I am doubting my faith - need guidance/advice.

anton bonnier wrote:

Rockpie.

I believe there are thousands of different kinds of " religions " out there... it's one of the easiest businesses to set up, start one of your own, invent your own God... become a prophet, you can you know.... and there is no one that can deny what you preach or what you believe or what you say. I can assure you the other Gods out there will not intrude into your world of make believe, any more than you can theirs.

Anton- What you are describing has been done before. L. Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer. He once said that if you start your own religion, you can make a boatload of money. He did. It is called Scientology.

There are many famous people who are dedicated to Scientology, which has about the same validity as any other religion, including Christianity!

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basically i set up this thread to find advice from people older and wiser than myself on a topic which i hope they know a great deal about: faith.
should i fight through my doubts and treat this stage of my life as a test from God? or should i abandon my faith and start a new life (as it were) based on other things or a thing?

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What do you mean by 'fight through my doubts'?

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I feel sorry for RP.

Its like seeing a child starting to realise there is no Santa Claus.

RP I presume your original question came from RE at school?

You could really get some brownie points with your teacher if you mentioned the weight illogicality is the same as God's omniscience and omnipotence being mutually incompatible.

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Its pretty hard to retain your old faith once doubts take hold. However, there are a lot of paths that open up if you are willing to build on what you know and what you still believe, and plenty of writers and thinkers out there willing to assist.

I am currently reading Why Christianity Must Change Or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile, by John Shelby Spong. His views appear to be largely compatible with my own as an atheist, and yet he considers himself a believer. His concept of God, though, would be unrecognizable to most Christians, who have an ostrich-like approach to troubling questions. You might want to check out that book.

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Double post, sorry. Second one deleted

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What you believe is ultimately your own responsibility.
Think. Question. Consider. Doubt.
It's all part of being human.
Be a complete person: mind, emotion, and will.
Have the courage to be honest and open and you'll find your own way.

Faith, if it grows at all, grows from within.

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What are your doubts?
What is the first question you have to answer for yourself?

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Rockpie, why dont you try Islam for a while?

western resistance wrote:

Bektasevic (Maximus) had become radicalized only after he started visiting a mosque in Gothenburg, Sweden, his mother explained last November. There he came under the influence of three men, a Palestinian from Syria, a Kurd and a Somali. She said: "He was not religious before, but in the past two years he practiced more seriously. Some people frightened him and talked to him about hell, and told him he would be tortured in hell if he does not pray and does not believe."

Despite his mother's attempts to cast him as an innocent victim, Mirsad Bektasevic had become known to police and intelligence officials as a recruiter of Muslims, who were to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to join the insurgency. He appears to be the main link between Bosnian Islamists, would-be terrorists in Copenhagen, and British Islamists.

The British suspects who were arrested on October 21 and 22, 2005, are said to have planned to make terror attacks against the United States. Waseem Mughal of Kent is charged on 8 counts. He is accused of having a recipe for making rocket propellants and also possessing a DVD of jihadist "martyrdom operations." Younis Tsouli of West London also has 8 charges laid against him. He is accused of having a video presentation on his computer showing how to make a car bomb, and also is said to have had a picture presentation of various locations in Washington DC on his computer. Tariq al-Daour, also from west London, is accused of receiving money and assets knowing that they may be used in terrorism.

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Steve 41oo wrote:

...Its like seeing a child starting to realise there is no Santa Claus...

Proof? :wink:

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Steve 41oo wrote:

Rockpie, why dont you try Islam for a while?

western resistance wrote:
Bektasevic (Maximus) had become radicalized only after he started visiting a mosque in Gothenburg, Sweden, his mother explained last November. There he came under the influence of three men, a Palestinian from Syria, a Kurd and a Somali. She said: "He was not religious before, but in the past two years he practiced more seriously. Some people frightened him and talked to him about hell, and told him he would be tortured in hell if he does not pray and does not believe."

Despite his mother's attempts to cast him as an innocent victim, Mirsad Bektasevic had become known to police and intelligence officials as a recruiter of Muslims, who were to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to join the insurgency. He appears to be the main link between Bosnian Islamists, would-be terrorists in Copenhagen, and British Islamists.

The British suspects who were arrested on October 21 and 22, 2005, are said to have planned to make terror attacks against the United States. Waseem Mughal of Kent is charged on 8 counts. He is accused of having a recipe for making rocket propellants and also possessing a DVD of jihadist "martyrdom operations." Younis Tsouli of West London also has 8 charges laid against him. He is accused of having a video presentation on his computer showing how to make a car bomb, and also is said to have had a picture presentation of various locations in Washington DC on his computer. Tariq al-Daour, also from west London, is accused of receiving money and assets knowing that they may be used in terrorism.

He's right, you should consider Islam. But DO NOT BELIEVE ALL MUSLIMS ARE LIKE THE CRAZED LUNATICS THAT YOU HEAR ABOUT.

Islam is the only true montheistic religion. Worship of God. No partners, no Intermediary can come between you and your Creator

"Say: He is Allah, the One and Only! Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him. "
Surah Iklhas (sincerity) 112:1-4

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Abid wrote:

Islam is the only true montheistic religion. Worship of God. No partners, no Intermediary can come between you and your Creator ...

How is that 1 God/Direct Worship/No partners/intermediaries concept any different from Judaism's 1 God/direct worship/no partners/intermediaries concept?

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There is one problem. If you choose a religion that is not common in whichever country you live in (I presume a western one) then you are likely to choose a spouse of that religion, and, that religion being more common in the middle east or asia, the spouse you choose will probably come from another culture. A relative of mine is a general practitioner and so she has met many different people and her view on cross-culture marriages is that they generally don't work. Of course, you are always going to be able to find a successful cross-culture marriage, but in general, they do not work.

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timberlandko wrote:

Abid wrote:
Islam is the only true montheistic religion. Worship of God. No partners, no Intermediary can come between you and your Creator ...

How is that 1 God/Direct Worship/No partners/intermediaries concept any different from Judaism's 1 God/direct worship/no partners/intermediaries concept?

I think it differs because Islam's law about no intermediaries came directly from Mohammed himself. Shocked

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rockpie wrote:

basically i set up this thread to find advice from people older and wiser than myself on a topic which i hope they know a great deal about: faith.
should i fight through my doubts and treat this stage of my life as a test from God? or should i abandon my faith and start a new life (as it were) based on other things or a thing?

Why does it have to be either/or at this point? Keep questioning, You'll find what's right for you in time. Just don't accept things on blind faith. Seek truth, not mystery.

P

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rockpie wrote:

basically i set up this thread to find advice from people older and wiser than myself on a topic which i hope they know a great deal about: faith.
should i fight through my doubts and treat this stage of my life as a test from God? or should i abandon my faith and start a new life (as it were) based on other things or a thing?

Yeah what Pauligirl said.

Also, look at what people believe all around the world. You'll soon see that every conceivable thing is or has been believed by someone somewhere.

People have believed in no gods, one god, two gods, ten gods, thousands of gods, gods that come and go, live and die, sun gods, moon gods, animal gods, human gods, plant gods, half-man half animal gods, water gods, female gods, rainbow gods, evil gods, good gods, crazy gods and leprechauns.

Just ask yourself why they believe what they do, and why you believe what you do.

What makes you different to them? What is belief?

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timberlandko wrote:

Abid wrote:
Islam is the only true montheistic religion. Worship of God. No partners, no Intermediary can come between you and your Creator ...

How is that 1 God/Direct Worship/No partners/intermediaries concept any different from Judaism's 1 God/direct worship/no partners/intermediaries concept?

Or Jehovah's Witnesses?

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Or, for that matter, from the Flying Spaghetti Monster Laughing

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Peas Be Upon His Noodly Appendage.

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rockpie, Listen to what Phoenix is saying; she's gone through what you're going through now in questioning your "faith."

Here's another perspective. I'm not sure whether you realized it yet, but your religion is simply an accident of birth. In other words, your religion was chosen for you by your parents, culture, and most likely the country in which you were born. It had nothing to do with choice or the luck of the draw that you are a believer of "x."

If you look into human history and cultures, you'll find that different cultures created different gods. All kinds of gods, as a matter of fact. Sun gods, bird gods, cow gods, rain gods, and even phallus gods. Man is the victim of our own inability to accept that the life we have on this planet is all she wrote; nothing more, nothing less. Many humans are unable to accept this finality.

There have been scientific research done on the effectiveness of prayer. There is no difference for those prayed for and those not prayed for. The only benefit of prayer is when a patient prays for their own recovery. It's probably based on the fact that the mind can do wonders about our personal health and well-being.

Another fact ignored by the religious is the simple fact that religions in the world have caused more violence and wars than it would have been otherwise - without religion. I'm sure you have heard of the Crusades, the Inquisitions, North Ireland, and the sectarian wars in the Middle East.

If you are a student of the bible, there are more verses devoted to revenge, mass murders of people, cruelty and violence metted out by god than the "love" supposedly believed by the faithful.

Other errors and omissions in the bible such as the age of this earth, the world flood, and the days of creation are all full of inconsistencies. After all, the bible is supposed to be the "word" of god. The bible "sounds" too human to be anything but fiction.

Lastly, most people have difficulty leaving their faith for many reasons. I think one reason is simply the fact that an individual has difficulty admitting they've been wrong most of their life.

All my siblings are christians married to christians, but I'm an atheist married to a buddhist. All I believe in as a philosophy for my life is to treat all living things with respect and dignity. I don't have to follow some discriminatory dogma that says to treat homosexuals any different than heterosexuals. The bible is just plain wrong and stupid to teach such things.

Finally, our country has over 80 percent who identify themselves as "christians," and we have one of the highest crime rates in the industrialized world. You don't need religion to be a "good human being."

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I am doubting my faith - need guidance/advice.

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