[MickyD]

The title is quite self-explanatory, I'd love to hear from other people (particularly INFJs) about their views on religion/spirituality, as I've had a somewhat interesting history with it.



I grew up somewhat a half-assed Christian - going to church on christmas, getting taught values on being a good person, occasionally getting told edited and watered down stories from the bible, typical sorta stuff. In my teens my mum got really into the Eastern side of it (I'm sure you're all familiar with all the New-agey stuff) as did I. My problem was that I just kept thinking about it to make sure it covered all bases in my mind. It just didn't seem to fit a lot of the time.

Stuff I used to commonly argue with my Mum were: what drives people to do bad things; heaps of issues with reincarnation and the "logistics" of souls, human instincts vs. human beliefs, many other random things. Essentially though I just never had that spiritual feeling or connectedness that everyone else seemed to have who was "in the club".

Eventually it just wasn't explanatory enough, and I hung around a lot of people who believed in science and they seemed more reasonable, so I adopted an evolutionary/science perspective. I guess you could describe me as atheistic with an open-mind (moreso hopeful).

[GreenCoyote]

didn't grow up with any kind of religion.

parents wanted me to be able to choose.
also gravitated towards new agey stuff.

I kinda just keep all the religions I encounter and like as a side intrest of mine.

I am better at creating religions I think...
like ever thought about if evolution is god...
like he is still in the process of creating the world...
but time is slower for him.
just random stuff like that.

I do feel a longing for a faith but growing up unbiased I kinda just can't really pick one.
dabbling however, only slightly satiates me.
hope this helps.

I am actually a little lost myself in this department as well.
I forget what philosopher argued it but someone argued science is undeniably god because if god made everything than science and underrstandings about how the universe work is god if it can be proven... and if that is true god din't give us all the info in some book...

we have to figure it out still.

sorry this post kind of came out half-assed, just got back from a vacation and am totally exhausted.

[Blue Heart]

I was raised atheist/agnostic, but as an adult I chose to become Roman Catholic - it is my life's blood.

[Collossus]

I hate following just one religious belief because I found big flaws in each of them. I would rather take something from each and make my own belief.
For me it has been the best way to keep myself interested in spiritual evolution and also learned not to judge people whether they believe in something or not.

[Holly22]

I've always felt connected to something larger. I believe in God and worship him in my own way though. I don't follow organized religion... it makes me very uncomfortable for some reason.
I think things such as religion have a lot to do with what beliefs your parents instilled you with when you were very young.

[angularvelocity]

I was raised atheist/agnostic, but as an adult I chose to become Roman Catholic - it is my life's blood.

BLue Heart, that is amazing.


I grew up with a atheist dad and a christian mom. I was baptized at 3, went every sunday till I was 6. Then stopped going. I always had really good morals and ethics, everyone always said I acted way older than what I was. I found myself interested in the church sophmore year of high school. I always believed there was a God and that he really existed. It just makes so much sense. Anyways, college came around and things happened there that I know were not a coincidence. I don't want to describe what happened cause half the people here would think I'm completely crazy and who knows what the other 49% of people would think. But it really made me realize that there is a God. And I'm blessed to know him even though I'm not perfect, but I try to define my life and actions through religion.. it means a lot to me.

[spook]

Ooh, I love hearing about other people's spiritual/religious beliefs and experiences. :)

I was raised Buddhist and the philosophy still makes sense to me but I don't practice it rigorously... I like the idea of there being some sort of synthesis between science and spirituality. I also resonate with Taoism and am interested to learn more about the Michael Teachings. I also dabbled in Christianity, but it was too stifling/contradictory/ambiguous for me.

Although there is some evidence for reincarnation, I understand the skepticism since we can't know exactly how it works- how exactly are memories carried over, we only have evidence for their location being in the brain... Buddhism doesn't believe in souls though as in a carry over of identity bc there's no real self, it's more about where your attachments lie and where your mind/energy/whatever subsequently chooses to go... that would be my greatest leap of faith, but at least I'm not believing something just bc I'm afraid of dying/nothingness, I mean reincarnation is actually heaps scarier than drifting in an eternal sleep from a compost heap. It's hard to acknowledge the role fear plays as a motivator, but not as a primary driving force since its just another fleeting emotion.

Does it really matter if you spent your whole believing a lie if we only have one life or have plenty of lives to correct our mistakes anyway? All you can do is continue to believe what's right for you, sometimes I become a little anxious bc internalising all these different perspectives makes me very indecisive about my own beliefs. I'm sort of a weak agnostic when it comes to truth... they're all just different ways of understanding the same inarticulate reality, hm idk. I can read up on as much debate evidence as possible til I'm blue in the face but my main goal is to accept the nature of uncertainty and just try my best to steer clear of regrets and stay true to my principles. I don't think spiritual connectedness has to necessarily feel all magical and self-help section motivational, it's just about finding a sense of enduring inner peace and security despite being thrown into a conflicted world of chaos and confusion.

[zwanglos]

I was raised baptist but eventually became, well, agnostic-but-leaning-towards-atheistic because church made little sense to me, and on top of that I found it very, very boring. I tend to think that God doesn't exist, but to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if after I died: 'oh hey, turns out there is a God, how about that.' I also wouldn't be surprised if it turned out His True Form was that of a chicken sandwich, in which case I would be damned for all eternity.

Generally I think that people use God/religion as a crutch: "Hey, this world is awful but we'll eventually die and go some place that isn't awful so ain't that nifty?"

And I'm also terrified of what some people will do in the name of religion... Islamic terrorists are the most obvious example, but I'm also reminded of a rumor I heard once, stating that Fundamentalists actively hope for a World War III because they think it will bring about the End Times and the Second Coming and whatnot. Seems weird to me. Also, I find that such people get so caught up with their fantasy Otherworld that they completely ignore what's going on in this world.

[Hikari]

i beleive in god for sure. im a christian. i go to the church of jesus christ of latter da saints, people call us latter day saints or mormons. i guess there are a lot of religions and a lot of questions and gaps in a lot of them too. but to me, this religion has answered a lot of questions and helped get much greater understanding. everything just fits, such as the teachings about life, it all comes together and makes sence and in my opinion fills in the gaps on it that other christian churches have. if i didnt know this religion, i would either be a buddhist....or an assassin......hmm

without religion, could you really answer the questions like where did we come from? why are we here? and what happens when we die? i greatly feel there is so much more to life than chance, and so much more than just death.

ah, i agree that the conflict that religion causes is crazy and so unnecessary. all these wars, arguements, terrorists etc. i strongly disagree with it. i mean, why on earth would people fight because of their religion?! it just goes completel against religion. anyone who makes violence out of religin, is not really spiritual.

besides, weather my beleifs are true or not, though i beleive they are, it has made me a better person and influenced me a lot in my life, putting me on the path i am on now. true or not good things have come of it.
it is a great thing to be beleiving, even if the thing is true or not. its certainly better then being sceptical and synical about everything.

[zwanglos]

where did we come from?

I came from my parents.

why are we here?

That is for each person (or living being, rather) to decide for him/her/itself.

and what happens when we die?

We'll find out when it happens, won't we?


I tend to think that most things can be answered by science/rational thinking... as for things science hasn't answered yet, that means just that --- that science hasn't answered it yet, and nothing more.

Of course, I still harbor nagging doubts about the possibility of there being a greater power or whatnot. As for my greatest 'unanswered question', I'm more confused about the kind of 'psychic dreams' that INFJ types are said to be known for. I can dream about the entire contents of a conversation, a week before the conversation happens. Talk about deja vu...