Why is your religion the real religion ?

For those of you who are religious, why do you feel that your religion is THE real religion, while other current religions are false ?
As someone who is not religious, I have a hard time following why someone would think their current religion is THE right one, while all of the numerous older religions ( Greek/Norse/Aztec, etc), or any other current religion is wrong. I'm not trying to argue whether there is a god or not, just curious as to how you came to your current beliefs.

 

It is amazing what being born in a particular place at a particular time does to your sense of "truth."

 

Can't argue with that. I was brought up in a Christian (specifically Presbyterian) church in the South and that has certainly influenced many aspects of my life. But at the same time, I had a period in my life where I grew away from the church - where it stopped being relevant for me. While I still believed in God, it was more of a "passive" belief. When I found a group of Christ followers that was a better "Fit" for me, I began growing closer to God, and since then have witnessed/felt/whatever several very real moves of God that have cemented my faith.

Coming back to your point, Tharan, it will be interesting to see what happens as we become more globalized, as people of different religious backgrounds share their messages and beliefs, to see if more unity or more diversity occurs.

 

We already see how conservatives are dealing with it. Not very expansively.

 

Several years of research as a skeptic. Examining all things equally, I followed where the evidence led.

 

If I didn't believe mine was the right one, what would be the purpose of following it?

 

There are many religions and none of them are right. However, there is only one God.

 

I follow the Way of the Samurai. All other beliefs are wrong. Mine is right. If you don't believe me than I will chop you in half with my sword.

 

I was dunked in magical water as a baby. It has to be real.

 

Snakes don't talk and virgins don't get pregnant. This isn't news to anyone, yet you're considered a bad guy when you point this out to people. More to the point, the claims of Abrahamic monotheism - that is, each and every conceivable flavor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - are not internally consistent and do not hold up to scrutiny. Ultimately, they require uncritical faith and trust in the word and authority of one self-proclaimed priesthood, prophet or sacred text or another.

Even if the claims of these priesthoods were true, and the God of Abraham were objectively real - skipping all the logical arguments as to why this would not be the case - I do not find the God of Abraham as portrayed in the Holy Bible or the Holy Quran to be admirable or praiseworthy. Instead I find a rather unstable and psychotic tyrant with the temperament of a spoiled five-year-old who kills children with cosmic temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. The worst imaginable atrocities - things we would call terrorism and genocide in the modern world - are considered justified when this God orders them or carries them out. Only this God's will and law determines Good and Evil, we are told, and human notions of right and wrong are utterly irrelevant.

And to top it off, as we are told in the case of Christianity, it's all OK now because God doesn't kill people like that anymore, and now "loves" us, and proved it by... killing his... son? So he wouldn't have to kill us? For being related to a guy who ate a fruit he wasn't supposed to, because a talking snake said it's OK? Sorry folks. Doesn't add up. Besides, snakes don't talk and virgins don't get pregnant. This isn't news to anyone.

Even so, atheism - which we're lead to believe is our ONLY other real choice if we reject some version or other of Abrahamic monotheism - does not satisfy the timeless questions that continue to come with the human experience. It doesn't account for dreams, intuition, meaningful coincidence, luck, and all those other things that fall under the now-quaint human labels of miracles and magic. And it doesn't account for the unnaturalness of human nature; by the rules of strict natural selection for example, you and I should be 800-pound gorillas, not upright-walking and self-aware Beings with the capacity to reason, express questions, and view himself from outside himself.

Atheism claims that "one day" mechanistic science will tie up all the loose ends and wrap up every little mystery particle and chemical cocktail that makes up the universe and all its wonders. This assumption is taken completely uncritically. It's almost faith-based - almost like a prophecy - but pretends to be something else. I don't find this answer to be satisfactory.

Agnosticism is right not to claim certainty when certainty cannot be proven. But in practice and actual use it implies apathy, and does not describe my personal stance.

Symbolically, I find much to admire in the Miltonian/Promethean archetype of the Devil. After all, the Serpent of the Garden of Eden is only a villain if you think ignorance is better than knowledge. I for one am grateful for the Gift of self-awareness, and would hardly think the gifting of this to mankind an evil act. Still, this model is only subjective and symbolic, and doesn't deal with objective reality.

There is also much to admire in the literature and beliefs of the pagan ancient world. More of the timeless values held so long ago have carried forward to this day than most people are aware. (C.S. Lewis referred to them as the Tao in The Abolition of Man.) Inspiring as these myth-cycles can be, these are also subjective models, methods of making big concepts easier to comprehend.

So what to do? How should I live life in the real world? Afterlife myths are a dime a dozen and nothing to live in fear of. I know what I'm against: original sin, arbitrary morality, submission of the will, forsaking of the self... the core principles of all Abrahamic monotheism. I know that I alone am responsible for what the content and quality of my life will be. And so I choose to make my life an unhurried, self-willed, self-directed, pleasurable challenge in large and small ways, based on what I really want and what I feel passion for. I don't ask permission from any god, devil, prophet or guru. I don't seek to become "one with the Universe." I have no need to atone or repent of anything, unless I make a genuine mistake and my conscience tells me so. I live to be my own Master.

This may be more philosophy than "religion;" in either case, it's the MOST correct one I am aware of. It's called the Left-Hand Path.