if we don't believe in anything, we will be fearless and may commit sins. if we have some beliefs, we will think before we act... because there will be fear... it also provides some motivation to do good deeds if we believe in god...
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i believe because i have faith in god.
as i mentioned above, religion leads people to live a fruitful life, which also helps others to live peacefully and in harmony.
no opinion
imbibed from birth
my parents used to...so i also believe.
i don't see the existence of deities as logical, and none of the explanations given by any religion are sufficient evidence for me to believe them.
to be honest, sometimes i get the feeling i'm the only one alive who occupies this peculiar lonely position, that is, having embraced an unnamed faith not because i have historically refrained from religion, but rather because religion has refrained from me. it has become much more productive for me to embrace the name of god, by hearing his words, and seeking to be as obedient as i can to his teachings and thereby giving definition to my personal faith, than to have it placed in a denominational category where it would be incumbent upon me to have my faith defined by others. at least this way, i am not tethered to institutional dogma, or to long-held traditional positions which have little chance of future review or inspection. my past scriptural training has been influenced by both jewish and christian sources, and it is there, in that space between them that i currently find myself, and it is at times a very lonely space. i don't see this faith as a combination of the two per se, but rather the logical progression of scriptural reason, when given an environment free from institutional doctrinal restraints. i have found it much easier and more beneficial to question god than to question man. i do think the personage who walked this earth 2,000 years ago was, and is the messiah, but i don't think either christianity or judaism has an accurate understanding of what was at the core of his ministry, or what he was about. in fact, i would go so far as to state that when the messiah comes, it will be a messiah in which christianity and judaism will not be familiar or expecting.
hold your horses, everyone. 1. first, the map is not quite inaccurate, in that as far as we can gather, man has always been religious (e.g., by analysis of burial sites, etc.), so the map should not begin with a 'neutral' color as if people had been 'unspoiled' by religion. 2. secondly, much of the spread of all faiths, including islam, was peacefully spread. people often saw something good in the new religion (buddhism and christianity in particular) which they wished to adopt for themselves. western culture and learning came from the rise of christian monasticism, for example. i am not disputing, of course, tensions that naturally arise as the borders (these are of course not consistent with national borders but between growing groups of believers) became more defined. this is, of course, precisely what is happening now with the so-called new atheism, which is becoming particularly aggressive. 3. thirdly, the attempt of both hitler and stalin to manipulate believers is (hopefully) not meant to be proof that their atrocities were motivated by a pious christianity! (i have already commented on these villains in other posts on this site, so will refrain here). 4. fourthly, to my knowledge, it was a palestinian politician who claimed that bush had told him to invade iraq. regardless, it would surely be an overstatement to argue that bush was attempting to convert iraq to christianity by the invasion, which would apparently be the point of linking this with the article about the timeline. indeed, many christian leaders (including, very prominently, pope john paul ii) condemned the war. 5. lastly, atheism produced more christian martyrs (those unwilling to deny their faith for political expediency) in the 20th century than were martyred in the other 19 centuries combined. this is particularly astounding given the very small percentage of atheists until the latter part of the century. perhaps state atheism should be added to the map? at least in this case, the borders are real and the wars were real wars.
because it gives me hope.
because to me it seems absurd.
it's easier to live. sometimes it does not matter which religion to choose, whether to practice it or not, but believing is important.
i believe in god, but i don't belong to a particular religion.
because it is good to believe in something that makes you feel better if you're not ok...
we all must believe in something. it does not matter what it is, but the belief that there is something greater than a human must exist. otherwise, what is the point of everything?
everyone needs to believe in some great power that governs everything.
i believe in my own god, who has nothing to do with the dogmas of the catholic church. i know that something higher, more spiritual really exists, but i don't want to treat this in the way catholics do.
i was taught to believe, and i am glad, because there are thousands of reasons to believe. if you want to know them, you should start by going to religious classes and going to church; everything is explained there.
i believe that there is something, but i do not feel the need to be an active member of any religious confession.
i need to.
i believe, but i don't like that everything in those religions is explained, restricted, and taught nonsense.
i was raised to believe. it sometimes gives hope when i have none - to believe in something powerful beyond understanding.
sometimes it simply helps to survive. ;)
i think that if a person believes, this belief helps him to overcome many obstacles in his life.
a person, devoted to religion, sacrifices their loved ones, their aspirations, loses their individuality, and identifies with the members of the sect.
i believe in god, don't believe in religions, however, i like our way of life and i think it is strictly related to christianity and we should protect it, within reason.
i disapprove of some rules and ideas that religions represent, and that makes it hard for me to believe.