I'll start off by saying that I was raised as a christian and have spent many hours in church growing up. That said, it never sank in. I've lived my entire life as an agnostic person, chasing vauge ideas of some supernatural order to things, and finding myself more confused with each passing attempt. It's strange to me that people can place such faith in popular religions. It seems to me that these religions, in thier conception, as pertaining to thier value, were intended as paths to the need to feel faith, and endurance. These are things we gravitate toward in times of desperation and desire. I don't try to argue with anyone who says a god exist, its when they state that particular gods intentions and rules that I tend to become disconcerted.

Please tell me what experience has led you to what I percieve as such a drastic decision as choosing a popular religion, and if you can, why followers of the others are damned, if you believe them to be.

-this probably belongs under religion, thats up to you.-

-to give reference to the aforementioned, I'm 24 years old, from Boston , MA. My name is Michael O'Malley.

I'm an atheist, which is a religion by being not religious (if that makes any sense).

Personally, I reviewed how a god might exist and after much deliberation decided that god was an impossibility. A majority of the Bible, the cornerstone of Christianity, has been proven false. That being said, I believe the religion has been the most beneficial thing that has happened to the human race. It brings people together to help one and other, anything that can do this is good. I just personally don't choose to believe it.

Atheists shouldn't care about religion and the word "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Like it or not, this country was founded on Christian principles, and an atheist who attacks religion is trying to force his/her views on other.

Moved to the Religion section.

__________________
... I am surprised at your insolence in writing to me at all. You know, as I know, that I bought this constituency... may God's curse light upon you and may it make your women as open and as free to the excise officers as your wives and daughters have always been to me while I have represented your scoundrel corporation.
I have the honour to be... your obliged humble servant, Anthony Henley
- MPs reply to constituent, mid 1700s

I'm also an agnostic, but that's because I will only believe in hard facts, and we can't really prove whether there is a god or not. Hence the "no knowledge."

I often find the Christian and Muslim ideas of a god quite wrong though.

__________________
"If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil"
-Winston Churchill

"It is dangerous to be right on matters where the established authority is wrong."
-Voltaire

You are so exactly on the right track. Dude, I am spiritual and pray everyday to what defies comprehension and as an obvious result cannot be explained. If there is a higher existance we probably have as much of a chance of understanding it as an insect has of understanding my thoughts and intentions. And the reason God (for complete lack of term) doesn't speak to me with words, but with happy glowy feelings, means there is a reverse language barrier just like how we can't speak insect.

I have experienced beta endorphin rushes, and drug induced euphoria, and manic highs...........and the happy glowy feeling I get inevitably after praying for guidance is way better that all that stuff. I could be insane though, that's always possible I guess.

Things get really screwed up when people have Bibles and Qorans and stuff. My instincts tell me God has never read the Bible. Ignore such novels. You're better off reading the local law enforcement codes. I mean.....an insect doesn't know what the Bible is. And if an insect has a Bible, you can't comprehend what that would be like. So God may be all around us, or in front of us, it's just out feeble puny human brains can't comprehend

God will give you glowy happy feelings if you pray for guidance, not for things, or for people to get better when they're sick. God has that worked out already, just pray for the guidance for you to handle your life situations in good ways, or pray for the guidance for someone to fight off thier illness. God isn't your bitch and won't give you things.

Be good Dude.

__________________
“I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”-Barry Goldwater

To me the idea of a personal God is not plausible, though I can go for the idea of a peripheral one. I'm more along the lines of a Deist/Pantheist. Perhaps Pandeism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is more around where I'm coming from. In any event, good opening post and post by Bradgriff.

I was raised in a family of mostly Sephardic Jews (though my father was not very devout, arguably an agnostic) and had the idea of religion instilled very early in life by extended family. I remember always questioning it to some extent and really questioning it upon entering high school. Religion is a good thing for society, but, like the OP, it is generally just not for me.

__________________
"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
Isaac Asimov