Are you religious?

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by pearl, Jul 31, 2020.

?

Are you religious?

  1. Yes

    84 vote(s)
    25.4%
  2. Atheist

    99 vote(s)
    29.9%
  3. Agnostic

    126 vote(s)
    38.1%
  4. Unsure/still deciding

    22 vote(s)
    6.6%
  1. Redav

    Redav One big ocean
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    Gotta have Satan to explain away all the "unnatural" urges
     
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  2. BuckeyeRiot

    BuckeyeRiot Team Nicki
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    I can’t put into words how sorry I am for your and your family’s loss.
     
    #452 BuckeyeRiot, Apr 18, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2022
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  3. BuckeyeRiot

    BuckeyeRiot Team Nicki
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    I had my dance with religion about ages 10-14. My neighbors were very religious and I was close with their son. I started going with them because I had a thing for his sister. Then I started really enjoying it. All the pomp and pageantry, people being nice (a foreign concept in my father’s house). Even got ‘saved’ and baptized. After a while you start to see it for what it is. The preacher was making bank, the deacons really enjoyed their perceived power. Hell even the choir director was there almost exclusive for the praise. The pastor’s son was allowed to be a dickhead and bully to other kids. Eventually just stopped going.

    Anytime I’m asked I usually just drop the tried and true “I believe in a higher power, but I don’t subscribe to any religion”, but in recent years I don’t even know how true that is. It’s really hard for me personally to think there’s anything at work here outside of billions of years of time plus chemistry.
     
  4. OldazzNinjaman

    OldazzNinjaman Joemoma
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    So, demons are a thing as well. I work with a couple of people that say it’s not just satan but that demons can cause you to do shit. Not sure if it’s a southern thing(I work in Mobile, AL)but yeah. My grandmother also told me as a kid she was not taught about hell. She was German and met my grandfather in the war. She said she only heard of hell when she came to the states.
     
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  5. jokewood

    jokewood Biff Poggi superfan
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    Joshua 1:1-2
    1 "Buy a Hyundai and be at peace," says the LORD. 2 "For it has America's best warranty."
     
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  6. Hoss Bonaventure

    Hoss Bonaventure I can’t pee with clothes touching my butt
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    I didn’t know Jesus could turn Hyundais American
     
  7. AptosDuck

    AptosDuck Pedantic Hausfrau
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    II Kings 9:20
     
  8. One Two

    One Two Hot Dog Vibes
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    Yes

    Will caveat with I’m extremely disappointed with how Christianity has been weaponized by grifters and politicians.
     
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  9. blind dog

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    I’d like to blame demons for some of the shit I do
     
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  10. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    So would bertwing
     
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  11. One Two

    One Two Hot Dog Vibes
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  12. Jake Scott

    Jake Scott Well-Known Member
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    Still religious. I pray a lot but idk who I’m praying to. It’s gives me peace and keeps me grounded on what’s important. I seem to reset at times of stress and anxiety instead of reacting poorly/doing something stupid. I guess it’s the closest to meditation I can get.

    I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school for 10 years. It fucked me up pretty bad but it’s probably better than having been raised Baptist, Church of Christ, etc.
     
  13. JGator1

    JGator1 I'm the Michael Jordan of the industry
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    Herman Cain Awards have provided such a fascinating look at this stuff.

    "God please help my (unvaccinated) friend/neighbor/relative who's suffering in the hospital"

    "The Good Lord called said friend/neighbor/relative home last night"
     
  14. bertwing

    bertwing check out the nametag grandma
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    Yeah you’re a lost cause
     
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  15. Homo Erectus

    Homo Erectus The important thing is, you think I'm attractive
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    Takes one to know one?
     
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  16. bertwing

    bertwing check out the nametag grandma
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    I am a Saint
     
  17. tylerdolphin

    tylerdolphin My spoon is too big
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    I know what you mean. Ive often wondered why other people seem to find comfort in believing a god has basically preordained everything for our own good and I can't get over that hurdle. People say religion is a tool for coping with existential questions, but for me its almost exactly the opposite if anything.

    I'm way more comfortable just thinking that most of the time there is no "why" than I am trying to sort out that a god willed whatever circumstances into existence.
     
  18. AIOLICOCK

    AIOLICOCK https://www.antifa.org/
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    Grew up in the Lutheran Church, lately been interested in attending service at the super old and v cool looking Episcopalian Church in dt Columbia...but I'm kind of intimidated:ohdear:
     
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  19. Gunners

    Gunners Nicking a living
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    My best friend’s mom grew up in a strict Lutheran family in SC. Her parents burned the sheets after she had a black friend sleepover. Totally normal and we should never question our fine institutions
     
  20. DaveGrohl

    DaveGrohl Public Figure
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    Grew up being dragged to church every time the doors were open. Nondenominational/ charismatic/ hellfire and brimstone type place. My parents were the youth ministers and my dad was an associate pastor.

    I now say I’m an agnostic deist. Studying the origins, context, and edits of the Bible did more to erode my beliefs than anything. Still think Jesus was great and there may be a god. Just think humans are way too dumb to understand it.

    And this is a pretty good, neutral TikTok account that discusses a lot of biblical and religious issues with a very neutral/scholarly slant:

    https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdCKwTNA/
     
  21. Homo Erectus

    Homo Erectus The important thing is, you think I'm attractive
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    [​IMG]
     
  22. blind dog

    blind dog wps
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    JUST WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!!
     
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  23. letan

    letan Just looking for the gator board
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    Isn’t there an equal chance that we live in a simulation as there is an almighty god? I’m not religious but I’m also not positive there isn’t some type of higher power. Although in the instance of the simulation I guess you could consider the creator god
     
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  24. Mr. Bean

    Mr. Bean Well-Known Member

    Practicing Catholic. Wouldn’t say I ever rejected the faith but drifted away at times in college etc.

    When church service went back to in-person in early 2021 around here I realized I had missed it during the pandemic. The predictable cadence and rhythm of a mass is comforting to me. Ritualistic even. Sets me on a good path for the week. Sometimes go in the mornings during the week. Always something to reflect on and people/causes to pray for. Catholic guilt is real.

    It’s an institution that is thousands of years old; by design it will not change a whole lot in one’s lifetime. In a way that is appealing to me.
     
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  25. Eric The Viking

    Eric The Viking Nitro, the All Knowing
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    The premise that God owes us something, or will give some kind of preference to us if we tell him he’s great all of the time, just reeks of fear tactics that organized religions have forever instilled in their followers, in order to wield a power of control over them.

    I tend to believe that if there is a God, then all religions are basically believing in the same entity, and most followers genuinely want happiness for their fellow humans. Unfortunately, every devout follower of any religion, seemingly needs to believe that their version of the story is better, and only they can be ‘saved’. That level of devotion has been reinforced and preyed upon, in the name of power and politics for all of recorded time.
     
    #475 Eric The Viking, Apr 18, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2022
  26. Ray McKigney

    Ray McKigney Feel my ubiquity
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    This is exactly how I got where I am today on this subject. I had to take a Humanities class in 10th grade. We read literature of the specific time period as we were learning about that period historically.

    At that point in my life, I hadn’t ventured too far out beyond my WASP-centric existence. It was really eye opening to begin to see and understand that western civilization/Christianity will eventually fall, just like every other civilization and it’s dominant religion has done.

    I wasn’t super religious by any means as a 14/15 year old; I regularly went to church my whole life (Baptist church, but not Southern Baptist. Traditional service, but relatively progressive politically); was active in the youth group at that time.

    But that humanities class got me questioning everything and I very quickly made up my mind how illogical it was to think that western civilization is somehow different than prior civilizations and would carry on until Jesus returned on winged horses to pass judgment on everyone, or something like that.

    I continued going to church regularly and being involved with youth group, but never truly “believed” after that class. Once I got to college, I stopped going to church except for when I was back home.

    So no, I am not religious to answer OP. My current concern is how to handle this with my 8 year old daughter.
     
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  27. DriveByBBQ

    DriveByBBQ Well-Known Member
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    “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.” and “God loves you. No exceptions.”

    I love the Episcopal Church. In my experience the spectrum of theology is broad and message is usually gospel driven (i.e. focused on living a Christ like life)

    To me, its a place of inclusion, source of spiritual fruit, and represents all the best parts of Christianity: forgiveness, kindness, acceptance, and a compassionate and loving God.

    I’d encourage you to attend if you’re considering doing so, worst that happens is you don’t like it and never go back.
     
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  28. IV

    IV Freedom is the right of all sentient beings
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    Its the best of the denominations in my opinion also the most clearly man made in my opinion

    not sure what that says about what
     
    #478 IV, Apr 19, 2022
    Last edited: May 6, 2022
  29. kinghill

    kinghill Cool American Flavour
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    same
     
  30. Daniel Ocean

    Daniel Ocean I only lied about being a thief
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    never seen anyone thank Covid for anything but do you
     
  31. fattus

    fattus Well-Known Member
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    I’ve been to Episcopal service once. I liked it. Good message. If I ever decide I want church in my life that’s where I’ll go.
     
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  32. The Banks

    The Banks TMB's Alaskan
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    Even if you believe in Jesus/God/whatever, what’s the difference between attending mass in person vs virtual? As someone raised Catholic I’m genuinely curious.
     
  33. The Banks

    The Banks TMB's Alaskan
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    If I ever hear this it’s an automatic “this person is an abject piece of shit with zero empathy, also a moron”.
     
  34. The Banks

    The Banks TMB's Alaskan
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    A complete lack of empathy, or ignorance.
     
  35. Hoss Bonaventure

    Hoss Bonaventure I can’t pee with clothes touching my butt
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    God is one of those anti-work from home type of managers.
     
  36. tylerdolphin

    tylerdolphin My spoon is too big
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    I think people that say that are genuinely trying to help you with a thought that they find comforting. It's not that they are pieces of shit and more that they don't quite understand how silly of a sentiment it is to a lot of people, often because of a sheltered existence. It's an incredibly frustrating thing to be told at a difficult time though.
     
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  37. Hoss Bonaventure

    Hoss Bonaventure I can’t pee with clothes touching my butt
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    It’s one of the worst things to say to someone who experiences a tragedy. That or “you’re welcome”.
     
  38. Bruce Wayne

    Bruce Wayne Billionaire Playboy
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    What if you pick the wrong religion to believe in? Technically you wouldn’t find out until you die anyway.

    Gotta suck you rolled the dice on X when actually Y was the correct answer
     
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  39. GordoBombay

    GordoBombay Well-Known Member
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    The Eucharist.
     
  40. tylerdolphin

    tylerdolphin My spoon is too big
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    That's where having a sheltered, deeply uncurious life comes in handy in my observations.
     
  41. tylerdolphin

    tylerdolphin My spoon is too big
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    Not disputing that. I don't think there's malice behind it usually though.
     
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  42. BuckeyeRiot

    BuckeyeRiot Team Nicki
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    I’ll be the guy to find a reason that while I obviously wish the pandemic hadn’t happened, I can’t deny a very singular and personal good that’s come out of it.

    My son is a daddy’s boy. Has been from day 1. He loves his mom but he’ll step on her face to get to me (figuratively). She had a very hard time with that when he was young. It caused a lot of issues between us and frankly I didn’t know what I could really do to make it better for her or him. He was almost 3 in March of 20 when the world stopped. She’s been working from March 9th of 2020 through September of 2021, then again from November of 21 through April of this year. They are so much closer now and I have no doubt at all that if she hadn’t gotten all that alone time with him, even while distracted and working, we’d be in a much worse place in our marriage.

    Obviously this is an extremely tiny drop of personal good that I am eternally grateful for out of the ocean of pain, suffering, and death for all of humanity over the last two years.
     
    #492 BuckeyeRiot, Apr 19, 2022
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2022
  43. Simon Templar

    Simon Templar Well-Known Member
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    I think if we all look hard enough we can find some good. Maybe it was more time spent with family, an opportunity to work on ourselves because we didn’t have to commute, etc.

    While I saw first hand the atrocities and suffering people faced as we worked throughout with our healthcare partners. When I’ve been on video chats while Infection Preventionist broke down crying or a close work associate from that field took her own life due to the massive amounts of pressure placed upon them. The suffering and tragedy is very real, but I agree that there has been some good however small that has come out of this all if you look hard enough.
     
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  44. Lawnole23

    Lawnole23 FSU Seminoles 2020 National Champions
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    That sounds like more a racism issue than Lutheran issue
     
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  45. Lawnole23

    Lawnole23 FSU Seminoles 2020 National Champions
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    My son is 9. I question my faith all the time. He asked me a few months ago "since Santa's not real does that mean God isn't real either?" I told him I believe in God but I question it sometimes. There are people that 100% believe in God, people that believe but aren't sure and people that don't believe at all or believe in other forms of God and it's his own decision to make but I'll answer any questions he has and he just needs to be the best and caring version of himself he can be. I sent him to talk to our pastor as well who he said essentially told him the same thing.

    So that's how I handled it.
     
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  46. BuckeyeRiot

    BuckeyeRiot Team Nicki
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    Yes, again it was a very personal good, it in no way minimizes the carnage. I’m deeply sorry for what you and your coworkers went through. Obviously if I had the option of them not having that bonding along with no Covid or our current reality, I’d take the personal loss.
     
  47. killerwvu

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    I was in the same spot back in Aug. Was not in a good spot mentally and started looking for a church to attend. Found one that reminded me of the one I grew up going to. Was nervous/intimidated the first day I went. The people there couldn't have been more friendly/welcoming. And I'm introverted by nature and going was way out of my comfort zone, but it couldn't have gone better
     
  48. Lawnole23

    Lawnole23 FSU Seminoles 2020 National Champions
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    Feeling of community most likely.
     
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  49. Simon Templar

    Simon Templar Well-Known Member
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    I’m ancillary to the healthcare industry as we manufacture chemicals and disinfectants along with other infection prevention commodities. I would never take any credit for being one of the frontline heroes that put it on the line everyday but most days I was a listening ear.

    I do agree that the good is deeply personal to each of us. Would I experience that personal loss to prevent it, like you absolutely I would.
     
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  50. BuckeyeRiot

    BuckeyeRiot Team Nicki
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    :respek:
     
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