What is your religious background

[JamesBrown]

I would be interested to know the general religious background of readers of this forum. I assume that most of you are intelligent reasonable people, else why would you subscribe to Hypography, and so your experience would be interesting.

 

I am a product of the Latter Day Saints religion (the Mormons) from Salt Lake City – Utah although I dropped out over fifty years ago. Since then, possibly because of my advancing age and acceptance of my own mortality, I have begun to investigate my old religion. To my surprise it is even more stupendously crazy than I thought so long ago. With age come reason.

 

What are your experiences?

[Mercedes Benzene]

You may want to do a search of our forums. We have a few on religion that you may find interesting (and that may answer your questions).

 

As for me, I was raised Catholic, and still am. I went through a period in my life where I rejected God and religion. I thought myself to be more rational than that. A couple things happened, and I found religion again.

I don't think that will change any time soon. ;)

[Shubee]

I have begun to investigate my old religion. To my surprise it is even more stupendously crazy than I thought so long ago. With age come reason.

I'm happy to hear that you reasoned your way out of Mormonism.

 

I'm a reformed Millerite. The Millerites were a group of Christians that came on the scene at about the same time that Mormonism got started. The Millerites were inspired by an insight of William Miller into the very important time prophecy of Daniel 8:14. That verse, understood correctly, gives the time for the end of the world to be sometime between 1843 and 1844. Reformed Millerites teach that there are three progressive scenarios in the book of Revelation and that what Miller was expecting from the book of Daniel was only a possible end of the world. For the book of Revelation to unfold three scenarios means that the first two scenarios are canceled conclusions.

[Queso]

I was the kid on the playground that would flip off the sky and tell all the kids that god didn't exist.

 

I've come to realize that god is love, god is everything, yadda yadda yaddda

[Pyrotex]

Born into and raised in the Church of Christ in rural Alabama. Not the "United C. of C.", but the super-conservative, hyper-fundementalist, independent congregational form. Hell fire and brimstone sermons; "everybody is going to hell but us, and most of us are, too". We looked down on Southern Baptists as liberal heathens. If there was a kitchen or even a coffee pot in your church, then you were Satanists. Absolute literal interpretation of Genesis.

 

By the age of 15, I began to have serious doubts, especially where sermons disagreed with obvious scientific facts. Tried to become a preacher while in college, as a means of overcoming my doubts. Backfired. So, I spent two weeks reading the Bible straight through, every word, twice. Found so much ugly stuff and nonsense and contradictions--and more importantly, discovered that a lot of what I was told WAS in there, WASN'T--that I had a good cry and gave it all up. Now, I am an atheist.

 

After 30 years of researching where the Bible came from, and how it was translated, I am confirmed that I made the right decision.

[Janus]

Raised Lutheran: Went to Sunday school, was an Alter boy, was confirmed, took Bible study, sang in the choir. When I became older I was an usher. I even read the Lessons to the congregration during service from time to time.

 

Then when I was about 18, I began to wonder something. How did I know that all I had been taught in church was right? There were lots of religions in the world, all claiming to to be the "The One True Religion". All with devout believers, positive that this was so. They all couldn't be right. And there was no objective way to choose between them. Most people just went along with the beliefs they were taught by their parents. So, if there is "One True Religion" then a large percentage of people are left out in the cold(or burning in Hell) by accident of birth. Not exactly what I'd expect from the "loving" God I'd been taught about.

 

Then there was the whole "belief" issue. If you "believed", you were saved. But you can't just turn belief on and off. You can't just say, "Today I will start believing", Or at least, I can't. And if some people just find it easier to believe then others, isn't that stacking the deck again?

 

So I came the conclusion that if there is A God, the game is rigged. In which case, I refuse to play.

 

So I became an agnostic. I can't prove that there isn't a God, But I'm not going to waste what is very likely my only period of existance I'll ever have playing a shell game in the off chance that I might strike it lucky before I die.

[Shubee]

I used to be a Seventh-day Adventist until I shared my first draft of a paper titled The Seven Faces of Seventh-day Adventism with an elder at church. The elder was so angry by what I had written that it led to my being arrested for coming to church. That's the way the leaders of the Seventh-day Adventists silence heretics: They sidestep their own church teachings about disfellowshipping members. They are supposed to bring it before the whole church and let the body decide (Matthew 18:15-17). The preference of the Adventist leadership is to ignore what Jesus taught and just call the police and have the perceived troublemaker arrested for trespassing.

[JamesBrown]

I used to be a Seventh-day Adventist until I shared my first draft of a paper titled The Seven Faces of Seventh-day Adventism

I read you paper and liked it a lot. Although I am not familiar with the Adventist so a lot of the references go over my head it seems that I could suck the paper into my word processor, change some of the terms and names and spit it back out to my old church (Mormons) with the same result. They would have me arrested <grin>

 

Thinking about it they were right in having you arrested. You were clearly trespassing on their serine, placid understanding on their place in the universe. You bad boy. :evil:

[C1ay]

I was basically a scientist born to a methodist mother and a catholic father. They drug me to Sunday school a few times but they didn't like me very much since I asked too many questions. I still enjoy asking believers questions about their belief until they question their belief :evil: In short I've never really been religious and I'm finding myself becoming more and more anti-religious as time goes on.

[Freddy]

Mom is a Congregationalist and Dad is a Roman Catholic and they brought up their three children RC. It was downright cruel when the priests said all protestants are going to hell. That helped me to lose my faith many years ago and am now an Agnostic, who does not know about any god or care about religion, which to me is unscientific nonsense.

[Pyrotex]

...I'm a reformed Millerite...

Weren't the Millerites the predecessors of the 7th Day Adventists??

[Shubee]

Weren't the Millerites the predecessors of the 7th Day Adventists??

Yes. That's correct.

[Queso]

[cslagle]

My mom was raised Catholic, I did not see much good in it for her. I went to a Babtist church with my friends. It did not take me long to see that every religion could not be the "one true religion". I dissagree with the hell fire and brimstone attitude, but the ten commandments are good advice on a whole. I now believe in reincarnation. Not because there is significant evidence to support it. I think it requires people to be responsible for their actions (or you can live the same situation all over again, till you get it right).It still leaves room for some higher power, and there is much room for interpertation. I believe that we pick our parents, which places your troubles squarely in your own lap. I like the idea of taking responsibility for everything that happens, even the bad. I the whole thing is completly disproved tomorrow, I'll still know that I lived a peaceful and happy life.

[CerebralEcstasy]

My religious background is a mottled one, as I grew up with a Baptist grandmother, a Lutheran father, a spiritual but not religious mother, and other relatives who were United, Presbyterian, Pentacostal, Catholic, Seven Day Adventists and of course those that were Atheists due to personal choice and their education in the sciences.

 

I attended several of the above churches, and was previously baptized as a Baptist.

 

However, I have always reasoned that Christ started the truest religion, the one designed to lead us to his Father, and that his words would be the ones to listen to when it came to spiritual instruction.

 

So when churches failed to adhere to these instructions - I left them.

 

Now, while some may believe I am disillusioned or have been led astray, I have chosen to align myself with the Jehovah's Witnesses, as I believe the majority of them (NOT ALL) are truly concerned about what God thinks/wants.

 

The decision to get to know the one who sent Jesus has not been an easy one, and I've found that people by and large are vehement, if not down right rude when they find out what religion I am.

 

While I can understand why this may be the case, I find it increasingly interesting that it never occurred when I was a member of any of the other churches.

[Inter.spem.et.metum]

My mother is jewish and my father was methodist, until his later years where he became agnostic. My brother and I, however, were raised southern baptist. He went on to change to Mormonism before becoming agnostic.

 

I am a believer in the divine inspiration of all religions. Each idea we have holds some form of truth, even if the perception is misplaced. Interpretation is everything is religion, and I interpret all of them as sending the same messages. That said, application is the true test of your faith. I try to bring people together anyway possible.

[Celeste]

Father and Mother are Mormons. I was baptized but started questioning the religion during my late teens. Lost all faith for awhile.

At 30, I had a life altering, or should I say faith altering experience, had another at 33 and then again on Sept 15th of this year.

Though I believe in a God, or a "Higher Power", even more now then ever, I don't participate in organized religion, other then a weekly heated debate with the Jehovah's Witnesses, who recently left my home exasperated and disheartened. (They promised to return when they could back up their beliefs more thoroughly......this should be interesting.)

 

PS...How is it possible that so many religions interpret the nature of God so differently?