Outline your beliefs.

That the word of God is without Flaw even unto its english translation.

That there is a God.
That God is the Father Son and Holy GHost
That you must be Saved to enter heaven
That there is only ONE WAY heaven
That Jesus is the way.
That Jesus is the truth
That Jesus is the life.
That Jesus is the Creator
That Jesus is the Word
That Jesus is the great I AM
That Jesus is coming Soon
That the Anti Christ is coming soon.
That Salvations is by Grace through faith and not of works
BUt Faith without works is dead
just as works without faith is dead
that those who live in the dark wont understand that
That those who live in the dark dont understand what the bible means by the heart
That man is 3 beings
Body Soul and SPirit
That the word of God can divided them
That the Word Brings divsion
That the Word Brings peace
That the Word is the Truth.

and on and on.

That Evolution is the greatest lie of all time

Everyone is a LIAR but God

My beliefs are as follows:

There might be a god/gods/Flying Spaghetti Monster/Invisible Pink Unicorn etc. but ultimately I do not know and cannot trust any religious text that has ever existed to prove their existence.

I will never be able to prove or disprove the existence of such creatures or deities.

Heaven can only exist on Earth and we must work for it by rejecting baseless religious dogma, baseless general dogma and most importantly, making the world a better place through good deeds that continue to reap benefits in the long run.

Evolution has nothing to do with religion or religious beliefs and should be kept separate from social views. Whether it is true or not has nothing and must have nothing to do with religion or its decline.

All evil and all good comes from the actions and minds of human beings.

Prayer's only real power is the placebo effect.

All human beings cling to at least one baseless delusion.

Focus must not be on God but on oneself's own ability to do good.

Turn the other cheek within reason.

All things in moderation, including faith.

EDIT: I've just realised that my "religious" beliefs contradict my political ones. Don't believe me? Here is my religious belief boiled down to a paragraph.

If you're a sinner, you must work for Salvation by doing good deeds. You must not rely on some deity or Saviour for help.

Just change sinner with poor, Salvation with money, good deeds with a job, deity or saviour with Government and help with handouts, and you've basically got the Republican creed.

I used to be abit religious.Im a big Madonna fan so I went the religious way instead of the lacy tops and pink lipstick.I used to do good, pray, and treat people well.Then even tho I was doing good, bad things happened so I changed.I do feel as tho I have lost something big, but it was my choice and experiencing 'the other side' in a way I prefer it.

I started to read the Bible when I was about 12.I worry if its true,people lived into their 100's which is cool but hard to believe also it promoted incest so I hope the Bible isnt believed in its entirety.

If you believe in God then you have to believe in ghosts and the loch ness monster.

I dont understand how if yuo go to church/pray God will love you more and treat you better than those who dont pray.He loves me, full stop.Thats his job.

I believe there is a God, a higher power but not as a guy dressed in white with a long beard floating around on a cloudI think we are our own Gods, I think 'God' is the name we give to the power that we all have within us, like ESP, mind reading, our conscience etc, we all have it, I think we have lost the ability to use it.If we all pulled together maybe we really could move mountains.

I'm not going to cop out and just say "what wolf said" but, many of his statements are in alignment with mine. Perhaps I'll post more later...

Good topic dok.

I'm very interested in what some others have to say.

I thought I was the only one that would read heated discussions and wonder "so.....what is it they actually believe?" I'd get really discumbobulated reading one thing, then all of a sudden, something that didn't jive. you're right "shroud of mystery", or like a shell game where you think you found the little ball, but it wasn't there.

No mystery where this thread is gonna go though, unfortunatly

I don't like to have set beliefs, because discoveries through science will always change them. However, the "rules" I give myself to live by basically constitute the golden rule.

Just look at my signature.

just a joke here:
A boy wanted a new bike, so he prayed to God every day for a month begging for a new bike, finding all kinds of reasons that he deserved one. He never got one. So he stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.

It cannot be know if there are or are not any deities (all the canting religionists have never provided a shred of proof), so i have no reason to believe there is a god or any gods. Given that i cannot know, and that knowing would not change the world in which i live, i consider myself a functional atheist--i am without god.

Because of all the harm which organized religion has done throughout the ages, i consider organized religion to be worthy of suspicion. That individuals would be personally religious does not trouble me--that they would assert that they know the absolute truth about "god" and eternity (i.e., that they would adhere to a creed upon which they insist), is to me unacceptable, and the root of a good deal of social evil. So i am not opposed to religious sentiment, but i am opposed to canting religionists, and mistrust religious organizations.

It seems obvious to me that, given the degree of social organization, anti- or even asocial behavior is foolish and unproductive. Furthermore, i consider socially responsible behavior tends to assure effective societal functions, which benefits me both immediately and ultimately--what people might call enlightened self-interest. I believe that those who seek equity for themselves must grant it to other to have even a slight assurance of being able to secure it for themselves. Therefore, i believe in personal ethics based upon equity, which is meaningless without the comprehension entailed in empathy, and which in practice leads surely to compassion.

I further believe that it is clear from the historical record that humanity progresses toward physical security and social equity despite organized religion, and not because of it.

I don't know whether there is a creating, controlling, driving force in the universe........and I don't care.

The concept of "worship" is anathema to me. To me, the idea brings to mind the grateful puppy, completely dependent on the whims of his master, and grateful for any crumbs that the master throws at him. Human beings are too good to become involved in such servility.

I believe that at this point in history, human beings are only scratching the surface in terms of our knowledge of the world. I believe that nothing is "unknowable". It is simply a matter that we have not evolved to the point where we know that much about the workings of the universe.

Religion, for all its positive attributes, has done more to tear people apart than to bring them together. If one looks at the state of the religious factions destroying one another all over the workd in the name of their religion, one can understand my stance on this matter.

Velly insterding. Back later this evening.

My beliefs:
*Humans are basically animals. Like animals, we are connected to some force or energy that can be called "Life" "Spirit" "Energy" "God" whatever the hell you want. We ARE that energy.
*Our natural abilities are towards survival and living. I believe in putting trust in ourselves. If you are alive - ain't that proof enough that you are capable of living? We are not 'imperfect' 'sinful' 'perfect'. We are simply creatures who sometimes run into trouble, make mistakes which can be fatal or otherwise, and sometimes we get sick. A sick creature is often aligned to death - and can easily start acting for the cause of death.
*I believe most creatures, including humans, put their own survival first. And that is well and good. However, some keen observance of how life works quickly shows that there are 'rules'. We're social creatures, we need each other and the world: so it only makes sense to respect and live accordingly.

Organized religion is natural too. However, if it steps on my toes or others toes who I see as important to my survival and health: I'll fight it. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

Everything plays out regardless of what we think of it. There is something bigger at work. Our actions and lives are piddly in the grand scheme, yet also the only important thing.

My belief now is that my own, and others interests, are best served by my insistence on not putting too much stock on any one belief. lol.

Good topic!

My beliefs are as follows. I am still a little hazy on some things, still finding myself and what not. Trying to break some of the bonds that held me down from being Catholic. So bear with me if some of these don't make a lot of sense. :wink:

There is a God. There is only one God but there are many angels, spirit guides, whatever, that play a part in every day life. God does not just "sit back" but he does take an inactive role in our lives due to destiny.

Which brings me to predestination. We are all destined to end up at the same spot, no matter what path we choose in life. We are either good people or bad people. There is no purgartory. We are in purgatory now. Good people go to heaven, bad people spend eternity in darkness.

The soul does not die. It only changes form.

Fate and destiny are real. People come into our lives for a reason. We make certain decisions for a reason. Fate and destiny don't mean that we have one path to choose and we always choose that one path. To me, it means that if I stay on this path right now, I will end up here. If I choose to go down this path, I will still end up here. The end result does not change....just the scenery on the way there changes. (does that make any sense??) This is where free will comes into play.

We THINK we have free will but really, we don't. Again, like I said we choose different paths and make different choices but each one (no matter which we choose) takes us to our journys end: Heaven or darkness.

There is no devil but there is an evil force that is present in some people. People don't do the work of the devil. People ARE the devil.

Reincarnation is possible. I lean towards it being true and explains why sometimes we just "know" things or people.

The ways to Heaven are not only through the church and through organized religion. The way to heaven is through being a good person. Having a personal relationship with God. Love, compassion and tolerance are the three things that I think we need to have here on earth to go to Heaven. I've been asked before the question "If you died right now, are you 100% certain where you'd go?" And my answer has always been "Yes." And I don't go to church and I don't serve an organized religion.

Organized religion is ok for those who need it. But lI don't think it's for everyone. God is in the trees in the park with your dog on Sunday. He is with you while you hang out with your kids on Sunday. He is there when a married couple spends the morning in bed together instead of getting up for mass. I believe that a personal relationship with God is far more important than a public one.

I believe that science is the key to mankind's future, and will one day provide the answers man seeks. I may not be around when that happens, but I believe it will.

I'll give it a shot.

I believe that the thing we like to call God is a life/energy source. I believe it has no personality other than the collective personality of all of the people (or animals) that derive their "souls" from it. I believe when we die we go back to the source and become available for new life.

I believe that nothing is sacred. I believe in the words of Jesus. I believe that in the end we are our own judges. I believe there is no hell. I believe the children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way. (Ok, that was a joke.) I believe that humor comes from God. I believe that humans still have a lot of evolving to do.

Good replies so far. Unfortunately, most of the players up to this point have been those that are generally open with their beliefs to begin with.

None of those that I have called to task have arrived

I'll cop out to wolf.

I do not do "beliefs" at all.

Aha!
Glad someone touched on this, I completely agree, and my reasoning is thus:
In my observations, a belief, once held, will generally be defended. Even in the face of newer, better, more productive and pragmatic information.
For this reason, I see beliefs as pockets of intellectual and sometimes functional stagnation. I prefer opinions, as opinions can be more easily changed.
Basically a distinction of semantics, but one I enjoy.

I do still use the word 'beliefs' with regards to my varying opinions for reasons of clear communication, however. If I use the term 'opinions', I am generally left having to explain why;which I find counterproductive to discussion.

Hi, Doc.

In my case, I simply NEVER use the word "believe" or "belief" to indicate a position I am taking on something I do not know.

I may make a guess about an unknown...and I will clearly label my guess as a "guess."

I may make an estimate about an unknown...and I clearly label my estimates as "estimates."

I may suppose or conjecture about an unknown....and I clearly label my suppositions or conjectures as "suppositions" or "conjecture."

Once a person starts calling one of their guesses or estimates or suppositions or conjectures a "belief"....particularly in the area of religious or philosophical discussions...

...you can be damn sure they do not want to acknowledge that they are guessing or estimating or supposing or conjecturing.

They want their guess to have a special status.