Right tough subject.

Am going for a fag

I was raised Roman Catholic,but stopped practising over 25 years ago.I don't believe in any gods .

Ooooh thats interesting Katty. Are you Scottish too?

Angelica, sorry I don't know what the alpha course is.
I am christened c of e. I was confirmed at age 18. I don't attend church as I can't be bothered to get upand go on a sunday. I do say grace before most meals and try to think about other people.
I drink too much booze and eat too much of everything.

Yes I am.

I also drink too much booze LoweonIQ

The Rev arrives on a Tuesday night and I think if only you could see me on a Saturday evening

Thanks for replying though. I am Church of Scotland so we are somewhat similar

Catholic, parents choice..I follow Karma, I am spiritual but do not believe in religion as its the biggest money making racket in the world....

I was raised as a Christian and went to church for years, it's just been something that's always been present in my family. And I'd still consider myself a Christian, but not like...a devout one. I believe in aspects of religion, mainly having something solid and unchanging to hold on to, but not every bit.

Me too katty Clackmannanshire here.

I always find Catholic sermons very interesting although somewhat baffling

Ooh you've asked the wrong person, I'm an atheist of the Dawkins variety I'm afraid.  And for those who wish to poke me we don't definitely say there is no god, just that the evidence points to there being no god but when some decent evidence does turn up then fine, we'll start believing in it.

Thanks stonks and marybee.

It's interesting to find people only following CERTAIN aspects of religion now.

I always feel like a total rebel at church on a Sunday and you are making me feel more human

Thanks LLF. I am interested. What makes you think there is no God?

If you don't want to answer I totally understand

I believe in better than this.

And I pray.

Sorry LLF I have just properly read your response I'm so sorry.

I'd change baffling to boring, though some of it baffles us..How could the Catholic church change its rules when it went into the second Vatican?

Goodness knows. Do you still go to Mass?

I had to go to Mass for my Aunts Mother and I was totally lost

I am Roman Catholic, it's what I was brought up

I stopped going last year, I could'nt stand the hypocricy of the people standing around me....

That's OK

What is there better than this? This world is stunning and beautiful, look up in the sky at the stars, or the clouds roiling across the sky with infinite variety and beauty and why would you need miracles or anything more?  

We have an amazing planet and this is it so i try and enjoy what I have got here and try to behave in a way my heart tells me is right not wrong.  I feel that humans shouldn't need the bribe of a 'better place' to behave in a good way in a next life I don't believe exists, I think they should concentrate on enjoying this life and making a great life of the one we have.

Btw, a great proof to me of any god would be a before and after shot of an amputee who has been healed by praying.

COS.

I used to sit their and cound how many double inuendo's I could pick up from the sermon....

Brought up Catholic,  atheist since age 14 (even tho me stepmonster made me go to church until I left school).  Funny old religion that makes 7 year olds go to  confession, but covers up sexual abuse by its clergy.

And LLF I totally understand

   I'lll second  that.

I'm a Catholic...well, a lapsed one although when I was little I really, really wanted to be a nun   
....of course, I changed my mind as soon as I discovered boys  

I was christened C of E but am not particularly religious - even less so since visiting Rome and the Vatican.

So did I but I wanted to be a stripper aswell after seeing the movie Gypsy Rose Lee..I might have invented stripper grams....

I was brought up a Christian (Church of Scotland) but I rarely attend nowadays.

I'll say it first.

I'm a believer 

Thank goodness I never saw that film then...I'm easily influenced  

I was brought up as a Catholic but when i started to question it (about 11,12 years old ) I wasn't forced to go to mass or to do anything religious. I do still go to mass on the very odd occasion (weddings,christenings and funerals) but thats more for other people then anything else. I'm all for an easy life. I beleieve in the spirit (not the trinity spirit but ) of a person.

im like you angel ive never been christened, my mum said she would give me the choice.me i think alot is to do with fate and destiny.
i was never made to go to church, probably because of the bad dad i had/have.I have an aunt whos a jw who has tried to tell me all about the bible though, but i really cant get my head round some of the things she says.

I stopped going to Mass when I was around 30 years old.  Although I was brought up in a strict Catholic family, at 30 I was able to make an independent decision about my religious beliefs. 

When I found out that the Vatican was the richest State in the world, I started to question why this was.  I wanted to know why I had to pay to go to Church (collection plate) every Sunday.  And then I realised why the Vatican enjoyed the status it does.  Nevertheless, the Catholic religion did teach me some valuable life lessons, ie  the difference between right and wrong, and I still uphold most of the values I was taught as a child within my Catholic faith.  The only difference now is that I don't attend Church at all.  I also now do not believe in God.

I also feel that any organised religion causes division.  Religion has caused many of the wars, past and present.  Instead of religion being a force for good, it can sometimes be perceived as a force for evil when two tribes fight over whose God is the best.  And are then prepared to kill each other to prove their point.  How ungodly is that?

In religion?....

I've heard of the alpha course....   you gotta come back and tell us more about it Arwen.

For me.. structured religion is the bit that undermines it all.   You know, the part where another human is more devine and gets to preach and interpret to the others.

But, I totally accept that I can't say this, or that, don't exist... I don't know that.   So for me its live and let live... SO LONG AS I am allowed to do the same.

And...  should there be something else... whether its something that looks down on us, or whether it be another plane of existance... then the best I can do is to respect what is around me... what 'he' (for want of a better term) created.

I tend to know what I DON'T believe rather than what I do.... I don't believe in killing others in the name of religion, of judging others, or excluding others, in the name of religion.  

Live your life, try not to do too much harm as you do so, respect other life.  Be kind.


(fwiw... I was christened CofE.    I tried to get my daughter christened CofE when she was born... in my mind it was her introduction to the church... for her to follow up at a later date should she wish.  It was not about me.   The vicar refused.   He said I would have to go through six months religious instruction before he even considered it, but that he really didn't feel I would fit in very well in his church!)

My mother in law is a jehovah .....  it drives us round the bend.... the constant emails trying to get us to sign up!

See... there are times when I envy people who have faith.   It sure as hell makes bereavement easier to deal with.    My mum tried to shun her faith when one of our loved ones died.... I argued with her that, quite the opposite, it was the time for her to embrace it.

Cos not having a faith when bereaved... its horrible... it makes you feel desperate.

i agree ditty, it does drive ya mad, the resurection and how wonderful things will be.