NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm curious... religious folks, what makes your religion "true" and what other (ancient or modern) religions, cultures, and so on believe "false" or "mythology"?

Atheists/agnostics: will some or all modern religions eventually be considered "mythology", too?

Is there any universal "truth"?

EDIT: the poll is actually different from the question I posed in the post itself, but related.

I'm a wiccan, I belive in everything.

I don't know, really. It's... a feeling, a certainty. I remember the first time I FELT the goddess, and her love... I just KNEW she existed.

A miracle happened sunday night. I dunno if you want to hear about it, but my life was saved due to divine intervention. And I mean that literally. There's no way I should be alive right now, but I am. SOMETHING exists.

I'm curious... religious folks, what makes your religion "true" and what other (ancient or modern) religions, cultures, and so on believe "false" or "mythology"?

Atheists/agnostics: will some or all modern religions eventually be considered "mythology", too?

Is there any universal "truth"?

I am not religious, I am spiritual and what makes my beliefs truth is that the truth is entirely subjective and applies only to me.

Sorta like saying "I am completely normal and sane, its everyone else thats messed up." since "normal" is subjective too. :p

I am not religious, I am spiritual and what makes my beliefs truth is that the truth is entirely subjective and applies only to me.

Sorta like saying "I am completely normal and sane, its everyone else thats messed up." since "normal" is subjective too. :p
I agree. That's why I put the words "true" and "truth" in quotation marks. :p

I am not religious, but here is my take on what I would feel if I were.

I don't think it's about truth. It's about dedication and faith. To me, it's always seemed as though it should really be about admitting you can't prove your religion true, but you know in your heart that that your religion is what it should be.

What makes your religion "true"?

"There is no Truth in religion, only Belief."

-Louis Hobbs-

I'm an agnostic.

I dont' consider it possible to know the truth (when it comes to the supernatural at least)

And it seems to be pretty damn true.

Why is it true or why do I believe it? It's true because that is what's real. I believe it because it makes more sense than anything else than I have seen.

I'm curious... religious folks, what makes your religion "true" and what other (ancient or modern) religions, cultures, and so on believe "false" or "mythology"?

Atheists/agnostics: will some or all modern religions eventually be considered "mythology", too?

That is the tendancy of religions. They get popular and then they decline and become part of mythology.


Is there any universal "truth"?


Beyond observable natural laws? No.

I'm an atheist because it seems to me the most rational, intelligent choice. I don't force it upon other people though, I only discuss religion if people ask. I do think about my beliefs, because I'm curious by nature & try not to be too narrow minded.

Me of course, I say when my religion is true and when it isn’t. Pffft.

I chose "I am an agnostic and am unsure if what I believe is truth." I am not always agnostic, but that tends to be my happy medium, and in my theistic times I am still very unspecific. I am constantly reevaluating what I believe metaphysically, but it is always vague. In general I believe there is a universal spiritual force, but have no clue what it is, how it works, where it came from, or if it did anything important like creation. I have been into things like Wicca in the past, paths that describe this spirit without strictly quantifying it.

I chose "I am an agnostic and am unsure if what I believe is truth." I am not always agnostic, but that tends to be my happy medium, and in my theistic times I am still very unspecific. I am constantly reevaluating what I believe metaphysically, but it is always vague. In general I believe there is a universal spiritual force, but have no clue what it is, how it works, where it came from, or if it did anything important like creation.

I think I feel much the same.

I'm atheist and I doubt sometimes if what I believe is truth. But then again, the only honest thing to do is say you doubt sometimes. Everyone does.

Theists who say you believe your theology is truth, you're lying. Everyone doubts, it says so in the Bible. Even Peter doubted. You're all hypocrites.

I chose "I am an agnostic and am unsure if what I believe is truth." I am not always agnostic, but that tends to be my happy medium, and in my theistic times I am still very unspecific. I am constantly reevaluating what I believe metaphysically, but it is always vague. In general I believe there is a universal spiritual force, but have no clue what it is, how it works, where it came from, or if it did anything important like creation. I have been into things like Wicca in the past, paths that describe this spirit without strictly quantifying it.
Whoa, are we twins separated at birth or something? That's almost exactly the way I am.

So for those of you who have faith...what made you pick your particular religion? What made you have faith that it was true?

And just so we're clear: "Feeling the goddess" or "being knocked down by the loving warm light of God" or "I saw the flying unicorn hamsters" are not valid responses to my question because either:

a) They count as "evidence"; if God came to you and said "hey dudes, I'm like totally REAL!" it would become impossible for you to have faith because you would actually KNOW.

b) They could have come from any god or goddess or even drug use or mental illness, so you still had to attribute these experiences to a particular god. Thus, the question I'm asking is why you picked that god over any other that could have caused your experience.

i agree to the religion is based on belief and faith. i said their was no truth and im also wiccan though no miricle happened, it just made me see my shortcomings and overcome depression. because i believed it could, kind of like doing spells.

I'm an atheist and I sometimes question my beliefs. I think that sometimes it's good to take a step back and re-evaluate your beliefs. And by questioning them I feel that I can have beliefs which are 'true' for me.

everyone in this forum makes me question my beliefs.

I know my religion is the truth because of the answers, "fail safes"(actually I am so tired I just forgot why I wrote that), interaction&change of people's lives, incredibility of it really happening, congruity of scripture, and all this other fun crap.

Christianiaty is the truth to me.

What makes it true? The character of God, personal experiences, blessings, and simply other religions I encounter on a daily basis pales incomparison.

I'm an atheist and I, of course, being a true atheist, have no spiritual or religious beliefs. Therefore I cannot question them, as they are non-existent, and there is thus no valid option for me in the poll.

When it comes to religion, truth is relative since there is no fact backing up the claims. Hence the word "faith".

I'm a theist and I believe my religion/spirtuality is "truth" .... FOR ME.

Should've made that an option.

I'm curious... religious folks, what makes your religion "true" and what other (ancient or modern) religions, cultures, and so on believe "false" or "mythology"?

Atheists/agnostics: will some or all modern religions eventually be considered "mythology", too?

Is there any universal "truth"?

EDIT: the poll is actually different from the question I posed in the post itself, but related.
What makes your religion "true"? Experiencing it.

and what other (ancient or modern) religions, cultures, and so on believe "false" or "mythology"? Um, all religions are founded in a mythology, and mythologies do not make a religion "false".

Atheists/agnostics: will some or all modern religions eventually be considered "mythology", too? Not an athiest/agnostic, but I would answer that if a religion is not founded in a mythology, then it's not much good as a religion. Myth is a teaching tool, a story that is a metaphor for truth (note, this is not the same context of the word "myth" as commonly used today to point at something everyone believes is true and reveal it as a falsehood).

Is there any universal "truth"? Yes and no; there is a truth that can be arrived at from an objective perspective that applies to things objectively, and there is individual truths arrived at subjectively that are unique for each individual.

everyone in this forum makes me question my beliefs.
That is a Very Good Thing.

You lucky...

I had to log off right after I started this thread, but I'm surprised... it's really very interesting, isn't it?

In answering my own poll:
I am somewhat spiritual but do not consider myself to be part of any organized religion and I sometimes wonder if what I believe is "true". Actually, I'm not sure if anything is true. I question everything. Go, me! ;)

I'm a theist and I believe my religion/spirtuality is "truth" .... FOR ME.

Should've made that an option.
*Gets a bit defensive* For those of you who thought I should have more options on the poll, I gave 10, which is the maximum, and "Other" ought to cover anything I didn't include, shouldn't it? That's the reason why I made it the 10th option. And there's a whole thread for you to post why it's "Other".

*Waits for more interesting comments in this thread.*

I'm curious... religious folks, what makes your religion "true" and what other (ancient or modern) religions, cultures, and so on believe "false" or "mythology"?

Atheists/agnostics: will some or all modern religions eventually be considered "mythology", too?

Is there any universal "truth"?

EDIT: the poll is actually different from the question I posed in the post itself, but related.

I am assuming that my religion (Catholicism) is the "truth" - it is what I have been taught since I was old enough to understand. I do not agree with some aspects of the Catholic religion but, they are not enough to make me change or disbelieve.

In answering my own poll:
I am somewhat spiritual but do not consider myself to be part of any organized religion and I sometimes wonder if what I believe is "true". Actually, I'm not sure if anything is true. I question everything. Go, me!
Well, here's the trick: doesn't matter if it's true, as long as it's useful. ;-)

Something I was always taught was that Christianity is the only religion in which the humans did not have to reach up to a God for spiritual enlightenment, but that the Christian God reached down to them by sending them a savior who could save them from their sins if they only believed that he was who he said he was. Christianity is so simple... and yet because it is that simple, people assume it is far fetched.

Oh and just in case... yes, as you might know I'm a christian, however I have a ton of respect for other beliefs. To know more about your own personal belieff, you should fully understand the beliefs as others. So I'm not dissing any other religions. And if I was taught wrong, someone please correct me.

I put this up in my blog a while back:

"A conundrum (I think that's the word)



You die. Instead of God though, you get the aztec god of the dead leering at you. He explains in not too freindly terms that actually aztec-ism (hell what a stupid example to pick. I have no idea what the aztecs believed) was the right religion after all and everyone has been consistently been going to hell since the last human sacrifice was made some thousands of years ago.

That's that: eternity in hell. Sorry you didn't know. But hey. Only the holy get their reward, you didn't deserve it."

I worked this out when I was a little kid. Asking about the Noah's ark story: "Is it true?" the teacher replied: "...It might be." "Is there any proof?" *Looking uncomfortable* "No".
So: I thought, then you could make up any story and it might be true! "It's probably true that *story* happened!"
And then I realised... course not.

What makes something true or not is whether it is factually correct and accurate.

There is no way to prove that God exists or does not exist or even the likelihood either position. The argument from design is flawed because it assumes that we will not find more naturalistic explanations in the future. It is better to assume that more naturalistic explanations will be found because, so far, almost all of the supporting evidence for theism has been explained naturalistically. For example, the way the planets move around the sun seems to require intelegent design until one looks deeper into big bang theory. The same applies for the way most animals seem to have great survival skills compared with those that could have formed coincidentally and the theory of evolution.
The atheistic argument that there ought to be proof of God's existence is also falacious. Perhaps God (if there is one) purposfully created a universe where God's existance could not be proven so that we could base our belief in God on things other than knowledge.
If God's existance mattered to me, I would perscribe to the argument from hope. I would say that I hope there is/isn't a God and therefore I believe. I find absolutely nothing wrong with this approach to theism.

What makes something true or not is whether it is factually correct and accurate.
Then I suppose, by that way of thinking, no religion is "true"?

Even though I have beliefs, I refuse to accept that it is "truth". Truth is what is provable or at least testable. Truth is found in science and exploration of the world as it is.
Religion, of any type, requires belief and negates the possiblity of truth. I heartly believe ferrets are a divine and superior lifeform. This does not make it true. It just makes me happy and the ferrets I have, very spoiled and happy.

The fact, my religion is flexible, none of the stories have been fully disproven, and the fact we are now a culture and the way we explain G-d makes sense...depending on how you interpert "sense"...pretty much makes it, that our religion will never fully die.

There's tons of reasons to believe that Judaism will never die, i mean even the Reformed respects the religion enough to teach it to their kids. They may not obey the laws, but they still will pass it on, in case their kids will obey them.

hmmm yeah.

Plus, we control the Anti-Israeli media...what's not to love about it? =D