When you hear the word "religion" what is the first thing you think of?

by Jim in SC Posted 2012/06/16 16:54:03

Related Topics: Religion, Opinion, Word

Read More

25 votes
Read all 61 opinions
View Results and Demographics + View Demographics

Loading Demographics... Click an icon to see demographic results Display unknown and private
	I think this...	22 votes	88%
	No opinion	1 vote	4%
	Undecided	0 votes	0%
	None of the above	2 votes	8%

Add a comment above

beach bum 2012/06/17 10:51:41

I think this...

+1
church

reply
Jim in SC to beach bum 2012/06/17 18:19:08

+1
Cool. Thanks for your answer.

reply
beach bum to Jim in SC 2012/06/17 21:02:09

+1
yw jim

reply
Kibbles 2012/06/17 05:21:45

I think this...

+1
Faith that can sometimes lead to mislead ideas of what belongs in this world and what we need to remove.

reply
Jim in SC to Kibbles 2012/06/17 18:27:19

I think we often hold lots of mislead ideas about a whole lot of things. At least I find that true of myself. Thanks for your answer.

reply
N-RagedOwner 2012/06/16 23:36:52

None of the above

(Clicked wrong one, meant to click "I think this...")

#1 I think about the religious nuts that are out there shoving their unbending but yet logically ignorant and contradicting beliefs onto everyone. You know the kind, where they fail to see the obvious and insist that if you don't "just believe" then you're going on a one way trip to hell. Makes me want to punch them in the face and ask them why their god didn't save them from that.

#2 Wanting to help some girls lose their 'religion' in the backseat of a car. :D

reply
Jim in SC to N-Raged... 2012/06/16 23:58:21

Thanks for your answer.

reply
N-Raged... to Jim in SC 2012/06/17 00:25:55

+1
Thanks for the copied and pasted response.

reply
Jim in SC to N-Raged... 2012/06/17 01:21:58

You're welcome. Have a good day.

reply
N-Raged... to Jim in SC 2012/06/17 02:18:33

Canned responses are annoying enough as it is. Even worse when a response isn't even necessary.

reply
Shawna 2012/06/16 23:36:23

I think this...

+1
Churches and bibles, rituals and the items used.

reply
Jim in SC to Shawna 2012/06/16 23:52:57

+1
Thanks for your reply.

reply
Red Pixy 2012/06/16 23:29:37

I think this...

+1
religions war

reply
Jim in SC to Red Pixy 2012/06/16 23:54:25

Thanks for your answer.

reply
Scott 2012/06/16 20:33:01

I think this...

+1
Unnecessary hierachies and offices in it's organized form. It's a shame when something so simple is complicated and twisted into factions and leaders. Drink the wine, praise the God of all, let the world be the world.

reply
Jim in SC to Scott 2012/06/16 23:55:31

Thanks for your answer.

reply
rhirhi 2012/06/16 20:09:54

I think this...

+1
Oh god this again

reply
Jim in SC to rhirhi 2012/06/16 23:56:55

Have you had a bad experience with religion or people who want to talk about religion?

Thanks for your answer.

reply
rhirhi to Jim in SC 2012/06/17 07:29:06

+1
Yes my father use to have his moments and we all suffered

reply
Jim in SC to rhirhi 2012/06/17 18:26:45

I'm sorry to hear that. I can certainly understand your response above then. I do hope things are better now.

reply
capoeirakid 2012/06/16 19:44:59

I think this...

+1
The Bible, the Qur'an, and the Torah.

reply
Jim in SC to capoeir... 2012/06/16 23:57:36

Thanks for your answer.

reply
capoeir... to Jim in SC 2012/06/17 18:14:21

+1
What do you think of?

reply
Jim in SC to capoeir... 2012/06/17 18:32:02

When I hear the word, usually I think of an organized system of faith practices centered around some commonality.

Depending on the context of the conversation, I sometimes also think of someones faith expression, a set of rules and restrictions, or of inauthenticity and posturing.

reply
Radical Ed 2012/06/16 19:39:57

I think this...

+1
"i will pray for you"...doesn't matter what happens, i always get that condescending statement.

reply
Jim in SC to Radical Ed 2012/06/16 19:43:48

Thanks for your reply.

reply
D'eath 2012/06/16 19:02:22

I think this...

+1
Atheists.

reply
Jim in SC to D'eath 2012/06/16 19:44:20

+1
Thanks for your reply.

reply
capoeir... to D'eath 2012/06/18 17:21:30

+1
I don't really understand atheists, even though I used to be one, I never have understood them. I could understand needing proof of something, but most religions have not been disproven. We can't be sure of a scientific fact. We can only see that it's supported by other things that are, to the best of our knowledge, true. Besides, many religions have some things that we can be pretty sure are true that would point to the religion being true, or at least part of it being true. SO I'm fine with Atheism, because they might be right and many of them are good people, but when Atheists think religion is stupid, they are being stupid. We should all believe in our own religions and accept that other people believe in theirs.

reply
D'eath to capoeir... 2012/06/18 19:28:32

+1
Yes I would go along with most of what you have said. Although I was baptised into Christianity as a child I did rebel against religion until my early 20's when I found that I no longer needed to show off by being different. It was not until my late 40's that I chose to be confirmed.

I still have problems with believing what I can't understand or see (perceive) but then I would have to deny that computers work. There is something attractive in challenging the existence of god; it can make a person appear stronger than those who blindly believe, as Atheists have put it, like sheep.

I tend to view all decent religions as having the same or similar objectives; the main one would be to teach its people a code of behaviour and usually to love one another. Each of these religions have a god who is worshiped by them and that is where I have a problem, I can't worship the unknown, that would be sheepish, I do not believe in a god attached to any religion although it is obvious that all things that exist must have been caused to happen. The only causer of things that happen is Nature.

I think that people of an adult age who call themselves Atheists are people who are married to the religion of Atheism. Why do I think of Atheist when religion is mentioned?
because Atheism has yet to come out as a religion.

reply
capoeir... to D'eath 2012/06/18 19:51:19 (edited)

+2
I think Atheists really shouldn't call us sheep if they want us to change. Psalm 23. Oh, and about having problems believing what you can't see, well, I don't have those problems, but other than that I feel the same way. I can't see air, but I can still breathe. I can't see God, but I still believe.

reply
D'eath to capoeir... 2012/06/18 20:14:46

+1
Yes you have faith, I lack this gift, I hope one day I will but until that day I will have to make do with Nature as my god:)

reply
capoeir... to D'eath 2012/06/18 20:20:15

+2
I respect Nature, too, though. I'm a vegetarian,I don't litter, and I try to be eco-friendly. But I see it as a creation of God and sometimes a creation of people. And about faith, don't worry. Whatever kind of faith you're supposed to have, it'll come to you one day. There have been times when I didn't have faith, but it always came back.

reply
Jim in SC to capoeir... 2012/06/18 23:13:13

Good point about believing what you can't see.. Most atheists point to science as their source of truth, but in reality, in the field of science there is more we DON'T know than we do know. We've barely scratched the surface of knowing and understanding. So from that perspective, even atheism has somewhat of a basis in faith. Faith that the prevailing theories are valid, that they are right directed, etc. I don't mean that as a disrespectful thing, because most atheists I know are pretty decent, intelligent people.

reply
capoeir... to Jim in SC 2012/06/21 15:22:36

+1
I don't mean it to be disrespectful, either. Half of my family is Atheist, and some of my friends, too, and as I said, used to be Atheist. And I believe that a lot of scientific theories actually could be supported by the Bible. For instance, the Big Bang theory. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It says that God said for things to happen and they did. He could have made the Big Bang happen. To be honest, I'm not usually this religious, but this conversation sort of makes it seem like I am.

reply
Jim in SC to capoeir... 2012/06/21 19:42:32

I've read some papers which have insinuated that the confirmation of the Big Bang scientifically has had a ripple effect of causing many scientists to begin believing in a deity (not necessarily the Christian faith, but at least moving from atheist/agnostic to theist). The basic factor in that is that the confirmation of the Big Bang indicates that there was an initial effect. An effect cannot happen without a cause. Many scientists are beginning to think that the cause could be divine.

If you don't mind my asking, what made you change from atheism to Christian? If you don't want to share, that's ok. I'm just alwaus curious about how people make a big change like that.

reply
capoeir... to Jim in SC 2012/06/22 17:22:31

+1
Well, most of the people on my mom's side of the family have always been Christian, and everyone on my dad's side has always been Atheist. So when I was little I wasn't sure if I was Atheist or Christian. Now I know that I am my own kind of Christian, as I have explained. I always said to my mom's side of the family (except my mom) that I was Christian, and to my dad's side that I was Atheist, because they really don't understand each other, so if I told either of them the truth, they wouldn't get it. Except my mom and my brother. Religiously, they very open people. But I guess I didn't realize that when I was younger. But then when my mom met my ex-stepdad, she and I started going to church with him sometimes, so I could tell my mom and brother that I was Christian. I guess when I was about 11 or 12 I realized that I would rather believe that there's a good-hearted God and be wrong than believe that there is no God or that he's evil and be right. And then a lot of things have happened in my life that I don't think would hae happened if there were no God. For instance, when my ex-stepdad moved out, we had three dogs and he took two of them with him. I love all of our dogs, and I'm sad because I wish I could see all of them every day. But right before he moved out, my mom almos...

Well, most of the people on my mom's side of the family have always been Christian, and everyone on my dad's side has always been Atheist. So when I was little I wasn't sure if I was Atheist or Christian. Now I know that I am my own kind of Christian, as I have explained. I always said to my mom's side of the family (except my mom) that I was Christian, and to my dad's side that I was Atheist, because they really don't understand each other, so if I told either of them the truth, they wouldn't get it. Except my mom and my brother. Religiously, they very open people. But I guess I didn't realize that when I was younger. But then when my mom met my ex-stepdad, she and I started going to church with him sometimes, so I could tell my mom and brother that I was Christian. I guess when I was about 11 or 12 I realized that I would rather believe that there's a good-hearted God and be wrong than believe that there is no God or that he's evil and be right. And then a lot of things have happened in my life that I don't think would hae happened if there were no God. For instance, when my ex-stepdad moved out, we had three dogs and he took two of them with him. I love all of our dogs, and I'm sad because I wish I could see all of them every day. But right before he moved out, my mom almost hit a dog on the road and we brought the dog home. Then about two months after that, my brother's friend had to give up her dog because her dad said the dog had to go, and we took the dog in. So without even really skipping a beat, we were back to having three dogs. I think that for some reason, God wants us to have three dogs.
(more)

reply
Jim in SC to capoeir... 2012/06/27 01:44:53

Thanks so much for sharing your story with me. It must be difficult growing up with two vastly different Worldviews in your life. You seem really centered and confident in your beliefs. I commend you for that. Your realization when you were 11-12 reminds me of something called Pascal's Wager. Pascal basically stated that if one believes in God and is wrong, there is no negative ramifications. But if one does not believe in God and is wrong, there are grave consequences. His conclusion was that it is more logical then to believe in God.
Take care and have a great day!

reply
capoeir... to Jim in SC 2012/06/29 02:23:32

+1
Thanks and you, too! Pascal seems interesting, I need to research him.

reply
Jim in SC to D'eath 2012/06/18 23:08:45

+1
I appreciate your perspective regarding the outcome of challenging the existence of God. For the person of faith, it serves to strengthen and deepen that faith. I would liken it to the scientific process of challenging hypotheses to gain a deeper undstanding. Thanks for sharing.

reply