Survey for those of you who said YES to god survey

[Monkeytrousers]

So you believe in god but are you religious?

One word answer too please.

Hang on, I remember now - being spiritual has nothing necessarily to do with religions, which are all prescriptive in that they tell you how to do things, eg what to wear, eat, etc etc.

Spiritual people do form sects however and so can fall into that category.

Just got 'god is not great - how religion poisons everything' by Christopher Hitchins and was musing.

Hi unquietdad - the difference is that 'religious' can mean that you think of yourself as a prayerful person who believes in a God/higher power, lives their life by what they consider to be moral or in a way which they might guess would please the higher power. I believe very specifically that God's son, Jesus Christ, was born, lived on earth and was crucified in payment for all of our sins. He then came to life again - he had power over death. I try to read and understand the bible, I pray to God and to Jesus and try to lead my life as they would have me lead it - it's difficult and I don't get there half of the time - but it's not 'a religious life'. Does that make sense?

Fair enough MT, I didn't realise you were making a joke (haven't even heard of that book...shows I am still a newbie).

[ouch emoticon]

3sEnough

"lives their life by what they consider to be moral or in a way which they might guess would please the higher power"

and

"try to lead my life as they would have me lead it"

What's the difference?

No

Beckybrastraps - I'm not guessing as to what a 'moral code' or 'pleasing' life might be - I study the bible and pray for guidance from God. I follow His word as much as I can, not my human interpretation just to make ME feel better. Sometimes it's really hard but as God put us here I feel it's the least I can do to not ignore Him!

3sEnough - you see, from outside, that makes you religious for me.

I don't consider "religious" to be the following of particular rituals to please a higher power - I just use it as a term for people who follow a faith, a religion, a creed, a God, call it what you like.

Do you, out of interest, think of the Ancient Egypians, Greeks and Romans as "religious" people?

Well, yes, but adherents of another religion, or denomination, would also feel that they weren't guessing either. And they would probably also claim that they weren't putting a 'human interpretation' on it. I still don't see the difference.

Yes

Blimey UQD. Something we agree on!

Not so weird!
I'm surprised there are no many active "bleevers" on here. MN must be a skewed sample. Or maybe my peer group is.

No.

No to what, Lady M?

No to the OP's question UQD.

Yes I believe in God, but I wouldn't necessarily see myself as religious. In fact the 'church' I belong to and attend every week is consciously not religious in the sense of being part of a denomination, or following man-made rules.

Actually, like UnquietDad's friend I'd say fro me being a Christian is about a relationship with God, a living dynamic relationship, based on what He says, rather than on following 'religious beliefs'.

In my opinion, a lot of the problems caused by 'Christians' are to do with the rules/teaching of a religion, rather than God.

Look at 'famous' Christians, both current and historical. Those who genuinely had a positive impact on their society were more concerned with how their personal faith/relationship with God was worked out in day to day life than in following the rules of others.

"based on what He says, rather than on following 'religious beliefs'. "

Again, I'm thinking that these are the same things.

Is it only religion when the beliefs involved are not the ones you hold?

Yes

Beckybrastraps - I think we actually agree - I agree that another denomination would have beliefs ('religious' beliefs if you like) but I bet they still wouldn't describe themselves as 'religious' - I suspect they would describe themselves as muslim, hindu or christian etc, etc. Religious for me just isn't accurate as it's a fuzzy description.

I was basing my answer on the dictionary definition:

re·li·gious (rĭ-lĭj'əs) adj.
Having or showing belief in and reverence for God or a deity.

It's a general description. I am religious. I am a Christian. I am a Roman Catholic. All true. Subsets.

Bbs - Fair enough.

no

It is possible to be a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, A Buddhist or A Hindu and have an intelligent, discursive and compassionate theological approach you know MT.

the phrase 'spare the rod spoil the child' is not a biblical quotation. It comes from a Samule Butler poem from the 17 th century. there is a phrase in Proverbs "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (diligently)." There are various ways of interpreting this sentence. Firstly, Proverbs were assembled by King Solomon, [circa 1000BCE] Basically he was assembling a set of sayings and quotes that went back centuries before him - so they were cultural, not religious in origin, and certainly not Christian.
Secondly, one has to remember that the King James version of the Bible is a bit like Chinese Whispers - the layers of interpretation get in the way and obliterate poetry, metaphor and subtle nuances.

Thirdly, if one takes the saying as a metaphor, and God is the parent and the we are the child, then the phrase becomes rather similar to the Buddhist central conceit - that Life is Suffering. It does not me you should beat children, rather that suffering is an inevitable part of life which makes up grow.

I find both some athiests and the most frightening sorts of Evangelical Christians fall into the same trap of taking the Bible literally and having no ability to have intelligent theological discussion.

nope

NO