Why are you religious? Please give your reasons.

Chumly,

Are you referring to religional doctrine or spirituality?

You decide.

I think for me it's more of a matter of spirituality than religious doctrine. I agree with many different aspects of many different doctrines and disagree with many.

Spirituality to me is trying to be the best that you can be. Caring, loving, and not hurting anyone. Of course, it doesn't mean that you have to believe in God to do this. In my experience, God has always been there for me and I do attribute my beliefs and feelings as coming from Him. Trying to maintain a willingness to always do better is a great goal for anyone. With God in my life, it seems easier to get closer to that goal.

there are other religions besides christianity

and there are other religious people besides christians on this forum.
are we allowed? ;-)

OK, with God in your life, it seems easier for you to maintain a willingness to always do better.

Sure, as mentioned: Bible or Torah or Koran etc, have fun.

Because I'm grateful to my Creator for giving me the life I have before me; and I fear his punishment for not following in the path he has revealed to me.

"Truly, my prayer and my devotions, my life and my death, are (all) for God, the Cherisher of the Worlds." (Al-anam 162)

Chumly,

Raul-7 is cheating! (Just joking with you Raul).

Is there any other choise without prayer ?
All the universe pray. For example shortest character expression of God is (H). (H) is the last character of writings of Allah in Arabic and shape in Arabic is like sircle (o). Another meaning is ''He'' in English.

God says ''Everything pray and thank to me on earth and space''... How? One type of pray in my mind, all the atoms and stars draw ''o'' shape so they say God in all their turn... quiet, silent, marvelous prayer.. So I adapt myself to them. Look at MEVLANA TURNING. Wonderfull..

Look at the people rotations in Mecca.. Look at the atoms..

Form quality comes from free mind.. isn't it ? Or closed minds is not cheerfull as in many centuries...
Thanks..

I am religious because I have found my views to be in accordance with my religion of choice

There are worse reasons than convenience.

Choice?

Yes, choice.
The experience of choice.
That you can and wil ultimately only choose one way does not preclude the experience itself

Re: Why are you religious? Please give your reasons.


So you only want to hear from folks whose belief is not in accordance with the Bible or the Koran, eh?

Kinda limits your thread there, Chum.

Since I'm for free speech, I'm outta here.

Odd inference. To say the Bible or Torah or Koran etc tells you so is not the 'why' but the 'how'. The 'why' would be in keeping with the others poster's responses. I suggested no theistic restrictions.

Interesting responses.

Raul-7 says

I find Christians who say the same thing. They fear what God will do to them if they don't believe. I, for one, cannot fathom why anyone would want to believe in a deity that has to use fear to make someone believe. That sounds more like a human trait rather than something that comes from a wise all-loving God.

Doktor S says;

I find lots of people doing this. They shop for a religion, or God, that conforms with their philosophy. I like this. That's what freedom is all about.

I cannot imagine an anal retentive God who will be overly concerned as to how someone believes or prays to him. This is not something that is characteristic of love and tolerance.

Kevnmoon says;

Yes, the choice is no prayer or prayer in the manner one chooses. Again that's called freedom.

Are we to believe God hates freedom and free will? Why give us free will if he's going to punish us for using it? Those who say their religion is the only true religion insult God. From their position God gives us free will to choose from thousands of different religions and sects. But only one will be the correct one. Pick any outside the correct one and you will spend eternity in hell or be rejected by God and cast into a void.

Why would anyone want to believe in a God like that? Fear maybe?

And as for me, am I religious? No, not in the sense that I believe in the Bible or go to church. Being a Deist I believe in a God but not the one found in any religious book. Unlike Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, I don't talk to God everyday. He doesn't tell me how to vote or whether homosexuals should be persecuted. I guess he feels I can stand on my own two feet and he lets me make those decisions for myself.

And I appreciate this.

i like your answer xin.

i too, dont believe in the bible style character called god, jesus.. or anything like that.
Im not jewish, im not catholic, my religion doesnt attend any church, and there is no such thing as a 10 commandments - believe them or i will kill you.

I believe there are many energies in place in the universe that give power and strength to life in general. We are all beings of energy so we are all the same and have the same 'access' to these energies.


but, to keep my answer from becoming fanciful.. or cartoonish, i will keep it at that.

First things first...

I'm not religious. :wink: Well not by my definition of the word anyway...

However, I believe in God because believing in Him changed my life.