I was born a Protestant Christian. However, my faith has since faltered and I've been reduced to an agnostic, if that.
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I was born a Protestant Christian. However, my faith has since faltered and I've been reduced to an agnostic, if that.
"I was born a Protestant Christian. However, my faith has since faltered and I've been reduced to an agnostic, if that."
Strangely self-deprecating phrases. Why not say "I was born a ..., but then grew up and blossomed into an agnostic" ??
I had no religion at the time of my birth.
I was born the son of 4 Cohen grandparents. By tradition, a Cohen is not supposed to marry a convert, therefore it is safe to say that I am probably the closest thing to "pure" Jewish, in terms of blood. I am of course an Atheist, though I don't consider myself one, since atheism seems to be forming itself into its own little religion, based off quasi rhetoric and hypothetical science, and I prefer to associate myself with nothing.
I started out a Presbyterian. In very general terms, I am now something of a believer (although I hate to pigeonhole myself) in Christian Mysticism, ala St. John of the Cross, St. Theresa of Avila, etc.
Basically you take the Christian experience and mix it with panentheism.
Or, in philosophical terms, you begin with Plato, steer towards Spinoza, then head ultimately towards Whitehead. That’s about where you’ll find me.
Definitely it is best to follow one's own path, with one's heart and conscience as guide. If you are true to yourself you can't go wrong, and believing anything that doesn't make sense by what is inside you is falsely following externals.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dori
You are right that it is definitely better to be positive. However, faith is a good thing. It is infinitely precious, to use The Mother's words. For instance love is inseparable from faith, and the two are the highest possible avenues of the spirit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Whifflingpin
This is a good point and of course one that came to mind to me as well. In fact, people aren't Christian, or Hindu, Or Muslim, or anything, because whether or not we are a soul, we are not this body. The soul or atma is unlimited by any characteristics such as religion, race, gender, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterL
How wonderful! I also in many respects began with Plato. I have yet to study Spinoza in detail and I've only heard Whitehead mentioned. . .Quote:
Originally Posted by Chester
Christian Mysticism sounds so interesting! You'll have to do something to contribute. :)
Well i am from a (sunni) muslim family. But i am into islamic mysticism like sufism. My ethnicity is Somali (African), havent been there though.
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I generally hold people of genuine faith in high regard, for some reason or another. It's difficult for me to fathom how I, at one point in time, was actually a Christian. I miss my former self. :( Those were the good ol' days (these days are also good, but in a different way, if that makes sense). But who knows what life will throw at me next. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Whifflingpin
I was born a pagan to Christian parents. As an infant, faith in Christ was created in my heart through the Holy Spirit in the waters of baptism. As a child my parents raised me to know the Christan faith as it is taught in the Bible and confessed by the Lutheran Church.
As I grew I studied the Scriptures myself and examined my beliefs and what was taught me in light of what the Bible said. I came to be personally convinced that what was taught me as a child was in keeping with the truth. I am currently a Christian who believes the truths of Scripture and acknowledges the Lutheran Confessions as found in the Book of Concord to be a faithful exposition of these truths.
As far as ethnicity (because I believe the thread asked this too), I am a fourth/fifth generation American of mostly German ancestry. I am 7/8 German, 3/32 Bohemian and 1/32 gypsy.
In the following, Dori, I am making some totally unwarranted assumptions - if I make sense, then good, if not then ignore me.
"I generally hold people of genuine faith in high regard, for some reason or another."
I would say that there is no intrinsic merit in faith, or belief. It is the behaviour that arises from that belief that matters, at least to other humans. For example, the faith that inspired Francis of Assissi was the same that inspired Torquemada, and both held that faith equally deeply. God may judge them to be both the same, who knows? I would admire St Francis, but would hold Torquemada in very low esteem.
"It's difficult for me to fathom how I, at one point in time, was actually a Christian."
As a child you believed what you were told by people whom you trusted. How could you not?
"I miss my former self. Those were the good ol' days "
They were days of certainty, when you accepted the beliefs of those around you and felt a strong sense of belonging. Once you start to question those beliefs, you are on your own, with no certainties and with divisions from those close to you whom you have been brought up to love and respect. This is not comfortable.
"(these days are also good, but in a different way, if that makes sense)."
Of course it makes sense. It's good to be secure and accepted, but it is also good, and even necessary, to break away from security and test alternatives.
Don't hang on to a belief that no longer makes any sense to you, and don't feel bad about abandoning such a belief.
On the other hand, if there is something you feel you ought to believe, but don't, then act as if you believed it. "La coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait pas" Sometimes the heart grasps a truth that the brain cannot. Behave as if you believe, and then either the belief will come or you will see that the belief is simply wrong.
I was never formally introduced to any religion, my parents were technically atheists and considered their religious background to be merely a cultural curiosity, and I was raised to think of religion as such.
My father, ethnically Italian, was raised Catholic, but abandoned his birth religion regarding practice - culturally, though, he is still tied to it. My mother's family is basically divided between Russian Jews (her maternal line), many of whom are expatrioted and live abroad, and between South Slavic (mostly) Eastern Orthodox (her paternal line). Culturally, she considers herself Russian first - and is all into all that panslavic stuff - and only then a Jew. She wasn't really excited about my decision to consider myself culturally a Jew despite being Italian, especially given that she tried to bring me up the way it would have the least possible influence on me. :(
Isn't this bit of the forum supposed to be about literature?
I am an atheist, as is my family, and I also live in a fairly irreligious region.