Why are you Religious?
825602
Good ONE...\n\nI am not religious anymore...I have been a Catholic but now I am awake and will not be taken in by religion anymore..\n\nI, as a spirit, using mind and energy, matter to create a body, am now in contact with the ONE (spirit), what some call God, directly and I do not need a proxy, a go-between or a preacher to speak for either me or the ONE (spirit).  \n\nAs Paul ( I hate to quote a murderer, but...it's a loose quote..lol) would say...When I was a child, I spoke like a child and played the games of children.  Now that I am an adult, I play with who I want to!!!  No one is going to preach to me again about what God or what I call the ONE, said.  IT, being a spirit so having no body, does not speak with words but I hear it in IT's Creation.  IT, being a number, a principle, a law, is not a person, is neutral, and is not 'gender-based" (usually male, in most religions).\n\nI like the wise saying of all "humans" and more, be they male, female, white, black, red, yellow, brown or adherents to any and all religions.\n\nI consider what I am could be called "spirituality" but the Gurus that demand "obedience" and adherence to their "megalomania" are calling what they sell "spirituality" so I am not that also...\n\nI am not an atheist, nor an "agnostic" because I "believe" and have faith, but not in people, religions and institutions and certainly not in a "GOD" as a person.  \n\nI am not a misfit and have fit in with any and all groups when I needed to but I am not a "believer in any religion, philosophy, or "ism"\n\nI guess I am a RELIGION OF ONE!!! or a UNIVERSALIST!!!\n\nI believe in "something" because I am "hard-wired" for the "mystical" experience and I want to "enjoy, appreciate, be grateful for" IT....If I believed in ZERO or NIHIL, I could be a Buddhist, but I believe in SOMETHING, or ONE, so I am a THEIST but not in the conventional understanding of the word.\n\n\n\nCyril Borg, the Cyborg..
1093020
Religious...Reform, actually.\nWhy?
887051
because to question us about  your existence.
397178
:) Good question!\nLet us put it this way.... without religion, people do what they want to do (if you keep aside law for a minute). With religion, people still do what they want to do, but feel guilty, unhappy, worried or self conscious about it.\nThis is because it is religion that classified things into good and bad, acceptable and unacceptable, noble and ignoble! \nNow too, most of us do what pleases us, but end up feeling good or bad, because that is all we learnt from religion!
752000
I believe in God. I practice religion.
689331
you don't have to go to church to have faith or worship. WHY AREN'T YOU IN CHURCH??
771643
Why are you obsessed with Islam?
262904
Typical reasons for adherence to religion include the following:\n"Experience or emotion": For many, the practice of a religion causes an emotional high that gives pleasure to them. Such emotional highs can come from the singing of traditional hymns to the trance-like states found in the practices of the Whirling Dervishes and Yoga, among others. People continue to associate with those practices that give pleasure and, in so far as it is connected with religion, join in religious organizations that provide those practices. Also, some people simply feel that their faith is true, and may not be able to explain their feelings. \n"Supernatural connection": Most religions postulate a reality which includes both the natural and the supernatural. Most adherents of religion consider this to be of critical importance, since it permits belief in unseen and otherwise potentially unknowable aspects of life, including hope of eternal life. \n"Rational analysis": For some, adherence is based on intellectual evaluation that has led them to the conclusion that the teachings of that religion most closely describe reality. Among Christians this basis for belief is often given by those influenced by C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer, as well as some who teach young earth Creationism. \n"Moderation": Many religions have approaches that produce practices that place limitations on the behaviour of their adherents. This is seen by many as a positive influence, potentially protecting adherents from the destructive or even fatal excesses to which they might otherwise be susceptible. Many people from many faiths contend that their faith brings them fulfillment, peace, and joy, apart from worldly interests. \n"Authority": Most religions are authoritarian in nature, and thus provide their adherents with spiritual and moral role models, who they believe can bring highly positive influences both to adherents and society in general. \n"Moral framework": Most religions see early childhood education in religion and spirituality as essential moral and spiritual formation, whereby individuals are given a proper grounding in ethics, instilling and internalizing moral discipline. \n"Majesty and tradition": People can form positive views of religion based on the visible manifestations of religion, e.g., ceremonies which appear majestic and reassuringly constant, and ornate cloth. \n"Community and culture": Organized religions promote a sense of community. The combination of moral and cultural common ground often results in a variety of social and support networks. Some ostensibly "religious" individuals may even have a substantially secular viewpoint, but retain adherence to religious customs and viewpoints for cultural reasons, such as continuation of traditions and family unity. Judaism, for example, has a particularly strong tradition of "secular" adherents. \n"Fulfillment": Most traditional religions require sacrifice of their followers, but, in turn, the followers may gain much from their membership therein. Thus, they come away from experiences with these religions with the feeling that their needs have been filled. In fact, studies have shown that religious adherents tend to be happier and less prone to stress than non-religious people. \n"Spiritual and psychological benefits": Each religion asserts that it is a means by which its adherents may come into closer contact with God, Truth, and Spiritual Power. They all promise to free adherents from spiritual bondage, and bring them into spiritual freedom. It naturally follows that a religion which frees its adherents from deception, sin, and spiritual death will have significant mental health benefits. Abraham Maslow's research after World War II showed that Holocaust survivors tended to be those who held strong religious beliefs (not necessarily temple attendance, etc), suggesting it help
469015
I was raised as a Christian, because my Dad is a Lutheran pastor.  I follow the Bible explicitly, but I do study other religions in order to better debate with people.
300704
that you like to ask thought-provoking questions to get a rise out of the religious right.  Kudos.
943379
u might want to get religious
728717
My religion is right because I have no religion. No religion has empirical evidence or proof of it's claims (that's why it's called a religion), so none of them are right.
566158
I DONT HAVE ANY RELIGION BUT I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS GOD...I have nothing against any religion because it helps people especially in times of sorrow. Churches or whatever you may call it teaches us how to be a better person.
978583
I am a human being seeking the truth of life. I am open to truth. I see all human beings as my fellow beings. I am willing to listen to anybody. What do you call my religion?
402140
I think our religious beliefs are a reflection of our fears. By showing them, we expose ourselves to others and become vulnerable. This makes us hate ourselves for being weak and hate others for seeing our weaknesses. Maybe one day we will be evolved and intelligent enough to come out of the dark and leave our fears and prejudices behind.
630992
i do it for two reasons:\n\nfirst: to be a christian, it takes a lot of time and study to understand the bible or quran, and grow faith in God. For me as an atheist it took a lot of study to understand the bible and quran, and come to the conclusion that there is no God. I concluded that for myself, based on study and education. So, of course i have an opinion about religion. To me, atheism is a form of religion.\n\nsecond: my girlfriend, whom i gonna marry next year, is a christian. Not a very biblical one, but she is raised christian, her whole family is christian. So, i ask questions here to try and understand even more about christianity and their aims and goals.\n\non almost all my questions i get one or two reactions like 'why are you in this section'. Those are the reactions that i always try to ignore, because it strikes me as a silly reaction.\n\ni do it to even educate myself more, and to understand my family-in-law even better. and i think i have that right.
9464
I think this particular problem concerning religion stems from the fact that religion asks us to have faith in something that we cannot prove exists while at the same time promising that this thing we cannot prove exists answers all of the questions of existence.  Therefore, we want to believe in it because we want the answers to all of existence (including the meanings of our own lives) but because we cannot prove it by any scientific test yet devised, we have to wonder (maybe secretly) whether or not we have chosen the "right" religion.  When someone comes along who challenges the foundations of our religious beliefs, one of our first reactions is fear (understandably), because if they're "right" it means that we've been "wrong" all of this time and everything on which we have built our universe frame of reference (our sense of identity and where we fit into the Grand Scheme of Things) will have to be rebuilt on a new foundation.  It's fear of being wrong about something so personal that causes us to get cranky about religion.\n\nI've found that the most helpful way to approach religion is to recognize that every single person on this planet has their own unique point of view about the universe, and so no two people will ever agree fully on what it means to be here.  The best we can do is to agree that we are here now, whether by the hand of God or through mere chance, and we can only ease our existence by recognizing the truth in other points of view.