losing faith

[jon@af]

Much like the discussion with love goes, does losing faith (in God, specifically) mean that perhaps one didn't really have faith to begin with?

I find myself questioning my faith heavily. With the shootings and especially seeing the Westboro Baptist Church being involved in so much hatred really makes me question why I even believe in God.

Some would say that it is through these hard times that we discover our real faith. Perhaps. But if all we are to be met with is hatred and violence and death - hatred from those who would call themselves Christians and suggest that God hates us, violence from our peers against people who did nothing to provoke it, so on and so forth - what impact are we really having as people who are to be living counter-culturally?

I went to the Westboro Baptist web site and just looked around it and I felt so much hatred and sadness and anger and disbelief when looking at that site. The biggest feeling, however, was the sadness. It honestly made me want to cry, seeing those people hating everyone around them, praising the deaths of people at a school where I have SEVERAL friends, teaching new generations of children to be bigots against people that they don't even know. My heart ached.

I know to some people, this group is just a "cult," which makes sense if you think about it logically. But it effects me more than that because while I constantly struggle with my own identity and role as a Christian and what it means to love people as Jesus and God would love them, treat even those people who would be my enemies as kin and to forgive people who have hurt me in ways that I dare not describe, I see these people - these people who are supposed to be people of Christ and of God, and they are preaching hatred, bigotry and intolerance. They are praising the deaths of their fellow man - soldiers, students, innocents - because of a lifestyle they don't agree with. These people, who I am supposed to say are my brothers and sisters, represent me and my faith as a faith that would cheer at the news of a school shooting or a bomb explosion against our soldiers. It makes my heart pain.

All I want to know is: Why? It sounds simple enough and many people would probably say "you and everyone else," but not everyone else feels the same as I do. My feelings are my own and you will never know how deeply troubling it is for me to not know the answer to this question. This is the one question that I wish God would give me a verbal answer to.

I know there are some of you who are atheists, and that's fine. I welcome your thoughts as well. I'm having a real hard time grasping my faith in God, my faith in life and my faith in my fellow man. Even if you don't pray, keep me in your thoughts, please.

[Oz]

It would seem that religion breeds intolerance of others who are different, no matter what the religion is.

That is a sad reality of the world around us.

It might seem intimidating to challenge your faith, and question what you've been taught/chosen to believe your entire life, but it seems to be just another part of progressing through life, maturing, call it what you will.

I think it's very healthy and you'll probably be a more rounded individual because of it.

[dave92cherokee]

http://www.godhatesfags.com

There's another site run by another "cult" that does just about the same thing. Questioning your faith is only normal because everything is unknown. Nobody has ever come back to life after being dead a few days and give a vivid description of heaven and god and everything so it's all faith that there's something more. Personally I don't believe because everything I was taught all seemed to contradict itself. I was always being told "I have to attend church to pray in the house of god" but in the same sense how is that building any different from my own house which if god created everything then it is his house as well? The other thing I don't believe in is all these people that say that the bible or kuran or whatever book they use is an accurate account of everything from the beginning of time but no where in there does it mention evolution or dinosaurs or any of the other things that people have discovered. I look at the bible as a good fictional story nothing major from it has ever been proven to be 100% concrete so therefore to me it's just a story and always will be. If you question your faith it doesn't necessarily believe that you never had faith but just that you are human and are unsure of the unseen which everyone is. For every argument for the bible there's always been something to go against it. As far as everything that's going on with school shootings and such there's just alot of hatred in people, but doesn't necessarily mean that they're devil worshipers as some would say just that they're F***** up in the head. This world will never change there will always be good and bad and people will always have a reason why god doesn't do something to stop the violence. That's just my 2 cents worth.

[VR43000GT]

I have heard about every testimony dealing with why "there is no God." I do not believe EVERYTHING in the Bible. I believe some of it is a for a lack of a better phrase, "teach a lesson" entry. I do believe in God though. And the way I see it, is that you will be tested through many trials, even thoughs that would push you to questioning your own faith. Being Christian isn't about taking an "easy road." It is about being tested through and through, through the most difficult things, to determine what kind of person you are and how strong your faith stands. Thus, you are graded in a sense on judgement day. And this is just my perspective, and am not trying to push this on anyone else. It's just one way to look at it.

[72chevelleOhio]

I think people need to believe in whatever they need to that gets them through hard times. There are and will always be extreme religion in both ways. I think it's each individuals choice to determine their own "right way" in life. If you have kids, which one do you want to see die? none! If "we are all Gods children" then who does God want to see die? I'm guessing none! I'm not religious but if I'm a good person, and I am wrong for not believing, I think "God" would laugh then take care of me.

Originally Posted by dave92cherokee

I look at the bible as a good fictional story nothing major from it has ever been proven to be 100% concrete so therefore to me it's just a story and always will be.

...well, it was written in the times people thought the world was flat, the earth was the center of the universe, leaches sucked sickness out of you, witches, vampires etc etc etc...........

[J-Ri]

Originally Posted by J_Swigz

Much like the discussion with love goes, does losing faith (in God, specifically) mean that perhaps one didn't really have faith to begin with?

...But it effects me more than that because while I constantly struggle with my own identity and role as a Christian and what it means to love people as Jesus and God would love them... I see these people - these people who are supposed to be people of Christ and of God, and they are preaching hatred, bigotry and intolerance. They are praising the deaths of their ...

All I want to know is: Why? It sounds simple enough and many people would probably say "you and everyone else," but not everyone else feels the same as I do. My feelings are my own and you will never know how deeply troubling it is for me to not know the answer to this question. This is the one question that I wish God would give me a verbal answer to.

Even if you don't pray, keep me in your thoughts, please.

Does losing faith mean that one did not have it to begin with? Perhaps, but it sounds to me as if you are questioning, not losing. Questioning faith is the reason we are here. God could have created us in heaven, but we are here on earth to decide if we want to spend eternity with Him.

I'm guessing you never read the Bible, or at least never got very far. Read the book of Leviticus. God kills people for what may seem to us as rediculous reasons. For example, if two men are fighting and a woman interferes on her husbands behalf by kicking his opponent in the nuts, she is to be put to death. If you think I'm joking, read it, it's in there. Our purpose is to serve Him, so if we go against His wishes, what use are we? I believe the reason that the woman is to be put to death is because God tells us repeatedly "be fruitful and multiply", and she is damaging that chance. On the other hand, in the New Testament, Jesus' love is more what we are familiar with. Also, He says that we will be judged by God, so I don't think we should be killing people for their sins, but I do think that if someone truly believes in Jesus (which is the ONLY requirement to go to Heaven [John 3:16- And God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting live], provided you don't commit the one unforgivable sin [Matthew 12:21- And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.]) they wouldn't do what God strictly commands not to do.

It's a test. If God gave us verbal responses, it wouldn't be faith, and would eliminate the need for earth. Let me ask you this: If you are losing your faith, why would you want people to pray for you? Again, it only sounds like questioning, and I believe God wants us to question everything.

[-Davo]

You can't lose your faith in something that is plagerised.

I see loseing your faith as growing up, becoming the 'Age of Reason'.......

Christanity is nothing but a deliberate rip-off, and a pure plageristic attempt to mimic ancient egyptian and babalonian relgions and cults. The only reason Christianity won over Roman Paganism was because Christanity (like many other 3kB.C Egyptian religions) offered ETERNAL LIFE.


Youtube christanity, you'll find what you're looking for.

[turtlecrxsi]

You may not be "losing" your faith but you may be on the way to "suppressing" it sort of the way I have. I'm the youngest in a large Catholic family. I do not attend mass so I am "non-practicing". This is translates to most other christians as non-belief. But I've considered my religious orientation again and again and still conclude that yes I do believe. But it's very difficult, to put it mildly, to accept any given religious structrue as truth. And seeing the actions of such "cults" or wayward fantatics who proclaim the good word and teachings of the christian way of life etc. etc. just makes it even more difficult. Recently, my father has been ordained a Deacon of the Catholic Church. I attended his ordination but that was out of respect for my father and the Catholic institution. However, I don't necessarily agree with all of it. If I told my father that he would certainly think lowly of me. And being that he's now well-read in bible verses and pedantic religious writings (only dealing with Catholic teachings) he would frown upon my views even moreso. I've always known my dad to be a good man but a person who would yell at us kids not five minutes after leaving mass Sunday mornings and argue with his wife repeatedly. It all gets wiped under the carpet since he's still married after 44 years, raised 5 good Catholic kids (in his eyes) and has become a learned man of the cloth. This is just one example of how I've witnessed the "saving" or rather the rhetorical workings of the Bible on one man. The Bible is a powerful tool. People have died protecting what they've read in that book as pure truth. Be careful who you argue with or they may lash out. I've seen it happen before here in the Bible Belt. Pretty scary. So when people ask me what religion I am. I say that I don't go to church... which is in fact, true and prevents unwanted arguments...

[00accord44]

I come from a pretty religious family. I grew up going to church 4 days a week, my mom is on Trustee Board, my dad was a Deacon (til he moved away), and my entire extended family are church members. However, I've also come to question religion in recent years and any time I go to church now, its just to make my mom happy. Although I know she can tell that I'm just not the same "church-going Christian" that she is and she doesn't put as much effort into convincing me to attend.

I can't really pinpoint what it is/was that has me doubting my religion, but when I think about the fact that over the centuries of people on this planet and the many diferent religions/gods/faiths that humans have followed it all begins to seem more hollow. I wouldn't say I'm completely an athiest, but I'm definitely not very religious. If someone asks me, I'll say I'm baptist just because that's the church I grew up in and still attend from time to time. But at this point in my life, I see religion as a vehicle of hope for many. It seems to me that religion serves as a means to add value to life. A few years ago I was in a real bad spot and I got religious pretty quickly. I prayed every night and it helped me feel a little better. Once my bad situation had passed, religion left me again. I don't know if that's more of an indictment against religion or me, but whatever the case, the drive to hold onto a force bigger than me departed once I felt more secure in my own situation.

I draw an analogy between religion and politics. The intention is good at the core, yet often goes astray. There are many different views, but only a few major factions. Everyone practices in their own way and believes their views are primarily correct. At the end of the day, everyone lives on the same planet reardless of their view and there's no definitive way to determine who is correct or not. You just know what works best for you personally.

If/when I have kids, I plan to take them to church with the intent of providing them with a positive set of morals that I feel church helped build in me. When they're older and can analyze things on a deeper level, I may consider sharing my views, but I don't want to disuade them from holding onto religion just because I feel its unnecessary.

[-Davo]

The bible isn't the best place to go for morals. Government legislation is a way better example. At least the Government don't preach the death and destruction of all gays, non-believers and rebelious teenages....


Oh, I went there.

[00accord44]

I get what you're saying and I agree, but I think there are still some positive effects the church can have on kids. If nothing else, it serves as a place where they can meet adults that care about their best interest and look after them even when they don't know it. Even though I don't feel the need to attend church anymore, I still recognize that I met many good people there and I learned some quality values there.

[72chevelleOhio]

Originally Posted by 00accord44

but I think there are still some positive effects the church can have on kids.

"Marilyn Manson" grew up going to catholic schools. I think Ted Bundy did too?.....Just thought that was ironic/appropriate/funny..
I'm NOT saying catholic or any other religion is bad!

[-Davo]

Originally Posted by 00accord44

I get what you're saying and I agree, but I think there are still some positive effects the church can have on kids. If nothing else, it serves as a place where they can meet adults that care about their best interest and look after them even when they don't know it. Even though I don't feel the need to attend church anymore, I still recognize that I met many good people there and I learned some quality values there.

Oh yeah, too true, I grew up Catholic, went to a Catholic school and was literally forced to church for like 7 years of my Primary schoo life (5-10yrs).

Then I went to a public high school, lawl.

[72chevelleOhio]

Originally Posted by 72chevelleOhio

I think Ted Bundy did too?...

Methodist...my bad.

[mellowboy]

J-swigz- I know what you're going through. Matter of fact, I know exactly what you're going through. I'm a Muslim and after 9/11 tragedy I felt very discouraged in practicing my faith. One, seeing that "Muslims" destroying innocent people and two, non-Muslims spreading hatred about your belief and three, Muslims are so divided these days that it may seem no one is helping each other. But the more I got spiritual, the more I started to understand the basis of my faith. I constantly have to defend my faith to people spreading phobia about Islam. Yes and it happens alot. You face criticisms, being mistreated or whatever people will do to hurt you. Look at it this way, if you want to remain Christian or whatever beliefs you follow, do it for YOU! When you do it for yourself, you're also doing it for God because whatever God commands you to do, its for your own good. If the world around you is bad, be good to them. Be the light that it's in the dark. It's a gift.The world may seemed messed up with people with all kinds of beliefs but there's still alot of good Jews, Christians , Muslims, Bhuddist, athiest or people in general.

And God is the source of strength and success.