Why did you choose your particular religion?

[Anonymous]

Just curious...

With all the talk about the Pope, it reminded me of all the stuff in the past concerning Catholics.  Like all the (seemed like thousands) cases of priests having sex with children.  Catholics not allowing birth control or condom use in places like Africa where there are millions of people living and breeding in areas that can sustain something like 20 people.  They talk a good story of humility, chastity, and giving everything to the poor.     But the bottom line seems to be power, wealth, greed, increasing their membership numbers, and many other negative traits.  The Catholic church has assets in the trillions of dollars range.  There seems to be more corruption than Enron and Worldcom.  Seems to be more of a business than a religion.

What is it you Catholics see in your religion?  Why do you stick to it?

Sorry to come down only on Catholics but they seem to make the news more than the others.  

Why do you others follow your particular religion.  What is it about being a Baptist, Mormon, Methodist, Buddist, Muslim, that you like?

A curious mind wants to know...

[john]

I think this hole has been fished out.

[Daniely]

three simple words...

Born Into It

[Michael]

I agree with John.
But I am curious why you feel the need to keep asking these controversial issues.  You ask for people's opinions then smack them down for expressing them.  If you are genuinely trying to find answers, I wish you well and admire your forthrightness.  But I suspect you are just trying to stir the pot, in which case I think your responses are uncharitable.
And in answer to your question, I think people, myself included, adhere to a particular belief system (organised religions are just one way of expressing this) because it makes the most sense of their world.

[Anonymous]

Nice fish... Muskie?

[indestructibleman]

They talk a good story of humility, chastity, and giving everything to the poor.     But the bottom line seems to be power, wealth, greed, increasing their membership numbers, and many other negative traits

you could apply those statements to nearly any organized religion.  and i would argue that any religious organization of sufficient size will have these problems at one level or another.

i imagine that most religious people are looking for the same things; community, a sense of meaning, the comfort of tradition, and in too many cases, an excuse to look down on others.

compare the corruption and power of the catholic church, to the works of someone like Pat Robertson, who used federal money from the Faith Based Initiatives to help fund his for profit diamond mine.

in too many cases, the people who are in positions of power want to be there for the wrong reasons.

cheers,
will


"What you teach is the word of man.  Man is holy, and the true god, the living god, is man himself.  You will have no gods but yourselves; the days in which you believed in other gods end now, they end forever."
--Philip K. duck, Valis

[indestructibleman]

and to answer your question in general.  my religion, if i have one, is that i believe in myself.

i have my own trinity.  i believe in myself, my loved ones, and humanity.

in the final analysis, i'm the only thing in this world i can really be certain of, and so i place my faith foremost in myself.

i believe there is a creator, but i don't pretend to know anything about it.  it's not really something that factors into my daily life.

now, what church do you follow?  we'll see how long it takes one of us to find corruption and scandals with which to question your religion.

cheers,
will

[davipu]

he's a southern baptist, don't ja know.

[Ed_in_Az]

 

[Anonymous]

Personally I'm with indestructableman on this one.  All I know is ME.  All I trust is ME (OK, my wife too, she's the best... OK, and my parents...).  I'm not religious at all.  Too many flaws for my taste.  I don't however have much faith in humanity (defined as mankind).  Sure everyone deserves an equal shot but most don't run with it.  Too many are corrupt and out for only themselves.  I'm not very trusting, I've seen the bad in too many people.

I truly DO just want to know WHY people follow one or the other denomination or sect.  Why they give their life (and sometimes a lot of their money) to any one group.

You see, to say the religion is good but the people running it are bad doesn't make any sense to me.  The people running it IS the religion.  They're the ones making the rules (interpreting them anyway), they're the ones who have made it to the top, so it follows that they are to be considered the "best" of the religion.  And it seems that many are corrupt.  Like the CEO of a company or the board of directors, they call the shots, direct the way the company runs, the direction it takes.  They decide whether it's an honest company of not.

I wanted to know WHY they believed in God too.  My explaining my views is putting people down?  Oh well, sorry you see it that way.  Thicken your skin a bit and make a better argument.  Something besides "you just have to believe or have faith".  That doesn't cut it.

You know, the more I learn about how the world works.  I mean the details.  How genes make the proteins and how higher level animals genes can transpose sequences to make other proteins.  How it's the folding of a protien that matters more than what it's actually made of.  How matter is 99% hollow.  How the laws of physics break down at very large and small distances.  How amazing an eye is, a cell is.  How complex the brain is at the molecular level.  How a star can burn for billions of years fusing larger and larger atoms making all the naturally occuring elements.  I just can't imagine that "some guy" built it and that "he" just popped out of nothing.  And if there is such a guy, that he is actually worried about what I'm doing with my life.  It's like me worrying what some colony of bacteria is doing and punishing it if it doesn't follow my rules.  We must be completely meaningless to any such being.  Man is so arrogant to believe he's so important.

Sure, I like to stir the pot, post contriversial questions.  Why not?  Don't you like to think?  Don't you WANT to hear others opinions?  Or, do you just want to live life with blinders and rose colored glasses?  And ban free speach just because you don't like whats being said...  Personally, I enjoy letting the fur fly ocassionally.

So come on...  Step up to the plate...  Don't be a spectator...  Say something...  Tell us how you feel and why.

Start a new thread with a controversial subject.  You keep hearing about the big three from me because they're universally controversial.  Pick something new.

[cernunos]

Joe, why don't you just go out and ride on the freeway for awhile...clear the cobwebs and quit worrying about why one is black the other is blue some woman doesn't want you another likes HD a guy with a beard has some type of faith that one smokes pot those are on welfare...ad naus e u m. Bet you get in a lotta fights. Do you have anything positive to say? Love the GS500 screamer and this forum.

C.......

[Cal Price]

Hey Joe (Appologies to Jimmy Hendrix) if you are looking for arguments and heated debate that befit the forum, how about Cernunos' "Everybody should own a HD at least once" statement.

As for religion, well I'm not religious either, nor do I smoke but I don't mind walking into a smokey bar now and again.

[Jeppy]

I'm with Will on this one. I'm sure there is some sort of creator but I don't let it run my life or let any organized relgion. I figure you should enjoy every day as if it was your last day living. I don't smoke or drink....well...I don't drink that often. I figure your here for a short period of time and you better make the best of it.

[Anonymous]

c,

Happy doesn't sell newspapers.  

I don't "wory" about this stuff.  In fact once I leave this forum it's pretty much forgotten and my life goes on.  I think about a lot of things, and yes, occasionally it's religion, God, politics, illegal immigrants, whatever else I've talked about here.  These are all in the news.  When I see a story I become curious.  Then I do some checking.  Then I make my OWN opinion.  But I DO NOT sit at home and fume over this and that.

And no, I haven't been in a fight since high school.  But, I DO have opinions and I'm NOT afraid to state them.  And I won't back down unless you can change my mind.  And nobody here has come up with any argument good enough to do that.  I want facts, studies, raw numbers, supply them!  I do.  Sure, your points about don't hurt, or force, and whatever else is fine and dandy in a perfect world/society but we're not living there.  10 million illegals are stealing jobs and money from this country, yes, it makes me angry.  I want to FORCE them out.  Gays disgust me, they just do, their lifestyle is a danger to the health of society, and all the "let them do what they want" talk in the world won't change that.  I'll NEVER approve of their marrying.  I think religion is a big con-job and they take advantage of peoples gullability for their own gain.

I can't believe that there is NOTHING that bothers/annoys you or the others here.  Are you all that mellow and approving?  How can ANYTHING go?  How can you not have limits to behavior?  Do your kids run around wild, doing as they wish, running your household?  If it's OK to control your kids behavior why not control the behavior of others who do the "wrong" things.  Don't you teach your kids morals?  Maybe we need to teach these people morals too.

You want happy...  Yesterday the wife and I went for a nice long 100+ mile ride.  We went down some county roads we'd never ridden before and saw new and exciting sights.  I made a delicious rib roast and she made a wonderful cheesecake for dessert.  The temperature was a gorgeous 82 and partly cloudy.  Today we'll take another cruise just for a sandwich.  That will give us a good excuse for another long trip.  Again, we'll probably look for a new route that will take us through new areas and new roads.  Life is good.

Cal,

Go ahead and start it, ask why everyone should own a Harley.  Personally it's not for me.  They're too heavy.  I like my nice light GS.  OK, here is some negative...  I also hope the quality has gone up.  In my day, the 60-70s, they leaked constantly and everytime a group of us went out with some Harleys at least one would break down.  We always needed a follower truck.  OK, maybe not EVERY time one broke down, but often enough to need a truck.

Cal, what's with your King and Queen anyway?  What does a modern country need with royalty anyway?  Just something to talk about?  Someone to hammer in the tabloids?  A place to send a bunch of taxpayer money?  I don't get it and I'm sure you'd all be better off if this WAS your last King/Queen.  Is that negative too?

Jeppy,

Everyone can't do that.  Only kids with no responsibilities.  

Once you have a family you need to start planing for the future.  That doesn't mean you stop having fun, it means you MUST start living for the future.  If not, you have a LOT of pissed off people when you die.  

And yes, make the best of it while you're here!  Yes, you could die tomorrow but the odds are against it.  You plan and save for the future so you can enjoy yourself when you have the time (stop working and the kids move out).  Like me.  In May we're going to N. GA. to a condo in the mountains for a week.  I'm taking my GS to ride the mountain roads.  In July we're going on a long 3+ week road trip out west to see relatives in CA, OR, and WA and up into Canada to Jasper.  On the way we'll stop to see things, take side trips, and see all we can.  In October we're going on a cruise.  You see, you need to moderate your life.  You need to have SOME fun now and put some money away for the future so you CAN retire and when you retire you can have some fun.  At least that's what I did.  I'm 46 now and I'm having the best time of my life because I'm free again (no work/school every day) AND I have some money to go and have fun.  I've been retired for 5 years and I'm loving it!

BTW, love the girl, put up a color version...

Now, lets get back to the subject at hand...

[john]

[octane]

Oooooowww, salmon!

[Ed_in_Az]

 

[Jeff P]

joe your problem, which is shared among people who make statements like those in your first post, is that you have no idea what you're talking about.  

"But the bottom line seems to be power, wealth, greed, increasing their membership numbers, and many other negative traits."  This is just plain ignorant.  Go to a Sunday mass and see for yourself.  There is no talk of power, greed, "increasing membership" (unless you count Baptism in that   ) or "other negative traits".  

What there is is plenty of talk about helping your neighbor, "peace be with you", forgiveness, loving and respecting your spouse, raising your kids right, etc.  Yeah you're right, Catholicism is really just about power and corruption  

jeff

[indestructibleman]

sorry, Jeff.  i have to disagree.  there is a lot of power and corruption in the church.  clearly the number of scandals that have come to light involving the Catholic Church should make that clear.

every person who contributes to the church in anyway should be concerned about the fact that their contributions have helped to protect child abusers and to prevent condom use in underdeveloped nations.

however, you have to weigh that against the huge amount of charity done by the Catholic Church.  you also have to weigh that against the sense of belonging and community that it gives to millions of people.

i personally don't think that organized religion is necessary, but it does do a lot of good for a lot of people.  it serves an important function for many many people.  i'm not ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but i do think that there are problems that need to be addressed.

cheers,
will

[Jeff P]

You're sort of making my point.  My point is that on the local level, the personal level, the church isn't about power/corruption/greed/insertotherbadthinghere.  Yes, it bothers me the way some of the problems have been handled, or not handled in some cases.  I don't agree with the Church's actions at times and stances on certain issues (what!?  you mean Catholics aren't one big monolithic group?)

But to point to the problems in the "organization" if you want to call it that and say that somehow taints the experience of your average churchgoer, that those problems have anything to do at all with the Church's teachings about living morally, caring for others, forgiveness, etc, is just misguided.  That's my point.  

Afterall plenty of us are still proud Americans despite the corruption in our own government, aren't we?

jeff