What religion are you now? (page 4)

ESTEE

I follow my heart.

Does that mean I'm ... goddess?

ESTEE

Loris

I’m of the opinion that Religion is a snare and a racket. Why couldn’t I see that before I wasted 37 years?

I usually say I am a Free Christian. I will not join any religion. At the same time I read my Bible, and a wide variety of commentaries and other scholarly works. Jesus taught freedom. Who am I to disagree?

When I say Free Christian my twisted mind thinks of the phrase ‘free range chickens’ You know they are not caged, they roam free in the barnyard. I used to have chickens , I loved to listen to the hens sing as they walked around the yard. They were content and happy. Now I am a free range Christian. Free and happy. I never want to be a caged bird.

Loris

DJ

Surely you realize that non-denominational is a denomination, and it is an organized religion. I have a niece who is in that church.............it IS a denomination.

Mulan,

I think that what people mean by saying non-denominational is that there is no connection with a 'title' that sets them apart. They just use "Christian" as their title. Non-denominational churches in Christ are independent of a group of men who make decisions. Christ is the only head and authority. There are many non-denominatioanl churches that teach wrong things too and even some who are rather cultish but there are many that are great, free and loving. It doesn't matter what church we go to imo as long as we are a part of the body of Christ. He is our only judge. I hope that I am misunderstanding what you meant because it sounds like you are grouping non-denominational Christian churches as a denomination. They vary and are separate from each other. What makes them unique is their autonomy. It sounds like you are grouping them all together as if they hold true to man made doctrines, which is wrong. The one thing that they should have in common is Christ and love.

kgfreeperson

I think the search is not so much for right answers but for community. Has anyone investigated the Society of Friends (Quakers) or The Ethical Society? (Not suggesting, asking!)

Introspection

Hi Michalea, I can understand your desire for some connection with other people, it's actually very closely related to religion itself. I did a quick search for the etymology of the word religion and found this:

The word Religion and the word Rely both come from the same Latin word, Religare, meaning to bind or tie, which is similar to joining two oxen together with a YOKE, which comes from the same Sanskrit word as YOGA, which means, UNION, which is related to COMMUNION....

The interesting thing here is most religions is something that divides rather than bring together, so although it is in the name of what's sacred and divine there's bound to be a bit of crazy making when you have practices like the disfellowshipping from the JWs. The problem is that religion is all about belief now, and beliefs basically divide - even if you are close as a group you are separating yourself from others who do not share your view, there is only unity in a relative sense but not so in the big picture when it extends beyond the confines of a particular church or whatever. This is why I say all belief based spirituality is not spirituality at all, because it is simply a fixated identification with a particular thought pattern as being true. For the true believer you not only have to separate yourself from non-believers, but you end up creating a division within your own mind between what you supposedly believe to be true and false - not only would this be the opposite of the meaning of religion as described above, but it is also not a picture of mental health.

You can separate yourself whether you are religious or not religious, just as you can be close to people regardless of your world view or differences (or even lack) thereof. So yes, there is a longing for intimacy that is associated with religion, but this is certainly not the focus of most of them today. I think it's clear that in the sense described in the above quote, religion is supposed to be about love - but in the common sense of a belief system, it's really just confusion. I should note, however, that an aversion to religion in the sense of belief is not that different than the behavior of the believer, because more than likely that is just another form of belief in the guise of denying what it itself is doing. (i.e. I believe religion (or belief) is bad) If you don't believe something you just don't buy it, it is marked by an absence rather than a resistance of belief. To me, love itself is big enough to accept belief for what it is, but love itself does not really have any need for beliefs. So if you must look for some community, I say just look for the love - just don't confuse love with a belief in love, lip service about it or even loving people - love itself is independent of all of those things and is bigger in a sense.

For me, I wasn't even looking, but I ended up finding that love in a community because I was interested in what's true, (not in beliefs) it just so happens there's true love when you have the two together. This may not make much sense to you, but it's also not that important that you have many close personal relationships and have people you socialize with, love does not necessarily take that form. The thing is, love flows through people even if they are not conscious of it, so in a way if you focus too much on the form it takes such as having friends to do things with, it's easy to miss love itself. Ultimately it's like love recognizes itself both here and there, it is not a good feeling which may arise as a secondary byproduct so to speak - because that comes and goes. There is no feeling of lack when the feeling is not there, although like anyone else I certainly enjoy feeling good when it happens. So in a nutshell, I suppose you can say that my religion is love - but even that's really redundant, because in this sense religion is love. You don't have to do noble and holy things, or even the right thing to 'get' love, but those things actually come about as a result of love.

mouthy

tyydyy!!! O.K. you said it... I am the head of Mimus cult....( he gave me the position) My first order of the day to all you younguns IS Send me your dollars by Friday!!!! (Next)

Otherwise I am afraid I will have to Disfellowship you!!!! Nothing less than hundreds please!!
( leaving the room thinking I will be able to buy me a watch to see how much time I have left he he!

Emma

I go to the Unitarian Universalist church in our area. I went to an information meeting and asked if there was anything you "had" to believe in and the answer was "No." There are athiests, agnostica, Christians, pagans, Budists, etc. and everyone is welcome. I went because I was looking for a community. There is a lot of social action work on the part of the entire group. If there's one in your area you could give it a try; you won't be hassled to join. Feel free to send me a personal message is you have questions.

be wise

No offence intended Emma but wouldn't the JWs say exactly the same thing - there are people who were once of all religions, we welcome people of every faith to study the bible from an open-minded viewpoint - anyone can answer and share there comments and the elders will be more than happy to answer any of your questions.

Now we all know where it goes from here - Love bombing etc etc. Then eventually ORGANISATION, ORGANISATION, ORGANISATION. Then the open mind is eventually disintegrated by the constant barraging of the WTS coupled with the whole enviroment. If you are lonely or suffering tragedy it's a comfortable place to be, lot's of people around, little personal contact, just a sole cause - you don't have to think or fight all you have to do is be a 'doer of God's word' without any thought (hmm).

I not saying this is anything remotely like what you are talking about - only that we need to be very careful when it come to believing what people say. The Unitarian Universalist church might be nothing like I've mentioned, I've never tried it myself so I can't comment.

be wise.

oldcrowwoman

a devote born-again Pagan

OCW

William Penwell

I don't following any disfunctional system. I am my own religion, my own spiritual guide.

Will

What religion are you now?

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