Christianity not working out...

I came to accept that a long time ago. I'm not sure if you are trying to start up a religious discussion here, and I am not really trying to start one either, just merely wanting to add support to your feelings. They are valid.

The bible contradicts itself at every turn, And worse many (not all) Christians can be the most hateful and unethical people on the planet.

I believe that so long as you spend your life doing what is right and good and being good to others, it doesn't matter what you believe. Some people need the structure of religion to make their life seem complete. Some follow religion out of fear. You are probably not one of these people.

I believe that God is love, and if God is love then how is it that he can provide such a horrible ultimatum for the people he created of love. [we are all born with original sin, and we are all going to burn in eternal damnation and fire and brimstone unless we accept Jesus? Then, so long as we keep Jesus in our hears, it doesn't matter how much we sin, we will be forgiven of those sins and spend eternity in heaven] Sounds more to me like a recipe for political control, than the actions of someone who loves me.

I accept and love God, but I gave up on religion a very long time ago. It is nothing short of ridiculous. Just be a good person. That is all that matters. If God cant accept you for that, then God cant be very loving, and I'm sure he is very loving. Much more so than the bible gives him credit for.

 

Look up Justin Lee on YouTube. Things are not as black and white as you may think.

 

I hate the bible as well. I define myself as a Christian but I don't believe in bible and in religious people. That's the reason whereby I don't go to church and I lost the interest to know Waldesian church.

 

The Bible doesnt say this?

 

I kinda believe the same thing. I just think religion in general, doesn’t matter which one, is a big hoax (I’m not trying to offend anyone, just what my believes are). I still fully believe in god though. I was raisied up Christian/Catholic.

 

Don' t force it, if the Bible doesn't make since (which... it doesn't) then theres no point in forcing it down your throat.

 

Remember that the bible has been written by humans, altered by humans numerous times, and linguistically bludgeoned to death since it has been mistranslated from Hebrew and other Old World languages. So why believe in it? Follow your own understanding of god. That's what counts.

 

I'm a devout Christian, and let me clear something up.

Just kidding, I don't feel like starting a flame war that would burn down the whole forest. I am Christian though.

So you say you love God? Ok. What do you really believe? Do you love God with all your heart and want nothing more than to bring yourself closer to Him? If yes, continue being a Christian. If not, do not. It's that simple. Try not to get caught up in all the denominational stuff.

If you're listening to the WBC or other hate groups, let me tell you there are other more accepting denominations of Christianity that would be happy to accept people like you.

Not that I may or may not believe this, but believe it or not the Bible was not written by God, it was written by people writing for God. Some believe that makes it less valuable. That's up for debate.

TL;DR You know already if you're a Christian.

 

yea i hope i dont start a war but the idea people write the bible for god kinda gets to me. the history of the bible is pretty interesting tho. 3.3.3 Atheism: A History of God (Part 1) - YouTube

 

You should never, ever read the Bible literally, like the latest novel. I know many evangelical Christians do exactly that (if and when it suits them), but it's just plain lazy... and crazy! To fully understand and appreciate the Bible, you need to examine the context in which it was written. You also need to understand that the Bible has been re-translated many times from one language into another and some of the original meaning has unfortunately been lost in translation. Having said that, there is still an awful lot that makes sense.

Many of the spiteful comments you hear about being gay are plucked out of the Bible in complete isolation, to the exclusion of anything else that the Bible has to say about love, tolerance, respect and not being judgemental. There's only one reason why the crazy brigade do this, and that's because they are prejudiced and full of hate. They abuse gay people, by abusing the Bible. As a gay Christian myself, I find it shameful.

 

You can be a Christian without attending church every Sunday. Being devoutly religious isn't for everyone.

But there are more options than hate-spewing churches out there.

I have a friend is Unity (unity.org) and they're a very positive spiritual community. I'm Jewish, personally, but I still felt incredibly welcomed when I attended church one Sunday with her.

 

If it isn't working out, it isn't working out. I'm sorry you feel that way, it sucks and I know that from experience. Your connection with God/deity/whatever is something personal.

I started getting really frustrated with the church when I was 13 or so; I started looking at how other denominations' views differed from the Lutheran church's, and from there, what other religions believed. I ended up converting to Wicca, and from there, going the eclectic Pagan route, but that's just me.

My advice would be to look at how you feel when you think about God. Happy? Sad? Wanting to get closer to Him, or just plain frustrated? Any answer is fine, but it does dictate what you may want to do next. If you want to get closer to God, go for it. Find a denomination that doesn't tick you off, or keep your connection with God personal, and don't bother with them.

If the thought of God frustrates you, you don't want to get closer to Him, alright, don't. Look at what other religions believe, find what resonates with you. You might find that the Baghavad Gita speaks to you, or the Torah. Whatever it is, go for it. Study it. The way you connect to deity, if you even want to, is something intensely personal, and you should feel free to do so in whatever way suits you best.

Good luck!

 

Meh.

I'm not personally all that religious. I'm not really religious at all. I don't feel that some divine creator is watching over us lowly humans making sure we follow some strict life guidelines. I mean honestly it really just doesn't make sense.

If I created an entire universe I really wouldn't care too much what the peons on that rock in the middle of some arbitrary solar system were up to. They might as well be specs of dust in comparison to everything else in the universe. I'd imagine a deity would have better things to do than dictating what clothes you can wear, what foods you can eat, and what people you can fall in love with.

 

If your only understanding of the Bible is based on what people tell you it says, you're never going to have a very good understanding of it and you're going to be at the mercy of these people's interpretations (or lack of thereof) of the Scripture.

I would recommend you start with reading the four Gospels. They are really interesting, easy to read, and will give you a much better sense of who Jesus is and what He wants from you. Reading them brought me much closer to God. Then, when you're done that, Ephesians is really good and easy to read, too.

Last but not least, get an easy-to-read version. If you try to read KJV, you'll never make it through. ESV is better, but the easiest is New Living Translation, IMO. There's a free Bible App that has it, including in audiobook version. It's great!

 

I'm an agnostic (I lean to the agnostic atheist side, but I usually prefer to just call myself agnostic).
I think you can believe in God and still be non-religious. My mom is a theist but isn't religious. She'll pray every once in awhile, she believes in hevean and hell and she thinks Jesus is a good role model, but she doesn't read the bible or any other religious book on a regular basis. Saying that you have to be a religious stick in the mud to believe in God is just as ridiculous as saying you have to be agnostic/atheist to believe in evolution. Do whatever floats your boat.

I like how Vic Micnogna puts it.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KKaEG1r2VQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

I am glad I'm atheist.

 

Dont worry, thats something we all go through. I was born a muslim but i do not consider myself one. its what makes you happy. what kind of believes you have. some believe in no god, some believe in some sort of spirituality, for myself, i think i believe in the law of attraction. theres really nothing wrong with questioning your religion.. at some point we just cant submit to things that dont make sense because people said so.