Black Spirituality Religion : What are your thoughts on Religion? (No Preaching, please)

[tburanda]

for a long time, I have been trying to have a real, open conversation about religion where no one is trying to defend or put forth their own beliefs, but rather talk about how they came about them. I recently walked away from my own Christianity, and I basically did this because I find it hard to believe that one has to be a part of an organized religion to have a meaningful relationship with the Creator. About a year ago, I was listening to Black Liberation Radio WBLR
and I heard the speaker say something that has never left my mind: "religion is the deification of a culture". For the life of me I cannot seem to get that statement out of my mind, and I often think that even for the hundreds of millions of people who practice different religions and faiths, that very few realize how their minds are being controlled by those select few who decided (long ago and today) what is morally acceptable for their followers. Right now, i'm kind of baffled by religion in general. How did you come by your religion (or lack thereof)? Have you ever questioned your spiritual beliefs? If so, did you dig deep or do some research, and what conclusions did you come to as a result of your journey.

 

[Khasm13]

i believe in God.
that's it...
men are good liars...
most of history is a lie...
that's all i have to say...
i hope that i didn't preach...

an aquarian looking for the truth
khasm

 

[tburanda]

no preaching...explained

All I meant when I said "no preaching" is that I don't want a long explanation for why your religion is the best and everyone else is going to hell. I want to know how and why people believe what they believe, not the ins and outs of various religions... feel me?

 

[A007]

I am a Plluralist...That simply means that I believe in God and Jesus...but I allow for the fact that man has different experiences in everything else, so it is probable that we have different experiences of God. There is no one right faith. It is a matter of how one experiences his or her faith through socialization, thought, research, and/or experience.

 

[Queenie]

Good question

I've been on a spiritual journey most of my adult life. I was raised in the southern Baptist tradition and although I adopted Christianity as my religion, it was because I was young and impressionable and that's what I had always been exposed to and didn't know anything different.

As I have gotten older though, I began to question my individual perceptions because I struggled with what I was being taught, not being taught and how the message was being delivered, and what I felt in my spirit. My spirit seemed to be at odds with a great many things about the religious message and how I was witnessing it being applied or put into practice.

For years I struggled with this because if I raised a question that seem to challenge someone's philosophical beliefs, I would quickly be shut down with a simple claim that you're supposed to have "blind faith" and not question religion. But I felt that was and is wrong. They interpret that to mean things unseen to the naked eye but I don't think that's true. You first have to have a spiritual connection with a "higher power" and when you believe in it and your faith is strong, you will follow that path without question (blind), and you shouldn't feel threatened by questions asked of you.

But I felt it was important enough to follow my spirit's lead because it was so strong. So I left the "formal" church and began to seek answers to questions on my own. I began to read and explore other "religions" and found that there wasn't much difference in the messages and probably because of their cultural context and influence.

I don't fault nor judge anyone else's beliefs. If a particular religion works for you, then so be it. The only religion that I won't support is one that teaches hate and destruction.

Now, I too refer to my higher power as my Creator. I have not found all the answers that I feel comfortable with about a particular "religion", but I believe there is a Creator and I feel it's power and energy and I believe it's about love. So I don't wear a religious title...except to say that I'm a humble Believer.