Not to sway you in any way, but I recently joined the ministry of KHA. Take a look!
Greven
How many of you belong to another religion now, and if so, which?
by berylblue 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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neverthere
I was raised Christian, attended a Baptist Church, was Christened Anglican (sp?) and am now a Pagan.
This works for me, I believe in higher powers and worship in a way that suits me.
I think my mother put it best though, she was a Born Again Christian who NEVER attended church once she had kids, she told me that so long as you believe and pray within your heart, that god would hear you, no matter where you were. No religion, no building made a difference, so long as you believed. She could accept my paganism because I believed in something higher than myself.
Peace be with you and Blessed Be,
Neverthere
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ashitaka
What's the point? All religion is corrupt. If anything maybe finding a small church that wants to do some good in the community would be good. Still, why suspend disbelief and believe in the Invisible Pink Unicorn? What has He/She/ It done for you lately? IPU hasn't done anything for me, that's for sure.
If anything, i think people use God as some kind of coping mechanism, nothing more, although they tell themselves they are worshiping a God because they 'love Him'. In reality, I think they love what he could possibly do for them (post-death)
ash
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gitasatsangha
The idea of belonging to a religion seems a bit abhorrent, unless it is an interdependancy. The word religion is a bit like the word moderate: everyone has a different idea where should be placed. So I would say religion is a way of life, a way of doing things and viewing things. In that regard it is very personal. But do we identify with various religions? Surely! Like the old song by Rush says, even if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.
Since I left the dubs I have been interested foremost in spiritual traditions of ecumenical spirit. I can't accept any belief that says "I am the only way. All others are false." That sort of thinking is not very scientific or productive. I have studied many religions, such as Buddhism, Philosophical Taoism, Islam, Bahai, and so on. In the end I became most interested in the Ramakrishna movement. One thing I think we either need to learn, or perhaps know inherently and choose to forget, is that all religions, if practised with sincerity, lead to God. Getting to understand ourselves, surely is a good goal, and worth some effort.
There is a desire to leave it all behind upon leaving the witnesses, but to some degree, the lessons learned the hardway are lost. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, as they say. Unbridled cynicism is really just circular reasoning.