Gamerforlife wrote: Ultimately, you don't need a religion to worship or believe in God. However, religion is a crutch that some people just need. True independence is not something they can handle so they need an organization or a book telling them how to live their life. If it helps them live a positive life, than I'm okay with that. More power to them
Everybody has some good points on the religion discussion, including that article. Great stuff guys. However, I picked this out of GFL's post because, well, it offends me. He says it in a positive light, but it still comes off as condescending, as if I'm weak for being religious. I doubt that was the intention, but that is how it makes me feel.
I've grown up in the Church and all, and my family has always been religious. But we're looser about it then some, but not as loose as most. My Dad is big on going to Church, but he's not one to force you or really cares either way. He does it for him. My mom is big on going to Church, because she grew up Christian, but without the Church. My mother's whole side of the family follows that, family based Christianity. I never really understood it until later- its a certain sect of Christianity that they followed, which didn't use the Church system, and had some other rules- women could only cut their hair in certain situations, some other stuff I never understood. My grandpa followed this, besides the added rules. That realllly has rubbed off on me. I believe that, to an extent, the current Church system isn't well designed. Setting up a Priest or Preacher, someone who is wrongfully shown as somehow closer to God, seems wrong to me.
Anyways, I had a time when I was around 12 or so, around the same time I got confirmed, when I questioned all of this. It was also a time I dealt with many other issues. The whole idealism that there might not be something higher hit me hard. Why live then? Why go through life if all we are here to do is eat, shit, fuck and die with no meaning in our life? I also began to question morals. Many morals originated in religion, but why do we have morals? Who decided what is wrong? Why is murder, racism, and hate wrong? Arguably it hurts people. But if nothing in life is really important, than who cares if you hurt someone if it makes you happy?... I was one of those people in my thoughts, and I became depressed, considering suicide and such. (I sat there once with a knife on my wrist for 30 minutes, contemplating it, but deciding not to seeing as my Mom came home.) Family took notice, suddenly got more religious with me, talked things out with me. It helped, and the idealism that there is something past life led to an end of me wanting suicide- that's something I couldn't ask forgiveness for.
But overall, I believe Religion is at the family level, and should be shared between families, although I do believe that Christianity and most religion would die out if that was the case. A conundrum for me.
