What are your thoughts on religion? Do you practice a faith? Do you see religions as cults? Do you feel that all religions should be treated equally? Does your faith have doctrines or beliefs that you don't necessarily believe in? Do you practice your religion?


Let's get a healthy discussion going! The above questions are just to help get the topic going. Please feel free to share any other thoughts, experiences, etc you might have!

Im Catholic, I make every attempt to practice my faith. I feel that if I dont, Im being a hypocrite in expecting my children to practice our faith.

I'm Anglican, but I'm not as religious as I used to be. I dont believe that you have to go to church to pray and I think that the church serves more of a social and moral purpose these days. JMO

I grew up in a baptist house hold, where my mom tried to expose us to Christianity even if we later chose not to follow it. but no longer am I an active follower. Its not because I won't agree with my religion, I just havn't put the effort I should have to following it. I would like to start becoming more active in my church, especially when I finally have a family, b/c i'd want my children exposed to the religion, and even if they like I, are not active in the chruch later in life that is by they're own decision, and not my forcing my beliefs on them. As for other religions I do feel they should be treated with equal respect. I am actually taking a world religions course, and even thou i was very uncomfortable when it first started, I've actually started to really enjoy learning about other religions and cultures, and gaining insight to things I never understood

. I dont believe that you have to go to church to pray and I think that the church serves more of a social and moral purpose these days. JMO

Very true IMO.

I am Catholic as well. I also try hard to practice my faith. There are some things that I don't completely agree with but I try hard to understand them. I want my children to grow up with my faith but I also want them to question why we believe what we do. And if they eventually decide not to follow my path, I will support them as best as I can.

I do feel that a lot of religions are cults or can be.

I don't support all faiths but I would never treat anyone badly for their beliefs.

I do however love to study other faiths & spiritually paths so I can understand as much as I can.

I'm Anglican<snip>

Do you mind me asking if you could tell me a little about your faith? I don't know anything about it!

Anglican is a form of christianity - it's the Church of England. As the monarchs changed throughout history the national religion went backwards and forwards between Catholic and Protestant, until the Church of England was formed, which sits roughly between the two (it depends on the church - most lean slightly one way of the other). I'm not sure, but I think it was Henry VIII who established it, to enable him to divorce his wives!

Thank you for explaining! I appreciate it!

anytime :)

Well, im agnostic.. i grew up catholic and in catholic schools and.. christmas gifts were bibles. I guess i just.. was so forced into believing what my family does, that i couldn't believe what i was hearing..

When i turned 14.. i decided i wasn't going to believe in anything until i saw proof! I refuse to let myself be led by something that i have no idea exists.. and no idea that it is "correct".. And from that day.. i am waiting until i have some confimation of a "higher power" or "god" before i let myself follow or believe in it. That's just me.

P.S. i would be completely willing to believe if i had proof too.. it's not that im writing off religion forever.
People just seem to take me as "evil" or "rebelious" when i tell them im agnostic. But no, its just how i feel.

I dont think you're evil or rebellious - everyone's entitled to their opinion and that happens to be yours!

Yay! im not hated now?! haha

not right now.... :P

well shit! not right now?

you know.. why do we always argue in threads! haha thats it.. im starting a fight thread!

What was it about growing up Catholic that exactly pushed you away? What kind of proof are you looking for?

I think becasue the religion was so strict.. or at least thats what i felt. They seemed to push me into believing something.. that.. wasn't really there. It was hard for me to believe it after finding out the easter bunny and santa weren't real.. i thought.. "well, how do i know your not lieing to me again"
I guess as of now i feel as though religion is a "comfort zone" or an "answer" to everything.. when theres no hope left.. turn to god.. when things go wrong.. turn to god. i believe we should confide in ourselves.. or real people.

proof would be.. a mircale.. seeing this power or god.. hearing it.. even.. "feeling" it.

i decided i wasn't going to believe in anything until i saw proof! I refuse to let myself be led by something that i have no idea exists.. and no idea that it is "correct".. And from that day.. i am waiting until i have some confimation of a "higher power" or "god" before i let myself follow or believe in it. That's just me.

I agree with everything you said. :yes

That makes sense, Jyll!

I think it is hard to follow or completely believe in a religion regardless as to which path you take. All religions have certain doctrines & rules you have to follow or risk being shunned, in a way.

I've always wondered why people choose certain paths. Is it because you grew up in that religion with your family? Or did you choose that on your own? If you did choose your religion, what made you accept that path?

Do you ever wonder if what you chose, is really the "right" way?

Is it because you grew up in that religion with your family? Or did you choose that on your own? If you did choose your religion, what made you accept that path?

Do you ever wonder if what you chose, is really the "right" way?

I grew up in a Christian household.

I chose my own path.

I chose this way, because like Jyll, I think there is no definite proof of god/religion.

Yes, I wonder if this is the right way of thinking. But unless I'm shown absolute proof, then I will continue to believe what I do.

I have a lot of friends and family of different religions - catholic, mormon, buddhist, jewish and hindu. Most of them followed the religion of their family - that's what they were brought up to believe. It starts of as a social thing - they follow what their friends and family do, but as they grow up they begin to believe it themselves. A staggering amount of people aren't educated about other religions until at least in their teens, if at all. So they just follow what they know.

A staggering amount of people aren't educated about other religions until at least in their teens, if at all. So they just follow what they know.

That is so true! I was not raised in a religion. I always loved learning about other religions. I attended different churches of different faiths & asked a lot of questions. It took me about 15 years to decide where I felt like I belonged. And even know, I am still on my spiritual journey.

Well, im agnostic.. i grew up catholic and in catholic schools and.. christmas gifts were bibles. I guess i just.. was so forced into believing what my family does, that i couldn't believe what i was hearing..

When i turned 14.. i decided i wasn't going to believe in anything until i saw proof! I refuse to let myself be led by something that i have no idea exists.. and no idea that it is "correct".. And from that day.. i am waiting until i have some confimation of a "higher power" or "god" before i let myself follow or believe in it. That's just me.that's how I feel, though my family didn't force me to believe. My grandma was catholic but didn't force it on me my dad used to belive but then when I had to be in a wheelchair he started to wonder "if there is a God how could he let this happen?" I've tried for years to belive in the bible but it doesn't feel real to me.

My mom was a witch and did spells and the like so to feel closer to her(she left when I was around 10) I started to look into it and I foud that beliving in the earth and Karma made sense to me, my DH is very understanding about it(one of the many reasons I love him).

If something was to happen that made the bible feel more real to me then I would give it another try but for right now I can't force myself to belive in something that doesn't make me feel anything in my heart.

happygirl0486~So do you identify with any particular path? Like Wicca or Paganism?

well, i'm christian and attend a church of christ. i believe in one God and that Jesus is his son. but after watching kingdom of heaven there was a quote in there that really expressed how i feel about religion in general...

Hospitaller: I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What God desires is here.
[points to head]
Hospitaller: And here.
[points to heart]
Hospitaller: And by what you decide to do eveyday, will make you a good man... or not.

i get tired of denominations and their rules that they say you need to follow to be saved, of people saying God wants this or that, etc. i really believe that Jesus make it pretty plain and simple and that people complicate such a simple thing with religion.

That is an awesome quote! And Kingdom of Heaven is one of my favorite movies! Orlando Bloom is HOT! :drool

happygirl0486~So do you identify with any particular path? Like Wicca or Paganism?I follow Wicca and karma.

I follow Wicca and karma.

When you are a Wiccan, do you have to go to covens? Or is that optional?

to me it is optional I follow my faith on my own.

I was also raised Catholic but am not religious anymore. Still, that religion holds a certain comfort for me: I don't go to mass on sundays but I actually enjoy the sights, sound, smells, and the whole ritual when I join my family in church on christmas, easter or some special function like a wedding or a christening.

I don't respect all religions equally. I would never write off someone because they were of a particular religion.

Still (and may sound strange coming from a liberal) l gotta say I have absolutely no respect for any kind of religion when it is taken to an extreme and the believer becomes self righteous, hurts others, or (even worse) tries to tell me my soul is lost if I don't believe as they do. :loser I have no time for that crap.

I also have no respect for religions which encourage the persecution of women. This would include Islam as it is practiced in the middle east. I realize we could debate until the morning about what the Koran really says and means, and I realize that there are moderate "modernized" Muslims who don't discriminate against women but I am speaking of the faith as it is practiced in that part of the world. Of course I would include fundamentalist Christianity in that group of religions discriminating against women.

I really am open minded and respect cultures different from my own but NOT ones that try to tell half the human race it is inferior.

I was also raised Catholic but am not religious anymore. Still, that religion holds a certain comfort for me: I don't go to mass on sundays but I actually enjoy the sights, sound, smells, and the whole ritual when I join my family in church on christmas, easter or some special function like a wedding or a christening.

I don't respect all religions equally. I would never write off someone because they were of a particular religion.

Still (and may sound strange coming from a liberal) l gotta say I have absolutely no respect for any kind of religion when it is taken to an extreme and the believer becomes self righteous, hurts others, or (even worse) tries to tell me my soul is lost if I don't believe as they do. :loser I have no time for that crap.

I also have no respect for religions which encourage the persecution of women. This would include Islam as it is practiced in the middle east. I realize we could debate until the morning about what the Koran really says and means, and I realize that there are moderate "modernized" Muslims who don't discriminate against women but I am speaking of the faith as it is practiced in that part of the world. Of course I would include fundamentalist Christianity in that group of religions discriminating against women.

I really am open minded and respect cultures different from my own but NOT ones that try to tell half the human race it is inferior.


I think just about every religion thinks it is 'THE' religion, so by default all others would be inferior or wrong. As for Islam, practices vary in the Middle East, as well as the rest of the world. Iraq has the most liberal of Islamic practices in the Middle East.

It is frequently argued that Islam is not a religion that provides for full equity among Muslims. Indeed, because Islam makes distinctions between men and women; not all rights and privileges available to men are available to women. For example, a male Muslim inherits twice the share of the female, but then a male relative has the financial responsibility to care for a needy female relative. Also, a male Muslim has the right to unilaterally divorce his wife, while she can only divorce her husband through a judge's determination. Custody of children from a divorce is given the mother, boys till age 9 and girls till age 12. Thereafter custody reverts to the father, provided that he is fit. However, the fact that there is not absolute parity in all rights and privileges does not mean that women do not share an overall equality with men. It must also be noted that certain social practices in some Muslim countries are not required by Islam, but have simply evolved in the course of time as a result of indigenous cultural factors. (taken from http://www.mideasti.org/indepth/islam/introislam.htm)

What you may see as discrimination may simply be a difference in culture. Who are we to say which culture/ religion is right?

I grew up in a household where religion wasn't talked about even though my mom was catholic. My dad has never belonged to a church and still doesn't. So after I was out of the house for a few years i started to find my own religion and I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That was back in 96. I'm not very active in the church right now but I still believe in the church. As for my fmaily Adam is catholic and aaron isn't a member of any church because we can agree on a happy medium for him. So for the time being Aaron is learning about both churches and when hes old enough to make a decission he can.

I'm glad you opened this. I have been thinking about making one, but I'm very bad at putting things in writing. I agree with what Jyll said. She wrote how I feel. I'll just add a little.

I don't believe in God. I went to church when I was younger. It was a Methodist church. Honestly, I went just to get out of the house (another story). I didn't pay attention though, and we never talked about religion at home.
I'm glad that all this info about believing a certain thing wasn't put into my head. I prefer to make this decision on my own. A couple of my sisters have looked at me in disbelief when I told them that I don't believe in God. They can't tell me why they do. They just do. I don't just do things. I need to see things.
I think that people may believe in it to have some sort of answer about things, somewhere to go in times of need. I haven't read the Bible past the very beginning of Genesis when I was in UMYF (youth group), but it's very very hard for me to believe the things they mention.
If I did believe in God or just some higher being, why does it have to be down to a religion? Why isn't the proof there so we can all believe the same thing? I'm just like a kid wondering why the sky is blue with this topic, I guess. I've just been really thinking about this alot lately.

I was not raised religous in any way until I was 11 years old then we were taught southern baptist in the foster home we lived in for 4 years. WHen I was 16 I got baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was purely my decision and no one had any affect on my decision. 7 years later I am still very active in church and always will be. I have a testimony of the church and I believe that Christ died for our sins and that he is the son of God.

I'm glad you opened this. I have been thinking about making one, but I'm very bad at putting things in writing. I agree with what Jyll said. She wrote how I feel. I'll just add a little.

I don't believe in God. I went to church when I was younger. It was a Methodist church. Honestly, I went just to get out of the house (another story). I didn't pay attention though, and we never talked about religion at home.
I'm glad that all this info about believing a certain thing wasn't put into my head. I prefer to make this decision on my own. A couple of my sisters have looked at me in disbelief when I told them that I don't believe in God. They can't tell me why they do. They just do. I don't just do things. I need to see things.
I think that people may believe in it to have some sort of answer about things, somewhere to go in times of need. I haven't read the Bible past the very beginning of Genesis when I was in UMYF (youth group), but it's very very hard for me to believe the things they mention.
If I did believe in God or just some higher being, why does it have to be down to a religion? Why isn't the proof there so we can all believe the same thing? I'm just like a kid wondering why the sky is blue with this topic, I guess. I've just been really thinking about this alot lately.

this is what I think...

the reason we dont have proof of this is b/c we were sent here to be tested in life and have free agency to make decisions and not be forced into learning things and doing things. If we had a solid material and touchable proof that there is a God, that would make it to easy and there really wouldnt be a test in life. I dont understand why everything is like it is but I believe that when our bodies die we will understand a lot more. I believe that another reason we are here is to receive bodies for our spirits to go through trials, to understand pain and happiness...

I think just about every religion thinks it is 'THE' religion, so by default all others would be inferior or wrong. As for Islam, practices vary in the Middle East, as well as the rest of the world. Iraq has the most liberal of Islamic practices in the Middle East.

(taken from http://www.mideasti.org/indepth/islam/introislam.htm)

What you may see as discrimination may simply be a difference in culture. Who are we to say which culture/ religion is right?


Well, I say that when your father, husband and brothers have the right to stone you for some offense, then YEAH, it's discrimination.
Cultural differences can amount to discrimination, they're not mutually exclusive concepts.
Like I said, I appreciate that not all culturallly seeded biases agaisnt women are required by religious texts, but most religions, when practiced in a conservative and fundamentalist manner, somehow almost always manage to provide the fertalizer so to speak for the growth of discrimination against women. Cultural practices don't just drop out of the sky. I realize Islam is not the only religion which has this effect (as I mentioned before) but it certainly seems to have the most powerful one.

As for the superiority, I know every religion considers itself the one. I was refering to it's practicioners, in particular those who insist on telling everyone around them they will not be "saved" if they are not born again or some such. They can think it till they turn bluse in the face. I do not aspire to be the thought police. I only have objections to people's beliefs when they turn into actions that limit the rights of others (including the right not to listen to their beliefs about the state of my soul).

My husband and I are both LDS (Mormon). We discussed it and studied it together and decided that we wanted to raise our children in the church. We were baptised into the church in July 04. Dh grew up in the church but was never baptised into it so I figured it had to be a good church. However, something has changed his mind about the church and he says he only joined it with me so I would have a support group when he is not around. Now we attend a Christian church on Saturdays and the LDS church on Sundays. I feel like I'm leading two separate lives!!! Now that my daughter is getting older she is asking more questions about church and seems to enjoy both. I just hope and pray that she doesn't get confused by the different beliefs between the LDS church and a Christian church. Personally I feel like quitting both churches at times but there are positives and negatives about each church. Some day I hope to find my "dream church"!!

Its good that you and your husband support eachother. LDS are christians though...

I'm Catholic, chose to be baptized on my own at 17 after taking the classes. However, in the past 2-3 yrs, I haven't exactly been good about practicing my religion so I feel like a hypocrite if I go to church. I do still pray to God and TRY to be the best person I can be, but I have diverted a lot b/c of the choices I have made. I feel I have good core values b/c of it though.

Once him and I are married, I'll feel a lot better. I wish we could be married now but I'm not running to a court house as we want something special and that takes planning (and money). We do go to church when we remember, which we need to be better about, and we have talked about doing a bible study together & becoming invovled in the parish community in the near future. He also tends to choose friends that are more on the same level as him... Rather than someone who drinks a lot, parties, family isn't #1, etc.

I'd like our kids to grow up as Catholics, but when they are mature enough to make the decision on their own, they are free to practice another faith. I don't agree with EVERYTHING the Catholic church says, either.

ETA: I chose to be bapitzed Catholic at that age b/c I had grown up exposed to that religion. I also went to the Christian churches, but didn't like them b/c I felt they were too "jolly". I liked the seriousness of the Catholic church during mass. I feel it's more about God and I, not God and all my neighbors which is how I feel Christian churches practice.

Well, I say that when your father, husband and brothers have the right to stone you for some offense, then YEAH, it's discrimination.
Cultural differences can amount to discrimination, they're not mutually exclusive concepts.
Like I said, I appreciate that not all culturallly seeded biases agaisnt women are required by religious texts, but most religions, when practiced in a conservative and fundamentalist manner, somehow almost always manage to provide the fertalizer so to speak for the growth of discrimination against women. Cultural practices don't just drop out of the sky. I realize Islam is not the only religion which has this effect (as I mentioned before) but it certainly seems to have the most powerful one.

As for the superiority, I know every religion considers itself the one. I was refering to it's practicioners, in particular those who insist on telling everyone around them they will not be "saved" if they are not born again or some such. They can think it till they turn bluse in the face. I do not aspire to be the thought police. I only have objections to people's beliefs when they turn into actions that limit the rights of others (including the right not to listen to their beliefs about the state of my soul).

Where are you getting your information from?


A lot of stuff happens that's done in the name of a religion, whilst having no basis in the religion itself, so i dont really think religious belief comes into it. Its just that some people are intolerent idiots. And that happens everywhere. For example, Bush used Christianity to wage war on Iraq - who is he to say Christianity condones that kind of action?

My main points:

1. The way people interpret religion shapes the culutre in a huge way.

(Religion has helped form british culutre and culutre in Iran and every other place on earth but it has a whole lot more influence in Iran, where law is based directly on religion, or at least on the current interpretation of it.)


2. The way people interpret religion is never based solely on the exact words of the Bible, Koran, whatever.


3. Any religion, when it is practiced in a fundamentalist way, seems to result in an environment that discriminates against women.


4. Places where fundamentalist Islam is the main religion seem to be places where the culture is most repressive to women.

5. There are not many Muslim cultures around these days that do not resort to a fundamentalist practice of that faith (there are the Balkans for example).


What exactly is new or controversial in those statements??? I never said Islam in itself was evil.

The only place my personal opinion comes into play is when I say:

-the way Islam has been interpreted and practiced in so many places IS offensive to me.
-that I don't respect fundamentalist religion of any sort. This is largely because I am a woman and because I believe in equality.

I don't have any imperialist goals here. I have no desire to go and change those other culutres. They (religious fundamentalists, including those in the US) can do as they want as long as it does not restrict the legal rights of women in this society.

I am liberal in most of my views, I love to travel, I really do appreciate diversity.
I am pretty relativist but even my relativism ends somewhere. Some things ARE wrong.

And yes Bush's (and every other American president's) version of christianity has influenced his politics. His version of Christianity does condone his politics. Why do you think that little strip of land called Israel is such a big part of American foreign policy as opposed to say, that little strip of land called Jamaica? May have something to do with Jesus and all that? I didn't think of this on my own, either. Articles have been written about it.

My main points:

1. The way people interpret religion shapes the culutre in a huge way.

(Religion has helped form british culutre and culutre in Iran and every other place on earth but it has a whole lot more influence in Iran, where law is based directly on religion, or at least on the current interpretation of it.)


2. The way people interpret religion is never based solely on the exact words of the Bible, Koran, whatever.


3. Any religion, when it is practiced in a fundamentalist way, seems to result in an environment that discriminates against women.


4. Places where fundamentalist Islam is the main religion seem to be places where the culture is most repressive to women.

5. There are not many Muslim cultures around these days that do not resort to a fundamentalist practice of that faith (there are the Balkans for example).


What exactly is new or controversial in those statements??? I never said Islam in itself was evil.

The only place my personal opinion comes into play is when I say:

-the way Islam has been interpreted and practiced in so many places IS offensive to me.
-that I don't respect fundamentalist religion of any sort. This is largely because I am a woman and because I believe in equality.

I don't have any imperialist goals here. I have no desire to go and change those other culutres. They (religious fundamentalists, including those in the US) can do as they want as long as it does not restrict the legal rights of women in this society.

I am liberal in most of my views, I love to travel, I really do appreciate diversity.
I am pretty relativist but even my relativism ends somewhere. Some things ARE wrong.

And yes Bush's (and every other American president's) version of christianity has influenced his politics. His version of Christianity does condone his politics. Why do you think that little strip of land called Israel is such a big part of American foreign policy as opposed to say, that little strip of land called Jamaica? May have something to do with Jesus and all that? I didn't think of this on my own, either. Articles have been written about it.

I dont agree. There are other countries that have different religious backgrounds that are very opressive to women. Take Japan, for example. The religion in Japan is Shinto Buddhism, though it's not very widely practised. The women there are legally seen as a finanical asset. Say, for example, if I wife is caught cheating, the husband can sue the other man for his finanical deficit. Women are not expected to have a job, unless it's secreterial or administritive work, and they're expected to quit after marriage to look after the home.

Then there's India, which has no dominant religion. There, women are regarded as such a big liability that parents now check the sex of a foetus before deciding whether to carry on with the pregnancy. Girls there are expected to dress appropriately, get appropriate jobs etc. Once they marry, they're passed over to the groom's side of the family to look after them. Many are killed just for the dowry - after marriage the bride is murdered and the groom is free to search for another bride.

I agree that oppression is very wrong, I'm just putting the point across that it's not entirely based on religion and it's not localised to Iran. I never said that your statements were new or controversial, I'm merely inferring that they may be a little inaccurate.

Yes some branches of Islam are fundamentalist and yes, some of them are based in the Middle East, but you could say the same thing of Christianity in America. I dont think it's fair to write of an entire religion because of it's fundamentalist groups.

I didn't say the only oppressive (to women) cultures were those where Islam is the main religion but they certainly are among the very worst.

Thanks for a good debate but I've grown tired of this argument.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. :)

I was raised in a Baptist church, and even after my mom stopped going when I was a teenager, I continued to go.

I have a very strong faith in the Lord, and I don't think there is anything that could shake that.

I want my child raised in church. I will never push anything on her, but I think it is important that she go in order to learn. If she chooses to believe other things later in life, that is her choice. But I pray that I am able to lay down a good foundation for her in the church.

My husband has been in a church twice. Once when he was younger and once with me. He knows quite a bit about the Bible, but has a hard time believing. We are trying to find a church that we both like, even though we haven't taken a lot of time to look. He has the desire to learn more though and has a book he is about to start reading a Bible of his own now!

My mother was the only parent i have ever known and she did very well raising me with religion. My mother said to go by the Bible. And if God talks to me and i feel inside that "this is what i believe" then to go with it. She told me to question what i didn't know and to have an open heart. I have been to so many different churches with and without my mother so i could see what i believed in and what "fits" me better. I do not believe to jump on a religion and say "your wrong and your going to hell" exspecially without "knowing" that religion. Educate yourself on the different religions before ever throwing stones.
I'm Christian. There are too many denominations in Christianity to say which type of christian i am. I just believe in God, and his son as my savior and that there is a Heaven and a hell and everyone can be forgiven of their sins if they confess truely to the Lord.
Religion is a touchy subject and i'm always willing to learn about one religion or another.
The churches i have been to is..

7 different denominations of Christianity
Sevinth Day adventist (or something rather)
Mormon church
2 different Jahova witness churches
2 Catholic churches
And 1 non denominational church

I have studied about Wicka (sp) and about Jewish religion but would ALWAYS love to learn more..

And after studing and going to different churches i can truely say i believe two of the churches i mentioned i went to are deffinetly cult related and scares the SHIT out of me!

What are your thoughts on religion? I believe some sort of faith is an important and healthy thing to have. However, I think being overly religious, to the point of fanaticism is not good for the mind.

Do you practice a faith? Yes I do.

Do you see religions as cults? Yeah, I do. However, trying to be politically correct, I call them Organized faith groups.

Do you feel that all religions should be treated equally? Absolutely. Respect for all religions and belief systems is one of the most important things in my book, after all, look at all the millions of people who have died through known time due to religious prosecution. I believe that if people just learned to respect and accept that we're not all created equal, and we all can/should have our own personal faith, we would all be better for it.

Does your faith have doctrines or beliefs that you don't necessarily believe in? No, my personal beliefs are exactly what I want them to be, and nothing is out of place, or in disagreement.

Do you practice your religion? Yes, as best as I possibly can.

Forgot to add: I was born and raised Catholic, and to this day I still have a certain fondness for the Catholic faith. I am now a practicing Pagan, most people would reffer to what I believe in as Wicca, but I don't really like labeling my personal beliefs, and some of my practice doesn't fit into the realm of Wicca. I like to think of myself as purely Solitary Eclectic Pagan, I base my faith around the earth, and energies which are in everything, and of course, Karma.