Well the things i think about before i make a decision is....Will it offend anybody? Will it hurt anybody? Will it get me in trouble?

Because i dont like cops. The only thing that keeps me from rebelling against the cops is that their doing their jobs. I cant really freak out on a cop for doing there job. Just like if i was at a bar drinking. And the bartender said that i'd had enough...i couldnt tell him no like people do in the movies because hes just looking out for my best interest

of course, you can find certain bad aspects in some religions. And you will find some bad religious people too. Please don't confuse a pedophiling priest with a true Catholic parishor. And dont believe that Churches are taking all the charity money and buying Mercedes for the nuns. I dont agree with everything in my religion such as abortion. And I dont care for "the Italians having more babies". But I try to live a certain Catholic way and I believe its right for me, even though I may break some commandments at times. This thread went from a finger to people making "donnie darko" comparisons with all the universe stuff. haha

Re: Athiesm
 

I know it's possible. When I was growing up I was one of those go to church every Sunday, bible thumping kids. However when I turned 13 or so, I started hanging out with the "goth"kids, most of them were athiest. After being influenced, I tried so hard to not believe in God. I even went as far as to participate in some fucked up anti-christ bullshit, but I was a kid, and I grew up. As of now I'm not religious, but I deffinatly believe in God, and Satan for that matter.

a religious Goth?! thats taboo. is this when you used to listen to marilyn manson, paint your nails black, wear all black and shop at the local Hot Topic?? I remember when Gothic look was the fad. That was funny when you said "I tried so hard not to believe and performed anti-christ stuff"... haha

Yeah, well I was in the "goth"fad at that point in my life. I was a kid. That was the point when I gave up my religion, so actually I wasn't a "religious goth" I was a kid who needed to grow up.

Now, I'm neither religious, or goth. But like I said, I do believe in God.

i also went to church- uhm - religiously - at my parents insistance when i was a kid.
I believed because they told me to.
Ironically it was during my confirmation that it broke down for me .. talk about your bad influences .. i guess mine was a minister ..

Actually i just became a little more aware of the world around me and began to question things.

The one question that put the crucial hole in the dam for me was :

Why ? Why did 'God' create anything ?
Why put people on earth then give us the choice to worship him or not ?
I can elaborate 1000 more words but thats the crux of it.
Everything fell into place for me after that. (or out of one place and into another)

There is no way in hell at any stage of my life anyone influenced me into believing or doing anything i didnt want to - its unconceivable to me .. (a good example - i still have never even tried a cigarette - but there was a lot of expectations to do so)

i hate to think of myself as an athiest though .. it sounds too contrived - i just believe in whats around me ..
i dont need a reason to be a good person - its just the most sensical thing to do. And i dont need the unexplainable explained to me - i dont assume we'll ever understand everything - that doesnt justify a need for a 'supreme being' as far as i'm concerned.

and when i die - i die .. i hope my memory will live on in my son and anyone else who thought i was an ok person.. thats all the immortality I expect ... if anything

Re: Re: Athiesm
 

That's not really what I meant. I mean, you were only pretending not to believe in her/him right?

My first belief of the afterlife was that when we die we just dream forever. ( I was a stupid kid. :( )

I'm pretty open minded when it comes to religion, I also love hearing stories from the bible. Like three years ago, my aunt had this party and there were was only one kid my age. So I started talking to him about music and I mentioned that I liked David Bowie. From David Bowie he asked if I liked Peter Gabrielle, when I told him I had no idea who he was, the conversation somehow ended up with christian rock.

From there we went inside where he taught me about the number of the beast for a good hour. Ok, Ok so maybe I just love having stories read to me, but I will also listen intently to any reasons for believing in god.

I'm not going to call someone stupid for believing in god. I think there's an equal chance of their being an afterlife or not, and you can't really rule anything out. My belief is that god doesn't exist, but it can be changed.

Re: Re: Re: Athiesm
 

No, there was a point in that time where I didn't believe in anything. My life was fucked up at the time, so I gave up hope in everything for a while.

It's the best religion of all.

Can you be an agnostic Catholic?

That's pretty much what I am. I was a God-lovin' kid growing up in the midwest and just slowly realized that I didn't believe in anything. Also that I don't have a clue as to what we are, where we came from or what happens next. So, I'm open.

Mostly I bow down to t.v. these days, mainly Adult Swim.
That and my wife's incredible body!