Anything said in this thread is no attack on anothers beliefs but are just the personal beliefs of the posters. No fighting or trying to make someone believe your beliefs.
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My wife asked me to go to church with her Sunday. She kept pushing that it's a non-denominational. I said sure I would go even though I disliked churches. The denomination doesn't matter to me. We've agreed she would the primary source of religion/spirtuality to my son because she's a lot more spirtual person than me so I support her in this. She's not a church person either but more of a hippie. We both feel he needs to be exposed to a wide array of stuff so he can decide for himself. I support this becuase I wasn't given that choice by my dad growing up.
When I was a kid my parents forced me to go to church every Sunday. My dad made us go to a Pentecostal church where people spoke in tongues and there was always the threat of hell for sinners. It never fit me because I never thought I should be good person becuase of the threat of damnation. I'm a good person because it's the way I'm suppose to be. My mom was a baptist and would sometimes make me go to baptist churches or make me go to church or vaction bible schools with neighbors so I could see their religions. It was her quiet way of defying my dad. He's not a bad guy he's just the way he is. I went to Luthern. methodist, and a few others of various denominations. All talked of a higher power, some talked of Jesus and hell and some didn't. The main differences seemed to be the code of conduct expected of the congregation. While at the various churches I read whatever version of the bible they thought was the best and sang whatever songs they felt God liked to hear. But none of it ever really was for me.
I never believed that my God really needed me to go into these solemn dusty almost sad places. I never believed that this preacher, minster, or whatever had a clearer connection to God than me. If God's all powerful that made no sense to me even as a kid. I didn't believe if I did bad things during the week that I could be forgiven for them by giving a big donation on Sunday. It just seemed as a way of helping with guilt rather than telling my God I was his friend. So overtime I lost my faith in the churches and organized religions. I don't have any ill feelings towards them or the people that clung to them. Churches do great works and help a lot of peple. Religion is huge part of some peoples lives and it helps them faces the diffuclties of life.
If I feel I need to talk to God I just talk to him. He can hear me as good when I'm driving my car as when I'm in fear for my life or bored in a church. I normally don't discuss religion with people becuase I don't feel like them trying to convince their religion is best. It doesn't really matter to me because I believe what I believe. Do I believe in heaven and hell? I would like to think that people I loved have passed on to a better place because I believe they deserve it. I would like to think the bad people are punished becuase so often there is no justice in the world. But either way I'm fine just waiting to see if they are real or not when it's my time to go. Either way will not make me change the way I live my life. When people ask me what religion I am I just say Baptist becuase it's convenient. I rarely think about these things but as a father you have to think about how to expose your kids to these things.
So I'll go to church with my wife and sing whatever songs they want me to and read whatever passages they want becuase it will make my wife happy and in my mind ask my God to hurry up and get me out of there.
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My wife asked me to go to church with her Sunday. She kept pushing that it's a non-denominational. I said sure I would go even though I disliked churches. The denomination doesn't matter to me. We've agreed she would the primary source of religion/spirtuality to my son because she's a lot more spirtual person than me so I support her in this. She's not a church person either but more of a hippie. We both feel he needs to be exposed to a wide array of stuff so he can decide for himself. I support this becuase I wasn't given that choice by my dad growing up.
When I was a kid my parents forced me to go to church every Sunday. My dad made us go to a Pentecostal church where people spoke in tongues and there was always the threat of hell for sinners. It never fit me because I never thought I should be good person becuase of the threat of damnation. I'm a good person because it's the way I'm suppose to be. My mom was a baptist and would sometimes make me go to baptist churches or make me go to church or vaction bible schools with neighbors so I could see their religions. It was her quiet way of defying my dad. He's not a bad guy he's just the way he is. I went to Luthern. methodist, and a few others of various denominations. All talked of a higher power, some talked of Jesus and hell and some didn't. The main differences seemed to be the code of conduct expected of the congregation. While at the various churches I read whatever version of the bible they thought was the best and sang whatever songs they felt God liked to hear. But none of it ever really was for me.
I never believed that my God really needed me to go into these solemn dusty almost sad places. I never believed that this preacher, minster, or whatever had a clearer connection to God than me. If God's all powerful that made no sense to me even as a kid. I didn't believe if I did bad things during the week that I could be forgiven for them by giving a big donation on Sunday. It just seemed as a way of helping with guilt rather than telling my God I was his friend. So overtime I lost my faith in the churches and organized religions. I don't have any ill feelings towards them or the people that clung to them. Churches do great works and help a lot of peple. Religion is huge part of some peoples lives and it helps them faces the diffuclties of life.
If I feel I need to talk to God I just talk to him. He can hear me as good when I'm driving my car as when I'm in fear for my life or bored in a church. I normally don't discuss religion with people becuase I don't feel like them trying to convince their religion is best. It doesn't really matter to me because I believe what I believe. Do I believe in heaven and hell? I would like to think that people I loved have passed on to a better place because I believe they deserve it. I would like to think the bad people are punished becuase so often there is no justice in the world. But either way I'm fine just waiting to see if they are real or not when it's my time to go. Either way will not make me change the way I live my life. When people ask me what religion I am I just say Baptist becuase it's convenient. I rarely think about these things but as a father you have to think about how to expose your kids to these things.
So I'll go to church with my wife and sing whatever songs they want me to and read whatever passages they want becuase it will make my wife happy and in my mind ask my God to hurry up and get me out of there.
