So, what has Religion done for you?

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For me, it was a major trigger for depression. In high school, moments after hearing about "the unpardonable sin", I had concluded that I had done it (as the thought of a sin is considered the same as physically committing it, according to the bible), and in my mind, perception of the statement constituted sin. And if not, the thoughts that followed it most certainly were.


At this point, I felt that I had been rejected by God. I was already (nearly) universally rejected at school and ignored at home. This now meant to me that I was rejected everywhere, which was quite devastating.

While I did eventually "get over it", it was through a logical analysis of the religions I had been exposed to, which definitely did not build any faith.

Though I cannot say I am an atheist either. As crazy as it sounds, I have seen proof of the devil, which in turn is proof of God (I'll do a write up about this some time). This alone is enough to say that I cannot be considered agnostic, though I have had a long-standing belief that most religions are merely man's interpretations thereof, all of them flawed, yet at the same time carry a universal truth of the existence of the unseen (though to what extent is debatable).

Now, my primary use for religion is social networking. I know that I will probably never be able to believe what they do, yet I have very limited options for interaction (as I live in a small town and have been unable to make any friends), and religion represents a consistant outlet, through the regular meetings that people have provided because of it.

Lucky me, I was raised entirely without religious or political indoctrination. I was given a library membership instead, so I could read about whatever I wanted. So I guess the answer is that various religious have provided a little interesting reading now and then.

It has pissed me off, made me laugh, gave me a reason to feel better about myself, and taught me a lot about people, which I am thankful to it for.

I do respect religions(by them selves) for their lessons, stories, and philosopies. However I find lord of the rings, overall, more useful and attractive. Don't get me started on the people who love religion though. There are some people I think good about who love religion, but the vast majority... ugh.

When I was younger, religion (specific case, Christianity) gave me a much needed framework within which to try and understand the chaotic world around me..

It gave me a reason to see the world as meaningful when that wasn't intuitivley obvious to my depressed teenage self.

Later on, reaching into the theology and history of Christianity I discovered more problems, so there religion fuelled enquiry, showed alternatives by contrast, and gave me something to chew on and over as I developed my philosophical and moral thinking.

I had to give up on some community in order to be consistent with my beliefs, while I know others have kept with community while not having the core faith.

There's something here about the value of common myths, even if they are not true.
(C S Lewis preferred Norse myth over all others, but hardly considered them true, as history, or factual account of the universe)

I'm short on myths I can believe, and possibly consider myself the poorer for it.
(The downside of community myths occurs when such encounter dissident beliefs, or the myths of a different community: watch the sparks fly!)


Atheist, with a sneaking suspicion, still, that this whole self-awareness thing is meaningless,
an empty joke by blind random matter. Just a suspicion, mind...


For Nomaken:
"We must do without hope," he said. "At least we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves and weep no more! Come! We have a long road, and much to do."

Religion is pretty much something I look quite positively at. It provides many useful services for individuals and is even something that I have used in the past. Meditation has nothing on prayer as nothing can restore a sense of balance in a chaotic world as well as a prayer with honest intentions. However, I personally have problems with my own sense of religion, I have had no strong religious background and it almost seems to me that reality does not follow any idealist moral values like religion suggests. I do admit that religion has many good virtues and I believe it is a positive thing for society, especially if used properly but I just sometimes have difficulty caring about the divine or even whether my life has meaning. I just live it, which, although repulsive to previous thoughts I have had about existence, works well enough for me. It would not surprise me though if sometime in my life I became a churchgoer and things like that. The biggest worry about religion is its abuse, however, the system of values contained in religion are very valuable and there is no reason to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" on this issue.

I'm athiest, but religion has given me alot of ideas and guidelines for my own morals/values/principles. The good thing about not being tied down by any one religion is that you can pick and choose the best/most helpful parts from each and incorporate them into your own life without any fear of some divine retribution.

Religion has given me artistic inspiration. The lovely architecture of religious buildings amazes me, and some of the religious paintings are wonderful to look at. What I would give to walk through the Sistine Chapel just once. That's why I go into churches in major cities like NYC. The intricate detailed woodwork on the inside of some the churches just takes my breath away. I go inside of them and start drawing. Unfortunately, the candlelight hurts my eyes so I don't do it as often as I'd like. That and I'm broke and it will be a while before I can travel somewhere.

My personal relationship with Jesus Christ has given me meaning in this life, and it has given me the most solid intellectual framework to view the world. Jesus has also taken away my desire to do illegal drugs and be drunk with alcohol. I realize even during the darkest days that, according to the book of Romans in the Bible, nothing can separate me from the love of God. According to 1 John, I am "accepted in the beloved." People may fail, but God never fails.

Jesus and I disapprove of organised religion.

Religion did nothing for me except confuse me and beat me over the head with false guilt. The version of christianity I was taught was just a big cynical lie.

It gave me a framework of morals and standards to which I was more than happy to adhere. It set me apart and made me different, but I've never minded (for that reason anyway.) Also more recently learning about Jehovah and applying things to m own life, and making a conscious deision that yes I do want to do these things, has helped me no end. I now have answers to other people's questions, it's absolutely fascinating, and I'm a much happier person now. Nothing has suddenly changed - I've recently realised that I'm far happier now than I was even in October last year, and certainly I could not have imagined being this happy a couple of years ago. And it's good for me to have an authority in wi=hich to have faith

The thing above all is to concentrate on God and his love, and believing... just believing.

There's something I should add. To speak of my beliefs and AS, I became a Christian 4 years ago. I continued to go through a continually very tumultuous time, extremely hard for anyone, but kept believing despite everything, and indeed had to do some majorly serious believing. (The reason for times continuing to be tumultuous was being an Aspie, but one who was unaware I had AS and struggling badly in admittedly exceptional situations, but still struggling in an NT world.)

But, God-appointed on his perfect timing, I found out I had AS, and it has explained the times I've been through, before and after becoming a Christian.

Religion ruined my life. I'm so glad to be rid of it, to me religion is on the same level as child abuse. Only fools would believe demons caused disease (Mathew 8:30-34) and need a "medium" like pigs to be transfered into. If god existed he would have taught his creation about nature, science, elctricity, he wouldn't be performing circus acts for select few ignorant sects of human beings, and then ask you to believe it.

If you desire a religious context, then go for pagan. In this manner, you will actually believe in something, say the facets of the world, its rivers, forests, etc... It will give you something to believe in that has meaning, not some superhuman being centered around books of lies, such as that humankind came from a rib and all sorts of nonsense.

- Ray M -

I'm a Christian person in that I believe in God, and I believe in Jesus as my Savior. We don't attend a regular church. We read the Bible at home and do our Bible studies at home. I have a collection of theology books which I love reading.

Being a Christian and studying the Bible and the life of Jesus brings me peace.

I don't push my beliefs on others, I answer questions if someone is interested but that's about all. And I respect other people's belief systems, or lack of. Everyone has the right to their own beliefs, it's something you feel but cannot see, so who's to judge?