Why do people follow a certain religion?

[raquelle]

Hello people,
I am new to this forum and was recently wondering about religion and god and what not and hence decided to join this forum...so I had a question that perhaps people who follow a religion of some sort in particular would like to answer:

Say that there was a God...even then..why the need to follow a certain religion? Why can you not get into "heaven" by being a good person? Why the restriction to "pray" and to believe in a certain God? I mean as long as you believe that there is a God why does it matter which God you believe in? This is what doesn't sit right with me....I mean you could have good morals without religion and you could be a just person who doesn't murder/fornicate/steal and all that stuff without religion..so why do we really need it?

Why do you follow a certain religion if any??

[naz]

Hello people,
I am new to this forum and was recently wondering about religion and god and what not and hence decided to join this forum...so I had a question that perhaps people who follow a religion of some sort in particular would like to answer:

Say that there was a God...even then..why the need to follow a certain religion? Why can you not get into "heaven" by being a good person? Why the restriction to "pray" and to believe in a certain God? I mean as long as you believe that there is a God why does it matter which God you believe in? This is what doesn't sit right with me....I mean you could have good morals without religion and you could be a just person who doesn't murder/fornicate/steal and all that stuff without religion..so why do we really need it?

Why do you follow a certain religion if any??

Well, just for the record, modern Judaism agrees with you. You don't have to be Jewish; we don't even think it's particularly important whether you believe in God or not. If there is a Heaven - Judaism doesn't say - "being a good person" is how you get in, period.

"If there is one"? Yeah. We claim no reward and threaten no punishment. Being good is something you do because it's GOOD to be good, not because there's a Heavenly lollipop or a Hellish spanking waiting. Judaism is a religion for grownups.

I would say that sounds kind of snooty or snobby. Are you implying that Christians are immature and that religion doesn’t require any sort of dedication or discipline? Think again. You could be a good citizen, respect the law but at the same time be a terrible person and show a lack of respect for others and not apply god’s law to your daily life. So what is the reward or benefit for that? I would say you don’t fully understand Christianity to make a statement like you did. “Judaism is a religion for grownups�. That also undermines your Jewish heritage if you really claim to be the people of god or god’s children. There are kids that can behave a lot better than most grownups and sometimes act more intelligent. If you think immaturity is only associated with children then you are far from the truth, it also plays a role in the lives of adults and it shows with your previously posted comments.

Actually, Cnorman is a convert to Judaism, and used to be a minister. I have to concur that there are a number of sects in Christianity that are into 'me-ism'.. the idea that "Jesus died for ME" ,and 'I have already passed into eternal life' .. etc etc etc.

Of course, not all denominations, or even all people in a denomination will buy into that. However, the structure of belief is that to encourage that kind of selfishness.

So you think Christianity is for people who are close minded, don’t think outside the box, are self-centered, are not considerate of others, and don’t get along with people who don’t share their same views and beliefs. Seriously? You could say that about anyone who holds a certain view or belief, even people who don’t believe in god, because it is what they choose to believe.

[Goat]

So you think Christianity is for people who are close minded, don’t think outside the box, are self-centered, are not considerate of others, and don’t get along with people who don’t share their same views and beliefs. Seriously? You could say that about anyone who holds a certain view or belief, even people who don’t believe in god, because it is what they choose to believe.

I find certain flavors of Christianity encourage being closed minded behavior. There are others that do... there is a big difference between someone from a liberal congregation, and people from Assembly of God for example, particularly if of the AOG congregation is deep in the bible belt. It is very geographical, so the tendencies could be very cultural.

In a lot of these smaller bible belt towns, I have heard people complain about the 'steal the sheep' syndrome, and a high intolerance other churches, much less for other religions. They would really freak out if a mosque was going to be built nearby.. For example in Memphis Tennesse, they are really concerned about a mosque being built there, because they think it will be a center for training terrorists

[naz]

So you think Christianity is for people who are close minded, don’t think outside the box, are self-centered, are not considerate of others, and don’t get along with people who don’t share their same views and beliefs. Seriously? You could say that about anyone who holds a certain view or belief, even people who don’t believe in god, because it is what they choose to believe.

I find certain flavors of Christianity encourage being closed minded behavior. There are others that do... there is a big difference between someone from a liberal congregation, and people from Assembly of God for example, particularly if of the AOG congregation is deep in the bible belt. It is very geographical, so the tendencies could be very cultural.

In a lot of these smaller bible belt towns, I have heard people complain about the 'steal the sheep' syndrome, and a high intolerance other churches, much less for other religions. They would really freak out if a mosque was going to be built nearby.. For example in Memphis Tennesse, they are really concerned about a mosque being built there, because they think it will be a center for training terrorists

I agree, I don’t affiliate myself with a specific church so I would probably be the along the lines of a liberal Christian if there ever were such a thing.
I just looked in the paper today and it mentioned a church in the local area getting blazed afire. Kind of odd seeing how things rarely catch fire and when they do it is usually a church. It won’t be long before a mosque is set ablaze.

[Goat]

So you think Christianity is for people who are close minded, don’t think outside the box, are self-centered, are not considerate of others, and don’t get along with people who don’t share their same views and beliefs. Seriously? You could say that about anyone who holds a certain view or belief, even people who don’t believe in god, because it is what they choose to believe.

I find certain flavors of Christianity encourage being closed minded behavior. There are others that do... there is a big difference between someone from a liberal congregation, and people from Assembly of God for example, particularly if of the AOG congregation is deep in the bible belt. It is very geographical, so the tendencies could be very cultural.

In a lot of these smaller bible belt towns, I have heard people complain about the 'steal the sheep' syndrome, and a high intolerance other churches, much less for other religions. They would really freak out if a mosque was going to be built nearby.. For example in Memphis Tennesse, they are really concerned about a mosque being built there, because they think it will be a center for training terrorists

I agree, I don’t affiliate myself with a specific church so I would probably be the along the lines of a liberal Christian if there ever were such a thing.
I just looked in the paper today and it mentioned a church in the local area getting blazed afire. Kind of odd seeing how things rarely catch fire and when they do it is usually a church. It won’t be long before a mosque is set ablaze.

It seems that in the south, nuts target churches. There is a high percentage of them to be black churches.. so there does seem some bias there, however, it seems that burning churches is a much of a copy cat trend for idiots, and people who resent the 'estabishment' in the south. As much as I do not respect the influence of the Church , particularly in the south, I find it a very disturbing trend.

[Stooti]

One word.

Indoctrination.