Wat is your religion/race?
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Xue, you're not being antagonistic at all with this question. Quite relevant actually.
I m christian cos of family backround. Fourth generation Christian. but the reason to pursue the faith is entirely my own even if many times I feel like just quitting & be an agnostic.
I noticed many "used to go" to church in this post. Did ppl leave cos they're disillusioned ? Looking for new church ? Dissapointment with God ? erm... going to church cos of wrong reason like for pursuit of some gal??
[This message has been edited by mateo (edited 04 March 2000).]
[This message has been edited by mateo (edited 04 March 2000).] -
in reply to the y are there so many "used to go"s......for me, i back-slided.......to clarify, i ain't born in a christian family. father doesn't want me to choose a religion now, but i still made the choice anyway.....ain't baptised thou'.....ok, intially, when i first became a christian, it was coz i didn't want to reject the person.....then, by and by, i learnt that He is someone i can lean on, can depend on. =) He is someone wh o is always there for me to talk to.........ibut anyway, i still back-slided......don't have the will-power......
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i'm a chinese. up to now still deciding on my religion.
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Religion is simply a waste of time and effort for me. So, I have no religion to begin with.....
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I am chinese and a Christian. Now in UK but attends Chapel of the Holy Spirit in SG.
Not born in Christian family and presently the only one in my family. Got to know Christ in Sec. School. But developed my faith in Boy's Brigade. The main reason that converted me was that I, personally, saw that it was God reaching out to Man in Christianity rather than the other way round. Had my setbacks along the way, but the wonderful experiences outweigh the bad ones. Have been greatly blessed
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Chinese
Taoist/Buddist(seems like i am only one here)
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To luf someone is nothing, to be luf by someone is something, to be luf by the one you luf is everything..... -
Always very curious about Taoism...how different is it from buddism? Care to explain? Do u go to temple also?
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Fiddle Dee Dee! I will not think about it now, I will think about it tomorrow! -
half oriental half javanese goes to catholic church and spends 1 hour each week wondering what in love of heaven am i doing there
recently decides to follow anthony de mello =)
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Have you ever started dating because you're too lazy to kill yourself? -
I am a product of a few years of Christian camps, a decade of CAtholic shcool, a whole lifetime of Buddhism (because of mother and race) and been around friends enuff to understand the disaapointment and disillussionment that comes from intolerance towards some other religions...
I tried christianity of my own freewill once...found it to be mor ethan somewhat of a sham...
Never doubted the existence of a god...never will...but i do doubt humanities blindness when it comes to the word god.
I am everything(used to be a monk also)...and at the same time I am none of them and an acumulation of all...heh.....
basically i am the by-product of a religious upbringing...(my father is freethinker)...
I wouldn'ty say that i am a freethinker but i tell pweople that because it's easier to explain in one word...
I am(like kai is a street philosopher) a street believer....I believe in exitence and in your fellow man's existence....I beleive in purpose and meaning...but I'm not religious int he nromal sense.
and I'm a Laotian...(from Laos...religion happens to be a major part of the culture there)....
I believe that when a person sees enuff in his short time here, his belief changes and will tend to become soemthing else....
Not talking about exzperinces eitehr...it's just your vision...
Some people just feel something...that somethign is wrong witht hte world.......and lots of times, it has to do with their faith and beleif in soemthing spiritual...write more later...I'm late for holy communion of chicken rice with my brethren at S-11..national library...heh -
hi, i'm a chinese and a buddhist, however not a staunch buddhist
i.e. i still eat beef, i'm not bochup but i feel that there are no fixed rules in buddhism.
i feel that buddhism is an education of the mind. i feel that to be bounded by rules is not right because it serves no purpose. at the end of the day you are answerable to youself. you and nobody else.
there are many ways in which one can live and attain happiness, there are many religions that people can believe in. buddhism accepts them all. -
Converted, when I was young (between 5 to 9) & living in a kampong, there's this church along the main road that conducted classes for children (I guess it's Sunday school or regular pre-school, anyway, too young to remember) and long long time ago ~ air-con very expensive & not readily available, so the windows of the classes were always open and I can see into the classes & hear the teachers talking, so that's how I got to know about God & Jesus Christ. Have never attended those classes 'coz my parents aren't Christians, thank God that He made them tolerant of my faith & allowed me to go the church and listened in from outside the classroom even then & they've never interfered although they did try to discourage me when I was in my teens {their query: what if our 'gods' fight? hee hee ... Luckily I was stubborn even then & I wouldn't listen to them}. And when we were re-settled in a housing estate when I was 10, I remembered young adults coming to the void decks and telling us stories of Jesus Christ, they were not overly zealous, so accepting Christ was not that much of an issue. Nowadays, sometimes I find some Christians' evangelistic efforts are overly zealous & quite off-putting.
Professed Christian for donkey years but got this warp twisted idea that going to church regularly isn't necessary due to various reasons such as some Christians are quite hypocritical & have 'holier than thou' attitudes, anyway, got straightened on this issue & have been going to church on a regular basis for the past two years & my faith is stronger now because of regular bible reading - my aim is to finish reading all the 66 books of the bible by this year, I have never completed reading the whole bible before or tried reading it for that matter & in the last few years, that begin to bother me greatly & in late 1998, I started on the quest to start reading the bible regularly. Am I a slow reader or what?
While growing up, I dared not disbelieve about other religions' deities [reason: none of their deities preach about doing bad stuff & they preach only doing good, so they can't be wrong & that bad, right? Well, I know better now.] but Christ is always no. 1 in my choice of God although I back-slided several times by not attending church regularly.
A bible recommendation here:
For those new to bible reading:
THE STUDENT BIBLE (NIV version by Zondervan Publishing) is quite good with lots of interesting articles that explains the culture & customs of biblical times.
THE QUEST STUDY BIBLE (NIV version by Zondervan), again lots of explanatory terms & notes & articles.
For more in-depth understanding of the bible:
LIFE APPLICATION BIBLE (NKJV version by Tyndale, NKJV is quite difficult to find, usually available in Living Translation or NIV), the notes are great - sometimes even longer than the bible verses itself. Tend to skip those really controversial verses but good enough.
Oh, just bear with me a little while more, I would like to recommend a Christian author - Frederick Buechner, I have 3 of his books which I find very interesting & very useful to understanding the bible. These are "Peculiar Treasures - a biblical who's who", "Whistling in the Dark - a doubter's dictionary" & "Wishful thinking - a seeker's abc". For these three books, Buechner is observant, very humourous & he's not beyond sarcasm either. Borders has a good selection of Christian books and no I don't work there, wish I did though, then I can get staff discounts.
Wishing all a great weekend! -
Race: Chinese
Religion: Christian
Had been ignorantly follwing my parents to be a Buddhist since birth till Pri. 3, joined Boys' Brigade, start to think about religion, keep asking questions and at first try to prove Christianity wrong but the pastors always can give a trustable answer for all my questions, then think to myself, the activities my mum is involved in due to Buddhism, then realised that she, and a lot of so-called Buddhists, can't even differentiate between Buddhism and Taoism... my mum prays to Guanyin, which is actually a Taoist Idol... and ancestors which is oso a Taoism practice... realise my mum's belief can't stand in the force of questionings... then read the bible, listened to sermon, realised more and more things fit into the puzzle and finally one day, got "touched" by God, can say he entered my heart which I finally "opened", veri hard to explain, have to experience it yuourself to understand.... tats mostly it... -
watashiwa Chinese, Roman Catholic...
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C=:O) -
chinese free-thinker even though I studied ten yrs in christian school (FMPS, FMSS)...... wondered why they made us non-christians carry a bible everyday n attend chapel every monday. Up till now still don't know how to read a bible even though carried for ten yrs.... hehehhhehe
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Oakley:
I also somewat like U....attend christian/catholic school for many years...but neber see the light....
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"Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac." --- George Carlin -
Chinese and been a christian for over 10 years....dozo yoroshiko(please to meet u)...
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Hi oakley & Ah_BLuR,
Go get a study bible, it was the same for me. I had several ordinary bibles and tried reading them a few times before getting study bibles in 1998 but I had to give up because I couldn't understand it, I read the words, but the words don't mean a thing to me. Perhaps it wasn't time for me yet or maybe I did get smarter as I grew older, but since I got The Student Bible & the Life Application Bible, the bible now makes sense to me and as I read it daily, I begin to love God & it more. You should try reading these study bibles, you don't have to buy them yet, just go to the Christianity section in Borders, they have a good selection of study bibles.
Okay, so you may not be christians, but what's the harm in reading the bible, as it has been said, it's the greatest book in the whole wide world, been in circulation or publication for at least the past 2000 years, which other book can lay claim to that?
If your friend had recommended you the latest best-seller, wouldn't you want to read it? -
see first lah if i can squeeze in some time from my tight schedule maybe i can consider it.....
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[This message has been edited by Asure (edited 06 November 2001).] -
I beri busy lately leh....have to work and study.....exam coming up in April....until now still dunno wat my lecturer is talking about.....have to spend time on my texts....if not fail course...God also cannot help me......
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"Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac." --- George Carlin -
Chinese. Christian too. Haven't been inside a church for more than a year. My nature is probably getter darker even as I write. Unforgiveness, what a terrible burden to bear.
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Chinese
My parents are taoists. Though religion can be inherited, not believes.
Started to question the existance of a supernatural being at a late age of 18. I was from a Catholic School and I did attend Sunday services when in China. Read Bible when I am on holiday. Say prayer when frightened (especially when I was in the Catholic School). Say prayers for my Christian frens who are troubled/suffering.
I could not decide on my religion. I dunno wat to choose cos I think I don't know ENOUGH to make a wise decision. Started to read books on Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Sai Ba Ba (!?)
Finally, I decided to choose Buddhism. Buddhists do not believe in the existance of a supernatural being (unlike Taoists). Buddhists do not believe in a Creator. Buddhism is A WAY OF LIFE. As simple as that.
I find Buddha's teaching very enlightening. It instills peace in me. It helps me understand the things that are happening around me. It helps me to achieve a state of equilibrium with my surroundings.
So am I a Buddhist ? err ... not important. In Buddhism, everything is dynamic, including a person's believe. I don't "belong" to a religion. I just absorb all the wisdom in different religions and hope to be a better person.
I believe in practical work. I do social work, almost went India. I think helping those who are suffering now is more practical than spending our precious time trying to find out who created us. Our past cannot be changed, but our future can, so i work on my future not my past.
I always thought it would be nice if Sunday Services can be converted to social work. No offence to the Christians ! -
Chinese, half buddism, half free thinker...who oso haf haf like me har, cannot remember liaoZzZz
Sam Sam -
Chinese/Christian
Go to Wesley Methodist when I am back in Spore. Now in US going to some ulu church.
Naivegirl: also in US right? Whereabouts?
Scarlett: You go to Wesley? Which service?
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Let him that move the world, first move himself.
[This message has been edited by sleek (edited 11 March 2000).] -
Frankly, was a bit(a bit only lah...) offended by Shiok's post:
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Had been ignorantly follwing my parents to be a Buddhist since birth till Pri. 3...
UNQUOTE
he seems to be insulting Buddism... not too big a problem since I'm a free thinker... just uncomfy cos all my family members are Buddist. I know christianity expects its believers to take their religion as the only true form of god...
Some irrelevant stuff... Can any kind sole advise me what is the right spelling for buddist and buddism?
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Whens the end coming? Like asif I care.....