Religion, what dose it mean to you personally?
962767
Danger.Way too divisive for me.There are more different religions than McDonalds has restaurants.And I'm Christian.
907162
Religion is Man's interpretation of God's mind.  \n\nIt can be beauty exemplified, or vile in its ugliness.  It takes the soul and consecrates faith or rends discontent.  And it can inspire a person to perform the greatest deeds, or the most horrific crimes.  \n\nBut it will always be flawed.  The Mind of God is wholly unknowable.\n.
476965
I am of the religion of mankind; the human race.  I believe in a single God which loves all of us equally regardless whether they are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu or followers of Jim Jones.  My religion has no name.  My religion dictates I must fulfill my purpose of love or risk an eternity of regret for not doing so.\n\nMy religion forbids me to hurt people either emotionally or physically.  My religion requires compassion and tolerance of others.\n\nMy religion tells me to listen to the words of people like Jesus, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Theresa and to follow in their paths.  My religion recognizes the Bible as a tool of love and not a weapon of hate and condemnation.\n\nMy religion forbids me to throw stones at other men and mandates I must feed, shelter, and offer comfort to my neighbors both next to me and ten thousand miles away from me; my religion does not dictate I must be cleansed in the blood of Christ or eat Kosher food or pray in any one direction to be loved and accepted by my God.  All my religion compels me to do is to love my fellow man.\n\nAfter all that being said, I guess I’m non-denominational; I attend one of the largest interfaith churches in the world and I love it!
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!
244552
well\nIt’s not the religion, it’s the reality.\nIt's a personal relationship with the creator of the universe\n\nAfter I met him, My life changed for the better, I didn't change it, He did \n\nI'm not the way I used to be \nHe changed my "want to"
294673
I was baptized as a Christian, and I believed in God during my younger childhood years. But my family has never gone to church since I can remember, and religion now is not at all a part of my life. I don't believe in any religion anymore. I rarely even think or wonder about God, or whether or not there even is one. I might consider myself agnostic, but even that could be going too far because I really have no feelings about religion at all.
68099
There is a big difference between 'faith' & 'religion.'\n\nReligions are man-made concepts, dogmas, institutions, hierarchies, etc. None of them will save you.\n\nWhat God wants is a personal relationship based on individual faith.\n\nFollow the way of the Torah-observant Messiah who is the only Savior.
235484
In my religion I am my own priest.  The downside is this means I have to be able to answer all the tough questions I encounter in life such as: Why do bad things happen to good people?  What is the purpose in life?\n\nThe good side is the feeling of rightness that so many people come to the same conclussions as I did looking at the world around me, and how well my religion fits in with science and the observable world.
1170101
Well, i consider myself spiritual. Religion is basically a set of beliefs normally initiated by a certain orginisation or group of people. You normally don't have as much room to move in with a religion, but, it can also be seen as the sceleton or backbone in you spirituality. I normally try and look at religion in a symbolic manner rather than blindly believing every word of any sect.
179288
spirituality . don't you dare insult my religion or any other one for that matter .
514234
Is it fear? For me, no. As a matter of fact believing, for me, brings out more fear than not. If I believe, I am afraid I will be someday tested on that belief, where as if I didn't believe, there would be nothing to be scared of. \n\nRandomness of life? No. I still feel as if life is random, just a long series of events sometimes subject to change on a whim. Sure, I believe that is all attributed to God, but it doesn't make it less stressful, or meaningful to me.\n\nMy Parents? My parents were not of the same religion, and it was never practiced in our home. I knew my mom talked about God in times of trouble, and that my dad hated the idea of church, but other than that, I didn't learn it from them.\n\nAlways believed? For me, like I said above, no. I actually had heard VERY little of God until I was 15, and my parents put me into a Christian school, because I was a bad kid, and had behavioral problems in Public School. Thats where I first hear about religion, God and Salvation.\n\nGod gave me a shot, and when I'm dead, I'm dead? Yep. I believe all that I do based on faith. but I have no proof, and it is possible the scenario you stated could be true. If thats the case, what do I have to lose anyway. I'll be dead, and it wont matter what I thought anymore.\n\nHelp me sleep at night? Sure, a little. But I worry about so much as it is, and I have more to think about than just falling back for comfort on my belief. Thats not what real belief is. It should not be a crutch we use only when we want, or need it.\n\nBeliever to non, or reverse? yes. I was a non-believer, and now I am a believer. For me, all the proof I needed was how my life changed when I came to believe in Christ and have faith. I was a terrible kid, no conscience, no guilt, no shame. I was abusive to my little brother, our animals, I routinley made my parent cry. I lied, I cheated, I stole, you name it. And I felt nothing about it. When I became saved, it all stopped. And it didn't stop just because suddenly people said I had to, but instantly, it ended, through no effort of my own. I changed into a new person in a moments notice, with no effort, no work, no conviction on my part. That alone was proof to me, I had found something real, and it was given to me freely. THATS why I believe in God. From that moment, my life has never been the same, it has only gotten better, and I could not have done that alone.
69129
Religion (from dictionary.com): \n   1.\n         a. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.\n         b. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.\n   2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.\n   3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.\n   4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.\n\n\nBuddhism follows all of the above: \n1a. They have reverence in a supernatural in that they have a very spritual view of the world, they may not have a god, however they do believe in Nirvana (somewhat like heaven, a release from the karmic cycle), and tend to meditate on these thoughts. \n1b. This is an institution based on belief, however they do not worship anything particularly. I would say that Buddhism fits a bit looser into the first definition than the others. \n\n2. This seems to be talking about something more like a monk rather than the actual religion, however still applicable. \n\n3. Obviously thye do follow the teachings of a religious leader: Siddhartha who reached enlightenment and was the first to become a Buddha. They do base their practices on his teachings: the 8 fold path etc. etc. \n\n4. Obviously the followers of this religion do feel a lot of devotion to it, and I have met many people who feel such "zeal" in this practice. \n\nSee: \nhttp://www.buddhanet.net/\n\nhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/index.shtml\n\nhttp://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm\nFor more information.
1176955
spirituality!\n\n\nlet thy name resound\n\n\na close personal relationship with your creator is far better than any brand of religion
178862
Religions are not sensitive. Sensitive is the way people thinks about the religion.I know that all religions say to live in peace,do good to others,pray to God,speak truth,love human being,do not quarrel.The sensitivity is the people who hold the religion.
292511
My religion is self-righteousness.  I don't mean this in a holier-than-thou way, but that I follow my conscience.  I, for example, really appreciate the way Sikhs wear scarves inside their temples.  It signifies a respect for diety that I admire.  They also hold open kitchens, where anybody is allowed to eat regardless of religion or race.  Zen buddhists believe that words have absolutely no meaning, and as a huge part of practice, they meditate.  Christians believe in Jesus Christ as the second in the trinity (Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit being the other two).\n\nMyself, I practice Christianity.  But also, I know that there is truth to other religions, and I embrace the traditions that do not conflict with my base beliefs.
125472
Religion, meaning a cycle or continuously practiced, it’s a sense of belonging or getting involved to your present state, it could be spiritual or political, but you have to have a sense of belonging in whatever society, place, situation or state you are in to achieve harmony. \nIt’s like the saying, “ do what the Roman’s  do” or “go where the river flows”, if you’re in an Islamic county, practice and respect their ways, if you’re in any other places where majority religious faiths like Christians, Buddhist, Hindu or any other faiths, respect them and be  harmonious, if your in a society that bans “chewing gum” then respect it. There’s nothing wrong if you change certain practices and ways one time after another to achieve harmony, as long as you don’t change the greatest belief, which is you are “yourself” and no one can ever change that!
1033193
religion - because people who have religion want people who don't to have it; and people who don't have it want people with it to lose it\n\nsex - because people who don't have it want it and people who do have it don't want to lose it or want to make it better