I Do Not Understand This...

Well, Firstly we don't always SEE the discussions and then they tend to get 'buried' quickly. For myself, I hover between Zoroastrianism and Liberal Christianity, I have been a 'dweller on the fringes' most of my life and it seems set to continue. As a liberal Christian I accept Jesus of Nazareth as a teacher and leader, I am agnostic as far as the whole 'God in the flesh' doctrine goes and really I am not certain what it adds unless we posit an angry God needing a sacrifice. As a Zoroastrian I accept that Ahura Mazda loves me and wants me to progress to become more like Her/Him, that the great struggle in life is between the 'Truth' and the 'Lie' and that as human-beings we fight that fight every day both in our own lives and in our world.

Hi byfaithonly, Perhabs, your discussion is too personal for some of them to response. Or perhabs, they are just not comfortable to response on the topic you brought up. Be happy my friend, enjoy commute in MyLot, and have a blessed day, today.

Yes I remember your discussion on different religious beliefs. No surely not there must be a lot more Christians on mylot I do ot know about Pagans, it is strange that not many members responded to you maybe they do not like to talk about their religious beliefs. I did tell you what mine was though

I lean towards Buddhism but do not really belong to a formal religious group. Buddhism, based on the teachings of the Buddha dose not subscribe to the belief in a god or an afterlife. The Buddha cautioned people not to concern themselves about things like god or an after life, that they could not really know. He taught instead, that you should live this life and try to do no harm.

I am a nonedenominational christian I do not follow denominations due to the fact that i have found some things in all of them that I dont feel is true to the cause of christ !many of them have allowed the almighty dollar to replace almighty God!

A lot of people don't like discussing religion. It either makes them feel uncomfortable or they are afraid that people will bash them. I don't care what people think about me. But I know there are a lot of people who do.

I think many people are overwhelmed with the idea of defending thier faith, or trying to put into words why they believe what they believe. Maybe they should try though, you don't truly believe something (I feel) until it has been questioned and you not only stand your ground, but can get your point of view stated clearly and efficently without contradicting your beliefs. Many people say "I am Christian" but are ignorant of what all that entails, and know that they are, so they would automatically shy away from a topic like that. I'll have to look up your topic when I have time, and I'll respond. (:

I am Muslim (follower of Islam) and I have answered so many posts similar to yours I felt compelled to take a break and let my other sisters and brothers here on mylot take over. However, I guess its not so - LOL! Islam is a religion based on the Gospel (Old Testament) and the Torah (Hebrew Testament) which together make the Koran (Quran) that we folow. We believe in praying to one God - Allah is arabic for One God (Most merciful, Most Gracious) - not a separate supreme being as many are lead to believe. We follow the teachings of all the Prophets leading to Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) who spread the Word of Allah (MM,MG) to the idolator arabic tribes. We believe in the his predecessor, Jesus the Christ (Peace Be Upon Him)'s virgin birth and give respect to the Virgin Mary. We follow the Pillars of Faith - To pray five times daily so as not to forget Allah (MM,MG), to give charity regularly, to fast in the Holy Month of Ramadan from daybreak to dusk for 30 days, and to make at least one trip to Mecca on Hajj to cleanse ourselves of Wordly sins and renew and strengthen our Faith in following Allah's Word in the The Koran.

Well people tend to avoid this topic because lets just say its a "Delicate" subject that can often cause rift between community members and then eventually get's deleted by myLot. Well I'm a Muslim and proud to be one. However if you are genuinely interested in Islam and it's teachings please visit these three sites: http://www.islamcan.com / http://www.missionislam.com and http://www.islamtomorrow.com .The reason I have given you the websites are because if I start about the religion, it will never end. So if you are just curious just visit those websites and they will tell you what Islam is about. Peace :)

hi Religion is a huge topic to talk about... And many will have their own interpretation about the meanings of religion... Hence nobady shares his/her point of view because they often clash and tend to have arguments.. To share about my religion.. I am a HINDU.. The most complicated in my point of view... also 1 thing to notice in our religion is that it is parhaps(I never came across any other religion) the only religion which is very closely attached to nature... there is a lot of cause and effect theories in our VEDAs(scripts).. some people see it as superstitions... but all this is true... and its something that can't be captured in words... one needs to experience it... for example .. i can right a 1000 words on hunger.. but till you experience it you will not know what exactly hunger is.... NOTE: All things said above is just a point of view.. this has no relation with any thing, person, or religion or any thing to do with offending anybody... any similarities with any incidents, circumstanes, statements,etc.. is just a co incident and nothing more.

Asking about the religion and then about praying is like asking what kind of car someone has, and then about what they like about driving it. It's easier for people to explain how they like something or do something like praying than it is to explain their religious beliefs. Sometimes, religious beliefs are so very personal that people haven't even explained them to themselves. Hope that all made sense.

I don't really have any religion. I was born and raised a Catholic and found that there were just too many things that didn't make sense in that religion. I also tried seventh day adventist and it seemed to make more sense but still not exactly right in my mind. Now I am not any particular religion. I do believe in God and that there are angels that guard over us. So right now I worship God by treating people the way they should be treated, helping them when they need help and I do talk to God.

I think there are more religious denominations here. The problem is that users might not just have caught your discussion regarding it. I'm a Christian, by the way.

Thanks Byfaithonly for starting this discussion! It has been most enlightening for me to see how real people hold their beliefs dearly, in such personal ways, as opposed to reading a dispassionate description of religion one tends to see elsewhere..... Personally, I'm still on a spiritual quest - I'm currently agnostic, I think God exists, though in what form, I don't know. I do believe in karma. Technically, I consider myself somewhere between a "deist" and a "pantheist" - a lot depends on what I am thinking, experiencing and feeling at any point in time. Haha I better explain the terminology..... A "theist" believes in a supernatural intelligence who, after creating the universe, is still around to oversee and influence the fate of his initial creation. In many theistic belief systems, the deity is intimately involved in human affairs, such as answering prayers, forgiving sins, intervening in the world by performing miracles.... A "deist", too, believes in a supernatural intelligence, but one whose activities were confined to setting up the laws that govern the universe in the 1st place. The deist God never intervenes thereafter, and has no specific interest in human affairs. Examples of deists include Voltaire, Diderot and Jefferson. "Pantheists" don't believe in a supernatural God at all, but use the word God as a non-supernatural synonym for Nature, or for the Universe, or for the lawfulness that governs its workings. Famous pantheists include Spinoza, Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan and Einstein (much controversy arises out of Einstein's true leanings on this matter). Deists differ from atheists in that their God does not answer prayers, is not interested in sins or confessions, does not read our thoughts and does not intervene with miracles. Deists differ from pantheists in that the deist God is some kind of cosmic intelligence, rather than the pantheist's metaphoric synonym for the laws of the universe. Have I confused you? :) Cheers! Andre www.theultimatesuccessmanual.com

Hi! I didn't see your other threads.. or at least I don't think I did! It's in the realm of possibility I could've responded and forgot all about it! But I don't think so.. Even though I believe there is truth in all our world religions, I consider myself a "born-again" christian. I have come to believe God Himself is our salvation. And we can draw close to him through Jesus, His Son, the "Firstborn of aLL creation", the only straight out from God one, called "the decree" in Psalm Two. I believe we have one 'rule' - to "love God". By doing this He draws us close to himself and fills us with himself.. (His influence rubs off on us!) and we find ourselves truly loving our fellow person.. more and more, and "love does no harm.." - I think if we pursue God, and the Lord, He can accomplish what he wants to in our life. But even more than that, I have found great peace thus joy in realizing that the only possible 'end' result of all this (human history, etc) can only be, ultimately, the absolutely most Perfect end result.. For I believe God is both Perfection, and Life (Who has done all things Perfectly for the most perfect outcome).

Pagan - please define that term. To a person you consider a pagan, would you not be a pagan? Religion bashing is something that is quite prevalent on the internet. There are as many religions in this world as there are and have been people. Each follows his/her own interpretation of any particular faith

Hi there, I'm of a non-mainstream religion, but because of misconceptions about it I am rather unwilling to go into details. It is not one of the one's listed above. Perhaps other people with non-mainstream beliefs feel the same way and are unwilling to respond on this topic.

Some people look at these discussions as room to argue. Inevitably someone from one religion takes something another person of a different religion too seriously. Thus a battle of the religions start, and I'd rather avoid the headache. A lot of people don't want to get drawn into it. Not that your discussion topic isn't good, because it is. I just think these happen to be some of the reasons you got a skewed result for your question.

Hello I only joined this site today so am new at this, but wanted to respond to your posting.I came to know the Lord when I was 51 and am now 61, so ten years of walking with him. I am thankful to belong to a Church that teaches from scripture - the truth from God's word. We use the KJ version of the Bible.Before I knew the Lord my life was a mess, I was in a very dark place. I'm not saying my life is not difficult at times now but living for him and letting him guide me through life by submitting my will to him has made all the difference.I am filled with peace joy and love like I never experienced before.In other words not a religion but a personal relationship with a living God. I belong to a small but loving Church family. My pastor's joy is to see us grow in the Lord.

I haven't been able to get on myLot much over the last couple of weeks. I have been so busy. I will have to go back and check those out. I have often wanted to know the answers to that question as well.