Poll: How do you identify?

fferreiralynn

Same here!! @ pepper6

jenandbrett

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to Earth to saved the broken, the hurting, and the lost (and I definitely am one). I believe this because I have seen the clear evidence of His love and power in my life. 

 I hope it's not out of place here, but several of you said that you were hurt by the church and I just want to sincerely apologize for that. It was wrong and there is no excuse for it. I only want to ask that you judge God based on who He is and not by what other broken, hurting people have done. He is not ok with how they treated you. Again, I hope that wasn't out of place to say, but it makes me angry when people claiming to be believers hurt other people.

hollyfp

Agnostic.  Not sure I believe in a higher.  I believe more in the here and now... I'm a scientist so I look for answers on the Earth and not above.  I think it's important to be a good person for yourself and for others, not necessarily for something "else".  I would say I'm spiritual but it's grounded in our physical world. Religion fascinates me, though.  

LilyGracesMommy

@chickpea912 born and raised in buffalo ny. Many temples have downsized and combined with same denomination Shuls. My issue is at the temple I was raised in there are a large majority of elder member, of whom most are not accepting. My mother found a "loophole" in that my husbands grandmas parents were Jewish, although she married catholic, " technically he is Jewish since it goes thru the mother" in my mind tho, there should be no need to logicalize his acceptance, it should be there without question.

Now that my daughter will be in kindergarten next year, I'm in crunch time as she would be starting Sunday school too. If I stay with my parents temple there are no membership fees or cost to us ( bc my dad is the cantor) we just purchased a new home and with baby #3 on the way really can't afford membership to a more accepting temple...

So torn...

kittenslove

My husband and I were both raised catholic, although I made my sacraments and attended church, he did not. I am now atheist and he currently describes himself as a freethinking agnostic atheist humanist. He's a little weird when it comes to the god discussion.

We will raise our children Quaker. 

ncbelle

Christian - of the liberal Presbyterian variety

Pepper6

jenandbrett said:

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to Earth to saved the broken, the hurting, and the lost (and I definitely am one). I believe this because I have seen the clear evidence of His love and power in my life. 

 I hope it's not out of place here, but several of you said that you were hurt by the church and I just want to sincerely apologize for that. It was wrong and there is no excuse for it. I only want to ask that you judge God based on who He is and not by what other broken, hurting people have done. He is not ok with how they treated you. Again, I hope that wasn't out of place to say, but it makes me angry when people claiming to be believers hurt other people.

This is sort of the gist of my dislike of organized religion.  I see way too many examples of "church people" who hide behind religion to justify judging others.  That and I feel that a relationship with whatever higher power you believe in should be personal, not a mass mentality of 'one size fits all'.

tbmadeamistake

Gonna be honest, with all the sex vs. gender chat around here lately, I thought maybe this thread "how do you identify" was asking what gender we all were. 

starsinger17

Pepper6 said:

I believe in God, but I dislike organized religion.

This is me!

chickpea912

LilyGracesMommy said:

@chickpea912 born and raised in buffalo ny. Many temples have downsized and combined with same denomination Shuls. My issue is at the temple I was raised in there are a large majority of elder member, of whom most are not accepting. My mother found a "loophole" in that my husbands grandmas parents were Jewish, although she married catholic, " technically he is Jewish since it goes thru the mother" in my mind tho, there should be no need to logicalize his acceptance, it should be there without question. Now that my daughter will be in kindergarten next year, I'm in crunch time as she would be starting Sunday school too. If I stay with my parents temple there are no membership fees or cost to us ( bc my dad is the cantor) we just purchased a new home and with baby #3 on the way really can't afford membership to a more accepting temple... So torn...

I'm sorry you have to deal with that, it cannot be easy.  

jckeown89

I am non-denominational Christian as well. I believe salvation comes through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ as a sacrifice for my sin. If I had to align myself with a denomination, it would most likely be Baptist.

sdaniels88

Atheist.

I didn't grow around much religion but I always assumed there was a God. Recently made the choice to research and decided religion is not my cup of tea.

cm716

I'm a Mormon. I thought I was the only one on the boards but glad to see some others as well!

Bmcmullin01

Non-denominational Christian but grew up Jewish as my dad is Jewish. But I feel I relate more to Christian teachings.

jenandbrett

Pepper6 said:

This is sort of the gist of my dislike of organized religion. I see way too many examples of "church people" who hide behind religion to justify judging others. That and I feel that a relationship with whatever higher power you believe in should be personal, not a mass mentality of 'one size fits all'.

jenandbrett said:

it makes me angry when people claiming to be believers hurt other people.

I totally get that and agree with you. There is no basis in the Bible for a believer to judge another person. We are supposed to confront another believer who is caught in sin, but we are never to judge anyone outside the church. Don't confuse what I'm saying with pretending that something is ok if it's sin but it's not our place to judge anyone other than ourself. Anyone who does so is acting outside of God's commands. And I also agree that God wants to have a personal and unique relationship with each of us. How I relate to Him is very different than how my husband does. My husband connects through music, but I feel closest to God when I am alone or writing in my journal. So I agree that every person's relationship with God should be personal and never cookie cutter. In my opinion, any religion that tries to fit God in a mold is missing the point. I do genuinely believe that there is only one way to heaven, though, and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ.