Before I even spark this one off, I want to establish a few small rules. This is in IMHO. Opinions. Everybody has one, and in fact has the right to do whatever they want with it. For the purposes of this discussion I want to know yours, if part of your belief system, religion, what not is that it is The One Truth go a head and state that. But please, please, please, don’t use this thread to try to argue someone off their One Truth (or half dozen truths). If you want to push and shove, go play in GD. Here, we are doing show and tell. (Mods if this gets out of control, or you think its bad already, by all means kill it)
ahem My family practices Christian Science. I … sort of do. I like that CS emphasises love for all, personal independance, and a personal relationship with God. My search for Truth is mine, and everybody else gets thiers. CS also supports a loving relationship with God given to everyone. CS insists that we are all God’s children and made perfect in His image, and that we can follow Christ in all ways. I truly love what CS teaches. Its a bright, beautiful way of looking at the world and that perspective can cause so many things to go better for one.
However, I’m bad at it. Which is non existant in CS, but looks pretty existant to me at times. Its not a matter of faith more than a feeling of unworthyness. I believe this wonderful ideal is right…I’m just not good enough for it. But I’m working on that. (Poor self esteem ruins everything) So I end up believing in God and loving Him/Her whole heartedly, but a little lost in the middle. (I’m a very silly lost little lamb some days)
So what about the rest of you? Step up and share a bit…I’m a nosey little beast.
Having been raised Catholic with heavy Christian and Jewish influences, I was exposed to many statements and moral arguments that, even as a child, I felt were blatant hypocrisies. I was also exposed to moral arguments that I felt were completely unnecessary if someone would apply just a little basic common sense.
This is one of those things that the more I think about, the more frustrated I become. The best word for my beliefs right now would be hedonism.
I teach my children the basic precepts of Christianity, primarily because the morals it teaches are good ones, and because of its widespread popularity it is one of the ones I am most familiar with. When they get older they will have every opportunity to delve into any belief system they wish, with my encouragement. My only goal right now is to teach them the right from the wrong, regardless of my own opinion that “Thou shalt not kill” is common sense.
I guess the basis of my belief system, if I actually have one, is love. I believe in the basic goodness of people and the beauty of our world. That I am one of the priveleged people who has enough food to eat and water to drink, access to health care, and other advantages of living in the United States, helps this belief system greatly, I’m sure.
My belief system most closely matches the principles of Buddhism, and though I do not know enough about that belief system to practice it properly, I call myself a Buddhist. There is a beauty to the logic of the Four Noble Truths that has helped me make sense of many things. I combine these principles with ideas from philosophers, with the most influential thinkers being Descartes, Sartre, and Socrates. Toss in a few lingering Catholic beliefs about loving others, and you have the hodgepodge of beliefs that make me. Ideally, I believe in cultivating peace and finding truth, and try to live my daily life to those ends.
I use the label “Zen Agnostic”. Take the Four Noble Truths, add in hefty dashes of hermetic/goyim kabbalah, mix with skepticism (of the ignorance-fighting sense of the word), toss with helpings of general semantics, and let simmer.
Well, I’d write more on this (a very nice thread, Medea’s Child), but I’ve got to get to sleep.
I was raised Catholic but a lot of things changed my viewpoints. A lot of the stuff in Church not meshing with what I believed. Also, my dad was a protestant (I was baptized secretly by my mom and grandmother), so that effected me. So I left the Church at a younger age (early teens) and started trying to find what I really believed.
I worked it out for myself after a while, and then found Taoism. It really seemed to mesh with my own beliefs (most of it was what I believed, and the rest I hadn’t really thought about). So I’m a Philosophical Taoist; a philosophy rather than a religion. It’s more open to interpretation, too. I don’t really talk about it that much unless someone asks; it’s also more personal to me than Catholicism was (I know a lot of people follow it, it just didn’t work for me).
I was raised Roman Catholic, but after starting to question a lot of the small things in both Catholic doctrine and Christian belief as a whole, have pretty much shifted to a relaxed agnostic view of the world. I basically believe in the soul, and that there is something beyond, but I don’t think anyones gotten just what it is yet, and I’m not sure that anyone ever will.
I believe that it is not possible to know anything for certain. Everything I hold to be true is just a belief/opinion that I have at some point bought into, whether consciously or unconsciously. Once I really had my head around this (it took many years, for what is now pretty blindingly obvious and simple (from MY perspective) ) I realised
a) Everything and anything I believe, no matter how sacred to me, might be one day shown to be wrong.
b) Anything I believe, no matter how wacky, might be true. Therefore I am free to believe anything I want!!! I always was!!! So, I might as well pick something that makes me happy. If a belief that was making me happy for some reason stops working, discard it and pick another!!! I am free!!! The universe finally makes sense!!
My current belief is that we are all part of something that I choose to refer to as God, experiencing itself subjectively. The world is the way it is because we have collectively made it that way. Everything in my life is here because I manifested it, consciously or unconsciously.
There is no death, nothing is ever lost or forgotten, there is no hell.
It seems pretty horrible at times, but it’s all there for a reason. Everything is ok..
My parents were both the children of super-religious Christians, so they themselves were reactionally apathetic in our religious upbringing, which I am glad of… they answered questions, but never tried to force us down any particular path. I went through bouts of atheism, agnosticism, and vague 12-Step related spirituality but decided that Wicca satisfied the Nature-loving hedonist in me that was seeking some sort of spiritual path. At first I approached it in a ‘this sounds fun, I’ll run with it even though I’m not sure I believe all of it.’ Now I’m a Priestess of a small coven- go figure.
I was kinda scared this could take off into something mean, but I’m also pretty interested in all the lovely Dopers and how they deal with spirituality. One more question I’d like to add is How do your beliefs fulfill you, make you happy?
I’m with TPWombat…I have mine because they make me happier than the alternatives and I can do anything I want with them for any reason.
I like the world as a loving happy place, so I’ll belive it has to be so.
Well, I don’t really have a belief system, other than “don’t be a jerk”, but I was wondering if you could elaborate more on what Christian Science is exactly. There’s a CS church right near my house and I pass by it every day, it always sparks my curiosity, since it seems like an oxymoron. I can’t think of anything less compatible than Christianity and Science.
Anyway, I get a general idea from your OP, but where does the “science” part come in?
I try to live by the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I also pursue a policy of enlightened ignorance: I don’t know everything about anything, so first do no harm, make judgements cautiously, and always be alert to new information.
I’ve been told by religionists that I obviously must feel an aching loss, a god-shaped hole in my heart, but really, nothing’s further from the truth. I feel that I’ve been freed from spirituality, not that it has been ripped away from me. Even in the depths of despair, I do not long for comfort from an all-loving God. I take a certain satisfaction from knowing that I can make my own choices, manufacture myself as a person, so to speak, that there’s no deity granting or witholding strength, no holy book or holy man telling me what I’m supposed to be feeling. (In the spirit of this thread, please understand that I’m not attacking anyone who does find comfort in religion in times of trouble. I’m just explaining what I feel when things are dark. I cannot say for certain that I’d feel the same way if I were to suffer a profound loss, but that’s my status at this point in my life.)
There are questions that I don’t have answers to, but I find it more fulfilling to search for those answers myself (even if I cannot find them) than to have the answers handed to me, and to have to force my way of thinking to conform to those answers. Truth is truth, right? If religion is offering true answers, then, hopefully, I can arrive upon that same truth on my own.
As a child - I went to church every Sunday and listened to what they said. For a while, I was even very active in the church. I believed what they preached. Really had no reason to not believe them.
I held those “religous truths” for many years. And, like a good Christian - tried to convert other to my way of beliefs. Through the years I’m encounted many different religions and beliefs and frowned on them cause they weren’t the same as mine.
Today - by the grace of a Higher Power, I’ve opened up my mind and can accept others and their beliefs. I am, by far, no authority on who is “right” or “wrong” I don’t know if it’s “God”, “Buddha”, or any other name. I don’t know if it’s male, female, or something totally different. Hell, for all I know - no one’s right. What I do know - is that I have a Higher Power, as I understand Him. I tend to lean towards the Native American “Great Spirit”.
I still hold on to alot of those principles I learned from the church - but today, not as tightly. There are 3 principles that i do strongly believe in which comes from the Bible. “Judge not, lest you be judged”, “Let you who is without sin cast the first stone” and “Treat others as you would want to be treated.” Everything else is open for discussion.
I am a Wiccan myself. (Amazing how many of us there are, eh?) And I can’t help but think that the world would be even more interesting with a few more pagan hussies scattered about.
My SO, by the way, is a pagan as well - anyone know the masculine form of “hussy”? It would certainly apply.
Well, I’m a practicing Catholic, but I also consider myself a born-again Christian. Some might call it an odd combination. I am somewhat less than a fundie, somewhat strayed from the Catholic path. I believe in the Bible, I believe in salvation from sin, I believe in the transubstantiation of the host at Mass.
My religion, my faith fulfills me because I do know what is expected of me, even if I don’t always follow. The beauty of the Mass never fails to raise my spirits, and even when I’m down, I have joy in my heart. And that’s what a religion/faith system should bring you, I think, joy and happiness. And I consider myself very tolerant of other’s belief systems. Is it my place to judge anyone? Nope.
My family is Catholic, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve been extremely suspicious of organized religion. I refused to be confirmed, despite my father’s insistence. From a religious standpoint, I waver between athiest and agnostic. It depends on how benevolent I’m feeling when asked.
Basically, I believe in personal responsibility. I believe that we are all completely accountable for our actions. This is not to say that we are all responsible for what happens to us in this life…only for how we react to it. I believe that one should treat others as s/he would want to be treated. I believe in honesty in all things (not to be mistaken for rudeness…I believe one can be honest, yet diplomatic). Say what you mean and mean what you say.
The combination of the above beliefs have occasionally cast me, oddly enough, as a cynic/pessimist. I don’t see things that way. I tend not to coddle people. If they ask for my opinion, I’ll give it. If they don’t like the answer, they should have asked someone who would lie to them.
<shrug> It’s fairly simple. I don’t play games with people, and I expect the same in return. It works for me.
complex. Ever shifting. Never the same from day to day. Not because the elements of it change, they don’t. Just my conviction, because I have none.
I’m being clear as mud, aren’t I?
I am quite sure I do ** not ** believe in any complex scheme for salvation, nor do I believe in a Creator separate from ourselves. (Although I have my moments where I think: “Gee…what if it were true? Nah…”) Nor do i believe in an afterlife which rewards some and punishes others.
What I can possibly believe in on a good day is that we are all part of a great mystical whole, that we are each a small piece of a greater entity that has evolved in the spiritual realm in the same manner we have evolved on earth. When i say “we”, I include all forms of life. In death, we lose our earthly identity and return to the whole. “God” is not separate from us, it IS us. This connection to a greater singleness is what allows us to create our earthly lives… we create according to our thought and belief, and we connect with others as we need them for our creation and they need us for theirs. (I had startling evidence of this presented to me years ago in the form of a violent attack, but i won’t go into it here).
I also believe that in a spiritual sense, there is no good or evil, everything is perfect balance. What we experience as good or as evil is merely experience. Good and evil are value judgments that really have no application in a non-earthly realm.
And I can’t go on, because it gets WAY too complicated from here. Suffice it to say that my beliefs are more Eastern than Western.
(And some days I know for sure that what we know here is all there is to know, and in death we are gone forever.)
My system is the Dharma. The techings of the Buddha.
There is no higher being or power that sits in judgement over mankind. We are responsible for our own emancipation, our own liberation or salvation, if you will. The Buddha was not a god. He was a man who saw the truth and taught others the path to end suffering.
I have not reached enlightemnet yet but Dharma path helps me everyday to balance my mind and not to be a slave to my emotions and desires. I am happy.
BTW my sig. “Metta” means loving kindness.
I wish that to you all.
