Your Spiritual Beliefs

Anything and everything.

Moderator: Moderators

Message
Author
User avatar
Ketzal
Templar GrandMaster
Posts: 807
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 2:59 am
Location: *Insert witty location joke here*

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#1 Post by Ketzal »

Interesting. Alright, I'll give my two cents.

Essentially, I consider myself Christian, but I'm definitely not a devout Christian. I don't really do any daily prayers, I've read through maybe a third of the Bible's New Testament, and I don't really own anything with a Christian spin to it.

That said, I do believe in God, and I do think that we have a life after this one. At the same time, though, there's a lot of generally accepted facets of His Grand Design that I don't really agree with or believe in.

For one thing, I don't think God does anything to influence the world besides when He created it. The way I see it, if He's such an omnipotent being, He was probably smart enough to design the universe in such a way that it would play out over a LONG period of time exactly the way He saw it developing.

That obviously leads to the idea of the Bible's stories being real, which I don't agree with either. I do believe that Jesus was mortal for a time, but I'm not sure I believe that He actually performed miracles like the book describes. Rather, I think that the stories and characters in the Bible are supposed to all be allegories and meant to be taken for what they symbolize, not who or what they are at face value.

The last thing to touch on for me is the idea of Hell existing, which I don't think is the case. Maybe there is an angel that defied God and was imprisoned for his actions, maybe there is a dwelling place of demons, but you can't convince me that He would be willing to put mankind through eternal torture for what is essentially a speck of an existence. We're His children, and I'm pretty sure He cares about his children the same way any other parent would, in that no parent would be okay with putting their child through eternal torment, regardless of how awful they were in their life.

So, yeah, those are the main points of my belief in Christianity. As for the "why"...well, I don't know why, really. I have ideas, but I don't think any of them really fit the mold for an omnipotent eternal being. That doesn't really bother me though, because it's still a life worth living for all that the world has to offer, and finding a purpose and answers in it is half the fun.

TL;DR: I'm a lazy Christian. I don't follow a lot of typical Christian behaviors and there's a lot of accepted facets of the belief that I don't agree with. At the end of the day though, I believe that God exists, and I think there's a life after this one.

User avatar
Bellhead
Templar Inner Circle
Posts: 4012
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:17 pm
Location: New England, US
Fav. Twokinds Character: Keith and Natani

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#2 Post by Bellhead »

I.. don't really know what to call it. Athiest, for lack of a better term. Here's my cent and a half.'

The world happens as it happens, and there's not much we can do about it. I believe there is a lot about this world that we have not yet discovered, and much that we may never know. I believe that Nature has a way of righting itself, but I don't even have a theory as to how, beyond what we have discovered thus far. I do not believe in an afterlife, and while I would like to think that the electrical signals within the brain do not simply just fade and dissipate, I do not believe in ghosts. At least, not in the traditional sense.

That's basicly me in a nutshell. The "Ghost of Reason" is not something that will ever be truely understood, so people will try until the end of time to rationalize rationality, using what's available to come up with an explanation. Who knows-- maybe someday I will have a moment of clarity, an eye-opening moment where I would be able to stop and say "this is me and I am [x]", but until then, I'll just be waiting.

TL;DR:
There's a million and one explanations for the world, and a million more theories about what comes after. I just haven't picked yet.
Gearhead mechanic in the digital era, who will probably grow up is in the process of growing up to be a very grumpy old man.

User avatar
DarkTheImmortal
Overlord of Space & Time
Posts: 1465
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2014 3:32 am
Location: Somewhere between life, death, and a grilled cheese sandwich.

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#3 Post by DarkTheImmortal »

I believe in the ancient Greek gods, I sacrifice a lamb every meal to appease the gods...

ALL JOKING ASIDE, I am an Atheist. For me there is just not enough proof for me to believe in a higher being. I believe science over all else, as we can consistently prove that what we found is true. As for an afterlife, I have no solid belief on that, like a mystery you're interested in, yet extremely scared of.

But I'm not one of those people who try to convince people my beliefs are right, but get a little angry when people try to force their beliefs on me. Don't try to convert me and I have no problem with you, whether you're Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Norse, Roman, Greek, or whatever the proto-humans believed in. But if you do try to convert me, I'll start pointing out inconsistencies in your beliefs. I've said it many times before, you do NOT want to be on my bad side.

TL;DR: Atheist, science over all, not jerk unless you try to convert

User avatar
TinyVoices
Templar Inner Circle
Posts: 6275
Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 6:08 pm
Location: https://goo.gl/7ARWF4
Fav. Twokinds Character: Kat

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#4 Post by TinyVoices »

For a long while now I've been content with my beliefs. Nobody knows what the hell is out there, and frankly unless you're violent/intolerant or else evidence suddenly springs forth, your opinion is whatever you make of it. I feel that there is a "God" out there, even if it is simply a force or a natural phenomenon that caused existence in the manner that it is today.

I think of it almost like God being a programmer, and we're in his code. Basically in the way that he defined the parameters for the universe- such as atoms and gravity and how everything interacts with everything else. He set the rules, and then threw the dice. I... don't actually think that we're some computer program, though. >.>

I often hear that "If God is omnipotent, then why does he allow evil etc" thing. The way I see that is similar to how the Greeks used to worship their gods. They saw them as almighty beings that, although they are not "good" or "just" by human standards, they are still legitimately existing gods who can wreck your [censored]. In that, whatever entity exists out there, I believe it doesn't matter whether you feel they are good, evil, or lazy. They still brought us into being, so why is that not a reason to at least stop complaining or trying to protest against it? (Mind you, being atheist, devout, or something else isn't really what I mean by "protesting or complaining". I mean those who say they seemingly do/would believe in a God if possible, but that they would try and set embargoes on it or something because it isn't being a perfect being. You don't have to be fearful, just not ungrateful. :roll: )

Tying in my username (in a way), Bad Religion members often mention how they aren't inherently against "God", but rather against religions that require stupid living styles. Such as devoting your life to the idea that reciting scripture all day will give you a happy ending. Or that burning down opposing religions will give you a happy ending. But also, the band members (namely Graffin) do not believe in a God because no proof exists. But if there was proof, they would gladly at least give thanks for existing. Maybe not start going to church necessarily, but... And they would probably still mock zealots like they do now, but that involves a lot of other reasons. Such as those above.


All in all, I don't feel comfortable in churches, but I bow my head during prayers and try not to be a total dick in life.
This explanation feels rough, but would anyone complain that it's not a wall of text? :P

User avatar
Ketzal
Templar GrandMaster
Posts: 807
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2012 2:59 am
Location: *Insert witty location joke here*

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#5 Post by Ketzal »

Heh. I like how you guys are talking about how there's no proof that God exists. And that's true, but that's also the definition of a faith: a belief not based on proof. I'm not saying that's a bad way to think, but I feel like that's kind of missing the point of some religions...

User avatar
Him
The Secret Forum Mod
Posts: 1970
Joined: Sat May 03, 2014 12:07 am
Location: Montana
Fav. Twokinds Character: Natani

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#6 Post by Him »

I don't believe this topic will last long, but I'm happy to see it make it this far in peace.

Anyways, on topic. I at first had written this long explanation of why I am the way I am. That was scrapped for a more efficient post. To put it simply, I am agnostic. I don't know if there is anything, and it doesn't matter either way. There is either an afterlife and I rejoice, or there isn't and who am I to complain? Personally I'd like there to be something else because I like the idea of 'surviving.' Where I end up isn't much of a problem either. I would just prefer to be somewhere.

User avatar
GyroFox
Apprentice
Posts: 103
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:39 pm
Location: CA

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#7 Post by GyroFox »

I believe there is a God and an afterlife. That's it. Let's leave it at that, I won't ask you, vice versa. Thank you very much. :)
Image

:potatoes: :potatoes: :natani: :potatoes: :potatoes:

Don't be silly, bullying sucks 8)

User avatar
The Rookie
Grand Templar
Posts: 1332
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 3:34 am
Location: Australia

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#8 Post by The Rookie »

As one of the chosen few selected to shepherd the people and act as the gate keeper for the universal energies of our realm. I'm honor bond to uphold the traditions of the crystalline spirit energies that shape reality, and impact our lives. (For those out of the loop, I met a nice old Lady who considered me to be some kind of rare holy spirit or something. So yeah, that...)


Seriously though, I guess I would probably be classified as an agnostic Christian, although I use the term Christian very loosely here.

Until very recently, I've never really met anyone who wasn't just a 'Christmas and Easter Christian'. The exception being a handful of Catholics, who behave in pretty much the same way, give or take a few things like baptism and attending mass. It's just not really considered that big of a deal where I'm from.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Image
Image

User avatar
TheFrozenSlime
Templar
Posts: 387
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:37 am
Location: In front of my computer/ nose in a book

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#9 Post by TheFrozenSlime »

Well, I've mentioned it before, so I guess it won't hurt to mention it again: I'm a practicing Roman Catholic, born and raised.

Also, I'm surprised the thread has tasted this long without some sort or arguing or flame war. I like it. Nice and civil. Let's keep it that way.
Image
/╲/\╭( ͡° ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ͡°)╮/\╱\ <------- This is my attack spider. Don't mess with it.
Procrastinator Extraordinaire and Connoisseur of Fine Distractions,
Self-Proclaimed

Moniker Pending
New Citizen
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:53 am

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#10 Post by Moniker Pending »

My own "perspective," if you can call it that, is to be as objective and thorough as possible, to make no assumptions, and some other things that I can't really recall while it's a little after 2 AM and my mind, while still not ready to sleep, is lacking focus nonetheless. I don't believe in spiritual things, but I also haven't concluded that they don't exist, nor do I simply dismiss claims of spiritual phenomena from the beginning; it would be irrational for me to form a conclusion on anything without gathering information and critically analyzing it, and furthermore, I've had to deal with enough people in my life who not only rely on assumption, but do so with confidence well into the range of narcissism, and I've seen the results of such cocky assumption, that I absolutely detest such "reasoning" and the sort of people who would use it (Note: in case it wasn't clear, I'm not talking about the conclusion one reaches, but the manner in which the conclusion is reached and the one's attitude regarding the conclusion. I'd rather have someone disagree with me for a good reason than agree with me for a bad reason, or for no reason at all.).
Spoiler!
It's gotten to the point where the one sure-fire way for someone to get me angry is for them to put words into my mouth based on pure assumption, and then refuse to listen when I tell them that they've misrepresented my position, especially if they make said refusal with pretentiousness, arrogance, a feeling of indignation at my attempt to correct their assumption-based misrepresentation, and personal accusations against me based on their assumptions and my attempt to correct their assumptions; unfortunately, this happens the vast majority of the time.
One could say that my perspective is a mixture of science and a variant of epistemological anarchism, and while that would be an accurate statement, I will also say that I'm quite disappointed in both communities. It seems that almost every single time a group is formed for any given purpose, the group ends up being ruined by the biases of its members, who end up more loyal to the group itself (or their own subgroup within the group) than they are to the purpose for which the group was formed in the first place. In the case of science, many within the scientific community have ended up forming biases which prevent them from even investigating certain things before concluding not only that they are completely false, but that it will never be worth investigating, even if it's already proven to be a legitimate field of research; this runs contrary to the whole point of the scientific method, which is to have the highest objective standards possible which must be met before a conclusion is made. The epistemological anarchistic community, meanwhile, has gone from a reasonable objection to the aforementioned attitude in the scientific community, to a rejection of objectivity as a whole. Basically, I think that just about everything can, eventually, be explained with science, but it's a shame that so many, even many scientists, simply assume that science either can't or shouldn't (often both) be used for a wide variety of topics.

As for metaphysics, that's one of the things that scientists often dismiss, even though it's actually studied in formal science, which is legitimate and actually used quite often, despite its obscurity as a study. The problem with formal science is that it's basically stuck in a limbo between natural science and philosophy, where anyone who wants to research things with science's objective standards will be drawn to natural science, and anyone who wants to study logic and other metaphysical things will be drawn to philosophy, leaving very few who are actually aware of formal science as a study.

It's almost 3 AM for me now, so I'll leave it at that for now. I've actually covered a lot of my own perspective in a thread I made, in case anyone's interested... it hasn't really had any activity lately, and even when it had activity, it was just myself and one other person going back and forth for most of it. https://twokinds.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19043

User avatar
ZePink
Citizen
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 3:53 pm
Location: Somewhere in time and space

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#11 Post by ZePink »

Hmm this is quite an interesting topic.

I'm a lutheran (Evangelical Lutheran) and I'm open minded but still personally I don't believe in God. So I guess I could be considered an atheist but honestly I've never made a big deal out of it.

Ok, so why do I not believe in God. I've always thought that Jesus was an extraterrestrial because of his powers that humans could not understand and to be honest that could all just be technology that humans have yet to discover. But think about it. Let's say you have a space ship that can cloak and land on a planet or just beam you down Star Trek style and you had technology far beyond what the natives of the planet had. You would seem like a god to them. But what about the religion stuff you ask. Well those might have been their beliefs and they wanted us to believe in their god too or maybe were just an experiment to see what happens. But those will probably remain as my beliefs unless someone is able to prove me wrong.

And what do I think about other people who believe in God. Well I accept that they believe in God but I don't really like it when they make a big deal out of it.

So I guess the final thing would be after life. Well once again not a thing I believe in. Even the death of a close relative hasn't made me change my thoughts about death. As I see it's the end of your biological life nothing more nothing less.
"There's no point being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes." - The Fourth Doctor

Warrl
Grand Templar
Posts: 1526
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:19 pm

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#12 Post by Warrl »

My metaphysical beliefs are in layers.

At the deepest layer, I'm an omnitheist. Everything is God; there is nothing that is not God. This plastic cup next to my computer is an aspect of God, and so is the water in it, and so am I, and so are you.

Some undetermined number of layers up, I'm a pantheist. There is really only one God, but also there is no reason that God must, or should, present only one face to all beings no matter their physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual situation; if God actually cares about us, such rigidity would be an odd way to show it. God is beyond mortal understanding, so there's no need for all mortals to share the same (probably flawed and definitely incomplete) understanding.

In ordinary practice, while I acknowledge that God has nine billion names, there is only one I choose to worship - a warrior goddess who was originally invented for a fantasy world (I've briefly met the relevant author a couple times).

User avatar
ReBob
Council Member
Posts: 501
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:16 pm
Location: Luna
Contact:

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#13 Post by ReBob »

I should venture out of the comic board more often.

I hope my explanation of my beliefs aren't too convoluted or confusing, because it incorporates a lot of aspects, but I'll try. In a sense, I'm agnostic. In another, I believe in some form of reincarnation. In yet another, I believe in some measure of consciousness that exists beyond the world we know.

Touching on the first, I recognize that I could be wrong in anything I choose to follow. There is too much to human thought that can give rise to ideas so varied, it's hard to pinpoint the truth in the end. So I don't discount anything out of hand or simply because it may seem impossible. This exerts an influence on my world view as well, 'Everything is possible until it is impossible'. A lot of science we have today would be incomprehensible to ancient people and almost be like magic, so how do we know what is or isn't possible in our world? Not saying that blind belief is excusable, but keeping in mind that something may just be possible no matter how unlikely I feel is pretty healthy. That last bit is important because I have my own share of ghost stories, as does my entire family.

Reincarnation ties in to where I think there have been so many lives that have lived and will eventually live, going beyond our own species but into others as well, that a lot of them are recycled in perhaps some sort of learning experience. Why else would we keep coming back here but to learn from the mistakes of a past existence?

That ties into my third belief, that we exist beyond in some form that might be unknowable simply due to how isolated we are from it. Maybe it's simply a cloud of consciousness, like a hard drive filled with individual files, but something not in any sort of physical plane. A fourth dimension or in some other world that crosses over from a parallel universe. I don't know, and I doubt I'll ever come to a decision one way or another on that, but it is what it is.

Maybe ghosts are those who got lost on their way back, or chose to stay without a body for a conduit. Maybe the demons we used to believe in are the oldest who know how to tap into these conduits, thus possession, and can influence the world in ways we can't imagine. Maybe that's why some repeat parts of the lives while others actively harm or guide the living. Who knows.

Maybe I think too much and have heard too many fringe theories.
Image Image
Image Image
Image
I make banners. Want one?
Rest in Peace, Satoru Iwata.

User avatar
MirceaKitsune
Citizen
Posts: 58
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:11 pm
Location: Romania, Bucharest

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#14 Post by MirceaKitsune »

I see this topic pop up on many forums. It's interesting to see the various responses of people, and I guess I'll add mine too then:

My views are probably unusual in many aspects... some things I will not dive into here. What I will say is that I'm an atheist since I don't believe in a (conscious) god: I believe in a source of energy which manifests based on complex mathematical models (the multiverse), creating universes and galaxies and planets on which life emerges and the whole drill. At the same time though, I believe beyond doubt in the existence of a soul... that consciousness cannot be produced by the brain alone, but is a different property of the multiverse yet to be understood. I'm not religious and consider this a purely scientific topic, as much as mainstream scientists like shoving the subject aside as fairytales. I've had personal experiences based on which I know this, and in recent years I've also tried to use the little scientific knowledge I have to better envision how consciousness might work... which I'm not gonna dive into since that's likely beyond the scope of this thread.

User avatar
midnightblink
Council Member
Posts: 551
Joined: Mon May 25, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Troutdale Oregon

Re: Your Spiritual Beliefs

#15 Post by midnightblink »

First, hello everyone, I'm back (although most probably don't remember me)

I'm basically one of the most extreme cases of Atheism out there. Not to say I hate religion or anything like that, I actually wish I could believe sometimes. I believe only in the laws of physics and the so-called "Theory of Everything". For those who don't know, the Theory of Everything is the idea that there is an equation that describes everything in the universe, from the motion of atoms after the Big Bang, to the processes of life, even what cereal you chose for breakfast could all be "predicted" by such an equation. What this means spiritually for me is that there is no spirituality, at least not in the sense most people think about it. I believe that if there IS some sort of spirit or soul, than it is also a part of the theory and therefore can be explained scientifically, but could be so complex that we have yet to discover it using the proper scientific method. As there has yet to be undeniable scientific proof of such things, I currently do not believe they exist, although I'm much more open minded than most.

The most interesting, and apparently controversial, idea I have is about the nature of life. I believe that life is the longest, most complex self-sustaining chemical reaction in the universe. Most think this means that I believe life is useless, an unimportant speck that shouldn't care about morality, but I think it is quite the opposite. You see, I believe that there is so much life in the universe (not little green alien kind, there's no reason we should believe other life is even humanoid) and yet, by comparison to the vastness of space, it is so extremely rare, and it is for that reason that all life should be thought of as precious, no matter how small, because in the end, we're all so small. Because of this, my morality is based on the idea that life's "purpose" is to spread more life. Life exists merely to exist, and any actions that needlessly end life or cause pain are "evil".

Now, you might be wondering "if that's true, than shouldn't eating animals be evil?" First, eating plants and fungus is no better in my opinion than eating animals, because all life equally deserves to live. Second, life needs to consume other life to exist, and so I believe that it is a necessary sacrifice to continue life, although I believe it should be done humanely and not needlessly. I'm actually kind of excited for when Soylent becomes a thing, because then we won't HAVE to eat animals as much.

Another belief that I forgot to bring up when talking about the Theory of Everything is my concept of Fate. Since the Theory of Everything can explain everything that ever happened, ever will happen or is happening, I believe that the concept of "choice" doesn't exist. I believe that every action you have taken, every twitch of your fingers, every "unforeseeable circumstance" is the only way it could ever be, as we are merely complex chemical reactions which can only react in one specific way, as per the laws of physics. Even me typing this message with these exact letters in this exact way was "destined" from the start of time. It is for this reason that I am also not very scared of death. Now, I am most definitely scared of the pain that most deaths cause, but I believe that you will only die when you were meant to die and you can't change when you die. I could die at any moment in life, I could die while typing this very post, but since I cannot change the fact that I am going to die and I could die at any time, being scared of it just seems silly to me. Death doesn't even need to imply pain, there are lots of ways to die painlessly. I say you should simply enjoy the life you have, because you only get to live for so long

Finally, I do not believe in an afterlife. I believe that when you die, you die. Your brain synapses stop firing and your personality no longer exists, you're body would be no more alive than a rock, beside from the large amount of bacterial and fungal life that comes from a dead body

And there you have it. I understand most would say that even with these beliefs, it still does not rule out a creator who created the Theory of Everything, and I agree wholeheartedly with that, but I want to be a scientist, and if you simply believe that things are as they are, then you can never progress past what you currently know.
Image
Primum Non Nocere

Post Reply