I am doubting my faith - need guidance/advice.

Digesting

I continue to wonder about all my siblings who became christians when we were children. What if our mother converted to Hinduism or Islam from buddhsim, I wonder if they would have the same level of faith and belief in those religions as they do in christianity?

Probably so, C.I., They'll have the same level of "faith" and "belief" IF they follow the "popular" versions of Buddhism and Hinduism, with their demons and god-like creatures. But if they PRACTICE the esoteric mystical or core levels of those religions; if they practice meditation to see into the metaphorical meanings of the sutras and myths, they'll have (and need) less "faith" but have more INSIGHT into the nature of their existence. By the way, Christianity, like Islam and Judaism, also have--at still more esoteric levels--mystical forms of religious practice. I'm thinking here of the mysticism of Thomas Merton, Meister Eckhart, Sta Teresa and John of the Cross for Christianity, and the Kabbala and Sufism for Judaism and Islam, respectively).

Aidan,

If you don't consciously decide what to believe, does that mean you have not questioned it? Do you have no fear that you may be deluded? Do you not fear that you may live your entire life with these untested assumptions at the core of who you are? The vast majority (if not all people) believe something different to you, yet you just know you are right? Why? If you had been brought up in Islam would you just assume (like most muslims) that you are right?

I don't get it. Is it laziness or arrogance? I can't decide.

(Apologies, I know I sound rude...but I can't see a way be polite without obscuring the question.)

EorI, But I also see how people can believe in religion based on the emersion they experience while they are young (and vulnerable). Their environment might also reenforce that belief, because all their family and friends of of the same belief.

Let me know if I'm misunderstanding your point. Thanks.

From the many posts I've read of yours, Eorl, I've always thought you civil.
Though I am without theism, I've been on Aidan's side of the matter of faith, and still retain a not entirely hostile view of the faith of others as long as it doesn't impinge on others' rights. But faith in organized religions and even unorganized spiritual beliefs or philosophic constructs can impinge on someone somewhere; there's much variety in impingement. As there is brutality against people with various faiths, as we all know, every minute somewhere.

Why I bother to speak up and post is a faint memory of an almost physical - no, I don't mean sexual, although it can come to that, eh - acceptance of the joy of understanding everything in a context, the world, as I understood it, explained.

Rockpie,

Whatever "truth" you will find at the end of journey, whatever will make you feel complete and you will feel it makes 100% sense to you, your personal view of the world, is what you should be looking for, but it will be only that : your PERSONAL view of the world and not necessarily THE TRUTH. Having answers to questions certainly brings peace of mind, even if those answers might having nothing to do with the actual truth. As long as it makes sense to you, it's true. But at the end, what you will come up with is your own FAITH, your own religion, your own views on what matters in this life.

Not believing in any god, not accepting any religion is not necessarily better then accepting a god/religion, because both approaches offer absolutely no certainity. At this point in time i believe humanity is sooooo far away from the truth that no matter what you decide is true for you, the odds are incredibly good that you will be wrong, but the fact is you will feel better if difficult questions don't prevent you from sleeping at night.

"Keep an open mind". Hmm, i guess that's generally a good advice, but i've seen cases in which i thought, "man i wish those people would have just listened to what their parents told them". Just one example here although there can be so many : people getting into suicidal sects. Well, i would categorize that as a bad thing happening, but who knows, maybe they were closer to the actual truth than us. Can we tell FOR CERTAIN ?!

As for myself, i have a similar way of aproaching things to most people on this thread : keep an open mind, use your brain, and think things through before going to war in the name of Christ or Alah or so on (you get the point).

There is one question though that is bothering me from time to time : if there is a god, if there is an afterlife, isn't that the MOST IMPORTANT THING WE SHOULD KNOW ? I mean what is 90 years compared to an eternity. So you've lived a good meaningful life, consider yourself just, no moral burdens or regrets, and then, SURPRISE, that's not what you were supposed to do, and on top of that you find out that the god is petty and unjust compared to your set of moral values, but does that matter ? Does it matter that you don't accept it as God if it can impose it's wishes and make you suffer eternaly ? Will the fact that you took an impressive, meaningfull trip a while back or that you had wonderfull kids that are now settled down, and hapilly living their own lives, keep your warm an fuzzy through an eternity of suffering ?

We are all willing to live our lives following a set of rules that make sense to us because we are rational animals and we couldn't survive without logic and rules but that doesn't mean to say we have a clue about what's really going on.

If you've lost your faith that can only mean it wasn't making enough sense to you, but in terms of what you should do, now that's a tricky one. If i was you i would do as so many have suggested : walk the path until it leads to peace of mind, until all the questions that trouble you have recieved satisfactory answers. Just one thing : DO NOT expect those answers to be even remotly close to the actual truth. We would be far to naive to believe that at this point in time we know anything. Humanity is bearily learning itself.

Good luck, hope you find your peace of mind.

Starbucks has good choices in tea. And you would certainly be welcome, though I don't think you adequately addressed the difference between credulity and faith.

More as time permits. I'm very busy with the family eBay business right now.

Neo, I'm interested in that as a business, though properly not on this thread.

Maybe I'll surprise you with a PM.

Some good points, Eretiq.

Rockpie, does any of what we're saying make sense to you? I notice you haven't been posting for three days.

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I didn't take what you said as rude, so no apologies necessary.

I have questioned what I believe. Believe me when I tell you that I have had it challenged many, many times. Because of a lot of my other social and moral beliefs, the huge majority of my friends and people I interact with on a daily basis are non-believers, and it would have been much easier for me to "fit in" if I wasn't a believer myself. To this day - in certain arenas - I feel almost pressured to be embarrassed when I admit that I do believe in God. People just look at me and say things, "But you're so reasonable in other ways- how could you?" Sometimes it'd be easier to say I don't believe in God - but then I'd be a liar - and honestly I'd feel that I was betraying something that's been extremely nurturing and enriching in my life.

But I'm not afraid that I'm deluded. I'm not counting on heaven in the clouds or streets of gold or anything. It's just a sense of gratefulness and peace that enriches my life right now - and that's all I use it for or count on it for.
I don't affiliate my sense of God with a specific religion- even though I was raised Christian. I can't call myself a christian because I refuse to accept the judgement and parochialism that goes along with that religion. I have respect for and honor anyone's right to worship as they choose, and fully accept that there are many paths to enlightenment.

But I still maintain, it was never a conscious decision I made. I can never remember not believing - and I have been unable to stop believeing in what I believe in no matter who says what to me.

CI - I have several siblings who were raised as believers as I was who never adopted a belief in God. I do think if I was raised Buddhist or any other religion, it'd be likely I'd have adopted that just because there is a part of me- my basic personality- that appreciates and is nourished by spirituality. I think it's inherent to me - but not to everyone.

And I'm someone who allows that that's fine. If you don't feel spiritually inclined, no use in faking it. Might as well pursue your own interests.

The main reason I never took to "believing" was based on my personal observation of how the so-called "christians" I came in contact with were not very nice to people of other religions - not only by what they said, but how they treated others. That turned me off very early in my youth.

The main reason I never took to "believing" was based on my personal observation of how the so-called "christians" I came in contact with were not very nice to people of other religions - not only by what they said, but how they treated others. That turned me off very early in my youth.

The main reason I never took to "believing" was based on my personal observation of how the so-called "christians" I came in contact with were not very nice to people of other religions - not only by what they said, but how they treated others. That turned me off very early in my youth.

The main reason I never took to "believing" was based on my personal observation of how the so-called "christians" I came in contact with were not very nice to people of other religions - not only by what they said, but how they treated others. That turned me off very early in my youth.

The main reason I never took to "believing" was based on my personal observation of how the so-called "christians" I came in contact with were not very nice to people of other religions - not only by what they said, but how they treated others. That turned me off very early in my youth.

but there you've just judged a whole faith on people who follow it incorrectly rather than the people who actually follow what it says. so your pre-judgments on Christianity are based not on Christianity at all.
sorry i haven't posted for a few days i've been away, but i have read all the posts and i am still confused, although not as much. i don't think i could ever be atheist because i know from personal experience that god does exist. it's just how that god works and what he does and why, etc. i'll probably keep my faith as this may just be a challenge from god, to test how faithful i am. i disagree with not asking questions though. if you don't ask questions, you don't get answers. i am not a christian because of how i was raised either, both my parents are atheists. and never was i taught religion as a child. it was my choice to belive. and it is my choice to continue beliving. i thank you all for your contributions and you have settled many of my doubts/questions. but i refuse to lose faith after what god has done for me.

Rockpie- I understand people who accept a god on "faith", even though I disagree with them. I cannot understand your complete acceptance of the concept. How do you know "from personal experience" that a god is real?