Originally posted on 02/15/2014:

Quote Originally Posted by swordsandtequila View Post
Pot calling the kettle black, don't you think? Being a follower, not being an independent thinker? Religious zealots are the most close-minded people walking the face of the earth. Most agnostics/atheists are open to the idea there may be a greater force at work, something we don't yet understand, they just don't claim to have all the answers. Idiots like Philly say "I'm right, you're all wrong, burn in hell assholes." He and his ilk may be in the minority, but just like the hard right they scream the loudest. Stay around long enough and you'll understand why he's considered the forum tool.
I knew Id get this exact response.

Ive mentioned before that I havent always been Christian. I was brought up that way, but fell away from the church when I entered highschool and never stepped foot in another one for over 10 years.

School is a very anti-religious place. Even more so in college. When you begin to start thinking for yourself and are already doubting God and the things you were brought up into, being in that kind of environment surrounded by atheists can take its toll on your faith. Many fall away from it completely. If you never had faith in God before, your atheistic ideas are even more solidified.

What I am saying is that school isn't necessarily a bad place, but that it often does the exact opposite from teaching you to think for yourself. Many instructors will try to indoctrinate you with their beliefs instead of teaching objectively and letting their students form their own opinion.

For years and years I tried to make sense of religion, God, and everything related to it. It seemed so silly to me and all I knew was the things I've been taught in school and if it could not be proven through a scientific method or some other form of analysis then I wouldn't believe it to be true. In short, if it could not be proven by science then it wasn't real.

Still, I had this feeling deep inside that i continued to ignore. I could not be satisfied by the unclear answer that atheism provides. I craved something more... there had to be something more. More than just the fact that we live, we die, and then thats it? Nothing else? The world goes on as if I never even existed? How depressing.

It took a very long time for me to finally get honest with myself that maybe there was a little something more than just living then dying. There HAD to be some kind of reason behind all of this. If there isnt, then why the heck am I here? What purpose do I serve? Once I started questioning these things and began to search into the possibility that maybe theres also a spiritual element to life than just the physical, my life began to take on such a bigger meaning. I do serve a purpose. There is a reason I am here. I may not know exactly what it is, and that is why I am not God. Someone has to know though. Something had to put me here. There is some force that makes the world go round and why things in life seem to happen that you know are for a reason or just too uncanny to be a coincidence when things fall into place.

So no, I do not believe that being religious means you aren't an independent thinker at all. It definitely can be that way especially if you grew up in a religious setting and just go through the motions, but you could argue the same for people brought up with atheistic parents. Its well documented that you have a higher rate of being the same faith as your parents or same political views. Theres no doubt that the people you grow up around and surround yourself with will have an impact on you. That doesn't mean you don't have a choice, though. Its just that it takes a lot of work to think for yourself so many choose not to and just stay where theyve been their whole life. What they are comfortable with.

I have lived life with God, then without him, then with him again. I've been on both sides of the fence and know exactly where atheists are coming from. I get it. Thats why I wont ever get mad at them because I understand how hard it is to have faith in something that you cannot prove. Its just after I opened up my mind to the slight possibility that there may be something more to life that science cant explain that it continued to snowball from there. With atheism there is no hope. God gives you that hope, he fills that void in your life that your soul naturally longs for. He made it that way. If only man can lose his pride. And thats the big roadblock. Pride. If you can let it go, then you might be surprised at what you find.

So no, Im not following the crowd. Actually, I would say being a person of faith in todays world is quite the contrary. Being a person of faith is not for the weak and feeble minded. It actually takes alot of strength and courage to keep your faith in a world that will mock and ridicule you for it.

And I am thinking independently with a free mind. I've pondered both sides of the God argument, I've lived it, and on my own free will have I come to the conclusion that God makes a whole lot more sense to me than atheism.

Keep asking yourself these questions, brother. Keep looking and you'll find answers. Might I even say, though you may feel its silly and that you're talking to some imaginary friend, pray to God. You might be surprised to see what happens. He will answer you.