What religion are you?

[Hunybear]

Think about the negative societal repercussions if an individual did not believe in the same deities the majority believed in.

You have to share identical faith- much easier to weed out dissenters that way.

Weed them out in what regard? Being the minority is always disadvantageous in any society. Not just the religious minority. This is an inherent down side to having communal ideologies, but is not the fault of religion.

 

[Bassoonist]

Weed them out in what regard? Being the minority is always disadvantageous in any society. Not just the religious minority. This is an inherent down side to having communal ideologies, but is not the fault of religion.

Yet, many religious texts tell believers to condemn and make outsiders (or worse) of those who do not believe in their faith.

"It's not the fault of religion", yet somehow it is in their holy books. I'm afraid I don't understand. I do believe that these issues are a combination of the religious text and human nature, but they can not happen with such severity without the permission of their religious text.

 

[Hunybear]

Yet, many religious texts tell believers to condemn and make outsiders (or worse) of those who do not believe in their faith.

"It's not the fault of religion", yet somehow it is in their holy books. I'm afraid I don't understand. I do believe that these issues are a combination of the religious text and human nature, but they can not happen with such severity without the permission of their religious text.

I have to disagree. I've read some of the holy books in their entirety and they don't promote treating people of other faiths any less. Except the Koran... You should read that. People of every religion at one point in history used their faith to hold others down but that is only when they deviated from the core principals of their faith. Catholics use to hang people for heresy, but Jesus never said "join or die!" He simply wanted people to subscribe to that faith. Showing them through good what it was all about. Budists kill Muslims all the time, but in the book of siddhartha it's all about finding the right balance in ones life to achieve enlightenment. Bottom line hitler might call himself a Christian, but he obviously does not subscribe to Christian ideals. It is not the holy texts that result in these conflicts. The majority of them preach the exact opposite of what these religious zealots are doing. Personally I don't put much stock in the religious texts being factual, but their morals aren't corrupt in most reguards. The best practical application for religion is to take from it what you will because what it offers has great reward, but it should never be used as a tool of oppression. That's not it's fundimental purpose and most do not subscribe to that ideology.

 

[Raph_the_Great]

I'm a non-denominational Christian, but we are a lot like baptists, just without the name.

Same.


Umm. Can someone explain how telling someone about Jesus and what He did for me, and what He can do for you is "forcing your religion on others"?

It's basically the same as telling someone about your job, why you like it, what the manager is like, what the pay is like, and why I think it could better for you than your current job.


I've never understood how that's considered forcing your [insert word here] on others. When simply if they have a different opinion, they are free to disagree, or go do something else.

 

[ZXMechonHunter]

Same.


Umm. Can someone explain how telling someone about Jesus and what He did for me, and what He can do for you is "forcing your religion on others"?

It's basically the same as telling someone about your job, why you like it, what the manager is like, what the pay is like, and why I think it could better for you than your current job.


I've never understood how that's considered forcing your [insert word here] on others. When simply if they have a different opinion, they are free to disagree, or go do something else.

Gladly.
You over simplify this to the extreme. It's not as simple as telling someone about what you think Jesus or whatever God did for you. It's when you guys (and I'm not saying "you" specifically) try telling us why we're awful people for either doing what we like or being who we are and threatening us with imaginary consequences like "Hell".
And no, I highly disagree. I was raised religious for the first fourteen years of my life and was constantly scared that whatever I'd do would get me into Hell and was severely depressed. I still struggle with depression, but ever since I ditched religion at 15, I've been so much happier and better off. So no, I don't think subjecting myself to a religion that thinks me, and all the people I love should all be killed or tortured is at all "better than my current stance".
You seem to be not as extreme as some other religious people I've seen and seem genuinely curious. But as for the last paragraph, again, it's not that simple. Some kids are born into extremist families. Born gay? Tough luck. Born transgender? Better hope daddy can't find his belt today. Sometimes you'll have friends who just stop being friends with you if you don't agree with their religion. In that case, they were never truly a friend so whatever, but the fact that you can be physically and mentally abused by this whole thing is awful and shouldn't be oversimplified as "just disagree".
I can admit that some atheists can be too bitter and just disregard everything involving religious people, and I have plenty of religious friends who aren't super crazy about it. But I've seen way too many people oblivious to the fact that so many people resent them for being part of religion, and it's a lot worse when the one wondering is part of the problem.
I hope that gives you a better idea. Don't take this with an angry tone of voice.

 

[Illusions]

I'm an agnostic but I'm slowly starting to lean towards being an atheist.

 

[WIZRADisRAD]

Waifuism is my religion, Gotta pray to muh Anime Waifus you feel

 

[SaikaGaleforce]

i am a dianic pagan

 

[Lola Luftnagle]

Yeah...I'm a Christian. Over the years I've listened to rap and R&B less and less to the point I stopped altogether. It's gospel music, going to church, and reading the Bible for me from here on out and I shan't look back...

 

[Deleted member]

I identify as an agnostic but spiritual. I believe there is more to us than biological functions as work but I do not care to find out whenever or not a god (or gods) exist. I certainly like to read mythologies though, especially eschatology (the study of end times).

 

[★ARKZ AGES★]

I would call myself agnostic, but my feelings are telling me I'm Christian. Like beliefs in God and the bible and such but will have to see if there's truth to any of it once my time is up.

 

[young grasshopper]

I'm a non-denominational Protestant Christian who believes the whole Bible (including literal 6-day creation). I understand that my beliefs are not very popular, as many who share them are real jerks about it (I regret to say that I used to be a huge "holier than thou" hypocrite who could argue 'til I ran out of breath, but God's been helping me overcome that). My pastor once told me an old saying: "You're wrong, even if you're right, if you're wrong in the way that you're right." To any Christians who face this same struggle as me, always remember that it is more important to be evidence of Christ's love than it is to win debates.