• quietone said on Feb 09, 2008....

  I think there is a difference of course between "religion" and belief, christianity, faith.  You can have all or none of these or a combination..or even one..a belief.  I don't think anyone needs "religion" to have faith in God.  I don't "belong" to any type of church/religion..but I sure do believe in God.  Does that make sense to you?

• Quna said on Feb 09, 2008....

  That maks much sense, thank you:) I guess, I'm in that state right now. I'm not even sure if I should worry about it. It's just that I had never felt like that before, so I'm not used to it:)

• skald said on Feb 09, 2008....

  Quna.  When asked my nation says they are believers and Christians. But we are so unconventional most of us. We don't go to church unless when there are weddings, chirstenings,conformations. funerals or at Christmas. Yes you can have your faith and still not believe in all those old things that are in the Bible. Things that were explained to people thousands, two and three thousand years ago.  If you have good morals to guide you, you will be O,K, The ten commands are always right. I could go on and on but I don't know if I can come clear. The good is what I believe in and what to believe in. My grandparents believed and it was modest and good.  My grandfather said he did not like religion that was fanatical. I agree with him. I don't  

• Lucytorial said on Feb 09, 2008....

  It is after all a god given right to question, to seek knowledge and wisdom wether that follows a doctrine or not matters very little.  I say keep questioning D6, it means that you are interested, searching and wanting to understand make things of equalibrian in your own mind and world.... no doctrine can do that I believe... regardless of being atheist or not my beliefs are well founded, I have asked and asked and am still asking questions... of my self and of others who believe in different religions... 

• dyingman said on Feb 09, 2008....

  Once you get over the anxiety of it, you may like this faith of yours more. I suspect the priest was angry as he felt you thought you should be choosing someone to confess to as if there needed to be some kind of "fit". If this is Catholicism, all priests are capable and you simply pick the first available in order to rid yourself of sin ASAP. The thought of finding one smacks of the stories I've heard of finding a priest that orders very lenient penance and this may cheese off some priests who aren't so lax. I look for mercy from God knowing I'm wrong about what I believe and ask for understanding that the conflicting messages I get from the myriad faiths across the globe leave a hapless mortal very confused and I can only do my best to elucidate the truth as best I can. My effort to seek the nature of God is my gift to him, as unworthy as the end result may be, the intent to find the truth is fairly pure. Welcome to a potentially rewarding journey.

• lfbno7 said on Feb 09, 2008....

  I'd love to find a religion that fulfilled me, but there is no such thing. I'm not interested in made-up stories. I don't need anyone to tell me the difference between right and wrong, because there is nobody in this world who can do that better than I can. No priest, no rabbi, no pope, no minister, nobody is better at the subject of ethics than I. Therefore I don't need to hear their opinions on the subject, and I don't need to read the exaggerations and novellas in their so-called holy books. God is within me, and I happen to hear her quite clearly.

• GracefullyGrowing said on Feb 09, 2008....

  I understand what you mean.  I am a former Youth Minister in the Methodist Church.   I was always pretty different from others concerning my interpretations of Scripture, Doctrines, ETC.  Being "in the system" for so long, I became disillusioned with the whole church scene.  
   
  About ten years ago I began to question my "religion" and examine things with a microscope.  I began to read everything I could find about the history of the church, the history of the Bible, and find out all I could about various religions.  I spent a couple of years doing heavy research - learning and studying deeply. 
   
  Then I read the Bible cover to cover several times, making comparisons between what it actually said, and what I have been taught it said. Then, I made my OWN conclusions as to what it actually said rather than allowing myself to be spoon-fed from a pulpit or a professor.  I also read the scriptures and studied the histories of other religions.
   
  My conclusions boil down to this - all religions are basically the same, differing only in their focus.  They all have the same fundamental concepts.  To love, to develop spiritually from the INSIDE out, and to forgive. 
   
  Then I started thinking about how the word "religion" just doesn't fit with the ever changing reality of loving, spiritual growth, and forgiveness.  Religion is about doing something over and over, ritually, and by habit - mostly without feeling, and with a sense of obligation. 
   
  How can one love by habit?  How can one develop out of obligation?  How can one forgive without feeling?  In my mind, the religion of it all and the spirituality of it all just can't mesh together and still be what they are meant to be.
   
  So, now I consider myself spiritual, but not religious.  I've never grown so quickly before, and I find I'm not so judgemental of others as I was when I was stuck in a religion.  I can love more freely, forgive more readily, and grow from the inside out without any legalistic constraints from specific doctrines, or pulpits, or church edicts.
   
  ~Grace~

• Quna said on Feb 10, 2008....

  skald -- I don't go to curch very often too. I mean, I didn' go to church very often, now - I don't go at all (at least, almost). I don't think that's the most important thing. If I go to church, it must be my faith leading me, not just oppinion that "I must", or even fear... If I it's not pure faith, love and my own desire to go there, what's the use? I can't lie to myself. If I'm not honest, when I go there, standing before icons, holding burning candle in my hand, for me it will be nothing more than pretending.

   lucytorial -- I am more than interested, I always was. Perhaps it's only now that I dare to ask. I came to idea, that it's the better way of finding the truth, than believing blindly.

  dyingman --As I'm not a Catholic, I must choose one priest. This person one chooses, becomes one's teacher, confessor, friend, the one who assits his "spiritual child" on the way to truth. So, it can't be the first person who you meet, though some people often make their choice carelessly, and suffer for it. I think, it was quite smart for me trying to choose such a person carefully.

  lfbno7 -- I more than agree. My oppinion is, that everybody must be looking for God in his/her heart. And those who want to hear him, will hear.

  GracefullyGrowing   -- I must confess now:-) - I used to do some rituals... by habit... Or, maybe not by habit, but without realizing WHY was I doing it, what was it's meaning. Just thinking that it was the right thing to do, not because of any spiritual inspiring. Now I undestand how wrong I was.

• moonriver said on Feb 10, 2008....

  quna, i'm an atheist ... had been one for many years now. i practice my own strict rules of spiritualism and ethics -- including belief in the afterlife, souls, and a universal cosmic force -- which will probably fill up a big number of blogs. for now, i will merely offer you a blog i wrote about my own process of turning away from the roman catholic faith i was brought up in. here it is...
  
  

• desertsienna2 said on Feb 10, 2008....

  Yes.

• scipio said on Feb 10, 2008....

   Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

• circusdoll said on Feb 10, 2008....

  My sister's kind of like that, except a bit more extreme. *laughs* She refuses to go to or affiliate herself with any church, yet has a great deal of faith. She doesn't believe in MOST of the bible, but believes in a lot of the teachings it contains. The Bible itself was written by humans, and human hands are fallible. Besides, like you said--there's scroll after scroll all over the place, written about the same time, all claiming to be direct transcriptions of 'the word of God'. They contradict one another! And, again, its been two-thousand years. Some people say God's an awful lot like humans in some ways-- that he/she has feelings and is able to see what's going on Earth. If one subscribes to this theory, then it surely wouldn't be a great leap to suspect that God might have rethought some of his of her opinions in regards to the behaviour of mankind~!
  
  I'm not religious--none of us are (well, some believe in vibes and such, but the way they explain it is purely psychological//based in modern science), but we know a lot of people that DO have faith. Interestingly, even the most devout of them doesn't believe in everything. Most find themselves in your position: one of spirituality without religion.
  
  *laughs* Actually, I remember this one time when my sister and I had stopped in a local church (she didn't want to head 'home' yet, we were in a rough part of town, and she wanted to get off the street). The priest was wandering around doing heck knows what when he came up to us. He asked if we had faith. I immediately shrugged and said no, but that I knew a lot of people that were brought peace by their own faith(s). I appreciate it for that. Although dissatisfied, he seemed to think this was a nice enough reply. When my sister said that she WAS faithful, he asked her what church she belonged to. She said she didn't. At this he became very concerned and started trying to explain how affiliation with a church was KEY to communication with God. I know the guy meant well, really, I do, but what the heck?! Of course, she took offence at this and started railing at him about how God would never single his//her children out based on how often they went into some building, because, having created ALL things, everywhere was 'holy'. I rather quickly shut her up and dragged her back onto the street (after re-appeasing the poor priest), but I see her point: she carries her own private 'church' with her always, takes what she knows and sees to be good, listens to those teachings, and studies the small miracles that happen everyday. In that sense, it almost seems that there's MORE devotion in a lack of religion-- why keep your thoughts to rituals, places and times when they can be with you always and in every thing you do?
  
  I think it's great that you've found this new freedom for yourself. Truly a wonderful thing-- It'll be fantastic to see where it goes from here. There's only growth to be gained, yes?
  
  All the Best.
  
  P.s. For those of you that ARE religious and strongly disagree, please don't take offence. Seeing as none of us are affiliated with any religion, we're looking at this from a purely philosophical point of view. I have an immense amount of respect for spirituality in all its senses, but being unable to 'go for' any of it, maintain an outsider's point of view. No liberties are meant to be taken, and we apologise if that seemed to be the case-- one cannot be cautious enough when speaking on the topic, so, I'll just end it with a 'sorry'.

• lampshade said on Feb 10, 2008....

  Sure you can be without religion.  I consider myself non-religious.  Most people can't seem to understand that concept.  Most of my friends are "non-practicing christians".  I try to be respectful of other people's beliefs, as long as they are respectful of mine.  When you view the world from a non-religious point of you, you start to see all of the different conflicting religious views in the world.  Why should I be christian and not something else?  Because my grand-father was?  Maybe its my choice.  But if its my choice, is it possible to make the wrong choice?  Surely all of these religions can't all be right.  

• the_infernal_optimist said on Feb 10, 2008....

  There's a huge difference between "religion" and faith. And I think that most people, if they're honest with themselves, don't completely adhere to any one set of organized religious beliefs 100%. You don't have to attend church to be one of the faithful, and you don't have to swallow every belief held by this or that religious leader just because they say it's right. Humans are fallible, be they men of the cloth or Joe Farmer next door.
  
  I don't consider myself religious, but my spiritual life is rich. My beliefs are a mix of three different religions, but I believe what I do because to the best of my ability to discern, these things are good and personally right.
  
  ~Infernal
  

• anonymous said on Feb 10, 2008....

  Here is where your 'bible' came from (exerpts from the first council of nicea)
   
  [The Council was opened by Constantine with the greatest solemnity. The emperor waited until all the bishops had taken their seats before making his entry. He was clad in gold and covered with precious stones in the fashion of an Oriental sovereign. A chair of gold had been made ready for him, and when he had taken his place the bishops seated themselves.
   
  The adhesion was general and enthusiastic. All the bishops save five declared themselves ready to subscribe to this formula, convince that it contained the ancient faith of the Apostolic Church. The opponents were soon reduced to two, Theonas of Marmarica and Secundus of Ptolemais, who were exiled and anathematized. Arius and his writings were also branded with anathema, his books were cast into the fire, and he was exiled to Illyria.
   
  (exile and death are the concequences of standing up for your beliefs if they differ from that of the group)
   
  The business of the Council having been finished Constantine celebrated the twentieth anniversary of his accession to the empire, and invited the bishops to a splendid repast, at the end of which each of them received rich presents.]
   
   
  Here is what your prophet said about such men:
   

  [Matthew 23

  2The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses. 3So obey everything they teach you, but don't do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else. 

  4They pile heavy burdens on people's shoulders and won't lift a finger to help. 5Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and they wear big tassels [a] for everyone to see. 6They love the best seats at banquets and the front seats in the meeting places. 7And when they are in the market, they like to have people greet them as their teachers. 8But none of you should be called a teacher. You have only one teacher, and all of you are like brothers and sisters. 9Don't call anyone on earth your father. All of you have the same Father in heaven. 10None of you should be called the leader. The Messiah is your only leader. 11Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others. 12If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.]

  it's no wonder that those who follow this religion end up disollusioned and miserable! the very foundation of this religion is based on ideology and practices that are specifically taught against by that religion's own prophet. this is the reason that for 1500 years, 3/4 of the lifespan of this religion, it was illegal under pain of death for anyone not sanctioned by the church and indoctrinated in the church's teachings to read this book. if the truth about the origin and propogation of this religion were widly known, it would not survive.

• gingersoul said on Feb 10, 2008....

  I am agnostic...actually a former atheist.....in the years i have shifted between these two categories....

  I have been raised striclty and profoundly as a Roman Catholic..at 10 i fervently wanted be a nun....at 13 all my religiouss baggage fell off me and i stopped believing..

  It just happened as i am telling you now...i stepped out of the usual Sunday mass and i felt inside my heart the emptiness of all that...my loneliness on this Earth and the feeling i was leaving any defined ceratinty and that i would have to find my own path...

  I am still searching but i find Ethic and being spiritual a more attuned way for my soul......i am debating if exists or not life after death...but all the other childish doctrines taught by the Bible.....nah....

  I would say....open up yourself.....loose any pre-concept teaching....its good what you are doing.....questioning is good...

  Doubt is the cradle of evolution.

• Kickingcrow said on Feb 10, 2008....

  
  Why did my mother take me to this costume party in this get-up?

• lfbno7 said on Feb 10, 2008....

  Ginger, you like to read books? One of my favorites is Journey of Souls by Michael Newton. It's very special.

• Quna said on Feb 11, 2008....

  Once a teacher of mine (it was a teacher of church singing) told us a story:

  Once upon a time there was a man - a clown. All his life he spent amusing people in the streets by standing head over heels and singing like that. When he got old, he decided to go the monastery an become a monk. So he did.

  But there was one problem: he had never been studying. And now, as he was aged, it was very difficult for him to stud Bible, prays etc... He suffered a lot. He almost lost his patience...

  One day the monks ran to leader and said that the old man got mad. He went to see him at once. When they entered his room, they saw him standing before Saint Mary's icon head over heels and singing. The leader said to the other monks: "Leave him be. He has finally learnt how to pray!"

• MovementAsPrayer said on Mar 16, 2008....

  In the course of human history there has never existed a society that has been completely lacking in religion. All human societies contain numerous aspects of religious phenomena from myths and narratives to rituals and beliefs about other beings. The answer to your question on a communal basis would be a simple, "no," however, to answer it on an individual level depends solely on your understanding of a definition of religion. And even the brightest scholars in the field can not agree on that.
  To say that you are losing faith in Christianity , or Orthodoxy, is by no means equivalent to saying that you are without religion. Christianity generally teaches the idea that It is The One True religion and that all other beliefs cannot be regarded in the same category. From an outsider's, and an academic, viewpoint, Christianity is just one of millions of forms of religious movements. In fact, Christianity itself contains thousands of distinguishing sects and denominations, which can all be viewed as individual and separate religions.
  You say that you fear you are turning into a person without religion, but perhaps what you really mean is, you feel that you are losing a personal connection with the organized religion that has, and continues to, dominate numerous aspects of your life. Perhaps if you attempt to shift your understanding of "religion" and view your own tradition from a new perspective, you may find that there are numerous ways for you to continue to be a religious person in an ultimately more satisfying and fulfilling manner.
  
  
  

Comment on "Can anybody be without religion?!"

Currently tagged	belief religion faith god mercy church spirituality life christianity Orthodoxy heretic (Click to add tags below)
Tag this post	(Separate tags using commas, for example: New York, dating, vegetarian)
Your comment
	Comment Anonymously