Trying to find my spot

@zenki08 (700)
Philippines
February 10, 2011 9:45pm CST
I am a catholic not by choice but by ancestral beliefs. My whole family are catholics. Even before I have had a lot of questions regarding my religion. Not that I question my faith in God but what I question is my religion. And as I have observed many practices are really not in the Bible but are man made practices and traditions. To be honest I do not agree with most of them. I have decided to just pray by myself rather than go to church and I have lessened my attendance in our charismatic community because of the questions that linger in my mind. Am I alone in this thinking? Or do you also question your religion?
8 responses
@ckyera (17331)
• Philippines
11 Feb 11
Hi zenki! I guess there's nothing wrong in questioning coz from there you will find the truth. As for myself, sometimes I also have some questions about the religion that I am with, but all these have been answered. Answers that didn't base on opinions or any tradition or culture, answers that all based on the Bible (well I am a Bible believer) which strengthens my faith even more. I wish you could find what your heart is looking for and find the answers to your questions. I think there will be nothing wrong if you do some research on other religion as well, who knows you can find the answers from there.
@zenki08 (700)
• Philippines
11 Feb 11
Yes that is true. There is really nothing wrong in looking into other religions.
• United States
11 Feb 11
I guess it could be said I gave up on religion long ago...I never approached religion as a hereditary item, I questioned everything and took what worked for me and left the rest. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that if one had a personal relationship with God, or whatever name you choose to call this higher power by, there was no need for anyone to interpret this higher power's words for me, as by the expression of the relationship we share, whatever I did not understand immediately, would be made clear to me when it was the right time. It's kinda of like realizing that being told to pick up my socks doesn't mean I should be telling everyone else to pick up theirs. I have issues with seeing million dollar buildings going up with expensive decor when there is so much that needs to be done to help each other live in this world. How can anyone hold a Higher Power within four walls? How can one participate in a personal relationship when so many are demanding each other's attention? However, I also don't see a need to cease participating in the activities you may enjoy, or make you feel fulfilled, as long as you feel comfortable doing so. I've often thought that so often those of us who pray are actually asking for things while 'singing his praises', and that a simple conversation might be rather refreshing for someone who has more worries than I...everything from 'boy was it cold this morning' to 'I saw the cutest dog today...'
@zenki08 (700)
• Philippines
11 Feb 11
A very good response my friends. All you said is true. Thank you!
@1hopefulman (45120)
• Canada
12 Feb 11
I think We should all read the Bible for ourselves and scrutinize our religion as to whether the two harmonize. If it does, well and good. If it doesn't, we should pray and search for one that does. Too much is at stake to just go by the religion we were in. What if we were born in a family of cannibals?
@bird123 (10643)
• United States
11 Feb 11
To discover the real truth, one must question everything even long held beliefs. Religion does not really understand God. Maybe one day, if you continue to question, you will.
@zenki08 (700)
• Philippines
11 Feb 11
Thanks for the reply. My state of mind regarding my religion can be described as floating. I really do hope I find the answers.
@Sunehant (57)
• India
11 Feb 11
It is a nice topic to discuss on. What is religion? I believe in God as a supreme power to control our lives. He is one and unanimous. Religion is man made and we human beings are solely responsible of creating it. There is one supreme power of which we are smaller souls grabbed in a body. Instead of believing in religion , I stand for humanity. Giving money to various religious organizations, I would rather prefer to help the needy.
• Morocco
13 Feb 11
first of all i am muslim and from an islamic country, i was raised to become who i am now, i think that in the whole world people are raised to become like their parents without learning the real truth about their religions, at the age of 20 i started to read the quran frequently which was one of the things that my parents were supposed to make it a habit for me, anyway it wasn't to late, so i started to educate myself on my religion and i discovered that a lot of beliefs that are famous are man made as you said, and when i say or do anything that people are not familiar with i am called the weird one. to overcome this problem i try to limit my conversations on this topics to the minimum, and live by my beliefs watherver was the cost. that's my first reply here as you can see english is not my first or second langage so pardon any faults,i am hoping to improve my english with you.
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
11 Feb 11
Just like you, i too noticed those too , way back years ago when i turned to the bible for having a big problem before. But, that didn't lessen my Catholic faith, although i wasn't doing some practices of the Catholics anymore. Though, i always see to it that i attend those Sunday masses and important occasional masses. I am now into more prayers by myself.
@nj_1022 (251)
11 Feb 11
You are not alone. A lot of catholics or even non catholics experience the same thing. It is not important what religion you are in but what is most important is where are you comfortable with. And it is important in any religion on how you communicate with God by yourself alone.