On the topic of religion [A Christians point of view]

[ethereal]

So before I start, I'll just give a bit of info about myself. I'm an 18 year old African American female. I was technically raised Chistian as I attended church with my very religious grandmother and my mom once or twice a month as I was growing up, but my dad is not religious at all and I was not baptized until I made the conscious decision to get baptized a little over a year ago. I have also attended catholic schools all my life up until college. I am Baptist.

 

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So, religion is a bit of a touchy subject for a lot of people and it's a subject that causes a lot of turmoil around the world in various ways. There are so may people who use religion as an excuse for their hatred and who use religion as a means to spread that hatred and sometimes violence. But many non-religious people get a misconception about religion because of those who misuse it. Just because someone is using the guise of religion to spread hatred and using bibles and korans and other religious books/works to back their words and opinion does not mean they are properly understanding their own religion themselves. And they do not represent all religious people. 

 

I personally, as a christian, do not fully take the bible as an 100% accurate retelling of ANYTHING. It really isn't. And that's where a lot of religious people go wrong, taking the bible word for word. Basically, as per catholic belief, the words written in the bible were written by a bunch of different authors at different times who were inspired by God/ the Holy Spirit to write those stories/tales. They were "inspired". That mean a lot of the stuff in the bible could easily just have been some guys opinionated retelling of something he barely remembers or wasn't even present for. I mean, look at that gospels of Mathew, Mark, and Luke for goodness sakes!. These gospels are all basically talking about the same events but focusing on different aspects and literally some of the exact same stories in each gospel are slightly different in various ways. That in itself proves the point that the bible is not meant to be 100% true. It's meant to be a reference and a guide if you will, but nothing in there should be taken 100% seriously. 

 

And with that being said, non-religious people should not use the bible as a way to attack christianity. The thing is, everything EVERYTHING can be taken and understood differently by each individual who decides they are a christian, whether self proclaimed or baptized.

 

Now, I fucking hate it when I see all types of people online and in real life talking shit about religion and saying people are idiots for having faith. The point of faith is to choose  to believe in something with your own mind. That's hw I choose to live my life, just like you chose to be an atheist and whatever. Don't judge if you don't want to be judged. I personally respect human beings as human beings. I might disagree with the way someone lives their life, but I can still respect them as a person, as a human, without hating them for their choices. I believe God gave humans the right to choice, to free will, because s/he wanted us to have humanity. S/He didn't want to be a dictator, but s/he wanted us to make a conscious decision to love him/her. And it's upsetting when people who claim religion is terrible literally can't return that same human respect to me. It's really upsetting. 

 

 

 

 

These are all opinions, opinions and beliefs i've formed myself. No one ever forced me to be a christian. No one ever forced me to get baptized. I took it upon myself to read the bible and to pray and to listen during religion class at my catholic high school and middle school. So I just want to say that there's no need to shame religion. really. 

 

And there's probably going to be some trolly comments on this thread, but I'd love for this to actually spark a decent conversation free of hate and judgement. 

 

 

tl;dr:  the bible isn't meant to be an accurate re-telling of anything, don't shame religion, respect human beings as human beings regardless of their life choices and opinions. 

[Jean Grey]

I am atheist. My family is also very religious. I even attended catholic private school. You are not idiot for having faith. Fanatics are idiots. 

[____Vatouhâ„¢]

I'm a christian as well.. i find it disgusting when people make offensive jokes about jesus.bible and christian's like that...

 

I make jokes sometimes as well.... like "you need jesus" or something like that... but i never once tried to shame my own religion nor any other... people can have faith in whatever they want and it's their own decision to do so ~

[nancy mcflurry]

I agree. I think people should stop judging others by their religion.

[vnvn]

i agree! jokes about religions are really annoying

[SAYAKA]

i agree with some of your points. I'm not Christian so i don't "get" those parts but yeah generally i agree.

 

The whole religious vs non-religious debate is a very interesting thing. The general sentiment i get from both sides (that i've encountered) is essentially that we all believe in something we think is "right" and want to believe that what we have chosen to believe is "right". And in the end the argument is something neither side can be 100% sure of. It's why most of it is emotional (also people tend to take these arguments to heart as if it was an attack on them personally)

 

Respecting peoples choices is a very difficult thing for humans to do but we really should. 

[palechibi]

I agree. I think people should stop judging others by their religion.

[lexo]

the problem starts when people use their religion to interfere on someone's life/options:

- (female) abortion IS NOT A QUESTION OF RELIGION; 

- marriage that doesn't fit the binary heteronormative "rules" IS NOT A QUESTION OF RELIGION;

 

there are a lot of (religious) people spreading hate towards those who wants to choose/follow their way of living and that's because they don't ask themselves if what's on the bible is right or not (just like you said the bible isn't 100% what it says it is) and act like they were GOOD PEOPLE because they do what they do to interfere in someone's life with arguments that it is on the bible so you can't do this or that when THEY'RE NOT. (and the same goes to people who attacks christian and other religious people because of their beliefs).

 

I'm agnostic and I don't go out yelling at people if they're religious but when I say I don't really believe in the christian God, people say "you're shouldn't say that, you're wrong" and "why's that? stop" this really upsets me...

[Kc157489]

I was born in lagos Nigeria, raised a christian and given a name that literally means "Thank God". Today im an atheist, ive been so for about 5 years now. I was really never very religious, i was somewhat really religious when i was younger but the older i got the more i saw holes in everything. I became an atheist around 4 years ago right when i was leaving high school and entering uni. Once i got to school and started to think for my self i just couldn't have "faith'' (Believe on something without any proof of it existing) anymore. Just knowing the way Christianity spread really bothered me once i got educated. As i already said i was born in lagos Nigeria (country in west Africa) my parents where Christians and by grandparents as well, however the further back you go the more the lines become blurred. I've leaned that the people in Nigeria became christian when the Europeans came to Africa and took over their country. Today Nigerians literally have no knowledge of their ancestors history or past, it has all been wiped clean and replaced with Christianity. The Europeans also used that same religion to enslave the African people, justify their enslavement, and to make it seem as though they were naturally superior. Africans were shipped off to america like cattle, and that's how your ancestors got to the U.S. My Ancestors where lucky enough to avoid being captured but where still indoctrinated by the christian faith. It really bothers me that the African american community is so religious given that it was the same religion that was used to enslave them and justify that enslavement. I mean the image of the mythical jesus people in america have today is a white dude with a beard when the mythical jesus was supposedly a jew in the middle east. He would actually look more like a muslim individual with middle eastern features, but the image of this incarnation of jesus has been pounded in christians minds. Anyways i'm not gonna go into the big details like some inconsistencies in the bible and the christian faith im just stated one of the many issues that led me to believe that there are no gods. Religion is just a fabrication invented to make people feel better and in allot of ways control them as well. I hope you dont take this as me attacking you im just literally stating historical facts here, i feel like sometimes when we atheists point out the facts we're attacked for being bullies when im just using facts to validate my opinion. In conclusion i have no problem with religion, my parents are both christians as well as one of my sisters, though my other siblings are agnostic at this point however i love them all equally. Everyone of course has the right o believe what they want, i just wish it was based more on evidence. 

[Mischo]

respect human beings as human beings regardless of their life choices and opinions.

 

single most important sentence that EVERY human should live by

[neojasnee]

I'm an atheist I have no problem with religion just the fact some way people use it can be hypocritical

[Kpopiscool_101]

i agree! jokes about religions are really annoying

[lexo]

 

 

here in brazil, we had our indians made christians so they would not attack europeans, they were tamed so europeans could make whatever the hell they wanted to

 

when I was born my parents baptized me so I "became" a christian when I couldn't even know for myself if I wanted or not and this kind of took away my words, you know??? we should be able to make our own decisions. two years ago, I was finally gonna chrism so I'd have to confess my sins and I didn't know what to tell the priest (because I didn't have anything to say that I thought it could be considered a sin, I MEAN, I'm homosexual but is it really a sin??? because I didn't choose to be like this) so I started thinking that if I completed this I wouldn't be honest to the religion: I didn't believe in that. I had some really deep thoughts that made me cut religions from my life...

 

(btw what's your name?? haha curious sorry)

[Kc157489]

here in brazil, we had our indians made christians so they would not attack europeans, they were tamed so europeans could make whatever the hell they wanted to

 

when I was born my parents baptized me so I "became" a christian when I couldn't even know for myself if I wanted or not and this kind of took away my words, you know??? we should be able to make our own decisions. two years ago, I was finally gonna chrism so I'd have to confess my sins and I didn't know what to tell the priest (because I didn't have anything to say that I thought it could be considered a sin, I MEAN, I'm homosexual but is it really a sin??? because I didn't choose to be like this) so I started thinking that if I completed this I wouldn't be honest to the religion: I didn't believe in that. I had some really deep thoughts that made me cut religions from my life...

 

(btw what's your name?? haha curious sorry)

My name is Kelechi, in one of my country's native languages ''Igbo'' it means ''Thank god''

 

yes agree everyone should be given a choice in what they believe im glad you were able to come to the conclusion that you really didnt believe in any of that. I hope you keep doing your own research and come to your own conclusion. I suggest you watch the cosmos documentary narrated by Astrophysicist  neil degrasse tyson if you have time and what some food for thought.  

[lexo]

My name is Kelechi, in one of my country's native languages ''Igbo'' it means ''Thank god''

 

yes agree everyone should be given a choice in what they believe im glad you were able to come to the conclusion that you really didnt believe in any of that. I hope you keep doing your own research and come to your own conclusion. I suggest you watch the cosmos documentary narrated by Astrophysicist  neil degrasse tyson if you have time and what some food for thought.  

 

okk, Kelechi, I'm gonna watch it, THANK YOU <3

[Uaena]

I really identify with this take on Christianity personally, it reflects my own doubts sometimes 

 

Lyrics

 

[intro/Outro]
[Verse]
Yo, fuck anybody I might alarm
Life is a tour, I sit and ride along
Taking some notes and then I write the song
I'm staring down the road my life has gone
Is this where I belong?
Is it wrong to not believe in right and wrong?
My mental state is fucking me up
And I pry the problem while asking you for some answers
But we don't have that type of bond

That my desires gone with the way that I've been living lately
If I died right now, you'd turn the fire on
Sick of this bullshit, niggas call me a sellout
Cause I hopped on Christianity so strongly then I fell out
Now I'm avoiding questions like a scared dog with his tail down
Feeling so damn humiliated because they looking at me like I'm hellbound
What story should I tell now? I'll just expose the truth
I'm so close to the fucking edge, I should be close to you
But who the fuck are You? You never showed the proof
And I'm only fucking human yo, what am I supposed to do?

There's way too many different religions with vivid descriptions
Begging all fucking men and women to listen
I can't even beat my dick without getting convicted
These ain't wicked decisions, I got different intentions
I been itching to get it, I've been given assistance
But the whole fucking system is twisted
Now I'm dealing with this backlash because Marcus isn't a Christian
And I've been told that my sinful life is an addiction
But I can't buy it, it's just too hard to stand beside it
I need an answer and humans can't provide it
I look at the Earth and Sun and I can tell a genius man designed it
It's truly mind blowing, I can't deny it

Is heaven real? Is it fake? Is it really how I fantasize it?
Where's the Holy Ghost at? How long it take Man to find it?
My mind's a nonstop tape playing and I can't rewind it
You gave me a Bible and expect me not to analyze it
I'm frustrated and you provoked it
I'm not reading that motherfucking book because a human wrote it
I have a fucking brain, you should know it
You gave it to me to think to avoid every useless moment

It was a mission that I had to abort
Cause humans be lying with such an inaccurate source
It's gon' be hard to put me back on the course
Next Jehovah's Witness to come on my porch, I swear I'm slammin' the door
A lot of folks believe it though, but I'm not surprised
Humans are fucking dumb, still thinkin' that Pac's alive
I ain't trying to take your legacy and torch it down
I'm just saying: I ain't heard shit from the horse's mouth
Just sheep always telling stories of older guys
Who were notarized by you when you finally vocalized

Now I'm supposed to bow my head and close my eyes
And somehow let the Holy Ghost arise, sound's like a fucking Poltergeist
Show yourself and then boom it's done
Every rumor's gone, I no longer doubt this shit, you're the One
I'll admit that my sinful ways was stupid fun

And all my old habits can hop onto of a roof to plunge
I'll donate to a charity that could use the funds
Fuck the club, instead of bitches I'd hang with a group of nuns
And everyone that I ran into would know what I came to do
I wouldn't take a step unless it was in the name of You
I hate the fact that I have to believe
You haven't been chatting with me like you did Adam and Eve
And I ain't seen no fucking talking snake unravel from the trees

With an apple to eat, that shit never happens to me
I don't know if you do or don't exist, it is driving me crazy
Send your condolences, this is me reaching to you so don't forget
If hell is truly your pit of fire and I get thrown in it
I'mma probably regret the fact that I ever wrote this shit
My gut feeling says it's all fake, I hate to say it but fuck it, shit I done lost faith
This isn't a small phase, my perspective's all changed
My thoughts just keep picking shit apart all day
And in my mind I make perfect sense
If you aren't real then all my prayers aren't worth a cent
That would mean that I could just make up what my purpose is
And I could just sit in church and say "fuck" in the services

Man what if Jesus was a facade? Then that would mean the government's god
I feel like they've been brainwashing us with a lot
So much that we don't even notice that we're stuck in the box
Man everything is "what if", why is it always "what if"
Planet Earth "what if", the universe "what if"
My sacrifice "what if", my afterlife "what if"
Every fucking thing that deals with you is fucking suspect
I'm fucking done, I'm fucking done
This is my fucking life and I'm living it, I'm having fun
If you really care for me, prove that I need to live carefully
But I'll be damned if I put my own pleasure aside for an afterlife that isn't even guaranteed
We are you, and you're us, stop playing games
My life's all I got, and heaven is all in my brain
And when I feel I am in hell, my ideas are what get me through pain
Do as you please, and I'll just do me, I'm a human, I'll stay in my lane
Ill mind

[intro/Outro]

 

 

It's rough when people judge me before knowing me and talk crap about "imaginary friends" when I have my own struggles. We know we ain't perfect lol. But I've never pushed my beliefs on anyone, faith is too personal and sin is too easy. 

[XIUDEAN]

Not trying to attack the OP or anyone else who identifies as religious but I personally believe that all earthly religions are all toxic and dangerous. I believe that most religious people mean well and are generally decent people, but the actual sects themselves I have no respect for.

 

I'm not an atheist or agnostic, I believe in the supernatural and in an all powerful guiding force in our lives (God? but obviously goes by many other names). All religions are man made and therefore tainted by the human authors and originators biases and personal views.

 

I believe that God, gods, spirits, ghosts etc all co-exist and that all religions share similar aspects in terms of their overall mythology because of the overwhelming understanding of many people worldwide that there are unseen forces sometimes at work in this world that science alone can't explain.