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Post by highlandannie on Feb 1, 2017 6:57:32 GMT -5
QuickSilver The nice thing about Buddhism is anyone can practice it. It doesn't conflict with your religious beliefs.
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Post by QuickSilver on Feb 1, 2017 7:31:50 GMT -5
What attracts me about Unitarianism is that it DOES accept the existence of a "God".. and one is free to worship that "God" in what ever form one believes.. Whether it's nature, or spiritual. The concept of punishment is not entertained.. There is no Trinity.. Jesus is not considered "god". Hence the name. ONE GOD... not three in one as in Christianity.
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Post by highlandannie on Feb 1, 2017 7:41:22 GMT -5
QuickSilver Yes, I've heard good things about the Unitarian church. I have a friend who was Pagan and now attends a Unitarian church with her kids.
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Post by QuickSilver on Feb 1, 2017 10:08:37 GMT -5
QuickSilver Yes, I've heard good things about the Unitarian church. I have a friend who was Pagan and now attends a Unitarian church with her kids. On the other hand.. the voices and the finger wagging of a strong Christian indoctrination drills the Jesus, Son of God, mantra deep inside ones psyche.. It's very hard to let go of that and the fear of what NOT believing may bring. Therefore, I am the ultimate cop-out.. I'm an Agnostic.
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Post by notca on Feb 1, 2017 20:10:28 GMT -5
It would be interesting to know how people came by their beliefs. Did they embrace their parents beliefs, were they influenced by someone else, did a certain church recruit them or did they form their beliefs on their own? Would anybody like to answer?
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Post by notca on Feb 1, 2017 20:19:33 GMT -5
I will take the initiative and explain how I became what I am. I was raised in a Presbyterian family but they seldom went to church. As a school child I began going to Sunday School because the other kids were going. As a teen ager I joined the church and attended regularly for a few years, even taught Sunday School. After a time I became disillusioned with the church doctrine and disagreed with much of what they expected us to believe. I studied different religions and read the Bible for myself.I came to the conclusion that none of the organized religions were to my liking - they all seemed to contain doctrine that was contrary to what Jesus taught and seemed hypocritical in their actions. So I quit the church and since have become even more of what I consider a Christian should be. My belief in God has grown stronger without the influence of the church and congregation.
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Post by highlandannie on Feb 1, 2017 22:26:22 GMT -5
I was raised strict Catholic. I enjoyed going to church when I was young, said my rosary, etc. I loved the rituals of it. When I was about 12 or 13 my lay catechism teacher told us there was no fire in hell, that it was the best way to tell us that hell was not a place we wanted to go to. I wondered what else the church told us that was a lie. That was it for me. Was forced to go to church until I left home at 18. It's very difficult to totally shake all that indoctrination though. I think if I was in a plane that was about to crash I'd start saying Hail Marys.
I guess I was just an agnostic from then until the 1990's when I started getting curious about other beliefs and spirituality. Was a Celtic Pagan for a few years. Became very interested in Buddhism in the early 2000's and started practicing off and on.
We spend our winters in Thailand which is about 95% Buddhist and I love the temples and the peaceful attitudes. My husband is Catholic and on this island there is are two Catholic churches - one is in Thai, the other in English. I go with hubby and I enjoy it because the people there are very nice and I enjoy the singing as the choir has people with great voices.
But my beliefs are that every living thing has a spirit and that spirit combined is what might be god/ess.
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Post by notca on Feb 1, 2017 22:42:19 GMT -5
highlandannie , interesting how people's beliefs evolve. "I think if I was in a plane that was about to crash I'd start saying Hail Marys" I think anybody would. They say when faced with possible death there is no such thing as an atheist.
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Post by QuickSilver on Feb 2, 2017 7:29:06 GMT -5
I was raised strict Missouri Synod Lutheran.. Catholic Light as it's sometimes called. I started my indoctrination at the tender age of 4 years by being made to attend Sunday School as well as regular church services every week. This continued on to my 14th year with Catechismm classes 3 times a week and my Confirmation as an adult member of the church.
I can remember as a child hearing the religious stories and dogma.. and saying to myself.. "Do these people REALLY believe this nonsense".. then feeling immediately guilty and BAD..for having these doubts. I harbored these feelings of "Badness" coupled with the fear of "going to hell" well into my adulthood.. and did my best to practice my faith.. (of which there was litte).. I kept hoping it would develop. It didn't.... BUT.. I still have the deep down fear of "What if it is all true" lurking in my mind.. I had my kids baptized.. just in case.. figured it couldn't hurt.. but I still don't really believe it.. but.. what if? SOOOOOOOO Agnostic I am.
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Post by notca on Feb 2, 2017 8:49:07 GMT -5
I was raised strict Missouri Synod Lutheran.. Catholic Light as it's sometimes called. I started my indoctrination at the tender age of 4 years by being made to attend Sunday School as well as regular church services every week. This continued on to my 14th year with Catechismm classes 3 times a week and my Confirmation as an adult member of the church. I can remember as a child hearing the religious stories and dogma.. and saying to myself.. "Do these people REALLY believe this nonsense".. then feeling immediately guilty and BAD..for having these doubts. I harbored these feelings of "Badness" coupled with the fear of "going to hell" well into my adulthood.. and did my best to practice my faith.. (of which there was litte).. I kept hoping it would develop. It didn't.... BUT.. I still have the deep down fear of "What if it is all true" lurking in my mind.. I had my kids baptized.. just in case.. figured it couldn't hurt.. but I still don't really believe it.. but.. what if? SOOOOOOOO Agnostic I am. Yes, it is hard to shake what is taught to a child under 5 years of age - the most impressionable years. The guilt factor was one of the reasons that turned me away from organized religion. In fact I got lectures from time to time as a Sunday School teacher for emphasizing Jesus' lessons of forgiveness for wrongdoings rather than focusing on the terrible punishment that would be meted out to sinners. It just didn't seem right to me to scare kids into 'believing'. I thought that with all their studying of the Bible the Religious leaders should have paid more attention to the teaching of Jesus and less to the violence and punishments of the Old Testament. Thanks for your input. Very interesting!
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Post by QuickSilver on Feb 2, 2017 8:57:02 GMT -5
Yes.. it IS hard to shake.. and it's scary for a young child to think of burning in hell for eternity.. Once I got to the age of reason, and looked at the stories of people in Whales.. and People living to be 900 years old.. and folks talking to desert plants.. I couldn't believe the adults, whom I respected and loved actually bought into that crap.. AND I certainly kept my concerns for their sanity a deep dark secret.. thinking that there must certainly be something wrong with me not them. Yet it DID seem to bring them peace and happiness somehow, so I guess religion has a purpose.
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Post by notca on Feb 2, 2017 9:09:34 GMT -5
Yes.. it IS hard to shake.. and it's scary for a young child to think of burning in hell for eternity.. Once I got to the age of reason, and looked at the stories of people in Whales.. and People living to be 900 years old.. and folks talking to desert plants.. I couldn't believe the adults, whom I respected and loved actually bought into that crap.. AND I certainly kept my concerns for their sanity a deep dark secret.. thinking that there must certainly be something wrong with me not them. Yet it DID seem to bring them peace and happiness somehow, so I guess religion has a purpose. I suppose it does bring peace and happiness to some but it also inspires a lot of injustice in the world too, hatred, killing, intolerance, shame, you name it! If one believes in the Creation it doesn't seem feasible that a loving Father would be so vengeful and hateful to the children he created. Not to me, anyway. And there's the hypocrisy I saw in organized religion. I refused to teach children that a loving Father would punish his children eternally. As humans we admonish our children for wrongdoing but we don't hate them and kill them for it. (At least most of us don't!)
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Post by notbob on Feb 3, 2017 10:36:46 GMT -5
I have no religion to begin with, so I wouldn't choose one.
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Post by notca on Feb 3, 2017 12:27:08 GMT -5
I have no religion to begin with, so I wouldn't choose one. Nice to see you posting again, notbob.
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Post by Fireheart on Feb 17, 2017 20:42:18 GMT -5
What attracts me about Unitarianism is that it DOES accept the existence of a "God".. and one is free to worship that "God" in what ever form one believes.. Whether it's nature, or spiritual. The concept of punishment is not entertained.. There is no Trinity.. Jesus is not considered "god". Hence the name. ONE GOD... not three in one as in Christianity. I am Pagan and my daughters and I actually attend a Unitarian church from time to time (maybe once every couple of months). I'm just not much on the structure of "church" to begin with, but the people are very open, welcoming and nice for the most part.
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