Religion is everything to me and I spend a lot of time reading stuff so interested in other points of views.

What do you believe if anything? If not, agnostic? Atheist? Dunno? Who cares?

Let's not bash the viewpoints of one another and be adults here. Talk about your viewpoint. Let's exchange some viewpoints in a respectful dialog…at least I'm hoping. There's a billion other places for you otherwise.

Mostly because there's been countless God's who have been "the one" but eventually phased out.

Remember when whole civilizations believed the rain gods caused rain and they had to sacrifice people to please them?

List goes on…

We'll never know how/why we are here. Science may prove it one day, but for now, a book that has been handed down and chinese whispered wont.

Even if "Jesus" did return, no one's believing him. People will call him a luncatic claiming to be Jesus

Too much noise and attenuation? What if all of them come from some common source? I do find it interesting that regardless wherever you go, society has some sort of belief system. Where does all that stem from. This concept of accountability exists in a lot of religions so it is interesting. Look at the Dharmic and Abrahamic religions which make up the bulk of humanity.

God cannot be all loving and all powerful at the same time cause then would be no pain disease death etc

I’m starting to have Scientology/buddhism take on this as every being is on the same level and not one more powerful than the other

-Raised in a Swedish based Covenant church in upper middle class area
-Parents were looked down upon because they were lower middle class
-Moved churches and the church was less about God and more about money
-Stopped going to church all together. Was raised by the bible and taught values, morals and principles based on that
-Fell into atheism movement in high school and college. Big reason was because all of the self righteous religious that behind closed doors were some of the worst people you would meet.
-Heart softened by catholic based college, my grandmother, and strong religious friends
-Started really noticing a ton evil and weird social behavior and couldn't explain it with atheism
-Did a deep dive on my beliefs.
-After a while I became a believer in God and creationism
-Each years since about 2017 I have become more and more devout in my beliefs and actions.
-It has become a huge part of my life and dominates a lot of my mental time now through reading, prayer, or thinking

You want a place that's all peace and love? It's called Paradise. Not here to convince you it exists though. This world wasn't meant for that.

I agree with the second point. It has nothing to do with your income, race, gender, social status and all the other things humans fight over. We all start off the exact same and end up in the same state. O foolish the one who thinks they are anything important when their beginning was a sperm drop.

O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female [Adam and Hawa], and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware. (49:13)

praise the Lord. i think a lot of people got swept into the "cool atheism" movement back around 2004-2015ish…dawkins/sam harris, etc.

Agnostic. I don't think we're special snowflakes as we'd all love to believe. We're a combination of our parents genetics. If my dad had met another woman, would I still be here consciously but with 50% different genetics?

Did fish deserve to be born in a dark abyss surrounded by predators with a high chance of being eaten alive before they die a natural death, and I deserved to be born as a white dude in North America? What about the 4 year old that dies of cancer and never had the chance to experience life on earth?

I think we are extremely lucky to be here. Obviously no one knows what happens after death, but flying up into the sky with angels seems least plausible to me. I also think it's arrogant for someone to say there is nothing that happens after death because there is no proof of that either, hence why I am agnostic.

Sorry to hear about the parents, people can be quite rude sometimes.

Good stuff my man I'm glad you're back on the God path. Are you a Catholic now then? What do you read? Any specific prayers? What do you ponder over?

I think based on your timelines, prior to 2017, there was a period where atheism was very prevalent and I saw a lot of people swayed by it.

Exactly what I meant just saw this. Yeah from that period.

Interesting question about the first part. I think that is not really a question because that didn't occur. Your dad met your mom. You are debating things are aren't real (in my opinion) and merely playing possibilities.

That’s like saying a parent can’t love their child if they don’t give them whatever they want and protect them from the world as much as possible. Yet every parent knows that the most loving(and optimal) approach is to walk with your child through their hardships so they get stronger.

I’d say God can’t love you while NOT allowing the freedom to choose your own path, even if it results in harm. You can’t love someone unconditionally if you remove their freedom.


As far as why I believe in God, lots of subjective experiences I’ve had that are impossible for me to brush off as meaningless happenstance. I’d also say that it is much, MUCH more likely that there is a Creator than not. The number of scenarios where a Creator made our universe is incredibly large, whereas if there isn’t one there is only one scenario which also requires people to write off all of the requirements of this finely tuned universe as randomness. In fact, not believing in a Creator requires having practically no limit to the number of things you’re willing to write off as coincidence.

It could have easily happened though, and the outcome is a giant question mark. I'm thankful for everyday that I have, especially being here as a human with a good family. Life on this earth have been much, much, much worse.

Great stuff especially the part on the parent. You discipline you child because you love and want good for them.

Do you follow a faith? Do you think it's your experiences that led you to believe in some purpose or were you always some sort of believer in God?

I’m non-denominational Christian

Read the Bible and actually think about it. It doesn't read like a science book - you don’t get all the answers but get the ones you need. It’s best for read the NT and then the OT after

Every other religion is some form of “do your best to succeed.” It’s sort of the opposite of Christianity which is grace as opposed to works.

I think the Bible is actually quite literal and most of the church era has done its best to ruin that, which is a large part of the reason people have abandoned the faith in the first place.

Also, this is going to sound funny but literally the existence of Israel. What can explain the global hate toward the Jews? How can a people group survive from 70 AD to 1948 with no country? All other groups in such a situation have vanished within a few generations and yet the Jews survived.

Can answer srs questions if you want more details.

i think the same hold true for atheism. God will allow you to be atheist as much as you want…to be so confident in it that you're smug about it. to not see him as much as you choose to see him. to make great arguments for why he doesn't exist that completely make sense to you. if he didn't how would free will actually exist?

And if I had wings, I'd be a bird. But the reality is it didn't. We live in the real world.

Good stuff gotta be blessed my friend.

Yea the atheism movement was huge from 2006 or so to 2015. Then in 2015 is when I became agnostic and starting deep diving and battle testing what I believed in.

I am going to be converting into Christian Orthodoxy. I have spent many years going to tons of different churches. Non-denominational, baptist, covenant, evangelical, etc. Then I went to many catholic churches and chapels, experience the Norvus Ordo and also the Traditional Latin Mass (the true catholic mass). However, there were things I couldn't accept with the Catholic church and also there is a huge rift happening with the Pope and the traditional latin mass being less and less available. The pope is trying to get rid of it.

I've been re-reading the Bible using the Orthodox Study Bible. I also am reading two books, one from an Orthodox saint about God's Revelation to the Human heart, and then another book that's sort of an introduction into the faith and the church. The prayers I use outside of my own prayers are from a Prayer Book from the Orthodox faith. It has dedicated prayers for things like morning, before bed, before eating, etc. And I try to have 3 main prayer times in the day, and then prayer/contemplation in between if I feel I need or want to.

Being non-denominational Christian/protestant for so long left me empty. It helped me understand the Bible a lot and the churches were lively, but until you experience liturgical masses or biblically based liturgies, you realize how much of the faith you were missing out on. The depth and beauty of it.

Honestly I'm just in a really good place right now and my deep faith has given me an inner peace I've never had before.

i am happy to say i am ignorant. i am not going to make something up to make myself feel better about not knowing something

Agnostic but leaning heavily on the end of atheism is the only reasonable position to hold imo.

There is only the word of man, and your imagination that compels you to entertain a god(s) or any kind of spirituality. And a man can't trust himself to be honest with himself consitently, our brains are literlly wired for delusion at the ground level as a necessity for our survival.

There is an overwhelming amount of evidence and reasoning to be an atheist. Way too much to list I cbf, it's all been done to death.

But to be 100% sure there is no god/have that as your ultimate position is unreasonable, as there is no definitive proof there there isnt one.

So personally, I am as sure there is no god or any kind of spirituality as I could ever be, but I cannot assert it so I have to leave it open the tiniest fraction of a fraction, as human knowledge is in its infancy and will be for a long time after I am dead.

Because of how fragile human minds are, I am not sure that we will ever overcome religion, at least at our current level of avg intelligence. People delude themselves constantly to no end and religion is only an aspect of that delusion imo.

Even while reading this and conceptualising this ever present constant delusion, you will be engaging in it lmao, let that sink in while you bathe in cognitive dissonance.

Planning to reread the Bible. I want to read it again to compare it to my beliefs and to just have more understanding/knowledge.

Hmm interesting I would think you'd go from OT to NT. Ever dabble in the Quran?

I would slightly disagree on that viewpoint about all religions is a form of "do your best" and also simply grace. You don't simply get by your works to earn divine grace. Either extreme can be abused and God can see through that all day (Quran 4:121 and Matthew 5:20). From my understanding, the scribes (Pharisees) were experts on keeping the law of Moses and made it really strict by adding laws. However, Jesus says that to unless you exceed the Pharisees, you will never enter paradise. As in, more than maintaining just the law is also having the faith. You need both.

I am not an expert in Christianity but so I'm not sure if there's maybe a mix? Some literal and some not? Maybe someone else knows.

Good stuff my man feel free to put whatever you want it's an open dialog

that is not a true statement. you can love without taking action. if only the definition of god included being proactive. that'd be something. instead, god seems to be reactive, which is funny because he knew how it would pan out anyway.

How does one convert from Christian Orthodoxy? Are different denominations different in how they do it?

What's your whole view on the idea of the pope? Is that what throws you off from Catholicism? They also worship Mary and Saints
which I think other denominations are opposed to. You're invited to our mosques to visit anytime to observe and just to talk with the locals you don't need to convert or anything but I understand you are comfortable with where you are.

Are the 3 prayers similar to the Jewish faith? Like you have morning, afternoon and night. I'm not sure the times or is it different?

Good post, brother in Jesus. I'll always say that if it's not Muslims, devout Christians by far are my next favorite people. Great people.

Fair enough. All I'll leave you with brah is if you haven't, open a Quran. Just read it and not asking you to convert. It is just another book to see what it contains. Treat it just like that. Thank you Math brother.

Have basically always believed in God but at the same time questioned certain things about different faiths and spent a lot of time searching for answers. I still spend time wondering about certain aspects of God and Creation, but have experienced enough and pondered enough to the point that I have a great relationship with God regardless of anything I don’t fully understand.


Was raised in a Christian household. When I was around 8 or 9 I had a dream I was in heaven, and I was really ecstatic for a while but then I started to realize I would be stuck in that same state forever and it freaked out to the point that it became a nightmare and I woke up. Still don’t know how much of an impact that had on me, but let’s just say I still remember that dream all these years later so obviously it was impactful. As a teenager studied Wicca and got into that a little bit. Late teens into 20’s I got into Buddhism and then some aspects of New Age beliefs. Then just kind of accepted a Unitarian Universalist outlook which basically just thinks that we’re all on our own paths walking back to the same source. For me I believe in heaven, hell, and reincarnation. Sounds contradictory, but I think hell is just the burning away of evil, ego, regret, and any other harmful poisons. If a person carries too much of that stuff with them to death it has to be removed, because none of that can exist in the perfect presence of God. Only after it has been removed(through incomprehensible suffering in what might seem like eternity in a timeless realm) can a person enter the Kingdom of God. After that I think it’s likely that reincarnation can take place, but not really sure if that’s the case or what might happen beyond that.


I do have habits of praying daily, and at the moment a lot of my spiritual reflection comes from the Bible.

Good questions, I’ll try to respond more tomorrow because I’m falling asleep atm lol

For first time readers, NT then OT is good because the NT is easier to understand and gives some parts of the OT context. First time Bible readers gonna hit Leviticus and have no idea what’s going on. If you are re reading it, then going chronological is obviously fine

No evidence. If there is a creator (which I haven't ruled out) then we definitely weren't made in its image. That would be like an ant thinking it was made in our image.

Funny enough all the early eastern religions, Taoism, Confucianism, if you go back before their creation, the Chinese worshiped a monotheistic God that has 3 distinct characters & their early writings read verbatim out of the Torah & Genesis.

There is One God, the God of Abraham Issac & Jacob. His name is Jesus Christ,

Which is exactly why God became man in the form of Jesus Christ to walk among us.

“ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Gonna reply to the shorter posts for now. Will get back to you others good stuff people.

Interesting. A lot of religions do have this 3 concept (Ancient Egypt as an example).

I'll respectfully disagree lol but good post I'm gonna actually read up on this. If you got any info, send them my way.

My issues with Catholicism are the Pope, the papacy, and the filioque. The Orthodox have the correct beliefs imo based on my research.

The Orthodox church is the original church of Jesus Christ. It was called the "Catholic" church because Catholic means "The whole" or "universal." In 1054 though the church split because of the Romans and became the Roman Catholic Church and then the church that maintained the original church teachings from the beginning became the Eastern Orthodox church. There's a lot more to it, but it's….a lot.

Catholics don't worship Mary and saints. They venerate. Orthodoxy venerates through saints and iconography. This dates back to over a thousand years ago when talking about this topic and how it is not worshipping. It's similar to Muslims going to Kaaba at Mecca. You don't worship the Kaaba itself, right? The saints are revered for their devotion of God so the laymen pray and venerate through them as a sort of portal to God. Sort of like when you ask someone else to pray for you or asking someone for prayers. Plus the icons were used for long periods of time because so many people were illiterate and couldn't read, so the icons helped teach and give them ways to communicate sort of.

I know muslims like to say they worship them, but they don't. Protestants say that too (trust me it took me a while to understand too since I was a protestant). Although sometimes with Catholics they still do put a little too much emphasis on Mary imo even though the Orthodox revere her as well.

The Orthodox really do have a prayer schedule based on the 7 canonical prayers. I'm stlll new to this so I'm not entirely sure the schedule or if they always do 7 prayers a day, but I set up the 3 daily prayers as a baseline for now. Not sure how the Jewish faith sets up their prayers tbh. I know you guys do 5? The 5 pillars?

Yea I've read a lot of the Quran. A coworker of mine just finished reading it front to back (my main owners at work are Palestinian Muslims so we talk a lot about it), and enjoy a lot of the Quran. Honestly have had nothing but great interactions with Muslims as well and we learn a lot from each other. Muslims actually helped me get into deeper prayer and daily prayer habits initially. Orthodoxy also does a lot of fasting type stuff which has some similarities to Ramadan and the goal of these times.

I like how although I am a Christian, I have read probably 75% of the Quran, and you are a Muslim and have read the bible and are talking about reading it again. I think this is how things should be. Reading for truth, curiosity, or at the very least an understanding.