Before others understand you, try to understand them...
I read about the heading of this thread in a book, and it got me thinking...
I'm not religious in any sense, I do wonder about human spirituality and it struck me that I, as a person, do not understand people who believe in God or Allah or other deities.
Maybe I can learn more.
If you're a devout religious person perhaps you will answer this question:
What made you choose the religion you follow?
I too would like to know the answer to this question. As an atheist I see religious people as suckers, so do othe Atheists like Karl Marx, Richard Dawkins etc. we all see religion as a mental disease, something that's dangerous, we come to that conclusion ourselves because we have seen the effects of religion and are unbiased in that we don't favour any religions. So if I had a little understanding of how religious people think, maybe I'd see religion in a less disgusted way (or a more disgusted way 😂 ).
Re: Before others understand you, try to understand them...
Originally posted by The Omega
I read about the heading of this thread in a book, and it got me thinking...
I'm not religious in any sense, I do wonder about human spirituality and it struck me that I, as a person, do not understand people who believe in God or Allah or other deities.
Maybe I can learn more.
If you're a devout religious person perhaps you will answer this question:What made you choose the religion you follow?
A bunch of threads opened up about this already, but let me answer once again.
We all believe in *deities* to a degree, individuals just choose to conceptualize these *deities* in different ways. I believe there is only one true God, and he is represented in the bible. And I believe that he is loving - based on what I have read within it - and the experiences that I've had in life(good and bad).
For me(and possibly for others), the most difficult part is not in believing that this universe was created from some sort of *higher power* -- Instead, it is difficult for me at times -- to believe that this *higher power* is loving, particularly when so many bad things happen within it.
However - much of this lack of faith - is reconciled with the understanding that not everything considered *bad* by human understanding is unloving. This is something that takes awhile to comprehend, and I still don't completely understand everything God does. But God, with his infinite grace and mercy, has given me the basic ability to understand - that all of his intentions are indeed loving.
So with this understanding -- I find myself having much anticipation and much excitement over having a relationship with this loving God. Think about it -- if God is indeed perfect, then who wouldn't want to have a relationship with him? When you look at this world, and all of it's imperfections - don't you at times long for something that is perfect, and unchanging, and lasts forever?
The answer is a simple "yes" for me. However - as I grow in my faith and understanding(or more appropriately - as God chooses to give me more of these qualities) I understand, that having a relationship with God -- is not just about making me *happy*. It's also about sharing God and happiness with other people.
So in a nutshell, I believe, trust, and greatly admire this God of the bible -- not just because of what he can give -- but because of what he represents. And I hope that in this limited life that he has given to me --I am able to share this love with others.
I was once religious. Long ago, when I was 18 I turned Agnostic/psuedo-Athiest, if such a thing even exists.
Ne ways, there are two main reasons I was once Christian: 1) I was raised as such, being very young you will trust anything that someone you love tells you. So I was raised into beleiving in God.
2) I went to Catholic School for the majority of my life. Being in an environment where your only influence is religiously dominated, you will most likely be religious as well.
3) It was easier for me to beleive that there was some kind of superior force that LOVED me, rather than to beleive that I was all on my own. It gave me comfort.
Those are the 3 main reasons. As I got older, I realized that If I was going to base my entire life on this beleif, that I needed more valid reasons to beleive.
Also, the amounts of Hypocrisy, Hatred, and Self-Contradiction that the Church / Religious Community / Conservative Right Wing has displayed for the past decades, has forced me to turn away from a realm that I had no interest in being a part of.
Originally posted by Storm
Does belief itself actually appears to be a matter of will or choice?
Belief is both a choice and a non-choice.
You can choose to beleive something, but you can also beleive something without choosing to do so.
examples:
1) I choose to beleive in God, because I was taught to for years, and because it's easier for me to beleive that there is someone out there watching me, rather than to beleive that I'm on my own.
2) I beleive there IS no God, because none of it makes sense to me. There's too many contradictions, and not enough evidense to back up his existance. I would like to beleive in God again, but I can't get myself to...because I just don't buy it anymore.
There's no true choice in scenario 2....there was a choice in scenario 1.
Originally posted by WrathfulDwarf
No, in scenerio 2 you Chose to conclude there is no God. Clearly you stated "none of it makes sense to me" you also said "but I can't get myself to...because I just don't buy it anymore."You still making choices.
No.....I would like to beleive in God again...did you read that part ?
In scenario 2, I still would prefer to beleive in God, despite the contradictions and all the other BS that prevents me from doing so. There is no way, in scenario 2, for me to make a valid choice in beleiving in God, since everything I understand contradicts my preferred beleif, thereby disallowing me to truly beleive.
A choice means you have the ability to go either direction. In scenario 2, I do not have the ability to truly beleive, because no matter how hard I try, I am ALREADY convinced the beleif is WRONG.
Originally posted by Storm
Personally, I don' t feel like I made a choice. My position is the only possible position I can have given my present state of knowledge.
Exactly ✅
Storm beleives what she beleives, not because she WANTED to, but because it's the only thing that makes sense to her.
Likewise, I may have chosen to stop being a Christian, but I did not choose to stop beleiving in God. I have my doubts, I sorta go back and forth, and deep down inside, I would LOVE to beleive in an all-loving being who is watching over me.
But because of factors such as the conflict and stigma religion tends to cause, contradictions that occur within every religious text, the heavy LACK of evidense of Christian-Judeo God's existance, my own knowledge of certain aspects of reality that disprove certain religious assertion....I have no basis to beleive anymore.
I can't MAKE MYSELF beleive in something that makes no sense to me. It doesn't work. I can say "Oh I beleive in Christ, our Lord and Savior, I beleive in Yahweh, etc," All I want, that will not make it true.
I follow no religion but I consider myself a spiritual person. My religion is spirituality itself.
I beleive in what I beleive because it explains in a better way things that are not explained in other places. Spirituality is like a science to me. The goal is to know God, so it makes sense for me to think in spirituality like this. Because of this I tend to like esoterism, mysticism, gnosticism and things like these since their purpose is to understand God, not just worship something you don´t know and perhaps don´t intend to know.
So what I believe depends on my current understanding of things.
I think that it serves no purpose to just be believing in something if nothing new can be learned from that. Devotion does not make sense if it does not give you a new understading of things.
Originally posted by Atlantis001
I follow no religion but I consider myself a spiritual person. My religion is spirituality itself.I beleive in what I beleive because it explains in a better way things that are not explained in other places. Spirituality is like a science to me. The goal is to know God, so it makes sense for me to think in spirituality like this. Because of this I tend to like esoterism, mysticism, gnosticism and things like these since their purpose is to understand God, not just worship something you don´t know and perhaps don´t intend to know.
So what I believe depends on my current understanding of things.
I think that it serves no purpose to just be believing in something if nothing new can be learned from that. Devotion does not make sense if it does not give you a new understading of things.
Understand where you're going - but why don't you feel that devotion is a desirable aspect of getting to know God? I mean - would you really want to follow -- or be interested in getting to know a fickle God? One that wasn't devoted to you? Or who saw you as just another "follower of the month"(witty pun..similar to *flavor* of the month..He..He..he).