Your Religous Views

[DarkNeopagan]

I am starting this thread to see what religious views people have. I want to hear what people believe, and I don’t want discussion, just your own views in your own words, if you want to discuss it then start a new thread please. Don’t tell people they are right or wrong, just your views, and if you have no “religious” views, then whatever you believe in your heart to be true. I will get it started, which means I want to hear what you believe.

I am a practicing Wiccan, to narrow the scope down I consider myself a dark neopagan (sort of like a denomination, i.e. druid, gardnerian, ect.). I follow a nocturnal path to spiritual enlightenment, which means I practice at night. I believe in and practice Magick, no not magic, like a stage magician, but the type used to manipulate your environment to enrich your life. I do not believe there is only one correct religion, I believe religion is what you believe in your heart. I believe in Karma and the threefold law, whatever you do in life comes back to you three times as much. I follow the Wiccan rede “An ye harm none, do as ye will” not meaning do whatever feels good but to do what I believe to be morally right and making myself responsible for my actions. Instead of asking a Deity for forgiveness I try to fix my mistakes on my own.

I also have some different views on the afterlife than most people in that I do not believe in heaven or hell, but instead that there are different levels, for lack of better words, starting with the lower realm, similar to the Christian purgatory, but by no means permanent. This realm is where souls work out their flaws and obsessions until they understand why it was wrong, i.e. a murderer would relive his/her worst murder over and over. Once they resolve their problems they would move on to the summer realm, a realm similar to earth in design but everything there is done with the mind, not physical. From there a soul could stay or choose to be re-incarnated. I will talk more about this area later.

I use Deities from many religions in my practices, Greek, Egyptian, Sumerian. I believe these Deities are established psychological connections to Divinity and power tied to a specific role. For example Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea, and so has a connection to water. Every Wiccan follows a different path. I will go into more detail in the future but I am really busy right now, so I will finish this at a later date.

Thank you,
Dark Neopagan

[Drychnath]

I am not a practicing member of any religion. I personally believe that there are powers aside from Man, although I bounce back and forth between believing these powers to be self-aware. For the sake of simplicity, I will say I believe certain generally abstract concepts have powers and are animating forces on their own; among these are War, Hatred, and Love, for the basics. As such, I tend to respect pantheonic traditions. I additionally hold such things as weather and landscapes in a certain awe, and I am certain that consciously directed or not there is power in a storm or earthquake or mountain. I am also, as most of you are no doubt aware, possessed of an immense respect for antiquity and history.

Aside from this vague shamanistic business, I do not preclude the existence of an all-powerful God; but I do believe that whether or not He exists has ultimately no effect on our own conduct, because I feel that logically He would not interfere much in the workings of the world. I do confess, however, to fervently wishing on occasion that wasn't the case. I hold venerable and powerful institutions, such as the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, in high estimation. This is both for their longevity, their contributions to society, and as convenient, familiar means of expressing my otherwise as-yet uncodified faith.

On a similar note, I believe that the belief of humanity is in itself an empowering factor. Therefore whether or not Huitzilopochtli really existed before, the Aztecs who revered him and the tens of thousands of lives spilled out in blood sacrifice to him render him something to be respected.

[johnjacobjingleheimerschmidt]

sorry in advance, this isn't very organized, and i'm sick, but this is pretty much a summary of my belief system.

i'm an atheist, plain and simple, believe in pretty much no absolutes, that each culture develops its own beliefs and customs according to its needs, and therefore we as an outside culture should respect them. deterministic i am, that freewill really has no place in human beings, and i also believe that there is no such thing as this bullshit of an excuse that is human nature "ohhhh we're greedy cuz humanity is"...if ya'll want i'll delve in deeper, but i really can't delve too deepply into my religious beliefs, they're not...that complicated, i don't believe in god, don't believe in an afterlife, you are what you make of yourself(or rather, how you react to outside influences) and that's it, once life is over you're done. *shrugs* i...don't know why, honestly, i have so much trouble accepting things on faith, the idea of a higher power that i can't see, feel, or experience just...boggles my mind. *shrugs* i believe in humanity, so maybe i'm a humanist? i believe that humanity, maybe, eventually, will learn that it doesn't need a reason to live other than to better itself/society....maybe confucianist is a better way? *shrugs* i believe each person has a role to play in society, and that one should, rather than respect each individual person as an individual(which is becoming harder and harder with today's population), i believe in the thought of society first, a culture is more permanent than anything any single person can do(besides ofcourse, in someone like alexander or khan's case, someone who creates their own society and culture), it is for the greater good that i believe a person should work for.

[Arcadian]

I am an agnostic, as I explained in a thread elsewhere.

However, because of this, I accept the fact that there can be higher sentient powers. I point out the sentience in particular, because I already believe in nonsentient rules of existance, like Karma.

If I had to choose a monotheistic route, I would most definately choose one such as Deism.

Personally, however, I have a very strong bond to Poseidon. Not just for my affinity to the oceans, either. I'll give you an example.

Last semester I was in an MnM campaign, and helped to bring in two of my friends into it. We had a conversation once, the three of us I believe, about religious beliefs and I mentioned how much I enjoy Poseidon, and always have.

The next game, the GM had Poseidon speak with my character, as I was a Son of Poseidon. I found this quite eerie, and no, my friends hadn't mentioned this fact to the GM at all. It was synchronicity in full, and I find it quite comfortable to juggle the concept of me believing an an ancient greek god.

Then I realize how much of me is Scandenavian, and therefore Asatru, and I wince, and apologize to those who may be watching.

So I wonder, if "I think therefore I am" proves our existance, does "I pray, therefore I have something to pray to" proves the existance of a higher power? Or the mere concept of a higher power? Is there a difference?

I'm privy to the notion that Godly Concepts can manifest in human thought.

I hope to do more research on this someday.

[DarkNeopagan]

Why is everybody willing to debate religous views, but not explain their own? Please post yours!

[ph34rt3hcut3one]

Hmmmm....

My religious views?

Well, I'm a Christian. But because of some people I know that BELIEVE they are Christian, my faith has taken something of a hit.

I like the idea that someone is watching over me, helping when possible. But, I dislike the liberties taken by SOME Christian churches. I am very lucky to go to a wonderful church that does NOT take things from the bible out of context. Or use something from a book as old as dirt to control everything from this day and age.

So, I'm Christian, but I break rules when my heart leads me to it. I don't study or practice it, I live it.

[Asaeroth]

Agnostic, because, heck, I dunno! *grins*

But if you want my lean, I lean christian.

[DarkNeopagan]

Thank you to everyone who has shared there beliefs.


[AdminEdit]i deleted the discussion here, kinda took it all off track. oops.[/AdminEdit]

[pvtloganh]

i am an atheist some what if i can't see it and techy's can't prove it then i don't care what you say it dosen't matter i just can't belive in things like that (sighs) i don't know why but i don't and can't beleive ina higher power.