How do you feel your faith has affected your life?

[hrmjustin]

Last edited Wed May 1, 2013, 01:45 PM - Edit history (1)

For me I think it has been an enormous positive in my life. I know I do not need religion to be the best person I can be, but I think it has help me be a kinder person.
My faith has helped me through some hard times and I came out on the other side stronger.

Everyone has different experiences with their faith. I am curious how your faith has effected your life.

[Buzz Clik]

1. Cue the agnostic/atheist attack dogs.

In the meantime, wake me when it's over.

[hrmjustin]

2. I get responses from atheists and agnostics all the time in my posts.

I am glad to have anyone's input. This question was geared to believers but non-believers are welcome to respond.

[Goblinmonger]

12. That's a pretty shitty thing to say.

Not to mention that it was completely wrong. Atheists have commented on this OP and none of them were "attack dogs."

[Buzz Clik]

3. Since the usual screamers have avoided this thread, I'll add my 2 cent.

I was raised in a pretty hard-core Christian environment. My parents were big into it, but I abandoned church altogether by the time I was 19.

I'm not sure that my own religious upbringing has influence me much, but I have been taken by others with strong religious beliefs. I have noted, for instance, that even though I don't buy a single word of the Joseph Smith story, I have found Mormons to be kind, caring, warm people with incredible strength in their families. I have yet to meet a Jehovah's Witness that could convince me that they can tie their own shoes. The major religions are all over the map with good people, bad people, liars, thieves, saints, etc -- kinda like people in general. Agnostics and atheists tend to fall into the category of the large religions -- just a cross section of life.

I have had a few very dark times in my life, and my tendency was not to turn to religion or God or the Bible. I do not fault people who do, and I appreciate their faith.

When DUers (presumably atheists) expend a lot of energy telling the board how stupid Christians are and what horrible people Christians are, I simply write them off as jackasses.

I know this is not quite what you were looking for, but it's all I've got.

[hrmjustin]

5. Thank you for sharing this Buzz Clik!

[rug]

4. It has provided an alternative to "the gentle indifference of the world".

My other favorite line from The Stranger is "Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?"

[Heddi]

6. I'm curious

how/why your faith has helped you be a kinder person?

I'm an agno-atheist and I'm always...curious (don't know if that's the right word but it's what comes to my mind at the moment) when people say that they couldn't be nurses (I'm an RN in an inner city trauma-center emergency room) without God by their side, or that they do what they do (be an RN, or whatever) because it pleases God.... I worked with a woman and she would proudly beam that she hoped God kept track of the compressions she did during CPR to one of "those people" (ususally "those people" were drug addicts, homeless, immigrants, or other undesirable non-white patients) because if he did then she'd be first in line to greet St Peter come Judgement Day. Like, she was only doing CPR on "those people" because she wanted to please god. Not because they were human beings needing life-saving interventions. Not because they may be someone's daughter, son, mother, father, loved one, friend. Nope. She wanted to get to heaven and if that meant doing half-assed CPR on someone that she thought should otherwise be in a ditch, away from her beautiful mind, then so be it.

I don't do what I do in my life, or in my line of work, or in my day-to-day interactions with people because I think it'll get me in the quick line to heaven when I kick the bucket. I do it because we're all part of this planet and by being on this planet you're a part of this social contract where you agree (or are supposed to agree) to help someone who's fallen down, you give someone a comforting touch because they need it, you give to charity or help those less fortunate...not because it helps you get to heaven, but because it's the right thing to do.

So I'm curious why/how your faith helps you be a kinder person. Would you be a mean asshole if you didn't go to church, or didn't believe in God? Are you a kind person because you think it's the right thing to do, or because it's a way to please God (and please don't get confused and think those are one and the same).

[goldent]

7. You might have read too much into your nurse friend's statements

It could well be that she did want to help "those people" but also was looking forward to a reward in heaven - in other words it's not necessarily an either-or thing.

Anyhow, I think religion gives you constant reminders to think about the dignity of yourself and others, and that tends to make you a kinder person. There are other ways to achieve that, but religion works for me. I don't do it to please God, although all the better if it does.

[hrmjustin]

8. Well the way I learned my faith is that Jesus wants us to care for our fellow human beings.

No you don't have to have faith to be a good person. There are good and bad people who believe and don't believe. I think my religious instruction molded me to be a better person.
Whether I am a good person is up for others and God to debate and judge.
I try to be kind because I think it is the right thing to do. If that pleases God I am happy.

[LostOne4Ever]

9. Effected my life

I feel my lack of belief has effected my life by making me reflect more on WHY i believe in what I believe, and in this way its made me more reflective on my actions.

Before the world was defined in the black and white terms of good and evil.

Now, I realize that things are seldom so simple. Things that were once black and white now have nuances that go beyond shades of grey into completely different colors. What do terms like good and evil mean when there is no epitome of good, or embodiment of evil? Is good simply whats best for what is beneficial for me, my family, my town, my country, the human race, or the world overall? Is evil simply anything that is not beneficial to me and my own? What if something is good for my country but bad for my family? Or what if something is bad for my country but beneficial for the entire world? Do the needs of the many ALWAYS outweigh the needs of the few? Or is there a time when the needs of the few outweigh the wants of the many. Where do you draw the line?

For a political example, lets say that a development project comes to an impoverished town by a forest. The project will create hundreds if not thousands of job and will revive the town. But it will also destroy the habitat of an endangered species. What is the moral position? The people need those jobs dont they? Is the moral position to support the development siding with my town or the endangered animal? Im human shouldn't i favor other humans? Or is my responsibility to the animal? Of course there is an ecological dimension to this to take into consideration but im trying to discount it to illustrate what I mean. In the end I do what my conscience tells me is right, but I try my best to understand "why" its right.

Similarly, before I used to believed that injustice in world would be corrected in the next world.

Now, I realize that horrible things happen and the people who perpetrate them often go unpunished. Thus I have come to believe that if there is to be any justice in the world we have to create it ourselves. I can not be a passive observer letting injustice happen, but will have to actively work to see justice done.

In the same way, its up to me to provide my own meaning to life.

[trotsky]

10. Didn't really do a thing.

Even when I was growing up Christian, I didn't feel like my "faith" was inspiring me to be a good person. I also didn't get much comfort from it during tough periods. I guess that's why it wasn't all that difficult to discard it.

[AlbertCat]

11. So how has it AFFECTED your life?

Because it may be the problem with your vocab.
..

[hrmjustin]

13. My mistake, I will correct.