Are you religious???
 

The past two years, since I was involved with a jewish sorority, I was fairly involved with my religion. And before that I always went to some kind of religious study every week, or at least celebrated shabbat. But since I've moved back to Arizona, I feel so detatched and uninterested for anything beyond the cultural aspect of judaism. So I thought that I would ask....how religious are you? and is this more or less than you were in the past??

I was raised in a devout Catholic family and attended Catholic school for 13 years. I used to go to mass every Sunday.

If you mean religious = attending mass, praying the rosary, doing penance, then no...I no longer do any of those.

But I still maintain my faith, and it's still strong.

My family is REALLY, REALLY into Catholicism, but I consider myself just a plain old Christian (I question a lot about the Catholic faith).

With that in mind, I believe in Jesus and accept him as our savior.

At the same time, I'm tired of my family telling me that the key to solving all my problems is by praying.

I guess because I wasn't raised in a very religious environment myself (my mom didn't get all religious until late), but I see so many people who aren't that religious or are even atheists who are much more happier than I am and have the things I wished I had, so it's kinda hard for me to believe RIGHT NOW that having faith and praying and all that will work out in the end.

And please don't tell me that all those things those people have are "temporary". I've heard it all before.

I was raised Protestant, but I haven't been to church in years. I think it comes down to the fact that I just don't believe in God.

I now consider myself a non-practicing Buddhist -- I believe in the teachings of Buddhism but I don't do much with it.

Yes.

-Rudey

I was raised in a secular Jewish household in the City of Churches (well, that's what they called Brooklyn in the 19th century.) I've never been that religous, but I consider myself basically Jewish with Taoist leanings.

No.

I do believe in God. However, I feel that religion gets in the way of spirituality.

I have personal issues with organized religion. I feel once someone feels they need to be in charge and tell me what to believe, that's when it all goes to hell...so to speak.

No I am not religous. I am catholic and believe in most of it just don't go to mass very much.

that is exactly me. i was raised christian, but i have my doubts on the faith. i dont stand for some of the things it preaches. i have recently stumbled upon buddhism and am very interested in it.

i am not crazy about the word 'religious'. i think it puts unnecessary rules on your way of life. it takes away from the reason of spirituality. i do consider myself as spiritual. (Christianity)

Yes....

Again.

I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools. While I may not agree with some of the politics or some small aspects of the Church I still try to attend mass and I make an effort to volunteer my time.

However I can say my faith has tested and tempered by my time in the former Yoguslavia and my "almost" deployment to Rawanda.

This is pretty much how I feel about it, as well. I have a very active spiritual life, getting involved with activities within my church as well as a ministry to all "young adults" in my area that our youth pastor has the vision to begin and is very involved with....we have weekly "bible studies" where we'll focus on a verse or two of Scripture, and then apply it to our own lives (his favorite question to ask us is if Jesus (or another person of the Bible we're looking at) was present here in the North County (of San Diego) right now, what do you think s/he would be doing? What would their ministry look like? What can we do in our own lives to follow in their footsteps? We also try to do a "fun activity" once a month to enjoy fellowship with one another without being so "Scripture-focused"...we're going to Disneyland January 3! :) :D

You're all going to hell so what does it matter?

Sinners!!!

-Rudey
--Go Fornicate!

I was not raised with a religious or spiritual point of view. Now that I'm older, I do not subscribe to any religious or spiritual point of view. If I liked labels, I'd probably consider myself an atheist.

As my key chain I lost says.....
I'm not religious..I just love the Lord!

A different view...
 

I was raised Quaker, also known as the Religious Society of Friends. My family is an old Quaker family from Philadelphia that spans back many generations. I am always asked so many questions about Quakerism beacuse most people think that its similar to menonites, or amish. That is a common misconception, beacause Quakers are actually Christian and live just like anyone else. Mostly Quakers are extremely liberal, and my family is definately very liberal. Although it is a very wonderful religion, I dont' identify with it that strongly. My parents are both avid Quakers, however, I am not. Bet you never met a Quaker before, or maybe you have and you didn't know it!

I am Jewish but I never grew up religious. We went to temple for the holidays and once in a while on shabbat but that was it. I never had a Bat Mitzfah.
Now that I'm older, I still do celebrate Hanukkah and all the other holidays but I don't go to temple. So, I'm really not religious.

Grew up Catholic, but I do not consider myself religious. I consider myself agnostic (much to my family's dismay)

My parents are very devout, and naturally they raised my siblings and me in a Catholic household.
Growing up in that environment has helped me in my faith. I love being Catholic and am very involved in lots of ministries at my church.

Grew up in a lapsed Catholic household that sent me to Catholic schools and made me get confirmed. :p

I'm actually fairly religious, but I suck at attending Mass.

Yes, I am religious.

I grew up attending church regularly and was involved with all sorts of church activities (Girls in Action, choir for many years, etc.). Even when I went off to college, I went to church because it was comforting to me.

Now, I'm trying to find a new home church, but whenever I visit somewhere, they want to throw me in a Sunday school class for "Singles" or get me to teach urchin kids Sunday school. I'm not alright with either of those choices, so I have taken to doing my own Bible studies on Sunday mornings.

I'll stop boring all of you now, though :)

I'm not. My parents are a lapsed Catholic and a Methodist-turned-agnostic and they decided not to raise me or my sister with either of their religions. I went to church with my Catholic grandparents and Lutheran friends occasionally and even went to church camp one year but none of it really made sense to me when it came to actually believing it. I considered myself an atheist by the time I was 12 -- since then I've cycled through various stages of atheism, agnosticism and deism. I've yet to find any set of beliefs that appeals to me although these days they vary somewhere between agnosticism and deism.

I agree with most everyone-religion can get in the way.

My daughter says we may not be the most religious family, but we are a very spiritual family. That's as good an explanation as any.

Love thy neighbor as thyself! Kinda hard at times, but basically
says it all.

I'm with those who are uncomfortable with the term "religious".

I'm a born again believer in Jesus Christ, and lean on Him a LOT!! I pray daily, try to worship (be in communion with Him) daily, and try to be a good witness for Him in my daily living. I suppose some people would call that "religious".


ps - I've know a few Quakers, and admire them. I just don't understand their non-acknowledging the book of Revelation, though.

Since you ask, I am a convinced Roman Catholic. I believe that my faith was founded by and upon Christ, has come to us in unbroken line of succession from the Apostles to the present day, and contains the whole truth as revealed in scripture and tradition. and that faith is nourished by active participation in the Sacraments. I believe the message of Christ revolves around forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, and salvation. I am always happy to discuss my faith with anyone, but rather than try to shove my views on anyone I prefer to try and live my faith (no matter how ofter I fumble the attempt I still try to walk the walk and not only talk the talk) as my general statement of what I believe.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,
dekeguy

I am very religious as a Latter-Day Saint (Mormon). I grew up in a very Christian family and went from church to church even into college, trying to find the right place for me. I investigated many different denominations until I found the LDS church and truly found what I believe to be the absolute truth. I could almost put quotes around dekeguy's post and say ditto here, but the bottom line is that I know Christ is my savior and I do my best to live life like him ever second of every day!

I was raised Baptist. However, my senior year in high school I took it upon myself to find out about the "terrible" catholic church that I kept hearing so much about. So I attended a mass with some friends of mine that were catholic. I saw nothing wrong with it, what I had been told of the catholic church I found out was false as I saw for myself, and I rather enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much in fact I continued to go to mass every week with my friends. I even attended the youth group with them, and one even sponsored me in RCIA. That year at the Easter Vigil mass I was baptized, confirmed, and took my first communion. Very overwhelming and powerful experience and one I've never regretted. Unfortunately while I no longer attend mass as "religiously" as I once did, I do pray each day, I do read from my Bible, and do try to live a moral life to the best of my ability (to the best of my ability doenst mean that I am "holier than thou" and dont have my moments of sin because I certainly do). I also prefer to date other catholics as I am looking for that someone and I do intend to have a catholic wedding and raise my children in the catholic church, so whoever would have to be okay with that, eventhough most of my dad's side of the family and half of my mother's side of the family are in total disagreement..........(some even disowned me for leaving the Baptist church and joining the Catholic church but that's a separate story).

Seeker with atheist tendencies. I mainly stick with the unspoken atheist honor code. The core of it is to respect other's beliefs, institutions, and rituals.
That's one of the reasons that I'm an atheist, anyway. I have much respect for the ideals of the religion I was raised in (Catholicism), but I didn't accept them as my personal beliefs...refused to get confirmed.

I think it's so good that we (GCers) are honest about our beliefs and not trying to portray anything we don't believe in on this thread.

GPhiLlama , I have much more respect and understanding for people who are honest about their views than those who, for instance, would get confirmed because "it's the thing to do". You know there are a lot of young people who feel forced into it.

On the other hand there are people that would argue Confirmation gives you the added graces and this would have helped you in life.

Hypocrites come in all forms and religious hypocrites are the WORST! I applaud you for not mocking something (that means so much to many), by participating ONLY to appease others!

I was raised my my extremely catholic mom and my dad who would have been a priest except for my brother happening! :eek: My parents sent my brothers and I to catholic schools and whenever I go home I have to go to confession and mass. While I am at school I'm not very good about going to mass, but I do pray regularly and read the bible.

My mom really wants me to marry a nice catholic boy, but I'm currently dating just a regular christian (*GASP*...j/k). He's not very religious, so it works out well.

Although I don't agree with a lot of the tenets of the catholic church, I do consider myself a member.

You're all going to hell. Give it up!!! Convert to Heaven's Gate or face our wrath!!!

-Rudey
--http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/hgprofile.html

yes i am
 

i am a very devoted christian. i attend the church of christ. for you guys that dont know that church, its sort of a non denominational church, we believe in christianity, and stick to the bible as our teacher.

I used to not be very religious at all, but then I literally woke up one morning whistling a different tune. I'm completely serious...I was always aware of God, I just never really liked going to church because I felt uncomfortable. I called the people in religious groups "Bible bangers" for the same reason, and I didn't like to be around them. But I did a 180 not too long ago...not sure why, but I'm really glad.

Where did you find this? I'd be very interested in that website. Let's see.... well, I was raised by an agnostic mother and a lapsed Roman Catholic father... but they felt it was best not to expose me to religious influences until I was an adult.

As it turns out, I believe in God, and I do have some very strong religious beliefs... but I actually don't know what religion I "fall most in line with". I've done some studying and it sounds like I'm closest to the beliefs of the Latter Day Saints.... but that seems odd, as I've never been exposed to them except in research.

Heaven's gate!!!

-Rudey

I was born and raise Baptist, with religion being an integral part of my family. I now attend a non-denominational church (Bible based teachings) and have REALLY grown in my faith and walk with the Lord over this last year.

:D

I have huge issues with BeliefNet because it assumes that you want to mix religion with politics. If I take it giving the strict Catholic answers, Catholicism comes up as my first choice. If I take it giving the strict Catholic answers except for male/female roles, abortion, and homosexuality, it either tells me to be a Mormon, an Orthodox Jew, or a Jehovah's Witness. I find it hard to believe that those faiths are more accepting of divorce and gays than the Catholic Church.

I was originally baptized Lutheran, but when I was in 2nd grade, my parents decided they had a problem with our church and decided to look into other churches. My dad stumbled upon Willow Creek Community Church, and we started attending. I've never consistently went to a youth group, but we almost always go to church on Sundays (we of course, like normal people, run behind or have had the wonderful park district schedule my soccer games to interfere with church). When I turned 18, my dad decided that it was time to get re-baptized. We did it as a family and it was a very powerful experience.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Willow Creek, yes, it is that mega church in the Chicago suburbs that half the people think is a cult because it's so big.

Since then, I think I've grown in my relationship with God, but I'm having a really hard time finding a church that I enjoy as much. I know that's pretty sad, but it's the truth. I've found a Willow Creek Association church that's not so bad, but I'm really tired of how the pastor is always bringing up [strong southern accent]Ni-ane one one[/ssa] and [ssa]the Crew-uh of the Space Shuttle Col-um-bi-ah![/ssa]. Maybe it's just me, but I'm kinda tired of how he seems to dwell on the big bad event of the day.

selectsmart.com has a good group of religion surveys. I don't take them very seriously, but if I was looking for at least a group of belief systems to investigate further, I'd look there. All of them say that I should be a Unitarian--and if I was interested in being a Christian, I would go with them.

GP, the Witnesses also have a questionable stance on male/female roles, and much of their literature is directly anti-Catholic. It's interesting that Beliefnet believes them similar.