in my case, seeing others' views on such things is one way for me to keep my mind open.  i realise that it's impossible to know His(et al) reasons for doing anything at all, these are just some things that i've often wondered (and which contribute greatly to my reticence).  again, it all comes down to interpretation.  this is my way of examining the various perspectives and trying to discern what might have influence.

please feel free to change things up a bit, though; i know i'll remain stuck on it otherwise. )=



i was raised catholic, so it tends to be hard for me to remove myself from the christian religions (which have become engrained by this point) and look at religion with entirely objective eyes.  i'd like to do so, and i like learning about other religions; however, christianity is quite prevalent in this country, hence the most visible, which makes it more difficult.

i certainly am not the one to answer which belief system is best; i can't even seem to pick what works best for me, let alone all of humanity.



this is one of the factors that has given me the most trouble.  (again, going with the christian theme...)
the way i see it, it definitely contradicts free will.  and if God is omniscient, 'knowing ALL,' that means that he must know what struggles many humans go through to even believe, let alone fully accept Him to be the true God. 
i can't help but wonder what He does with that information; if He's cognisant of the degree of difficulty for some and still chooses to condemn them, especially if they're really trying and their heart (/mind) just can't go full stop with it, then it literally becomes 'damned if you do, damned if you don't'
(the former is also true because He'll know that you're unsure even if you profess otherwise).



i'd like to believe 100%, but again, i just keep struggling.
as for the part of me that does believe, it really goes back to 'that feeling' again. though it cannot be proven one way or another to anyone else, it's really the only thing i've consistently held onto...at least since the past five or so years. 
having someone quote scripture to me generally tends to be more of a turn-off, and pro-theism information and 'proof' most often comes from those who already believe (thus being biased), which leaves little else.  faith is, by definition, 'just believing.' 
even if i can't define its source, i'm at least trying to keep hold of some faith whilst i'm able.

just a quick note...

rofl in my case, i don't know if i'd call it 'intellect'; my thoughts always have gone round in circles, and sometimes i wonder if i'm not slightly insane.

thanks all the same, hehe

i'll have to see if the library has that book.  also, feel free to post any pertinent books, films, reading material, etc. you'd care to recommend in the 'mixed bag' section, too - it can be a sort of 'media source' that way.

i'll have a look at some of these and get back to you on the rest.  i'm also curious to see what scott has to add about my other post, too. heh

Naw, it's cool. I just wanted to make sure we didn't stray too far.


Of course not, I don't think anyone could definitely define which one is 'best' for everyone.


So let's say you're born into a tribe that has believed in a deity for thousands of years. Every time they feel their "sins" need to be cleansed, they kill a goat or a cow. You, of course, believe in the deity despite hearing about other tribes' gods and seeing their religious texts. Once you're of a certain age, you start to question things but of course you feel like your original god has its eyes on you and you feel a tiny voice telling you not to stray. The tribe elders tell you that you should just have faith that the god is real and that you should do what the text says. Not only your parents, but your entire family expects you to marry inside your own religion, so there's definitely pressure not to stray. Despite hearing what others have had to say and even thinking they might make more sense, you still have 'that feeling' that keeps eating at you.

So where's the faith coming from? You or your god?

Exactly!

It was rhetorical as far as the story goes but un-rhetorical in terms of your personal faith. "I'm not sure" isn't really a decent answer though, albeit honest. It sounds like you need to figure yourself a bit more in regard to your faith as well as its roots .. but that's just my opinion. I think it'd help form your foundation for arguments and things of that nature.

scott:

sorry for the confusion: that bit i wrote at the end was rather poorly-worded...
what i meant was this:
i like the idea of praying to the deities i'm researching and seeing what kind of feelings & opinions are generated by doing so, if any.  i'd always just automatically prayed to the christian god, as it was what i was most familiar with, but this option (of consciously praying to different ones) gets me to experience different religions instead of just learning about them.  i'm curious to see what comes of it.
this is what i meant when i said, 'i also like that idea a lot.'

meanwhile, melanie said that she will pray to her God - the Christian God - to help me out, as she believes that he is the true God and is capable of helping me sort of 'weed out' false gods.  the appreciation is for melanie's efforts on my behalf, when it would be just as easy (if not easier) to say, 'sod it!  she's never gunna get anywhere!' 


i tend to do 'stream-of-consciousness' (or should that be '-of-unconsciousness'?) typing, so no worries. 
i get hyper-sensitive when i wake up with a headache; because of this, i was a bit on the defensive end & the tone of my reply was sorta bitchy.  i apologise for that.  i didn't mean it to come out that way, though i don't know if i could've typed it differently (except to perhaps add a bunch of smileys, which i'm trying to cut back on.  haha).