h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As uncomfortable as it sounds, yes, I believe that everyone who does not accept Christ goes to Hell. God is to holy to be in the presence of those not cleased of their sins.

You're entitled to your beliefs of course.

btw, I was cleansed of my sins, when I was christened, and when I was confirmed. I changed to paganism after that.

Mina, which pagan religion do you follow?

Alji

I like to call myself a hedge witch, but really the easiest way is to say that I celebrate the sabbats and esbats, try to live a good life, and respect the earth as much as I can.

what a fascinating debate

Well I'm hanging around here 'cos I'm genuinely interested as to WHY people believe in a god. I can spot the differences between the practices and beliefs of the religions, but as an athiest I have real trouble this *why* question. I just don't grasp the point in them

...badly missing the word *with* in the second to last sentence...

So you will be celebrating Oak moon and Yule.

Alji

I'll just add a quick note on why I believe in a God...

I look around me and I see people going around thier business. Then I start to think about how each one has a heart pumping in their body distributing blood though their body. They have a brian that performs unnumberable commands and actions a minute. I bite a steak (sorry to the veggetarians out there) and taste the meaty juice over my taste buds. I pick a flower and smell it's sweetness.

I just can't see how that happened by chance. Sure science can tell us how it happens that I smell a flower, but how could it come to be? That is just my personal opinion anyway...

peace.

A hedge witch, is that like a hedge priest (poor and illiterate) or hedge writer (insignificant) or maybe hedge marriage (secret or clandestine). Interesting word, hedge, it comes from the greek hecke which is not far away from the fertilily goddess Hekate (Hecate).
So what turned you away from Chistianity, was it the apparent disregard for nature or their obsession with sexual morality.

Alji

Hedge in this case means solitary. I'm not part of a coven, anything I do, I do alone, or with my small son. We are learning together.

I didn't really turn away from Christianity as such, I wasn't brought up to go to church, or say my prayers particularly. I went to a Catholic school for a couple of years, although I wasn't catholic, and we had to attend the chapel for a service every week. To me it was just a huge bore and an immense waste of time. I never felt I was communicating with anyone. Just mouthing words.

It was only a couple of years ago that I was reading a novel that had a pagan as one of the main characters, and I realised how much my lifestyle echoed hers. I went and looked into it, and realised that it was what I wanted. So I began to believe in the Goddess, as the mother nature that I had been revering every since I can remember, and certainly since I got my own garden.
Of course, it was a relief to know that I'd found something I could believe in, I felt happier.
I was relieved to find that sexual morality was no longer a big deal. I find it hard to believe that our as bodies and minds were designed to enjoy sex, any creator could demand that we abstained.

Yes, the go forth and multiply (but don't enjoy it) does seam a bit odd but it's a hangover from another pagan religion (Mithraism) that was incorperated into Christianity in the first four hundred years.
It was an all male religion.
I see from another posting of yours that your 6 year old doesn't like the name witch. From what you say, you are a Gaian (Have a look at the link in My Space).

Alji

Just an interesting fact as far as sexual morals in Jeudaism goes: The Talmud says that when we die and reach heaven we are held accountable for all allowable earthly pleasure which we did not participate in. That is, we are punished for every time that we didn't have fun where we could have.

I'm not sure if that was already brought up in the backlog of this thread, and if it was, I'm too lazy to find it. But there it is.

greydesk, to answer your "why believe" question. I'm not really sure. Not because my parents taught me to (as many people believe by my age). Simply because it always seemed right to me. It merely seemed somehow *wrong* for there to be an absance of some benevolent creating force. I know that science can explain much of what happens to us, and how life began, but although I believe all of these scientifical explanations to be true, I still believe that at some core level there is some sort of highly intelligent, loving, force out there. Or in there. I know this isn't a very satisfieing answer, but it's the only one that I have.

-Strider

I don't know; I think what Strider has said is certainly the honourable way to go about religion - ie. to find your own convictions, not those instilled by your parents, etc. But to a point, how can we think independently? It's a bit like politics, or a choice of newspaper. My parents read the Guardian, and so do I, and I cannot honestly say that my views are entirely independent. Are my liberal leanings my own, or just those left by my parents' example? To be perfectly honest, would I even follow my own religion if it were not for the fact that I was born into a Buddhist family?

Slight tangent, but interesting, I think...

Its very interesting. What does everybody else think about it? Do your political views necessarily stem from that of your parents? Is there any relation? Always? Sometimes? Never?

-Strider

Sorry. Should read "political/religious," not just "political"

I went an independent secondary school, and it certainly seemed to be the case there that people's views were based on those of their parents - most of the girls there were the daughters of rich Tory businessmen/surgeons/(insert traditional professional here), whilst yours truly is the offspring of a former technician with a third-class degree and a social worker born in the Far East (both divorced and remarried, as well! ). Suffice to say I got hammered for being a wishy-washy lefty, which in all fairness is probably justified, but then again I could just as easily accuse some of the people I knew there of being bigoted, socially miopic and deeply intolerant . My point, after this long winded babble, is that we all base our opinions and actions on experience - that's what defines us as being alive. Yes, perhaps our opinions may change later in life when we feel we've received a better explanation, but I do think first impressions count for a hell of a lot.

We are definately influenced by the way our parents believe... but we aren't an exact replica. As you get into your teen years you start to question and formulate you own opinions and interpertations. For instance... my parents believe that Genisis 1 should be taken litterally... the earth was created by God in 6 days. I am open to the idea that the earth was created by evolutionary means. My parents wouldn't consider that.
But if your parents hate and despise religion (be it Christianity or Wicca or whatever)there is a huge chance that you will too...

peace.

We don't always follow our parents. My parents vote Tory all the time, and I've grown up to follow Labour. They are also non practising christians, although I think my mum wishes she was a catholic. I've grown up to think that's a bore, and want to be a nature mage. Sorry, too much RPGing! I want to save the planet in my own small way.

I don't think I'd be a Christian without my parents guidance and love.