What is your favorite part of your religion?

All spiritual discussion is focused here. You may share your testimony, anything you have learned about the Word, or shout your praises to God here. Also the hub of all CAA bible studies.

What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby TheMewster » Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:12 pm

Christians and non-Christians invited to this thread. What do you like most about your religion? Personally, I like the fact that Christianity gives me hope for the future and the fellowship we have at our youth group and church. :)
User avatar
TheMewster
 
Posts: 1129
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:34 pm
Location: In a house...

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Ally-Ann » Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:16 pm

Besides being able to have a relationship with God and Jesus without having to go through any other "spiritual" or "holy" being or having to pray a specific way?

I get to eat what I want, when I want, 24/7, 365.
User avatar
Ally-Ann
 
Posts: 618
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:15 pm
Location: Gazing at some pretty foliage~! ✿◕ ‿ ◕✿

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby SierraLea » Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:51 pm

There are a ton of things I really love about Catholicism, so I'll make a short list.
The fact that we can trace our origin all the way back to Jesus, while other religions can't
The huge emphasis on having a personal relationship with God
All the neat doctrines on things like Angels, Matrimony, and current issues
User avatar
SierraLea
 
Posts: 1255
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2012 7:57 am
Location: the epitome of laugher

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby mechana2015 » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:07 pm

Rules of the thread. Post your response to the OP. Do not engage others in debate. If debate occurs the thread will lock and further action will be taken.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Crossfire » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:01 pm

SierraLea wrote:The fact that we can trace our origin all the way back to Jesus, while other religions can't


Edit: Wait, I'm confused. What exactly do you mean by that statement? That other religions don't have a connection to Jesus or something?



Anywho, I follow Jesus because his teachings don't impose strict regulations on you as a person (E.g. Thou shalt not wear this specific article of clothing), while also providing a good moral compass to society in general. I view it as a "relationship with Christ", rather than boring ol' "religion".
Last edited by Crossfire on Fri Jan 25, 2013 12:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Image
User avatar
Crossfire
 
Posts: 691
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 5:02 pm
Location: "British" Colombia

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Xeno » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:47 pm

SierraLea wrote:The fact that we can trace our origin all the way back to Jesus, while other religions can't


Crossfire wrote:I like Christianity because it lets me be a normal person, with a strive for moral goodness n' such.

Image

Anyway. My favorite thing about atheism is:
Image
Image
User avatar
Xeno
 
Posts: 1895
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 12:13 pm
Location: Oklahoma City

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Ante Bellum » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:54 pm

I just want to mention that non-Christians (atheist or otherwise) can be "normal" and "moral" as well.
User avatar
Ante Bellum
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:59 pm
Location: E U R O B E A T H E L L

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Crossfire » Fri Jan 25, 2013 12:03 am

Not what I was implying, but even the revised version of my post is just digging a larger hole. Edit: On second thought, I won't even bother.
Image
User avatar
Crossfire
 
Posts: 691
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 5:02 pm
Location: "British" Colombia

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Zeldafan2 » Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:21 am

Non-christians can definitely be moral or normal people, but before I start going into deep discussion to further explain my point that's inevitiably going to cause debates, I'll reply to the OP.

The thing I like the most about my religion is that I can have a feeling that God is always they're for me, and even when I make bad decisions, he's willing to forgive me always.
Zeldafan2
 
Posts: 676
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:11 am

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby goldenspines » Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:53 am

Reminder to everyone to please heed Mech's post, please. Make your post to the OP and move along. If you have a question for someone in particular (who is not the OP), please PM them.


To the OP: Hmmm, that's sort of an odd question. Or rather, not one I've actually heard before.
But let's see, I obviously like my system of beliefs since, you know, I believe them. I think what I like most about it is that I don't have to follow any rules. I mean, obviously the logic of the world is still going to work (e.g. If you stick your hand on a hot burner, your hand will get burned, or if you insult someone, they are probably not going to hang out with you anymore.) so I can't totally be like "Screw the rules, I have Jesus".

In other words, I can mess up and screw myself over in this world, but eternally, I'll be a-okay because I believe God is more powerful than I am and that He loves me. Fairly simple, I guess.
Image
User avatar
goldenspines
 
Posts: 4869
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:42 am
Location: Up north somewhere.

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Nate » Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:55 am

The thing I like most about my religion is that it charges me to help the poor and needy, and tells me to give to others wholeheartedly. Without my religion, I would probably be like certain people in this country who condemn the poor and praise the rich, the exact opposite of what my religion does.
Image

Ezekiel 23:20
User avatar
Nate
 
Posts: 10725
Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: Oh right, like anyone actually cares.

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Neane » Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:11 pm

My least favorite part of Christianity is what C.S. Lewis once said, its no fun getting hit between the eyes with a sledge hammer. He was referring to the way the Bible, once you start reading it receptively, has a way of exposing all your faults, sort of like when you think your rug is clean, but then you put an ultraviolet light on it and all the stains show up. That part of becoming a Chrsitian is no fun at all. But without it, there is no redemption, so we take the medicine and trust God for the cure. Jesus came for sinners, not the self-righteous. and but that in a way is my favorite part of Christianity. I don't need to build fancy things to my God or do fancy rituals all the time, all I need is to simply believe and trust that what he said about him dying for me and being raised from the dead is real.
User avatar
Neane
 
Posts: 1996
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:12 pm
Location: Candlekeep, Faerûn

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby rocklobster » Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:12 am

Um, Xeno, Einstein was religious.
User avatar
rocklobster
 
Posts: 8903
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:27 pm
Location: Planet Claire

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Nate » Sat Jan 26, 2013 10:05 am

Albert Einstein's religious views have been studied extensively. He said he believed in the god of Baruch Spinoza, but not in a personal god, a belief he criticized. He also called himself an agnostic, and criticized atheism, preferring he said "an attitude of humility."

Einstein expressed his skepticism regarding an anthropomorphic deity, often describing it as "naïve" and "childlike". He stated, "It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I feel also not able to imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. My views are near those of Spinoza: admiration for the beauty of and belief in the logical simplicity of the order which we can grasp humbly and only imperfectly. I believe that we have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem—the most important of all human problems."

On 22 March 1954 Einstein received a letter from Joseph Dispentiere, an Italian immigrant who had worked as an experimental machinist in New Jersey. Dispentiere had declared himself an atheist and was disappointed by a news report which had cast Einstein as conventionally religious. Einstein replied on 24 March 1954:\

It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.

No, Einstein was not religious. Please stop spreading a lie that Einstein himself said was a lie.
Image

Ezekiel 23:20
User avatar
Nate
 
Posts: 10725
Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: Oh right, like anyone actually cares.

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Xeno » Sat Jan 26, 2013 10:27 am

Thank you for that Nate.

Also, just to make sure no one else misunderstands my previous post. I wasn't trying to say "look at all these fellow atheists", I was trying to say
SCIENCEImage
Image
User avatar
Xeno
 
Posts: 1895
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2004 12:13 pm
Location: Oklahoma City

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Nate » Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:01 am

I'd also like to point out before anyone tries to feebly latch on to the statement that Einstein believed in God as Baruch Spinoza described and therefore "Einstein believed in God," if you read about Baruch Spinoza his writings state that he did not view God as a being exactly, but that God and Nature were one and the same. Therefore according to Spinoza, God is just another name for the laws of nature and the universe.

Needless to say, Spinoza was expelled from the Jewish community for these beliefs.
Image

Ezekiel 23:20
User avatar
Nate
 
Posts: 10725
Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: Oh right, like anyone actually cares.

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby rocklobster » Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:33 am

Well, there goes my ability to use Einstein.
Back on topic, I like the fact that my religion inspires me to appreciate the beauty of God's creation, be it in plants or animals. I also like the fact that I can take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus bore all my sins and suffered as any human had before or after his death.
User avatar
rocklobster
 
Posts: 8903
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:27 pm
Location: Planet Claire

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby mechana2015 » Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:40 pm

Hi, this is a not so friendly reminder that that up there was a moderator note, not a suggestion. Next time it goes off on a tangent like that by directly addressing another person the thread will lock. People may say things you won't agree with in this thread. PM them if you have something to say back.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Lynna » Mon Jan 28, 2013 4:16 pm

I'm not sure what I like best about my religion. I guess I like how the values of compassion and love for one another, and the the ideas of redemption and grace.
User avatar
Lynna
 
Posts: 1374
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:38 am
Location: The Other End of Nowhere...

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby SailorDove » Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:42 pm

TheMewster wrote:Christians and non-Christians invited to this thread. What do you like most about your religion? Personally, I like the fact that Christianity gives me hope for the future and the fellowship we have at our youth group and church. :)


This is a good question. Its a bit hard for me to answer since its asking about "religion". And I think it was a rather nice way for the OP to phrase your belief or denomination.

For me I have this disconnect between religion and my relationship with God/Jesus. When I hear that word, it makes me think of that verse that said something like, "True religion is helping the poor, orphans, widows and visiting the captives... etc."

But, here's my answer to what I think is the heart of the OP's question. To me the bible shows us how God stands up for and/or raises up the weak, outcasts, downtrodden, misfits and the underdogs. God is just & holy yet merciful, powerful yet loving. While most tyrants or dictators oppress others with their military might and political power, God rules by laws that are to protect the common people against tyrants, each other and their own personal vices. Having the ability to change people without striping them of their personal liberty. That in itself is amazing.

Once there was an excellent post by a CAA member asking others which of the Roman/Greek gods from myth were their favorite. After doing a quick Wikipedia search and reading though their bios. I came to strongly disliked all but 2. The later two I could somewhat tolerate. The common thing I saw was all powerful immoral beings frivolously playing with the lives of the mortals to suit their petty schemes. Don't even get me started on the adulterous Zeus and his jealous wife.

They pretty much all lacked that true pure holiness that I've come to admire about God/Jesus. There's a quote I really like, "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." James D. Mills

Thank you for reading my opinion.
User avatar
SailorDove
 
Posts: 598
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:37 pm
Location: State of Peace

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby anlptgtsg » Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:05 am

Favorite part, I would say is the peace in times of troubles. Yes there will be problems but yet you are more relaxed than others. I don't feel this right now though XD. Or given a gift that you don't deserve. A gift that is free but not cheap.
User avatar
anlptgtsg
 
Posts: 266
Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 2:13 pm
Location: Here, there, nowhere....

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby ClaecElric4God » Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:25 pm

Oh, wow, that's such a hard question. But I guess I have to pick a favorite, huh? :)
My favorite thing about my faith is the patience my God has with me. I can be such a failure sometimes (well, alot of times), but He is still patient and loving with me. He's always there for me, even when I'm too selfish to be there for Him. Even though I don't deserve His grace, He gives it unconditionally. If second chances were nickels, I could buy a small country. No matter how far I fall, I know my Lord will never give up on me. And His patience and care make me want to overcome my failures and serve Him to the fullest, far more than any dictator could oppress me into doing.
A close second would be the peace that passes all understanding. The peace God gives me when I'm going through a hard time, where I can lean on Him and trust all my worries to Him, knowing He's in control and He wants what's best for me. I love feeling safe and secure when things are tough, or when I don't understand why I'm going through such-and-such a circumstance. I love having Someone I can trust no matter what.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? -Micah 6:8 KJV
They have shewed thee, O teen, what is good; and what doth the world require of thee, but to fit in, be wealthy, have good looks, and be rebellious? -Peer Pressure 1:1
"I hate milk; it's like drinking vomit." -Edward Elric and me. :fmed:
Image

ClaecElric4God in regards to Wolfsong - You're the coolness scraped off the top of this morning's ice cream, after being pulled out of a beautiful summer day!
User avatar
ClaecElric4God
 
Posts: 2090
Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 9:02 am
Location: By the time you read this, I'll probably be somewhere else...

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby Cheetah » Thu Feb 07, 2013 7:45 pm

SailorDove wrote:For me I have this disconnect between religion and my relationship with God/Jesus. When I hear that word, it makes me think of that verse that said something like, "True religion is helping the poor, orphans, widows and visiting the captives... etc."


James 1:27
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

I was totally thinking about that verse too.

I can't really say that I have a favorite part, but I guess what really encourages me is that I know it's real. It's not just a feeling that I had. When I got saved I actually began a one-on-one relationship with the Creator of the Universe, one that will never be broken. I don't have to rely on feelings that are always changing(because I am still a sinner, saved by grace). I can rely on God. He told me to call on Him and I did, as a result He promised I would have eternal life, so I do. That's one thing I love about being a Christian.
Image
User avatar
Cheetah
 
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:23 pm

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby rocklobster » Fri Feb 08, 2013 4:13 am

Xeno, I sent you another PM. I had a thought that would help my side.
Anyway, here's my reason.
I like the confidence I have that God knows what is best for me. Like many aspies, I am naive, especially with social cues. And on the net, that's even harder because you can't tell a person's true intention behind what is typed because that's all you have to go on. But God is the only Being I can trust completely to never let me down.
User avatar
rocklobster
 
Posts: 8903
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:27 pm
Location: Planet Claire

Re: What is your favorite part of your religion?

Postby mechana2015 » Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:26 pm

Thread locked. Rock, I'll be discussing this with other mods.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County


Return to Testimonies & Spiritual Growth

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 49 guests