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Location: In the North Idaho woods, still surrounded by terriers
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My sister is a hard and fast Christian, I am spiritual but not Christian...I lean more towards the philosophy of Buddhism although I am not a Buddhist by definition. My brother...who is an atheist...asked me the other day why our beliefs are so different when we were raised by the same parents in the same house, with the same values?
After thinking about it long and hard I think much of it comes down to simple curiosity or the need to question and learn. Our parents were not religious but both professed a belief in God. I married a Lutheran man and so studied the Bible and Lutheranism very deeply, was baptized and confirmed and tried so hard to believe and accept that religion and its dogma without questioning it. But it never really made sense to me and eventually I began reading and studying and trying to understand other religions and finally I came into my own spirituality and my own beliefs, which are a whole other topic.
My sister was married to a tyrant and was introduced to church and Christianity by a friend and she found safety there, in that religion and its dogma...but she never questioned anything, just accepted it on blind faith and still does to this day (40 years later). She is so fearful of questioning her religion (she is Lutheran) that she will not even discuss my beliefs with me...I wish she would because maybe if she understood my beliefs and how similar our spirits really are, she would not be so worried about me.
My question is...why do some people ask questions and want to know more and are curious and open to knowing about other beliefs, while some just follow their learned religion without question? Is it an educational thing? A personality thing? Self-doubt? Fear?
If you pray to God to help you determine what 'truth' is, when it comes to spiritual things, He will always help you. Some have just not felt the need to pray for that help...it's called complacency.
Location: In the North Idaho woods, still surrounded by terriers
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Hmmm...but if you do not believe that there is a God who answers prayers in the first place...how would this work? It's kind of a Catch-22, isn't it? That is precisely my question...what makes some of us question while others simply "believe"?
Hmmm...but if you do not believe that there is a God who answers prayers in the first place...how would this work? It's kind of a Catch-22, isn't it? That is precisely my question...what makes some of us question while others simply "believe"?
You never know unless you ask. I have a friend who had doubts about God and she simply prayed that if He does exist, please help her to see the right path to take. She felt that when my mother came to her door and offered a bible study, it was an answer to that prayer and she still feels this way. But there are some I'm sure who would never have felt that way.
Speaking for myself, I sought the scriptures from the time I was a teen, because I believed it is the word of God, and I still believe that it is. No one influenced me one way or another. I went to the Presbyterian church first, but soon realized that it's doctrine was contrary to the Bible, so quit going there. I learned of the church of Christ when I was 33 years old. It's doctrine was , and is, in accordance to the Bible, and only the Bible. I obeyed the gospel right away and have remained a member for 42 years. I have done extensive studying and can see no reason to look elsewhere.
I do not subscribe to the belief that you will find the truth merely by praying. I believe faith comes by the word of God. By studying it and believing it.
I have felt there was a God since I was a small child. My faith is not from fear. Perhaps it is a personallity thing. My 4 siblings are all differant than I in their beliefs. The youngest, my brother, is (or was), a Jehovah's Witness. I think his belief came from his wife. My oldest half sister is an Episcopalian. The next oldest half sister is religious, but is of the belief that she doesn't need a 'church' . My only full sister is of no religion. I think she may be an agnostic. Our parents were of no religion.
It is odd how differant we all are. So it must be a personality thing. I am very thankful that I have chosen the path that I am taking. I have never had any regrets. It is not from fear, it is from faith that I am what I am.
My belief in God is somewhat visceral. Maybe it was the earliest memory of my grandmother reading her bible, and yet, she was not what you would call a fanatic. She practiced what she read in that bible.
As an adult, I now know for a fact that a belief in God makes sense. Think about it: All of the other religions tell you that you can work your way to eternal paradise through your own goodness. Umm, NO. This teaching only breeds confusion, and God is not the author of confusion. For example, how much works is enough? How much must you give? How many saints should you pray to? What if you never make it to the Ganges river to "purify" yourself? And even if it were this way, this means there is a level of pride involved. You freed yourself. It's because of your efforts. This is totally antithetic to biblical principal.
Satan's tools, (two of them), are confusion and pride, and they are rampant in the world today. Christ said that we would be hated for His namesake. Oh how true it is!!!
Location: The world, where will fate take me this time?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by esselcue
My question is...why do some people ask questions and want to know more and are curious and open to knowing about other beliefs, while some just follow their learned religion without question? Is it an educational thing? A personality thing? Self-doubt? Fear?
It all lies in the Ego, he is the root of all our Self-doubts, Fears, Unfulfilled desires, etc, etc, etc.
Ego has defense mechanisms to protect himself from realizing or accepting the truth
Ego defenses are not necessarily unhealthy as you can see by the examples above. In face, the lack of these defenses, or the inability to use them effectively can often lead to problems in life. However, we sometimes employ the defenses at the wrong time or overuse them, which can be equally destructive.
We are all his slaves unless we attain liberation by controlling him instead of being controlled by him first, and then finally destroying him.
However Ego's influence is stronger in some people than others, this is what causes some people's predisposition to Dogma, and it doesn't just apply to religious people there are Scientific and Inquisitive minds that fell prey to dogmatic thought too, this hinders the development of science, doing a damage as bad as dogmatic beliefs have done to religions.
1. OM: Here follows Instruction in Union. 2. Union, spiritual consciousness, is gained through control of the versatile psychic nature. 3. Then the Seer comes to consciousness in his proper nature. 4. Heretofore the Seer has been enmeshed in the activities of the psychic nature. 5. The psychic activities are five; they are either subject or not subject to the five hindrances (Book II, 3). 6. These activities are: Sound intellection, unsound intellection, predication, sleep, memory. 7. The elements of sound intellection are: direct observation, inductive reason, and trustworthy testimony. 8. Unsound intellection is false understanding, not resting on a perception of the true nature of things. 9. Predication is carried on through words or thoughts not resting on an object perceived. 10. Sleep is the psychic condition which rests on mind states, all material things being absent. 11. Memory is holding to mind-images of things perceived, without modifying them. 12. The control of these psychic activities comes through the right use of the will, and through ceasing from self- indulgence. 13. The right use of the will is the steady, effort to stand in spiritual being.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras 1-13
Last edited by Travelling fella; 06-26-2008 at 03:47 PM..
My sister is a hard and fast Christian, I am spiritual but not Christian...I lean more towards the philosophy of Buddhism although I am not a Buddhist by definition. My brother...who is an atheist...asked me the other day why our beliefs are so different when we were raised by the same parents in the same house, with the same values?
After thinking about it long and hard I think much of it comes down to simple curiosity or the need to question and learn. Our parents were not religious but both professed a belief in God. I married a Lutheran man and so studied the Bible and Lutheranism very deeply, was baptized and confirmed and tried so hard to believe and accept that religion and its dogma without questioning it. But it never really made sense to me and eventually I began reading and studying and trying to understand other religions and finally I came into my own spirituality and my own beliefs, which are a whole other topic.
My sister was married to a tyrant and was introduced to church and Christianity by a friend and she found safety there, in that religion and its dogma...but she never questioned anything, just accepted it on blind faith and still does to this day (40 years later). She is so fearful of questioning her religion (she is Lutheran) that she will not even discuss my beliefs with me...I wish she would because maybe if she understood my beliefs and how similar our spirits really are, she would not be so worried about me.
My question is...why do some people ask questions and want to know more and are curious and open to knowing about other beliefs, while some just follow their learned religion without question? Is it an educational thing? A personality thing? Self-doubt? Fear?
Unfortunatley there are lot's a goof balls with not much between the ears that call themselves Christian. Many assume all Christians to be mind numb robots that will accept everything some puffy haired televangelist or sister euthanasia tells them to believe.
Please don't lump us all into that catagory.
If I were someone looking for an excuse to believe it would not be hard to find it. You can take any sign, any "cue", any decently timed proposition, any random moment, anything "special" and you can automatically assign it to God's handiwork. Pray for a sign? Start looking for something coincidental and as soon as you see it, there you go. It's your personal sign because you're looking for an excuse to believe.
I think it was Francis Collins, the man who decoded the human genome, that was hiking in Alaska (I think) and came across a frozen waterfall that was set up like the three crosses. He said that was when he decided there was a God, but I hardly doubt he just saw that, dropped to his knees and said "I get it now!" Rather, he'd probably been looking for something.
There is a reason why the religious often push people like me to "Ask God for a Sign". They never say what the "Sign" is going to be except that it will almost assuredly NOT be God's thunderous voice roaring from heaven saying "Here's a sign you numbskull!". Nope. God doesn't make it simple. He wants to make things tricky. Sometimes he freezes waterfalls in the shape of three crosses; sometimes I'm sure he destroys whole communities with a tornado only to leave the church standing (as his sign, of course), and so on and so forth. The thing is, if you're looking for a higher power, you've already consigned yourself to admit that one exists, that you believe in it, you just want reaffirmation and you will stop at no illogical motive to make the self-determination that he/she exists and actually gives a flying cows behind about what you actually think. The truth is that there is no god, there is no deity, nothing higher cares for you, and the machinations of finding special little "signs" is all something that you do to absolve the calamities in your mind that go with believing that something such as a God exists.
To answer your question, we believe what we believe because we WANT to believe it not because it is true or that the evidence supports it. Many of us WANT to believe in God, WANT to believe a man died for our sins, WANT to believe, WANT to believe, WANT to believe. It all sounds like Me, Me, Me, Me.
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I have a friend who had doubts about God and she simply prayed that if He does exist, please help her to see the right path to take. She felt that when my mother came to her door and offered a bible study, it was an answer to that prayer and she still feels this way. But there are some I'm sure who would never have felt that way. 
