Why are you religious? (Poll)

I chose option 3. Already told my tale on this forum a few times, no need to bore everyone again.

As a child I went to church more than my parents. Very often my dad would drop me off at the church in the morning and I'd ride with someone else home. They believed, yes, but my mom was the only one who attended occasionally. Growing up there was a degree of social acceptance for my religious belief but this was mostly in the home and in the church itself. Very often people at school, for example, would make fun of me because of my belief and moral code. However, during this time growing up I had my doubts on certain topics. The only supernatural event that I believed to be true was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As far as a fear of hell or desire for heaven, not so much. I did not lay awake at night fearing hell. My thoughts did concentrate much more toward heaven certainly, but I would not say that this was the cause of my belief. Then, what is it? Looking back at my life I'd argue that all of the above helped influence my desire to pursue Christianity but none were direct causes. These days, I will follow Christ regardless of the beliefs of my family and friends, I will preach the gospel of Christ regardless of whether it is socially acceptable, and I would worship God even if I were possible for me to be cut off from salvation. I follow Christ because he rose from the dead, this changed me life, and I can do nothing but worship him with my life.mindstorm

I'm guessing number 3 then?

I'm guessing number 3 then?

tenaka2

Perhaps "Genuine trust" works better.

Im athiest, though I have had a relationship with a very religious girl. She was religious because of the way her church helped her and others, and how close knit the church community was. She felt that something was bringing all these good people together and helping them turn lives around, like there was a guiding hand in her life.

'Cuz I'm scared that God will hurt me if I don't!

And I don't know if he's really there or not. Better safe than sorry, right?

Rikusaki

pascals wager?

[QUOTE="Rikusaki"]

'Cuz I'm scared that God will hurt me if I don't!

And I don't know if he's really there or not. Better safe than sorry, right?

spawnassasin

pascals wager?

Na, what are the odds of that :P

Atheist ftw! :3

I am a deist, therefore I'm not a religious person.

I guess I fall under agnostic.

I was raised Christian (non-denominational), but currently profess agnosticism while maintaining a few Christian-influenced principles.

I have a great fondness for much of the New Testament, but I perceive the Bible as having too many faults to acknowledge as a wholly divine work. (Primarily the notions of genocide when dealing with the Canaanites, outlandish laws, divinely commanded filicide in the case of Abraham and Isaac, and numerous other things.)

I'm not. I'm not one of those agnostic or atheist types either. I'm just a bit indifferent towards it in general.

I'm not. I'm not one of those agnostic or atheist types either. I'm just a bit indifferent towards it in general.

Suzy_Q_Kazoo

[QUOTE="Suzy_Q_Kazoo"]

I'm not. I'm not one of those agnostic or atheist types either. I'm just a bit indifferent towards it in general.

surrealnumber5

[QUOTE="surrealnumber5"]

[QUOTE="Suzy_Q_Kazoo"]

I'm not. I'm not one of those agnostic or atheist types either. I'm just a bit indifferent towards it in general.

Suzy_Q_Kazoo

I feel bad for people who chose the 5th optionsMephers

why

Grab some popcorn. This'll be a long one. :P

I read three of the four Gospels [in today's Bibles] and by the time I got to the Gospel of John, I saw a Jesus that bore only a faint resemblence to the one that's presented in the Gospel of Mark. I already knew that the Qur'an spoke about him, so I decided to read it to see if its ideas about him were more reasonable. Not only did it make more sense, but I found myself greatly impressed with how the Qur'an describes the nature of God because it made so much sense. It made sense to me that God could not be similar to his creation because in order to have always existed, he'd be far beyond any materialistic aspects. So this lead me thinking that, if that's true, He does not have a son, daughter or partner and any attempt to associate humanistic attributes to Him is utterly blasphemous. I found myself in agreement with those things because, as an atheist, I never could understand why any religion would approve of their god/goddess being put in pictures, paintings, etc.

The Qur'an regularly challenges its readers to reflect on things. If there is a God, why would he give us common sense if he wanted us to ignore it? a logical God wouldn't be dumb enough to ask us to just pray about it because prayer is not good for everything; for example, do I need to pray about whether 2 plus 2 is 4? I could not relate to any religion that said "just ask so-and-so if this book is true and he'll come into your heart". An infinitely intelligent God would want us to use our brains.

Then I came across some of the scientific and historical claims and found that, in all likelihood, these things couldn't have been known by a mere human, so Muhammad [p.b.u.h] must have gotten this information from an outside source. Who better to tell you things about cosmology, geology, embryology and history than God Himself? I'm a person who values integrity, so I have to go in the direction of truth even if it's a place I don't want to go. I accepted Islam because I'm convinced that it's the path that has been revealed to all of God's prophets (from Adam to Muhammad [p.b.u.t].

[QUOTE="dracula_16"]Then I came across some of the scientific and historical claims and found that, in all likelihood, these things couldn't have been known by a mere human, so Muhammad [p.b.u.h] must have gotten this information from an outside source. Who better to tell you things about cosmology, geology, embryology and history than God Himself?ohgodohman

Behold, however, how those who are but a creation of His Will and Command have turned aside from Him and have taken unto themselves a lord and master beside God; these, truly, are of the wayward. They truly have strayed and are in error. They read the verses and deny them. They behold clear tokens and turn aside. They truly are lost in strange doubt. - Baha'u'llah

So it's about about half athiest/agnostic and half religous. If this represents the gamespot community in general, than I'm not surprised there's so much "debate".

So it's about about half athiest/agnostic and half religous. If this represents the gamespot community in general, than I'm not surprised there's so much "debate".

gameking5000

religion politics and sports, there will always be debate