Am I missing something? Religion.

[ButterflyTable]

I will caveat this by saying there was a point in my life when I was religious. However I now just feel religion is created by men; about men for men.

I look at women around me who are friends and religious, and their religion oppresses them. Much more than men.

I want to believe in God, or a higher power. But nothing in this world leads me to think there is a God as such. Granted I think there is energy, something out there perhaps connected to our ancestors or the Earth.

Religion to me seems about control, rituals, even having spent time around people of multiple faiths, in their holy buildings - I feel something, I hear a hymn, a call to prayer, I’ve sang I a church congregation. I’ve sat in Temples, I’ve been in Muslim countries and heard the prayers, I’ve experienced and read about a number of faiths. To the extent they all say pretty much the same thing, but I cannot believe in God.

I also feel faith holds people back. I’ve seen a lot wrong done by very religious people.

I'm not the one to be asking about the crimes of neither Catholic nor Protestant churches Daniel, because they'd be good places to start if ever you needed evidence of evil's connivance.

Like I said... sins, lies, misrepresentations, false religion.

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you're saying here. Explain it to me like I'm a 6 year old.

What about the 10 commandments?

I have looked into Jehovas witnesses beliefs after my mother briefly being one and being ex communicated. There are quite a few things that make me question it. I just stick to the bible. I don't take church people that seriously I just go to fellowship. I know my own beliefs and that's what God wants, us to seek him and have a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Well yes “do not murder” is no. 6.

Otherwise I’m not sure what your point is?

It certainly can be as you say, but there are lots of different ways of incorporating religion into your life, and it doesn't have to involved God. Traditional forms of practice in most religions are usually oppressive especially, as you say for women, I agree, but they don't have to be done that way.

DH and I are Jewish, we go to synagogue quite a lot and keep some degree of kosher. We find synagogue and practice valuable as a cultural and spiritual tradition, but we don't believe in God and we won't demand our kids practice or only have Jewish partners etc. Of course, you can also identify as Jewish without practicing, as my sister does.

Never felt impressed or controlled
Most common feeling is female companionship fellowship , safety support community especially in regards with child rearing

None of which makes the religious belief itself true does it? I can see and respect the hard work and academic discipline it would take to complete a course or the other training that was mentioned. However, that does not mean the religion, concept of god, etc is any more true or any less problematic.

Haven't tried to convince you of my faith. None of my business tbh.

My point is that the old testament and new testament are both important and sometimes old is just related by new but is that what God wants ? The foods laws didn't he say things were unclean for a reason yet Christisns typically think pork is OK. I know we are not bound by the law because of Jesus but isn't there still importance in the old testament. Why were the biblical feast days replaced with Easter and Christmas? Its not a commandment from Heavenly Father.

*replaced not related

I lost my faith when I was 40. Despite going on religious retreats, being involved in the church etc. Nothing bad happened. I just realised that if I hadn't been taught the stuff by my mother from a young age, I would have laughed at it all.

I even gave away all my Jesus-themed Easter and Christmas decorations.

I'm less happy now!

Theology (divinity) is one of the oldest academic subjects. The original divinity building is one of the oldest parts of Oxford university. The subject is divided into biblical studies, church history, ethics, systematics etc.

Biblical studies is a combination of literary studies and linguistics, and Church History is a type of history. So, you could similarly say that English literature doesn't affect anything, or philosophy, or most art subjects. Would you say that?

How you don't think ethics means anything or changes anything is quite baffling. Look at the current debates: what makes us uniquely human in an age of AI? Should euthanasia be legalised?

I'm SO sorry that your mum suffered like that, and of course, all of you would have been terribly badly affected. Did the priest know about the abuse? I hope not, but if so, words absolutely fail me. There's nothing i can ever say that could mitigate your pain, but please don't judge Jesus by the behaviour of bad men.

@IsthisthereallifeIsthisjustfantasy

Granted theology has historical significance, however to me its got zero practical relevance in addressing contemporary societal issues. Other disciplines like ethics, philosophy, and sociology can provide more comprehensive and empirically grounded analyses of these issues without relying on theological frameworks.

I think we’ll go round in circles as for me theology's emphasis on religious doctrines does not resonate with individuals like me with non-religious perspectives. This limits its applicability.

I don't know what the priest knew in detail, but he knew my mum well from the choir. Dad showed up to do a reading very sporadically so he wouldn't have known him well at all. So I'm disgusted with what he read out in front of my traumatized mother, who was sitting in the middle of her friends and community. He absolutely humiliated her. I'm not relating any of this to Jesus, but I do see it as indicative of the churches attitude to women in general. So I have personally chosen to disengage with that organisation.

For me the key point id that you can have faith - whatever it happens to be - without getting involved in organised religion

The first can bring comfort to many; the second too often brings little but damage

@Puzzledandpissedoff I’m interested! What is this faith without religion?

I mentioned organised religion, ButterflyTable, as in what too often happens when the basic tenets become corrupted by greed, lust to control, the enablement of evil and the rest

So in other words an individual can believe in god, muhammed, buddha, reincarnation or whatever, without necessarily wanting to ally themselves with any of their "official" organisations

While you’re right to say false religion fixes nothing, you neglect to take your own argument further by acknowledging that it has played such a major part in the problems we face today, largely as a hangover from times when governments ran on religious doctrine and manipulated it to gaslight a more religious society (than today) to serve their own political and materialistic agendas.

As for “going around in circles”, that’s exactly the cycle of repeated experiment in the vain hope of different results we’ve been engaged in throughout history and even more so today in terms of the problems we create for ourselves and each other.

The problems simply get worse because society and its clueless wealth-worshipping “leaders” continue to insist that solutions to them are attainable by increasing what caused them in the first place.

Then when anyone mentions God, someone else springs up like a jack-in-a-box and starts using heinous conduct by proponents and manipulators of false religious doctrine as arguments that God “can’t possibly exist or He wouldn’t allow these things to happen”, in complete ignorance of the blindingly obvious fact that Jehovah endowed us with our free-will as part of this beautiful gift of life with which He has blessed us. Why? Because He wants us to worship Him through the same love for Him as He has for us.

If God put out his hand now and stopped everything, that would not be in accordance with the covenants he has made and written in His word the Bible and there would be no such thing as faith, righteousness and good-will, only enforced subjugation.

As also promised though, Jehovah’s day of anger is coming.

I'm sorry, but this sounds pretty out there. 'He' wants us to worship him? I want a pony, doesn't mean I'm gonna get one. Believe what you want to believe yourself, as long as you're not harming anyone else. But do question it also.

Maybe less happy means he's calling you back to faith?

Saying the world isn't flat used to sound pretty "out there". Some think it still does.

Speaking of questioning things, how many ponies did you create again?

It's only the conditioning of a broken world that makes the truth stranger than fiction. Only serial victims of indoctrination could see pointing that out as potentially harmful.

1. I didn't claim to create any ponies.

1. I don't get the rest of it

The problem of suffering (and who suffers and why) has always been a mystery. I certainly don't understand it and have never found the answer to it. I haven't had great suffering in my life (though, like everyone, there have been plenty of times when I've been deeply unhappy and hurt). For me, like for nearly everyone, there will one day be suffering through illness or for other reasons. Not understanding why God doesn't stop all suffering doesn't prevent me from knowing His presence and love or from having faith in Him. I have known many devout Christians who have suffered terribly and whose faces have absolutely glowed because they have known Jesus' presence with them through the worst of times and there are many Christians overseas (North Korea, China etc) who suffer terrible persecution and yet their faith remains undiminished. God bless you.