What helped you choose the religion you have today?

I’m athiest because nothing makes sense. :)

Its not supposed to ;)

The truth is inside everyone of us. We were born with it. We still have to discover it though, and we can’t do that except by knowing more and more about things like, Physics, Biology, Psychology, and Sociology. We must also accept to go through many different experiences, some of them may be a bit painful, but at the end of the day, we won’t regret it.

During such a beautiful journey, I assume we will discover the truth.

If there’s something about the truth which we have to know in advance, it’s that the truth should be both natural and logical. Natural means it comes from within, it’s not a guest to your heart, it has liven there since day one. Logical means your brain accepts it. It doesn’t shut your brain up or down.

I am a Muslim, but actually I didn’t “choose” Islam. I “reached” it all by myself. I found out that there must be a God standing behind this beautiful universe, and this God can’t be but one. Consequently, I should be very thankful to him, and do my best to make the world a better place, ‘cause that’s what God supposedly wishes. That’s what Islam is all about, so I became a Muslim.

Across the way, I learned not to judge. Others have walked different ways, and they don’t have to, and aren’t supposed to, reach the same destination. I also realized that nearly all beliefs and religions are nice and good, but in every one of them, it’s easy to notice a mistake or two. For example, in Christianity, God decides to forgive me for a sin that I didn’t make, through his son, who seems to have a dual nature. That’s a mistake ‘cause no one can know it unless someone else tells them. The truth comes from within, remember? Islam sounds like the only beliefs that’s completely and amazingly free from errors. Bad thing is many Muslims tend to act like bastards. They keep other people, with maybe the best wills ever, away from the very thing I think is the ultimate truth.

What I like about the truth, is that it makes you a good person. In the day of Judgment, even if Islam turns out to be a false religion or something, I will tell God that at least, I tried. I will also remind him that I strived to be a good person.

thats a good reply… but what do you mean by this: God decides to forgive me for a sin that I didn’t make, through his son, who seems to have a dual nature. That’s a mistake ‘cause no one can know it unless someone else tells them….. God knows all. He knows our sins before we sin. He knows that we are not perfect like him and we all sin past,future, and present we will, have and do sin. Thats why Jesus died for us. To forgive us for the sins we have commited and will commit.

If nothing makes sense, who do we want to continue living? There must be some reason.

If nothing makes sense, why do we have brains?

Because we are human ?

Well, assume you lived in a remote island with no contact with anyone. Would you be able to become a Christian? No, ‘cause it wouldl never ever hit you that God actually has a son, and that his son died for your sins, many years before you were born, let alone commit sins. I was saying that inorder to become a Christian, someone else has to tell you about it. You can’t discover Christianity all by yourself. It’s not within you.

However, if you lived in a remote island, you would still be able to realize that God exists and there’s only one of Him. That’s Islam.

Plus, Jesus dying for me hurts my sense of justice. I mean I am the one who should take responsibility for my actions, including my sins. If I sin, I am supposed to pay for it. Jesus has done nothing wrong to be punished instead of me. God in Christianity is not just. He’s not merciful either. He let Jesus be crucified in the most terrible way ever. Too cruel.

That’s exactly why things, like Pistol A.A. puts it, are supposed to make sense. We are not just useless creatures.

We are not meant to know somethings. If we all knew then everone would beliee. We are supposed to have faith

I agree it was cruel. I think somehow god would manage to find a way to tell me about jesus. We all sin. And God cannot look at sin. So how do u get forgivin?

God just forgives you, without the need to, umm, “murder” Jesus. How does the Crucifixion of Jesus help God forgive us? God is supposed to forgive for free.

wats a solitary practioner?

Eh.

But it says in the bible that sin must be paid for in blood. So the blood of christ saved us all cuz he was rightious. And God loved Him and He loved us and so did Jesus so thats why he was sacrificed for us. His blood saves us. Out if love. Thats why God had to make it cruel it was the only way but better in the long run for all his people they love. Doesnt it say in the old testament that the penalty for sin is death and blood

thats cool. Im not tryin to change ya. I respect ur beliefs.

The Crucifixion of Jesus is irrelevant to our sins. It didn’t stop us from sinning. Worse, it would made me sin more if I believed someone else paid for my sins already.

God is not a merchant, he doesn’t “sell” his forgiveness, and even if he had to, he wouldn’t do it for blood or death. He just forgives. If it says otherwise in the Bible, it means the Bible is not from God.

I believe in Jesus, but only as a human prophet who has delivered the message of God. The Christian story is too complicated to be true. Not everyone is brilliant enough to fully understand it.

i see and thats the difference in our religions :) its cool though at least we come to 1 agreement and that is to love everyone.

what about if what u say is true and christians were wrong..would all of them lost souls? Or would our generous God forgive knowing that we were only trying to follow him and live good?

its a witch that works alone not with a covant.

Yes, God’s mercy comes before his justice. I hope we all meet in paradise. Sometimes I think, it’s God’s fault, he is the one who gave us the ability to sin, and he knew we would use it. I am sure he’s also ready to forgive us.

Sorry to interrupt (and please continue), but I really want to congratulate both of you. This is the most respectful, humble, and charitable interreligious dialogue I have ever seen on FA - a beautiful model for the rest of us! I hope you don’t mind if I join in, in a moment, to round out the Abrahamic family by adding a Jewish voice. {:^)

Angel, from the revelation at Sinai until the destruction of the 2nd Holy Temple in Jerusalem (several decades after the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have taken place), Divine forgiveness was sought through a ritual that included animal sacrifice as well as prayer and repentance. But after the Temple was destroyed, Jewish practice reverted to reliance on prayer and heartfelt repentance alone as sufficient to “win” G!d’s forgiveness - just as it had been before Sinai. When Islam came into being, it adopted this Jewish practice of atonement through prayer and repentance. Only Christianity retained the idea of the necessity of blood sacrifice for Divine forgiveness, but with the radical innovation that it became a human sacrifice, which the Hebrew Bible had utterly rejected from the time of Isaac (or Ishmael, according to the Qur’an). On the other hand, Jews still pray daily for the restoration of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and many of us understand that to mean restoring the sacrificial system, too - but others think not.

Muffin, does atheism make sense? {;^)

Interesting. Learn new stuff everyday :)

Well then i hope to have perfect wings one day . . As i do for all of us. Exciting isnt it? Im kinda obsessed with religion and God . I could go all day learnin. Pretty much what i do on the internet all the time haha

Indeed it is :)

P.S. Trick question, sorry, lol!

I am a Discordian because I am insane.

your late for tea!!!!

I find myself to be an atheist due to the fact that I don’t see any evidence that god exists. For example Moses parted the sea there is a logical explanation it describes the night as windy if you have wind coming from two directions it will create a vacuum and move aside the water

Well, I didn’t buy into the whole Christianity thing. But at the same time I felt something there, an energy. I just kind of call it the Universe but no the Christian god and I do not work together. I can’t really get along with him.

On my spiritual quest I found paganism, which did not give me one book and tell me to follow it, or ask that I try to convert people, or tell me to hate, or bribe me with a promise of something better or threaten me with something worse after I die. It is broad so I feel like there is more room to make up my own mind and adapt as my world changes, because I never want to be set in my ways lol.

I just realize the other religions didn’t make me happy and I didn’t like what they had to say, and paganism is something I can relate to. And while I respect Atheism and usually agree with them I simply do not know if there is anything out there, nor do I know that there is nothing out there. Paganism doesn’t really ask me to know. I won’t be Christian because they usually ask that you “know” a god exists and I can’t be an Atheist because I cannot accept knowing one doesn’t exist. The fact is, I am not dead so I do not know, and Paganism is OK with that :)

George Harrison!

Hari bol {;^)