Observations : Create Your Own God

[MotherFirefly]

I have noticed some things since I began my curiousity-driven search for something greater than myself: I find that a lot of religious sects, and individuals in general, will taylor their beliefs into whatever is easiest or of most help for them. Sometimes, even, whatever they believe will make them the most money.

This makes it difficult for someone like myself, and so many others I know or do not know, to find what they are looking for. As an outsider observing the (mainly christian) groups around me, I find that most of them cannot agree with eachother what they believe, let alone with another group. It seems that most religions are focused on one thing similar: a deity. They may have different names for their deity, but in general, it is a benevolent being above themselves. It's not until you delve into what that deity does or does not want you to do, that the ideas get drastically seperate.

I find it difficult to avoid the want to just, create my own deity that fits everything I want it to be. Afterall, it seems that is what everyone else has done! Am I to just find the deity that I like the most and follow its teaching till I die?

It dissapoints me because I have always been inquisitive about religion, and I find it does not agree with the inquisitive mind. I came to religion in hopes of finding answers and truth for my life... instead, it only offers more questions. It was like going to a proffessor for answers, someone who has studied a topic for decades, and he knew about as much as I did.

A lot of christians argue that if you want truth, just read the bible. Or pray.
The issue I have with this? There are many sects who have a book that they say holds the truth. Which book is the correct book? If we are in an eternal race to truth and happiness in whatever may happen after this life, am I really to just take your word for it? Risk waisting my time, even my life, studying a book that no one can PROVE is real?

So far, my beliefs play out something like this: I believe there is a deity. I do not know its name, origin, or what it wants me to do. However, I do believe it is there. It is my hope, my faith if you will, that it is benevolent, compassionate, cares. Thus, it is my belief I should do my best to live to whatever standards it may have, which we assume are righteous. By this, I mean living with love for others, selflessly, and constantly seeking wisdom.
Many people will tell me it is this deity, or that deity, but I say there is no way to know. So why argue about it?
I suppose some people feel better about the unknown by arguing about it... I can see that everywhere. Helps them understand their own idea, in a facade of knowing everything.

Part of me worries if this is good enough. What if one of these groups of people actually have it figured out and I am way off?
I suppose my peace comes from knowing that, even if I was wrong, I lived my life in a way that was only beneficial to the world. I did not kill, maim, or condescend others. Instead, I lifted and loved them. Positive impact.

Feel free to throw out ideas, concerns, and beliefs. Curious what others believe.

 

[Albion]

I have noticed some things since I began my curiousity-driven search for something greater than myself: I find that a lot of religious sects, and individuals in general, will taylor their beliefs into whatever is easiest or of most help for them. Sometimes, even, whatever they believe will make them the most money.

This makes it difficult for someone like myself, and so many others I know or do not know, to find what they are looking for. As an outsider observing the (mainly christian) groups around me, I find that most of them cannot agree with eachother what they believe, let alone with another group. It seems that most religions are focused on one thing similar: a deity. They may have different names for their deity, but in general, it is a benevolent being above themselves. It's not until you delve into what that deity does or does not want you to do, that the ideas get drastically seperate.

I find it difficult to avoid the want to just, create my own deity that fits everything I want it to be. Afterall, it seems that is what everyone else has done! Am I to just find the deity that I like the most and follow its teaching till I die?

It dissapoints me because I have always been inquisitive about religion, and I find it does not agree with the inquisitive mind. I came to religion in hopes of finding answers and truth for my life... instead, it only offers more questions. It was like going to a proffessor for answers, someone who has studied a topic for decades, and he knew about as much as I did.

A lot of christians argue that if you want truth, just read the bible. Or pray.
The issue I have with this? There are many sects who have a book that they say holds the truth. Which book is the correct book? If we are in an eternal race to truth and happiness in whatever may happen after this life, am I really to just take your word for it? Risk waisting my time, even my life, studying a book that no one can PROVE is real?

So far, my beliefs play out something like this: I believe there is a deity. I do not know its name, origin, or what it wants me to do. However, I do believe it is there. It is my hope, my faith if you will, that it is benevolent, compassionate, cares. Thus, it is my belief I should do my best to live to whatever standards it may have, which we assume are righteous. By this, I mean living with love for others, selflessly, and constantly seeking wisdom.
Many people will tell me it is this deity, or that deity, but I say there is no way to know. So why argue about it?
I suppose some people feel better about the unknown by arguing about it... I can see that everywhere. Helps them understand their own idea, in a facade of knowing everything.

Part of me worries if this is good enough. What if one of these groups of people actually have it figured out and I am way off?
I suppose my peace comes from knowing that, even if I was wrong, I lived my life in a way that was only beneficial to the world. I did not kill, maim, or condescend others. Instead, I lifted and loved them. Positive impact.

Feel free to throw out ideas, concerns, and beliefs. Curious what others believe.

What I read here seems to amount to you aligning yourself with a particular branch of the religious world after all. That's Unitarianism. If this is a correct analysis on my part, I don't see anything unusual in it; you just take your place alongside everyone else who has opted for the Catholic or Methodist or some other slant on the deity subject.

 

[MotherFirefly]

What I read here seems to amount to you aligning yourself with a particular branch of the religious world after all. That's Unitarianism. If this is a correct analysis on my part, I don't see anything unusual in it; you just take your place alongside everyone else who has opted for the Catholic or Methodist or some other slant on the deity subject.

Perhaps, but from what I have read, I disagree with a lot of things frome those groups too...
I feel there *must* be something better than humans. We will just never know what that something is. Since none of us can agree, we'll just create our own reasonings till we find out, I suppose.

 

[Albion]

Perhaps, but from what I have read, I disagree with a lot of things frome those groups too...

The Unitarian Universalist Assn. says that you can believe just about anything you want, but they are strong advocates of the brotherhood of all people, in the importance of love, etc. and have put that into their official statement of principles. So you sound like a Unitarian to me (and to the Unitarians).

I feel there *must* be something better than humans. We will just never know what that something is. Since none of us can agree, we'll just create our own reasonings till we find out, I suppose.

I understand.

 

[MotherFirefly]

The Unitarian Universalist Assn. says that you can believe just about anything you want, but they are strong advocates of the brotherhood of all people, in the importance of love, etc. and have put that into their official statement of principles. So you sound like a Unitarian to me (and to the Unitarians).

Unless you are a mindless sheep, I feel this describes everyone, as far as 'believe what you want' goes.
If you allign yourself with a certain religious idea, you are compromising SOMETHING you believe. So we only have two options?
-Create your own God.
-Or compromise some of your beliefs to 'fit' into a sect.
Seems absurd.

 

[Albion]

Unless you are a mindless sheep, I feel this describes everyone, as far as 'believe what you want' goes.

Of course it does not. Most churches--just as you complained in your original post--demand the agreement of the membership to a long list of doctrines.

If you allign yourself with a certain religious idea, you are compromising SOMETHING you believe. So we only have two options?

First, according to your OP, you ARE a Unitarian whether of not you join anything. Second, you have created your own God and that's perfectly all right with Unitarians. And third, you are not asked to compromise any beliefs, even though you seem to be wanting to think that's the case.

-Create your own God.
-Or compromise some of your beliefs to 'fit' into a sect.
Seems absurd.

You're OK on all counts.

 

[MotherFirefly]

Of course it does not. Most churches--just as you complained in your original post--demand the agreement of the membership to a long list of doctrines.


First, according to your OP, you ARE a Unitarian whether of not you join anything. Second, you have created your own God and that's perfectly all right with Unitarians. And third, you are not asked to compromise any beliefs, even though you seem to be wanting to think that's the case.



You're OK on all counts.

My point is, there is no way anyone can agree 100% with a given list of ideas. I guess some people are ok with saying they do agree, if most of the commands line up with their own thought process.
Let's say I really wanted to join a church, of any given idea, and they required me to agree with their doctrine. I would then choose to say I do, even if I do not agree with some of it, or leave and find something else.
I am not saying this is the problem, I get that. I just find it odd that so many people, who are in the same questioning spot as me, are willing to compromise with some of their beliefs, just to join. Again, this isn't something I am saying is wrong, because people are entitled to do as they please, regardless of if I understand why they would. Merely observations.

 

[Albion]

My point is, there is no way anyone can agree 100% with a given list of ideas. I guess some people are ok with saying they do agree, if most of the commands line up with their own thought process.

and if there is no list, except for the one thing you already agree to--love?

Let's say I really wanted to join a church, of any given idea, and they required me to agree with their doctrine. I would then choose to say I do, even if I do not agree with some of it, or leave and find something else.
I am not saying this is the problem, I get that. I just find it odd that so many people, who are in the same questioning spot as me, are willing to compromise with some of their beliefs, just to join. Again, this isn't something I am saying is wrong, because people are entitled to do as they please, regardless of if I understand why they would. Merely observations.

Yes. Some people do compromise their beliefs, mainly because they don't hold very strong ones in the first place. I wouldn't recommend you do that. I do respect that you have your own standards. My point was simply that there is a slot in the panorama of churches that fits with what you said about yourself...if you care. You seemed to talk as though you stood apart from all the churchgoers and believers, but actually you don't. Your POV is simply less intricate than most of the others.

 

[MotherFirefly]

and if there is no list, except for the one thing you already agree to--love?

Yes. Some people do compromise their beliefs, mainly because they don't hold very strong ones in the first place. I wouldn't recommend you do that. I do respect that you have your own standards. My point was simply that there is a slot in the panorama of churches that fits with what you said about yourself...if you care. You seemed to talk as though you stood apart from all the churchgoers and believers, but actually you don't. Your POV is simply less intricate.

Thank you for your replies. I was not trying to argue your point. I haven't done as much reading on unitarian ideas, however I will now, based on what you have said. Perhaps that is where my answers lie.

And Love seems to be the defining factor in all things. That is something, hopefully, we can all agree upon.

 

[Albion]

A good and easy primer is The Challenge of a Liberal Faith, written by a Unitarian minister. You might like it. To be sure, you don't have to join anything.

 

[quatona]

I find it difficult to avoid the want to just, create my own deity that fits everything I want it to be.

Would it make thing easier for you if God were completely different that you want It to be?

Am I to just find the deity that I like the most and follow its teaching till I die?

Would you prefer to follow a deity you don´t like?

I came to religion in hopes of finding answers and truth for my life... instead, it only offers more questions.

Whom would you accept as an authority on these questions? How would you know someone is an authority?
It was like going to a proffessor for answers, someone who has studied a topic for decades, and he knew about as much as I did.

So far, my beliefs play out something like this: I believe there is a deity. I do not know its name, origin, or what it wants me to do. However, I do believe it is there. It is my hope, my faith if you will, that it is benevolent, compassionate, cares. Thus, it is my belief I should do my best to live to whatever standards it may have, which we assume are righteous. By this, I mean living with love for others, selflessly, and constantly seeking wisdom.

Sounds like you have "created you own God" already.

Part of me worries if this is good enough. What if one of these groups of people actually have it figured out and I am way off?

Yes, what then?

I suppose my peace comes from knowing that, even if I was wrong, I lived my life in a way that was only beneficial to the world. I did not kill, maim, or condescend others. Instead, I lifted and loved them. Positive impact.

Personally, I have never understood what that has to do with belief in a deity.

 

[MotherFirefly]

Would it make thing easier for you if God were completely different that you want It to be?

Would you prefer to follow a deity you don´t like?


Whom would you accept as an authority on these questions? How would you know someone is an authority?
It was like going to a proffessor for answers, someone who has studied a topic for decades, and he knew about as much as I did.




Sounds like you have "created you own God" already.



Yes, what then?

Personally, I have never understood what that has to do with belief in a deity.

Yeah. I guess my point was, contrary to what I always believed, I don't think God is this exact being some try to make him out to be. Rather, he is beyond understanding. He is, in a sense whatever we want him to be, so long as we give him credit.

 

[Kenny'sID]

Yes, some people absolutely do style or "understand" God to be what benefits them the most. The benefit could be money, power, respect, attention, all of the above and the list goes on.

However, I do believe it is there. It is my hope, my faith if you will, that it is benevolent, compassionate, cares.

This is just one mans opinion but precisely what I'm going to warn against, that is taking the words of man solely for our understanding of God, so I kind of shoot myself out of the saddle right off there. It's fine to listen to everyone but it always seemed to me, this caring/compassionate God you are hoping exists, if he is that, he would at the very least, leave us with something that tells us who he is and not stay hidden. I feel that something that tells us who he is, is the Bible and is what we should depend on first and foremost to draw conclusion about God.

Listen to anyone you wish to, many have a lot of good knowledge, many do not, and always make certain what is taught, no matter how legit one my seem, that it jibes with the Bible. At least that's my take on things and IMO more important today than ever before.

 

[MotherFirefly]

Yes, some people absolutely do style or "understand" God to be what benefits them the most. The benefit could be money, power, respect, attention, all of the above and the list goes on.



This is just one mans opinion but precisely what I'm going to warn against, that is taking the words of man solely for our understanding of God, so I kind of shoot myself out of the saddle right off there. It's fine to listen to everyone but it always seemed to me, this caring/compassionate God you are hoping exists, if he is that, he would at the very least, leave us with something that tells us who he is and not stay hidden. I feel that something that tells us who he is, is the Bible and is what we should depend on first and foremost to draw conclusion about God.

Listen to anyone you wish to, many have a lot of good knowledge, many do not, and always make certain what is taught, no matter how legit one my seem, that it jibes with the Bible. At least that's my take on things and IMO more important today than ever before.

But what do you do about the fact that many religions have a god that coincides with a book? Do you say all of their books are wrong, thus their gods are false, and only yours is true?
If that is the case, what basis do you make these claims?

This is why it is called faith, huh?

 

[Kenny'sID]

This is why it is called faith, huh?

You got it, and that would be the best way I could think of to answer that question. Also, I don't know for certain but Gut and Faith might be separated by thin lines and after looking into some of the others, my gut tells me, this one seems to have something that the others don't. A certain something that makes it work for me and far exeed the others.

Explain myself? that's where the gut/faith comes in, but I'll think about that one, maybe I can do better with an answer or someone can help me out there.

 

[Kenny'sID]

Don't worry, I'm old and know it but I still couldn't help clicking the pic of such a pretty lady where I saw this:

The majority of church people feel, somewhat, judgemental towards single moms... why is this?

That is simply more of the same attitude you mention, even though those people are far from perfect they evidently feel more secure with themselves if they can see someone as worse than them, even after all they've been taught, and when they have no legitimate reason too. All about self and they are probably high on the list of people that make the Bible out to be what works best for them as that is exactly what they are doing. Shame on them.

My guess is you have a pretty good idea what's going on but ether way, don't let them bring you down.. they are far from Christ/God like and need to take a close look at their own selves. I've recently noticed with people I'm having to deal with here in real life, how some tend to see wrong in what others do, while completely forgetting they do things that are ten times worse. It's actually phenomenal how that happens, not to mention flat out delusional (I guess that's the word.

 

[MotherFirefly]

Don't worry, I'm old and know it but I still couldn't help clicking the pic of such a pretty lady where I saw this:

The majority of church people feel, somewhat, judgemental towards single moms... why is this?

That is simply more of the same attitude you mention, even though those people are far from perfect they evidently feel more secure with themselves if they can see someone as worse than them, even after all they've been taught, and when they have no legitimate reason too. All about self and they are probably high on the list of people that make the Bible out to be what works best for them as that is exactly what they are doing. Shame on them.

My guess is you have a pretty good idea what's going on but ether way, don't let them bring you down.. they are far from Christ/God like and need to take a close look at their own selves. I've recently noticed with people I'm having to deal with here in real life, how some tend to see wrong in what others do, while completely forgetting they do things that are ten times worse. It's actually phenomenal how that happens, not to mention flat out delusional (I guess that's the word.

Oh, it doesn't so much bother my feelings. Just not what I expected. Seems there is no relief to the hate. Don't get me wrong, though. I have met a lot of good people at church too.

 

[Locutus]

Perhaps, but from what I have read, I disagree with a lot of things frome those groups too...
I feel there *must* be something better than humans. We will just never know what that something is. Since none of us can agree, we'll just create our own reasonings till we find out, I suppose.

I 'feel there must be' all sorts of appealing things we can't detect. Acting on such feelings would be silly.

 

[Albion]

But what do you do about the fact that many religions have a god that coincides with a book? Do you say all of their books are wrong, thus their gods are false, and only yours is true?
If that is the case, what basis do you make these claims?

This is why it is called faith, huh?

Not exactly. The Bible has been scrutinized and second-guessed as much as any book in existence. It still stands up to the criticisms quite well. Most of the other sacred writings you are referring to are merely a sequence of ideas, advice, or tales taught without any relationship to historical or geographical facts.

 

[MotherFirefly]

Not exactly. The Bible has been scrutinized and second-guessed as much as any book in existence. It still stands up to the criticisms quite well. Most of the other sacred writings you are referring to are merely a sequence of ideas, advice, or tales taught without any relationship to historical or geographical facts.

What relationship to historical facts does it have?