that humanity can not know if a god does or does not exist, but believes in god(s).
Agnostic Atheist - Believes that humanity can not know if a god does or does not exist, but does not believe in any god(s).

Those that are Spiritual may believe in things like ghosts, spirits, the soul, the afterlife, or basically most things in that spectre (Pun intended).

Based on the beliefs you described, you seem to be a Spiritual Agnostic Atheist. Again, it is entirely up to you to decide what you want to call yourself. Personally, I enjoy labeling myself. I like to know what my beliefs are termed so I can tell people what I believe with minimal explanation. You may, however, not really care for labeling yourself. I thought I'd try and help you out if you are anything like me. xD

I hope I aided you on your possibly non-existent quest for self-identification. ;D

[Dragon Master Mike]

That sounds perfect if you take out the atheist part. I didn't say that I DON'T believe in any god, I just said that There MIGHT be a god. I honestly haven't made my mind up yet if I believe for sure if there is a god or not. The spiritual Agnostic sounds perfect though.

[PerseusRad]

I suppose I'd be a very lax Christian. I don't really care that much about religion. It's there, and I recognize it, but I don't really go out of my way to do anything involving Christianity. I also disagree with many right wing conservative views that are somewhat characterized as being part of Christianity. Like, for example, I believe gay people should have the same rights as everyone else, it's something that shouldn't even be a problem.