I'm pretty confused about my religious views. I guess I think I should believe in God. Sometimes I want to and other times I'm just not sure. There are even times when I have been sure that it's a fairy tale. I did not have a religious upbringing. Went to church a few times as a kid.

I'm confused by the different religions...Christian and non. Seems like there are more religions that aren't Christian based.

I'm afraid that if there really is a God and a judgement day...He/She will be angry at all of us. And will ask us "What were you fighting over? You were all my children!"

Reincarnation seems like fantasy. But how would I know. Deja vu...I think we've all had feelings like that.

Edited to say: Sorry, I know that's not much help>

No No and No to questions.

*note* (i started a similar thread in the debate club group dealing with religious views and thought i'd start something similar here since there are a different variety of folks in this group to chime in)

what is your religious background and current affiliation (if any)?

do you believe in reincarnation and karma in future lives? (if so, how does this tie into your aforementioned beliefs?)

deja vu: have you experienced it? have stories? how do you explain it? (and again, how does THIS tie into your beliefs?)

i will answer a bit later

1. I grew up Lutheran with a die-hard southern baptist family. I am now an agnostic (not to be confused with an atheist).
2. No reincarnation or any of that stuff. We live once.
3. No deja vu here.

I find that living without religion is incredibly liberating. No longer do I feel like life is just one big test.

Agnostic---I think this could be a good way to describe me. I remember as a kid (about 8) being told by classmates I was going to hell because I didn't attend the church they went to. I know kids can be cruel but what were their parents teaching them? As far as the different Christian based church services I've attended.....Each denomination claims to be right and all other wrong. I see the most important parts as being the same.

I try to be a good person. I try to remember that it's not my place to judge others and that my life experience may not equip me to understand all view points.

Brett, I don't know if you ever check out TED videos, but I saw a great one recently on recent research of
Distinguishing between what is life and what isn't. Researchers are trying to create poly cells out of essentially lifeless matter
Check it out:
http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_hanczyc_the_line_between_life_and_not_life.html

SkateboardFi, deja vu is explained by neurologists quite elegantly. There is no out of body experience or any of
That voodoo science going on. Basically your brain elapses and it takes a second to process a series of images you've already seen. I don't have time to look up the research ill leave that to u. But if you wanna believe its a godly experience you go ahead

Truth exists. Whether I believe in a god or not, prefer that there be a god or not, or can make incomplete arguments based on incomplete information regarding whether there is a god or not, it has absolutely no bearing on whether there really is a god or not. My beliefs do not create reality, but rather I am bound by reality.

Science and theology are at odds only when people arrogantly refuse to acknowledge possibilities beyond their experience and tradition. Just because something has not been observed (yet) does not mean it doesn't exist. Did dark matter exist before it was theorized or discovered? Of course it did. Isn't the very act of exploration an effort to discover that which hasn't been discovered, demonstrated, or proven yet? Proof is bound by time, and therefore all knowledge is incomplete.

Believers trust their own ignorance. Non-believers trust their own ignorance. Critics glory in their own ignorance.

I think the best we can do is examine the available texts, test their credibility honestly and objectively, and be gracious to those who have drawn different conclusions, even when those conclusions include a passion for sharing their beliefs with us.

I was agnostic up until my mid-teens...when I realized I was an atheist. Last year, when I was 24, I took a World Religions class, and it just blew my mind. I always knew there were other religions other than Christianity (which I grew up hating for all the wrong reasons) but never bothered to find out too much about them. The first religion we studied in that class was Hinduism, and while I don't subscribe to the beliefs of that religion, I do like what portions of it stand for, and it was really interesting to learn about, and sparked my interest. Next one we learned about was Buddhism, and again, while I would never say "I am a Buddhist," there is SO much of that religion I love...same with Taoism. Of all the religions, those 2 are my "favorite." Even studying things like Judaism and Christianity and Islam...all sparked my interest. I came to find that it wasn't Jesus or Christianity ITSELF that I hated, it was certain types of people claiming to represent them that I didn't agree with or like. Actually learning about Jesus Christ as more than the long-haired guy in the pictures that people worship...made me realize that I actually agree with certain things he said and did and still represent to this day.

Some friends and I in that class described ourselves (at first, jokingly) as "religious mutts," and I sorta changed it up to "ideological mutt." I don't believe in a God or gods...but I think of things in a more spiritual light...more "natural"...I don't know...it's something I've never been able to explain, and I don't think it CAN be adequately explained. It's a deeply personal concept...I don't think that any 2 people can really believe in same thing, or see the same thing exactly the same, anyway. so I can't really explain what I think or believe, sorry.

On the topic of religion, though, I really get irritated with extremists on either side--the Christians who think that if you're anything but their denomination, then you're going to Hell, you're a "sinner," you're evil, etc. I'm also not a fan of arrogant atheists who think that they're all high and mighty because they're "too smart" for religion, or that everyone who DOES subscribe to religion is stupid or uneducated. I'm very happy to have friends from all walks of life, of almost every major religion...I learn through diversity, and love it.

I've never really thought too much into reincarnation...I don't believe in it, but I think it's a neat idea.

I experience deja-vu all the time! It's crazy. Always have, too. And people can say what they want and call me crazy, but I have dreams about things that happen in the future. Nothing big and epic, but sometimes I'll have a dream about someone I haven't seen in a long time (we're talking YEARS), and then the next day I'll see them, or they'll contact me online, etc. and I'm reunited with them. Or I'll have a dream and a conversation takes place about a very specific subject or person, and then that next day, someone brings up that subject or person and the conversation is almost identical. Kinda freaks me out, but it's also kinda cool, haha.

This life is not a trail run. It's not a cosmic test. This is it. Make the best of it.

The only possible way you will experience life after death is as fossil fuel or compost.