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> What Made You Who You Are?, Why did you choose your religion?
kelaorqu 
Posted: 29-Feb-2004, 11:25 AM
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Hey everybody!
I just thought it would be interesting to know what made you choose your "religion" whether it be Christianity, Mormonism, Buddism, Muslim.. whatever.
What make you choose it over others?
Personally, I am a Christian, and grew up in a Christian family... No big conversion sob story smile.gif but I have searched long and hard over why I believe what I do, and at the end of the day Jesus is the only one that has never failed me. I like the idea of grace.. because I know that I could never earn my way to heaven..
So anyway, that's my two - bits.. tell me what you think!


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MacEoghainn 
  Posted: 29-Feb-2004, 01:49 PM
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QUOTE (kelaorqu @ Feb 29 2004, 12:25 PM)
Hey everybody!
I just thought it would be interesting to know what made you choose your "religion" whether it be Christianity, Mormonism, Buddism, Muslim.. whatever.
What make you choose it over others?
Personally, I am a Christian, and grew up in a Christian family... No big conversion sob story smile.gif but I have searched long and hard over why I believe what I do, and at the end of the day Jesus is the only one that has never failed me. I like the idea of grace.. because I know that I could never earn my way to heaven..
So anyway, that's my two - bits.. tell me what you think!

I grew up in an irreligious family. The only reason we had a Bible was my mom thought buying one from the Jehovahs Witness' at the door would cause them to go away. Naturally, there were members of the larger family (aunts, uncles, ect...) who attended church regularly but no one in my immediate family (including either set of grandparents). If I went to Church as a kid it was only because my Mom's uncle and aunt would come by and take me and my sisters with them to Church and Sunday School (they were Methodists).

I was happily sinning my way into Hell until my junior year in high school when a couple acquaintances of mine (wouldn't call them friends, didn't hang with their group, hung with a little rougher crowd) came and knocked on my door and asked if they could talk to me. It was during this discussion that I was presented with God's plan for salvation through his son, Jesus Christ (For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, and who so ever shall believe him shall not perish, but have everlasting life). I apparently had been seeking this answer to my questions about life and its meaning (but I can't remember ever having that much conscience thought about such things) because what they were saying definitely struck a cord and I found my Redeemer on the spot.

I won't say that my life after that event has been an example for anybody else to follow (done more than my share of backsliding), but as Peter wrote: "and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear". I also depend on this quote from Paul: "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.".

So, I guess you could say I didn't go looking for my faith, it came a knocking!

MacE






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maisky 
Posted: 29-Feb-2004, 05:21 PM
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I was raised mormon until I was about 10. At that point I started attending the Episcopal church. I did that until I was about 30, with extended exploration and study into other philosphy bases, including Hindu, Moslem and others. At the age of 30, I was introduced to Buddhism by my wife's sister. At that time I was a born again Christian, getting NO results from the practice. Zero.

My sister-in-law told me to try the chanting, without giving up anything else and see what the results were. After a couple of weeks of chanting for 10-15 minutes, morning and evening, I started noticing changes. The most obvious was that I was happier and more confident than just a couple of weeks before. Also, the "issues" that I had been chanting about were resolved. Cooincidence? maybe and maybe not. I kept on. After several months, I could firmly say that the "cooincidences" were NOT cooincidence. 22 years later, I am a happy, practicing Buddhist. I am no longer any sort of Christian, but I respect others for following the faith (or non-faith) of their choice. biggrin.gif


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Siobhan Blues 
Posted: 01-Mar-2004, 09:21 AM
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QUOTE (kelaorqu @ Feb 29 2004, 12:25 PM)
I just thought it would be interesting to know what made you choose your "religion" whether it be Christianity, Mormonism, Buddism, Muslim.. whatever. What make you choose it over others?

Well, I attended church fairly often as a child so I grew up in a Protestant denomination.
But the thing that made me choose Christianity was an experience when I was 11 years old; during a church service the pastor was talking about what it means to choose to be a Christian, when I got the strongest sense that it was time for me to choose. Right then. I felt such a desire to be closer to God, to meet this Jesus for real, so I decided that I was going to be a Christian. The concept of someone loving me so much was an idea that any child would find intriguing; I wanted to see if he was real. His promises to love & be present meant a lot to a kid whose family moved from city to city every 2 1/2 years on average because of dad's job transfers...

From that moment on, once I made that choice to believe & follow, there has been this undercurrent of peace in my heart that has never gone away. I've lost sight of it sometimes, and have even gone through some dark times of doubt... but when times have been roughest, when I've faced disappointments & loss & turmoil in my life, there's this still small voice that always reassures me or leads me in sometimes unexpected choices...
Looking back on 35 years of being a Christian I can see I've never been alone, even when I sure felt like I was. What a peace I've found!


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The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
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Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king..."
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tsargent62 
Posted: 01-Mar-2004, 12:20 PM
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I was brought up in a Christian home. During varying points in my life we attended Methodist and Presbyterian chruches. When I got to college I started having doubts to the point I became firmly agnostic. I knew there was something governing the universe, but didn't know if it was a god or just the laws of physics.

One day, I was on the roof of the foundry where I used to do maintenance. I thought, "What have I got to lose?" I looked around to make sure I was alone. Then I got down on my knees and asked, "God, are you there?" Suddenly, I was surrounded by an amazing warmth. It felt like God Himself was holding me in his arms. I have never felt so loved in my life. It was actually a largely physical feeling, enveloping not just my soul, but my entire being. Just writing about it I experience it (to a degree) all over again. Since then, any time I have any doubts, I think back to that experience, and all my doubts disappear.


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mercyforme 
Posted: 08-May-2004, 11:59 PM
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Well I study with Jehovah's Witnesses....have for 6 years now. Many wonder why and I simply say they know the bible and live by it . I heard it all about brainwashing and cults and so on. Well I was worried about what I read off the internet about them, and what all my friends and family had to say, all bad stuff. But I have learned in life to not go by say so, but find out for yourself. And I did----Hope you understand me clearly when I say the internet is terribly against witnesses and lie. I even found a site last night, I was looking up how to say Jehovah's name in Italian, well the site I found was telling lies about witnesses. I wrote to the guy saying look I have known witnesses from Ga, Il, Fl Wa and attended the Kingdom Hall for 6 years now and what you have written is wrong. He responded saying he was an expert on the witnesses, but he wasnt cause none of his facts were straight. Then you get the stories where family members trash talk them saying bad things, but see your only getting one side and normally it isnt right, or the whole truth and made to make them look really bad.
I study with them cause they were able to answer all my questions, I have learned a lot and can use the King James Bible if I choose and still get the same teachings. And brainwashers, sure, yea right. If I am being brainwashed then why havent I dropped everything to follow them like a robot. It does not happen. I knowing whats right and wrong have still gone the wrong way and am now getting my life in order so that I may be baptized when I am ready. Does that sound like brainwashing to you?
Next time a witness comes to your door, before you get annoyed reaslize this, it takes a lot to face people they dont know and they do it cause the bible does say to do so and they do it out of love for people. One day even I will be going up to someones door, I will be so scared and will do my very best to show them what the bible says about what they wanna know and if they decline the info I will nicly step away.
And for those who thought Jehovah was made up by the witnesses hehe it wasnt. If you have an older version of the King James it is in Isaiah 12:2-his name. My true loves mom said the witnesses just made that name up....but no not true at all. In the more recent made bible's they have removed the name completely.


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VetteGal 
Posted: 09-May-2004, 01:07 AM
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I was raised Lutheran. My mother was Lutheran and my father was Catholic. My father didn't really have anything to do with religion. I was baptized and confirmed Lutheran. However, I have always thought something wasn't quite right for me. I have always believed in a higher power, but I have also always been heavily drawn to the sciences. Plus, I have also felt that the deity was all around us. Always into the occult, having deja vu, and connecting with nature. Started reading about different religions as I grew up and was naturally drawn to the Wiccan path. I feel grounded now that I don't really have conflicts with my scientific background and my spiritual background. They mesh and complement each other. Plus, I also feel more intune with the god(dess) than I ever have.


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urian 
Posted: 09-May-2004, 12:44 PM
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I was raised in a conflicting environment in all aspects, especially religion. My mother was raised baptist in tennessee and my father had become an atheist when he was 12.
Growing up my mother took us to lots of different churches(baptist, methodist, church of christ, pentecostal, you get the picture...LOTS) I got kicked out of many sunday school classes for asking "wrong" questions like:" Where does God come from(if everything has a begining) ? If we had prophets in the Old testament why don't we have nay now? Why will I go to hell if I questions the preacher's word?" I had a lot of questions and no one had the answers. Even the preachers, priests, pastors, etc had no way of handling me. I would stump them on religious questions in front of people. They would smile(placatingly) and push me to the side. They'd dismiss the question as that of an uneducated(unconditioned) mind.
Add to that the fact that my elementary school library had a huge collection of books pertaining to reincarnation, the zodiac, witchcraft, and other things. While the other kids were reading"my first blah blah blah" I was reading about buhddist chanting and hindu beliefs of reincarnation. While the were gathered around listening to the librarian read Clifford the big red dog, I was reading about my astrological sign and the phases of the moon.
This continued into my teens. Although my mother had found a church that she enjoyed, and a preacher that humored my questions, I had started forming my own beliefs. But, to make my mother happy(and because I felt I needed to know) I was baptised...nada...nothing..zip..ziltch. Not warm feeling. No contentment. Nothing.
I started practicing when I was about 15. We lived on a huge farm and most was still wooded so I could practice in solitude and safety. But, I still hung on to some of my "christian" beliefs.
Well, when I turned 18 I left for california and my first chance to be on my own. While I was there I shirked my "christian" shell because I kept thinking that . according to all the holy men, you can go to heaven if you're saved but if you screw up one time you're going to hell. I knew I'd screwed up plenty so I went wild. Debauch debauch debauch. I had almost giving up any kind of spirituality.
That changed in '94 when my two brothers were involved in a car accident and my youngest died @ 16. My younger (17) had severe head trauma and had part of his brain removed. They expected him to be a vegetable for the rest of his life.
Two things happened in the ordeal. I was shown the miracle of the Gods and I was taught what true faith was. Faith in something greater than I. Faith in something all powerful and protective. Faith in the gods, in man, in myself.
I was introduced to the LDS church at this point and I became a member a few months later. It was a beautiful, comforting experience and my time in the church has been my greatest growth , spiritually , that I have ever know. The things I have learned for the wonderful souls there and from being allowed to continue to explore other teachings has enabled me to grow so much.
Though I am still a member of the church(ordained a melchizedek priest in 2000) I have gone my own path. I have read and spoken with many people of many religions and faiths and I've been able to discern my own path in the clutter of religions out there.
I am not christian and I am not wiccan. I could be considered pagan but I have come to refer to myself as Gnostic. It is a mantle that suits me well and I wear it with pride. I can , adn do , coexist with friends of varying religions . I feel comfortable celebrating solstice and turning around and exchaning christmas presents.

anyway..I ramble...

peace be with you all


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Aaediwen 
Posted: 09-May-2004, 12:44 PM
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QUOTE (mercyforme @ May 9 2004, 12:59 AM)

And for those who thought Jehovah was made up by the witnesses hehe it wasnt. If you have an older version of the King James it is in Isaiah 12:2-his name. My true loves mom said the witnesses just made that name up....but no not true at all. In the more recent made bible's they have removed the name completely.

Someone needs to wake up and smell the coffe, I think! I can imagine a really warped group trying to change the name of God as quoted in the Bible, but to think that one of the modern denominations did so... You kidding me??? I've see the name in too many contexts. The Witnesses would have pulled the name from the Bible, not the other way around.

Isn't it sad how much the Bible has been 'edited' over the years? If someone actually found and published all the original texts as written, I have a feeling that very few people would accept it. So many are too used to a version written so as not to offend "King James"


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mercyforme 
Posted: 09-May-2004, 02:41 PM
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I have found a few things with the King James that do make me shy away from it. BUt when telling people about the bible they normally feel more comfortable with me using it. BUt I just last year really understood that the King James version is just that--His version of the bible and the fact he removed Jehovah's personal name from it bothers me. You dont take the bible and change it around.
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  Posted: 09-May-2004, 03:21 PM
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I am a Catholic. My sister and I both attended Catholic elementary and high schools. I am a member of the "new generation" of Catholics who reject a lot of the Church's more ultraconservative ways. I am pro-choice, I do not believe that homosexuality is a sin, and I find the Kevin Smith movie "Dogma" hysterical. I stay with the Church because I believe that change in the Church's philosophy would be most effective if it came from within.


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Siobhan Blues 
Posted: 12-May-2004, 09:19 AM
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Urian, that is a fascinating story. Thank you for sharing. So often it is a tragedy that serves as a 'wake-up call'... I am sorry to hear about that accident involving your brothers.

Siobhan
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Posted: 12-May-2004, 02:44 PM
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If this looks familiar to you it is because I posted this in the "what denomination are you" thread.



My Story:

My father was a very devout Catholic. He went to mass and Eucharistic adoration daily. He was also a member of the Knights of then Immaculata and the Knights of Columbus. My mother, who had previously been married, and had my brother had converted from Methodism when she married my father. The first 5 years of my life were spent as a very devout catholic. I was born on August 15, which some of you may know is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in to Heaven, so I went to mass every year on my birthday. That also explains my name: Mary Elizabeth. I remember one year we had a birthday party for me which included Mass in our backyard with the priest at our church.

My mother ended up cheating on my father with a very high profile member of the church, and getting pregnant with my little sister, and they divorced. I went to live with her and ner new husband. They were basically kicked out of the church after that, and went from one catholic church to another and dragged me along in the process. I continued to go to various Catholic schools, depending on what church they were attending, and a couple public schools thrown in there for money reasons, and completed every sacrament but Confirmation.

They ended up in the charismatic catholic movement and stayed there for a while. Then a friend had introduced them to a HUGE Southern Baptist Church. They converted, and dragged me there as well. This was a very "charismatic" chucrch run by a few pastors. All I saw from them was their fancy houses and shiny new expensive cars and all I could think was that they were doing nothing but milking money out of these people. My mom and stepfather pulled me out of the school I was attending, and enrolled me in the school at this Southern Baptist Church. It went from preschol to the college they had just started. I absolutely hated it. I firmly held onto my catholic beliefs, and was told the whole time that I was wrong, that I was resacrificing Christ when I took communion during the weekends I was visiting my father.

I did do the full immersion baptism to please my mother and step father. And they remained at that church for quite a few years with only 1 brief stint back at the catholic church.

I went to live with my dad and started going back to the Catholic church, and was very active in CYO. I did community work with them and was very happy. I ended up moving back with my mother and stepdad. They were going to a Non Denominational church at the time which I percieved to be a smaller version of the Southern Baptist church. They had a school of the prophetic and were very over the top on things. They also liked to tell me I was wrong and going to hell for being a Catholic. I finally convinced my parents that I was old enough to go to church on my own ( I am not sure how I did that) and started going to the local catholic church with some fiends of mine. That lasted until I went to college.

I started going to the Newman Center at my college and eventually stopped because of time constraints and studying. I left school and continued to stop going. When I went back to school for Anthropology I started seeing the similarities between the different religions of the world. I also wondered how with so many people in the world that there could only be one way to "heaven". I have continued that train of though ever since.

I basically introduced myself to Wicca. I decided to read about it to see if it was actually what I thought it was or not. I found out that it was not full of satanic-blood-drinking-baby-sacrificing-goaheaded people. I sterted practicing after a coupe years of study.

I still have a fondness for catholocism, I still have all of my dad's rosaries and scapulas (sp). I have all of his books and statues too. I just do not practice anymore. I describe my beliefs as being MORE than christianity. I share many of their beliefs, but I also believe things from many other religions.






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urian 
Posted: 12-May-2004, 05:52 PM
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QUOTE (Siobhan Blues @ May 12 2004, 10:19 AM)
Urian, that is a fascinating story. Thank you for sharing. So often it is a tragedy that serves as a 'wake-up call'... I am sorry to hear about that accident involving your brothers.

Siobhan

I am happy to share what life experiences I have,Siobhan. I don't think they are that great but other people have found things in them to use...eh.

My brothers tragic end was the folcrum for a lot of things in my life. I think he knew he was going to die. the entire last weekend before he died(he passed on a monday) he talked about the songs he wanted played at his funeral and various other things. We didn't pay too much attention to this but ,in hindsight, I feel he knew and was ready....

anyway..gonna shut up now
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Siobhan Blues 
Posted: 14-May-2004, 08:33 AM
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QUOTE (RavenWing @ May 12 2004, 03:44 PM)
Then a friend had introduced them to a HUGE Southern Baptist Church. They converted, and dragged me there as well. This was a very "charismatic" chucrch run by a few pastors. All I saw from them was their fancy houses and shiny new expensive cars and all I could think was that they were doing nothing but milking money out of these people...

And people wonder why in the scriptures it says 'money is the root of all evil'!!

sad.gif

Money - the desire for it, really - can warp a person's priorities quicker than you can say 'dollars or euros'...
Doesn't it seem like those people should have first not expected so much money from their congregations? And if they were given a big salary anyway, wouldn't it have been nicer to give to the poor or some worthy cause so that the money would benefit others?? The Bakkers come to mind here...
I heard on the news recently that a woman speaker I'd seen on tv & thought to be pretty cool, is now under investigations for her organization's handling of the money they receive. What a shame.

As far as I'm concerned, a Ford gets you where you need to go just as good as a Jaguar! A 6 room house shelters you and your family just as good as a mansion. A motor boat will get you out on the lake to go fishing just as good as a yacht! Bigger fancier stuff is not going to make anyone happy... not for long, anyway.


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