Ah! I almost did too! Care to discuss it?
Almost did what, lose your faith?
Personally, I don't think God "oversees" events in the world. He let us go out on our own to prove a point. I'd LOVE to hear your view on this!
But God didn't put us all out here in a liassez faire fashion, either. Everything is ultimately subject to the will of God. Even when someone is allowed to go out on their own and 'prove a point', if it, or the outcome goes against what God desires as a part of some plan, then it can not happen. Perhaps God doesn't micromanage every single event in both an individual's or natural world, but to say He doesn't do anything to direct world events is fundamentally contrary to the Bible.
Why would it be a contradiction? You think that just because somebody places their faith in one God, they'll automatically be intolerant to another point of view? I lost my faith at some point as well and for many years I drifter from religion to religion. I saw a lot that was good in faiths that Christians would label as Evil (notably Wicca) and a lot of bad in christianity as a religion.
My point is that religious folks tend to be big pussies when it comes to standing up for what they supposedly believe in. A belief in God, a belief in the Bible is about absolutes. If you actually have just cause to believe something is evil, then it is evil whether someone else believes the same or not. However, if your belief that something is evil isn't founded on scripture or other religious reference, then perhaps you shouldn't consider it to be evil. This goes along with the hilarity I found, for example, back when a the new pope was selected to head the Catholic church. I saw numerous news stories featuring 'Catholics' who were whining about how the Church needs to modify its stance on birth control, abortion, homosexuality, and so on. I found that pretty hilarious because these morons supposedly believe the Pope has some kind of devine inspiration for how he leads the church. Also, by their suggesting that the church is in the wrong for having the stances it has on those issues, they are, in my mind, invalidating their belief in Catholicism as it seems to be nothing more than a religion of convenience.
So, basically, I think a religious person who censors what they say, or changes what they stand for based on the audience (including giving disclaimers) is generally contradictory to the absolutes in which their religion deals.
I draw a distinction between faith and religion. Religion as I see it has precious little to do with truth. That's why I consider myself a non-denominational Christian. I share the faith of many, but not their method of worship.
You need to look up the definition for 'religion' because you don't seem to understand what it is. What you probably meant was that you draw a distinction between organized religion and personal religion, hence your non-denominationalism.
Staci, you too. What was it that made you give up your faith?
First off, it's 'Stasi', pronounced 'Shtah-zee', which is the short form of 'Staatssicherheitspolizei', the secret police of the former E. Germany. Before you get any distorted ideas of why I must have selected it, I've been using it as an online alias for many years that started back when I was playing Counter-Strike.
To answer the question of what made me give up my faith, well, there is no single event or motivation I credit with it. However, one major one was September 11. I realized more clearly than I ever had previous to that event that horrible, horrible things happen to good people, whether they are the most faithful and wonderfully Christian/Islamic/Jewish/Hindu, and so on. How can God allow such things to happen so many of the faithful? I include the other Abrahamic religions as well as a sample of a pagan one for a reason you should be able to deduct from some of my other reasoning here.
Some things that drove me away from the LDS faith include the fact that you're basically supposed to marry within the church. Sure, you can marry outside of it, but the highest level of salvation is unreachable unless you're married in a temple, which can only be done between two members of the church considered worthy of being in the temple in the first place.
I didn't like the cliquishness of the church, either. Even though I was raised in it, I almost never felt as though I fit in with my peers. Sure, when I'd stop going to activities or church altogether, all of a sudden I'd have all kinds of friends, but after a bit things just return.
Being a fan of R-rated films, I had a problem with the President of the church telling everyone not to watch them. First off, if, for example, I lived by what he said to this day, I couldn't, in good conscience, watch the R-rated film
Kung Fu Hustle, which, in comparison with a great many PG-13 films, has far less corruptible material. I knew LDS people who wouldn't watch R-rated films but seemed to have no qualms about watching stuff like the Austin Powers movies, which are full to the brim with sexuality. That kind of mindlessness is a turn off to me. If you don't do something because you believe in the underlying principle, then why do you bother?
There are other concepts that I have been educated on that have lessened my religiousity. These notions include such things as feeling the 'spirit', having visions, having prayers answered, and so on.
People of various belief systems, Judeo-Christian and non believe they've had their prayers answered, seen visions of their god(s) or other beings in their belief system, and they have felt the power of their God(s) presence.
After having lots of unanswered prayers myself (I know, supposedly prayers are answered in ways sometimes unbeknownst to us, but what's the point of that?), having a difficult time with faith, and for the other things I've mentioned here, I no longer hold any religious beliefs. And yes, I have thought about other religions and belief systems, but to be honest, I'm not interested. I no longer see any truth in Christianity or any others.
Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:2505, old post ID:43267
