tkirya

well i seem to be in the minority here, because i do believe in God.
i do not however think that 'religion' is a good thing.
my relationship/faith in God is personnal, it is between me and him.
many religious ideas and rules are too cloisterring and suffocating - a bit like jesus said about the pharisees, that they only had the rules to keep the people oppressed.
i dont aways go to church on sunday, i shop on sunday, i dont pretend to be perfect because that would be such a lie, but i find a definate peace and comfort from my quiet times with my prayers and bible. i have many non christian friends and accept that they have free choice, but sadly, many of my old friends from before i became a christian were not the same and didnt come over anymore. i drink alcohol and i sometimes swear, although swearing has never been something i enjoy doing or hearing.
being a christian has not stopped me doing much, apart from when i met my husband 8 years ago we didnt have sex before marriage, despite the fact i had2 kids, different fathers, outside of marriage before being a christian, we both didnt feel right until we were married. funny really, we both have kids from previous relationships, but still waited.
i think my faith has just made me look at things differently, and act in a way which reflects how i see things now.
believe me i have a lot of things in my life i could blame god for, or ask 'why me' about, and i used to do that, and walk around with a 'poor oppressed me' attitude, but now i am freer and dont have such an outlook, its a case of 'hey, it happenned, get over it, forgive, and move on'.

tracy x

tkirya

yes, good post.
i aatend a church which is very involved in the local community.
we ran several youth clubs and holiday schemes, bussing kids in from the less advantaged areas, one of which is where i happen to live ( a big spawling estate with many single parent families and high unemployment).
these clubs were free and great fun, lost of running around and a load of mess to clear up after.
we took them camping and stuff, of course there was christian teaching, but mainly about treating people well, recognising that parents are trying their best, drugs are bad, and such other stuff which we all need to know to fit into a community.

we run a diners club for the lonely, homeless, and addicted, where they are not given a plastic bowl of tinned soup and a roll, but are sat at lovely tables with proper settings and treated to a free 2 course meal, facilities for washing clothes etc are available, and help is available for those who are trying to quit drinking/drugs.

Charismatic

Interesting, can you just clarify this a little more? I would have argued the opposite in that religion has the ability to be a positive force in the world but the various Christian flavours inherently tainted by sour teachings from the book they hold central to their religious beliefs.

This is sort of the concept I struggle to reconcile about religious folk, the bible makes the rules of Christianity very clear but people just ignore the bits they don’t agree with and call themselves Christians anyway.

Edit to add: And I'm not just picking on Christians because Buddhists often seek material wealth when their religion rails against it and in Islam people are taught that there should be no compulsion in joining Islam but people who leave have committed a grievous crime.

Expat Kiwi

The world would be a happier, more advanced, content and busier place without the God concept.

— Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything)

vauxhallmonterey

I agree. As examples for the good,among others, Mother Theresa, Bishop Tutu, countless others doing good/helping/serving/ the list is huge. But then there are the negatives of Catholism, the prosperity preachers fleecing the gullible, The warmongers in the name of religion - It's these that give "religion" its coloured reputation.
After studying the life and teachings of Jesus, I can't fault them, can't add to them in any significant way, and firmly believe he saw and knew humanity in its truest possible form. Now, if he says God exists, how do I argue? Was he a fraud, misguided, mentally challenged? I believe not.

Again I agree, we do take whats good for us and ignore that which doesn't suit us. Thats wrong.
I believe God was the initiator of life. I believe God is a spirit form that we cannot begin to fully describe. Evolution could easily play a major part in our life-journey. But, if God "made" me in his image, I am in essence perfect. What colours my existence is the choices I make in life, my free will allows me to draw closer or part further from his design. I would like to think, and its' how I try to live, when Jesus said, "I'm the way, the truth and the life", he was saying, If you live the way I live, in absolute truth, you will live life as God wants you to.

If this is true then I see that people like Ghandi among many others who didn't neccessarily adopt the "christian" faith, reach heaven, where-ever that may be.

londonescapee

Yes some do amazing work but some are about as corrupt as they come, squandering donors' money on personal items. I heard a story of one charity that was set up to give food for homeless people and families, particulary in times of emergency. On a Friday afternoon every week they would spend $200 on food and nibbles for the staff. The receptionist would answer the phone to people who were in dire need of a food parcel saying the office was closed and there wasn't enough money for emergency grants that week as all the allocation had been spent. And then return to the office party. Nice. Not sure how as a Christian she could live with herself - or the rest of the staff for that matter. By the way I don't think it is in operation any more/

Also it is a nightmare to work for some (please note some not all!) of these organisations as Christianity and piousness is regularly forced down a non-believers' throat. And if you don't believe then you ain't down with the crowd and the bullying begins. Friends have been told to stop talking because someone is trying to 'read Luke', sat in on meetings where because they haven't joined in on spontaneous prayer and hymn singing been ignored and harried out of jobs because as a non-believer they don't fit in. Even to the point where one friend was shamed out of the office because she would rather have spent her hard earnt income on reparing her house than feeding starving children in the Congo - which is all well and good but said friend had just raised £5,000 the month before for the charity doing an epic bike ride! And I'm talking big name charities in the UK.

Which is a shame because there are many talented people looking to work for some of the bigger religious charities for professional reasons. Where's that much vaunted Christan believe of tolerance in some of these places? Or, for that matter in America (forgiveness anyone? or that other best friend, tolerance?). There are some truly scary fanatics in the States that could give the Ayatollah a run for his money.

I've had people on my team who were deeply religious but didn't try and foist their beliefs on others and that's fine. My best friend is a devout Shia Muslim but again wouldn't dream of trying to convert me (I don't think women can even convert? Dunno!).

I believe in God (like what caused the Big Bang to, well, Bang?!) but I don't believe in organsied religion. The latter has caused way too many problems and been used as an excuse for far too much hate and war for my liking. Don't get me started on Northern Ireland.....such a sad situation.

An interesting discussion.