I used to be Christian when I was younger since that what my family was. My mom's side was Christian and my dad's side was Catholic. After not going to church for a while, I've just been kinda distant from the whole thing and don't really care about it anymore.
How about others who have voted? Speak up and represent your religion. Not a place to have debates, but who knows what type of interesting conversations you may strike up when talking to others of different (or the same) faith!
For me, I enjoy practicing Buddhism because it primarily focuses on philosophical guidelines that you carry out in daily life rather than a belief. In fact, I don't really consider Buddhism a religion at all. I see it as a way of carrying out life and to rid yourself of suffering. In my personal experience, I've introduced some of my atheist friends to Buddhism, and they absolutely loved the morality and guidelines it teaches! Side note: Completely unrelated, but for all you anime fans out there who also happen to be religious, there's actually an anime where the Buddha and Jesus live together as roommates in Japan. So yeah..go knock yourself out with that!
I was raised as a Catholic and went to a Catholic school. At the age of 10 I realized I didn't believe in God, because for me his existence was impossible (at least as the way people see him). However, I wanted to believe, so I started going to mass and actually read some chapters of the Bible. That made it even worse because some verses from the Bible seemed ridiculous to me and the whole institution of the Church is somewhat corrupted in my opinion. That's why I decided to be non religious.
I am an athiest, don't think anyone in my family has ever practiced any religion although when you're a child and attend school you're basically force fed Christianity by having a daily prayer, a weekly service with the local minister and have Religious Education classes once a week. I did attend Girl Guides and Sunday School which I loved for the games, friends and trips away....never did believe in God though.
Bit stupid, I see myself as an athiest, but I still do wear davids cross around my neck because I love my country.
I do believe there is a god, superior being, something that ended up in us and evrything else being created. I do not however follow any religion. Since i was a kid i always thought that there is no point in following a religion, besides using it as a tool to help youself. Spoiler: some thoughts on religions I believe even in the Bible it's mentioned that there is no point in following a religion word by word if the actions you do arent of good will. Religions often guide you to ultimately be a better person and probably are often misinterpreted because of how different cultures and the religions surrounding those cultures are. In that sense i think religions are a good thing. What i dont like though is how often people call themselves religious and only put into practice their believes when is rather convenient.
Christian nondenominational fundamentalist ETA since most people probably won't know what that means. Fundamentalists take the Bible as literal. For example, there are some scholars that believe the events leading up to the Exodus was caused by a volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean. The sulfuric acid from the plume wafted towards Egypt and when it rained, the acid killed all the fish in the Nile and made it have a reddish hue. I believe God literally turned the Nile into blood with his divine power which in turn killed the fish. I changed to nondenominational from Methodist because I don't like all the ceremony of that and other denominations. Methodist church service was about 90 minutes long at my old church, and had many "steps" that was followed every week. Of that 90 minutes about 20 was the actual sermon. I don't really like being around people, even people I do like, so I want to go to church to hear the sermon. The nondenominational churches, at least in my area, have a few songs of worship, about an hour long sermon, close with greeting one another or just leaving.
Atheist, for moral reasons more than belief in the existence of god. used to be a Christian, thought that could help me become a better person. As I read the bible more and more, there was some absolutely disgusting violations of human rights and authoritarianism both in New and Old testament, and we were supposed to either accept or glorify those acts. As I am very passionate about human rights and social justice (i'm the type of person that if you don't agree with marriage equality then I will tell you never to talk to me again until you reassess your value system), I am vehemently against any religion whose deity commands absolute authority over anyone. I really like Buddhism however and agree on a lot about what it teaches
I was raised Reform Jewish. My dad is Orthodox Jewish, my mom was Roman Catholic (her mother was Jewish, and converted). Long story short, I gave up believing in the "all mighty and merciful" god that we're taught to believe in as a child. Instead, I'm now agnostic. I don't believe that there's the god we were taught to believe in, but there is some higher being, whether it's good or bad I don't know.
This is definitely an interesting topic to read and see where everyone is at and what they believe. I am a Christian simply because I believe Jesus is who He says He is, the Son of God. I've experienced many things regarding my faith, and I know God desires to have a close, intimate relationship with every single person. In Him I have found who I truly am. He makes me free and takes off every burden, every striving part of me, and allows me to just be who I am, who He has created me to be. He builds me up and gives me His joy. I see God as one who has romanced my heart. He created humans; humans failed. He sent His son, Jesus, in order that we may have right standing relationship with God once again, to die on the cross and raise again according to the scriptures that spoke of Him long before His human birth. He endured all the accusations, the shame, the betrayal, the beatings, and finally, the cross, all so that we might never have to perish, but have everlasting life. He gives us life and life more abundantly. Who can know me better than my Maker, who happens to be all-knowing and all-powerful? My human mind cannot even conceive the fullness of His thoughts toward me.
