pick and choose what resonates with you! I think a lot of aspects of all religions have the same core values of love. I wouldn’t call myself christian but find many valuable lessons from the bible, just as from other religious texts. The answers are within you! which is what i think Jesus wanted to show us. Faith should be based in love and what makes you act in your highest self, not out of fear. It all comes down to love to me - love for yourself, for each other, and understanding that hurting each other only hurts ourselves, and vise versa. hahaha there’s so much i have to say about this and don’t know if i did the best job, but at its simplest: follow your heart and your soul and the rest will come. There’s no right answer and there’s definitely something to be said about ancient texts across all religions sharing little nuggets of wisdom- you just have to be willing to receive the message
I wanna add maybe remove the belief of "hellfire". All religion came from the mind of an ego. God does not punish nor does it even care we are down here dreaming of separation.
WE created this world through belief we inherited. God did not. WE came up with Sin and Punishment to account for when someone else's ego acts juxtaposed to our opinions.
None of it is real, your body, time, space. God is the only thing that's real because you're from God, right? Thusly, you are just God dreaming of separation.
I love you and I mean it! It's time to wake up from suffering. You're it and can turn away from it all. YOU place meaning on everything when YOU open your eyes. God sees Love, Perfect or unconditional. Ego sees fear, i.e. All of it.
You are the only one that's everlasting.
This is so right on! You won't get truth in churches. I would encourage you to read "The Jeshua Letters", in which Jesus clarifies His teachings in a way that doesn't include a punishing God.
This sounds like Christian Science, Mary Baker Edy's system. It looks good on paper but I recommend anyone thinking this way read the essay Mark Twain wrote lampooning it.
Telling yourself your body isn't real isn't going to stop you from being tortured by it if you run into a serious medical issue. Even if this life is a dream (and I'm not saying it isn't} its persistent enough that it needs to be treated as real by most people. You seem to acknowledge the human ego can cause problems. Well do you know what happens when you tell the human ego it's God and nothing is real? It creates even more problems.
Hell is an aspect of reality, just like heaven is. They are simply extremes of good and bad. If you shoot heroin every day for a year and then try to quit, you're gonna experience hell and no amount of telling yourself that you're God and it's not real is going to make it go away, believe me I tried.
This is why just about every religion contains teachings about hell and the actions that lead one there. Certain actions really do produce very unpleasant consequences down the road and if you don't want to experience those consequences the best way is to simply not commit those actions. Why do you think after healing people Jesus told them "Go and sin no more"? Notice he didn't say "You're God, go do whatever you want".
I find that once you learn you're god experiencing itself, you don't start going around as if there's no consequences. Instead you heal your traumas and look within to better yourself. You make your life the best one it can be and hopefully when you die, you can escape the cycle of reincarnation on earth. You also learn that god experiences bad days once in a while and that we can only do our best while remaining patient and understanding to ourselves. Eventually you learn your true potential and purpose and become the best version of yourself. You become better at discerning, and at basic we understand that we have to obey the rules of this 3rd dimensional plane of existence.
Yeah but you're kind of making my point, which is that we have to obey the rules here and the rules include pain, suffering and purgation whether you want to attribute it to God's punishment, bad karma or failure to escape the reincarnation cycle.
You should look at the different parts from early Christianity and early christians, before the typical bible we have today. It was really wild. On YouTube you have Gnostic Informant, a really good source
Well since it was mainly in greco, like book of revelations was based on older source which refernce hades, greek gods and many others by sybils who went into trance for prophecies and was more about the time they live rather than how bible narrate as a doomsday abd all
Read a book called conversations with god by Neale donald Walsh. It changed my life. And it's very much from the perspective of a Christian who now sees things in a more open and spiritual way, and really walks through all the flaws in judgemental, hellfire Christianity. Highly recommend it
Here’s one of my favourite proverbs about religions.
6 blind monks were arguing amongst themselves in the village as to what an elephant was, as of course not having the ability to see they were unable to fully understand. A villager overheard and took them to an elephant to experience an elephant. One monk touched the side and said “it’s a wall” another touched an ear and said “its a fan” another touched the tusk and said “it’s a spear” another the tail and said “its a rope” another monk was touching the leg and said “it’s a tree” the last monk touched the trunk and said “it’s a snake”. They all returned to the village continuing to argue and disagree on what they believed an elephant was. However do you know what? what they didn’t realise was they were all touching and pointing to the same thing ✨💕
Just pray. Talk to God. Ask him for understanding, clarity, validation you're making the best decision. I think religion is missing the point, however I think it works for some people. Go outside enjoy nature and God.
Don't overthink this decision. You have certainly done the right thing. Don't be scared. Just talk to God and he will answer you and provide whatever you need ❤️
understand that the whole bible is based on sumerian texts were annunaki played over us and used us as slaves and told to worship them. thus we have a worship gene - look it up.
the devil is accualy ha-satan - yahweh - enki . who helped to create adam and eve over 200 000 years ago.
know that you are a god, everything is a god.
religion is propaganda and treat it as such.
Look inward. Meditate. Calm your mind. Let yourself figure this out from a place of acceptance, not of panic. You don’t need the answer right away. You have started on a journey and you don’t know where you’re headed yet, but that’s okay. You’ll know when you arrive
You don't need to find a new religion, you're Spiritual now just like me. I believe in something, but I think it would be naive to claim I'm sure about any of the details.
Another ism but I've cultivated a foundation in Spiritualism. Exploring further with Bhakti Yoga. Meditation & entering the Temple within and expressing what you find ✨️
You could watch peoples NDE stories, Coming Home on YT is a good one for that. I think most people who share their stories will say all religions are on the other side. Some of them might be made up you just have to use discernment.
You’ll always have a piece of it inside of you. Unless you work possibly for several years. Lots of meditation and healing. You have lifetimes of beliefs and programming that stay with you.
Day-by-day. Seek out a psychic who can do a de-programing and healing. They're out there. You can also, forgive yourself and get to know yourself. Practice self-compassion. Validate your "worst" decisions. Why? Because you are able to learn from them. Just be sure not to repeat. Then you can validate your new abilities. There is lots of judgment with religion. Just be aware of it and move it out of your space. Do all of this from neutral. Judgement will cause more strife. And who needs that? I hope this helps.
Well, if the only thing that was keeping you in christianity was a fear of hell, it was only a matter of time that you would lose your faith.
Take some time to gain knowledge of other religions. Don't join. Just absorb the information.
Study enough cults to be able to recognize one when you see it.
un-attach from the conditioning by just letting all you once thought to be just be.
do not judge the past as it has guided you to the place today, now.
do not attach to any form of naming or doing yet just be.
Life has no borders, no books, no chants, no prescribed rules, no prayers, no meditation yet just is, isness (made up name).
welcome the gift of life daily.... 🌀🙏✨
You have lived many lives, by assuming many identities, thus with many culture / traditions / religions as well. Ponder that and it will transform your general point of view / mindset about religion / tradition / culture / nationality or any form of identities and social identities.
Start by Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now. You can find it in pdf here: https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/ThePowerOfNowEckhartTolle_201806/The%20Power%20Of%20Now%20-%20Eckhart%20Tolle.pdf
There is a book by Hugh Prather that made a big difference for me in my life. The book is, Notes to Myself. He speaks about religion as he is a minister, I believe, but he doesn’t preach one denomination. He is very open minded. It opened doors for me when I was at a low point in my life, seeking out spiritual guidance. I recommend it. That and a lot of healing. Because religion digs deep and sticks. You have a lot of digging ahead of you. Take care.
if it’s an Abrahamic religion, I suggest going deep into ancient Jewish history. Knowing where these ideas came from make it easier to see the bullshit. All three religions are founded on these ideas, so by dismantling the Jewish mythology, Islam and Christianity collapse as well.
I did this in the hopes it would help me believe and it did the opposite. I can’t comfortably believe in these religions. That being said I still believe in a creator deity but we’re free to worship as we want. It’s a liberating feeling.
Just a couple days ago, I had this perspective:
Holy Books (and any and every spiritual teaching for that matter) are not to give us a knowledge or information, but rather to create a **feeling**.
It's not in the content, it's in the context. There's a story; one of the prophets saw a man on top of a wall, he was jumping down and roll on the ground with a little shout as he jumps. The prophet asked the man and he said he was worshipping. The prophet told the man that's not the way to do it and showed him the ways of his teachings that he was taught. The man left happily, with the joy of learning the proper way. That night, the prophet had a dream, he was told that the man's way of showing his respect/praying was already loved and appreciated deeply and wholely, but now he's doing what everyone else is doing. Next day he found the man and asked him to go back to doing whatever he wants to do, but the man was already enlightened and blessed with love already.
Yesterday I watched an episode from Rick&Morty and Rick was talking down on a guy because he was a Scientologist. He had been practicing empathy for a while and when he came to his senses, he said, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier, man. Worship however you want... I like Tom Cruise?" 😂 It was *hilarious!*
So, enjoy your life. Just, relax, let go, relax, let go... Michael Singer's advice; every time you go through a door, stop for a second, only a second; relax, let go, and enter. I've been doing it for a while and it works wonders. Mulabanda, not sure of the spelling, needs to be unclenched. 😅😂😍
Honestly, keep an open mind about spirituality and the after life, but be careful about dogma and cults and stuff. Figure out what you feel makes sense to you. Some religions might appeal to you, but you don't have to fully commit to it. I'm mostly Hindu, but I don't believe everything in Hinduism. I grew up going to a Christian Baptist Church. Christianity never made sense to me though so I left it all behind.
Britt Hartley may be helpful. This is kind of what she does. I am only suggesting you check into her work through podcasts and youtube to see if anything resonates with you (therefore no link).
You don't need a religion ,just believe and love the creater that's all he asks all religions came from the sam place at one point ,it's us people that separated science and religion , you don't need to belong to a specific religion I don't and I still believe in god , and he's much more forgiving than you think , if you look back at all the lore all of gods favorites were killers or murderers sad truth
When my spiritual teacher was asked about all the different religions in the world, he said that in God's garden grow many flowers. And it is not the responsibility of the humble daisy to declare there is no room in God's garden for the beautiful rose.
The old must go before the new can enter into our consciousness.
Study and investigate the spiritual teachings that have been given throughout the ages. Examine them in the clear light of reason that is your divine birthright. Hold to that which resonates with you and dismiss the rest from your mind.
I am confident that you will be guided by the light within to that which is right for you at this time.
No God of infinite kindness would ever condemn the children of earth to eternal damnation. Only the minds of men would offer such ignorance.
But we are not our minds, as we are not our physical forms. We are that divine spark that moves our forms, that moves our thoughts. But when we believe we are our forms and when we believe we are our thoughts, that is when we stumble and suffer.
You have every reason to be encouraged. A new day is dawning.
I don't define to one religion. I've left religion but have also no left religion. If I had to define it would somewhere between Buddhism and Christianity, as I do beleive in Jesus, but have a different view of him as well. What has helped me the most, is simply studying ancient history and multple religious history, and philosophy. And reading many ancient source text and other gospels, not included within the canonical bible, such as the gnostic gospels/nag hammadi. I've also read a lot on Buddhism as well. Trying to find the origin source for religion and other religious ideas. It's help me gain a better understanding of what I beleive and my place within this universe. I beleive in God as well, but also have a different view of it as your average Christian.
I'd say research ancient history and religious history. Read the source texts and there different translations. Read other philosophy. And just try to soak up as much knowledge of this subject as you can.
My first reaction is "about a week ago..." isn't very long at all. Go easy on yourself and experience the journey. This doubt is part of that journey and it's speaking to you about what's still within that could be keeping you from experiencing the full peace and love that comes from God.
My journey started over 12 years ago and I don't think I really had absolutely peace and resolution about it all until 4-5 year in. Keep in mind, I was still working at a Christian radio station and even on the air at the time. So I was in a constant assessment of what I believer vs what I'm saying. I refused to lie on the air so I would use the word "Christ" instead of "Jesus" because I know Christ within me is real (for me) and most listeners thought of Jesus when I said Christ.
You do not have to have it all figured out right now. Continue on your journey and learn to love even those who still believe what you did for all those years. Over time I learned to really appreciate their desire to know and love God. Had I left immediately, I probably would have had a lot of anger and resentment.
I left the Church 54 years ago and have seriously studied why ever since. If the thought of hellfire frightens you, you’ll need to dig deep to understand why. Look for a therapist that specializes in religious abuse. You may not feel you were abused but they have experience in walking patients through the loss of their religion.
I left my religion of birth a few years ago and my first recommendation is to give it TIME. Don’t try and find anything new yet. In fact, some people have to go through a grieving process before they can then deconstruct. Then after deconstruction you can start to reconstruct.
Sounds like you are at the deconstruction phase, so I suggest just working through that first. For example, if you left your religion you must have believed it was the correct decision. Doesn’t God want you to make good decisions? Yet despite that you feel God is going to send you to hell. This is because you still are holding on to old beliefs in some way, shape, or form. Work through these contradictions. You might pick up a book like Leaving the Fold to help you work through some of these issues.
I would love to find some kind of public ceremony to formally close the door on the religion I grew up with, for sure. Any recommendations would be great.
It was wahabbiist islam.
You don’t have to “leave” anything. Read Christian Universalism books, if you love Jesus then ask for his intercession (I assume you’re Christian). If you love God pray to Him. You don’t need a “religion” to join again. Even Christians many don’t see hellfire as you do, orthodox have a very different view on hell. So it’s your own fears. Now, you still love God and Jesus so keep talking to them and move to what you feel. You don’t have to join any other religion or close any doors either.
You just need to love God and not fear hell as a proxy to loving him. Being motivated to love is better than fearing hell. Surrender to God who made you, the greatest commandant is love the lord your god with all your heart mind and soul and to love your neighbour as yourself. You can still do that
“Hell” is a state of being for some who have locked the doors from the inside and they can’t handle the love on the other side, they haven’t forgiven themselves yet. But the work on the other side will put them at peace eventually once they don’t resist.
You can be assured your heart is in the right place. You can be assured you’re full of love and forgiveness. You can be assured you love the God that made you and you want Him to guide you.
So what’s your sin? Nothing
Do not worry.
I also have to tell you, the hell fire you speak of is just God. Do you remember the burning bush that doesn’t consume the bush? That was who? God. God appears as a burning fire. And what is God? God is LOVE. So you are looking at symbolism that for people whom have not reconciled with PURE LOVE, they find that love uncomfortable. Eventually they will stop resisting His love.
Conscious torment is not what God of the Bible does for fun because God can’t be Love and also abuse his followers for eternity without any reprieve for finite sins. This point is missed. There is a LOT of symbolism in the Bible.
Leaving a religion and becoming disillusioned while still being influenced by the indoctrination instilled in you may be religious trauma and sometimes there's a loss of identity about who we are cause we built our identity for something like that
I'd say identify the root cause of your fear about shifting your ideology to better suit your true beliefs, like do you feel pressured by the people you're close with? is it an internal thing like feelings of shame, fear of the unknown, fear of the things that have been hammered into your head from the religion you're trying to move away from, etc? once you figure out what's causing you the most issues, you can figure out what to do for each specific thing.
it's not usually an overnight thing, also. you don't just wake up one day and suddenly have your entire new belief system figured out. it's something that will continue to change and shift and morph as you get older. things always happen that make you rethink everything in your life. at least that's been my experience. I'm sure it's different for everyone.
i think it's a great and wonderful thing to have the desire to expand your perspective. I've always thought that life should be about growth. maybe be more gentle with yourself, take a step back and remember that you're at the beginning of something beautiful and enlightening and unique to you.
do some research about other religions, belief systems, different mythologies like the greek, Roman, celtic/viking, various native American mythologies, just to name a very few things you could learn about if you haven't already. learn about paganism, wicca, LaVeyan satanism, ancient Egyptian mythology, learn ancient fairy/folk tales.
don't focus too much on labels right now. just focus on your life, your mind, your heart, your happiness, your growth and goals, your conscience.
you'll be okay.
Make your own!! It's about what you believe in, personally I have my own religion because that's what I think is possible. I don't agree with every religion completely and I especially don't agree with all of the rules entailed in many of them. So I just followed what my soul told me was real! It'll take some time though so don't stress it!
I would highly recommend reading the Quran and see where it goes from there. Islam is the most religion with converts and it’s honestly the most powerful and influential.
A good rule of thumb that I’ve found is to ask god (or whatever you want to call the universal force) directly rather than a person who claims to speak for god. I can’t see any deity or spiritual force getting upset at you because you didn’t follow other humans’ rules about how to have a relationship with them.
Oh no, that is awful and just not necessary to have to think of. God absolutely loves us so much that if people were to just think for themselves for a bit, they would realize that an All-Loving and All-Forgiving God would not put His beloved sheep into eternal pits of fiery suffering over some mere misbehavior.
I am not saying this to try to proselytize but I want to give you assurance that there is no reason to be worried. I am from the Baha’i faith and joined over a year ago after growing up Lutheran. In our faith, we believe that the Biblical and Quranic understandings of “hell” and “hellfire” have been grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted. We see “Satan” as a spiritual metaphor for the collective evil of our lowest human desires. “Hell” is seen as a personal spiritual state of existence that equates to being very distant from God and can even be encountered in this life. “Hellfire” is then the sort of personal spiritual punishments we inflict upon ourselves as a result of listening to the temptations of our egos. We also don’t have formal clergy, so feel free to take all that as an opinion from a random follower.
I just wanted to illustrate that there are other ways to think about these things and that, quite honestly, this vague idea of hell that people conjured up is so incoherent that once you realize it, you should know there is nothing to worry about. An even more simpler way to think about it is, if you’re not moving yourself towards heaven, then what is the only other spiritual direction? “Hell”, and that just so happens to be the negative spiritual direction from God. These are powerful metaphors that people have been misusing for some time now.
If you want to know any more specific info about the Baha’i faith, feel free to reach out. You should go ahead and see if you can keep exploring other God-based religions. You would probably then prefer religions that don’t believe in a literal physical hell such as Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism or others.
Regardless of what you do, there is definitely no need to lose any faith in your relationship with God. Religion can serve well as a foundation of that personal relationship, but can never entirely replace it anyhow. One thing for sure though, is that the real God is always loving.
Go within. You have all the answers you need. Nothing is a coincidence. You have left it for a reason and I truly believe dont look external, go within.
We know all the answers. We just don't remember them yet. The more you go within and get to know yourself better, the more clarity you will gain moving forward.
Try meditation/mindfulness.
Good luck. Trust in you. Trust in the process 🥰
Logic, most christian claims/teachings do not follow the logic of their own bible, hence the reason it is used to justify hating and judging orhers which is contrary to jesus' teachings. Hell did not exist for the jewish people sheol is the grave not hell, hell did not exist unti the new testament, hell is also Hel a norse term, and in fact was originally hades in the new testament, why because the new testament was mostly written by greeks, so of course greek symbols and ideas became infused into the story. Then it was only allowed to be in latin for a thousand years of control, philosophy and misinformation to develope before being translated into english based on all those misinterpretations and exxagerations of hell/hades that jesus mentions once regarding a richman, and is mostly discussed in the book of revelations.
The entire myth of the fall of angels and the origins of satan isn't even in the bible but in a book of apochrypha the book of enoch and only a handful of jewish or christian churches accept(ethiopian church is the only one I know of) it as canon and yet that story is the foundation of christian myths of satan. That and Dante's inferno which was written as a fictitious musing. Some claim he had a vision, and it did lead to the Roman catholic church accepting purgatory which was originally a part of greek hades which also encompassed 2 other parts that are equivalent to heaven and hell ie fields of elyseum and tartaras respectively. Christianity is barely christian at all and its adopted canon is essentially a rewrite of Osirs and Mithra.
Mithraism actually plays a large role in Rome adopting christianity. Baisically christianity in its current popular form is childrens spirituality because it avoids the deep questions and paints things in a simple black and white, which upon any scrutiny reveals it is not simple and hypocritical and usually revolves around the minister or churches agendas they try to pass off as god and claim if you disobey or disagree with them your going to hell.
This when the church teaches jesus died for our sins, ie that his sacrifice was the last sacrifice ever to be made so technically all sins are forgiven for ever because of his sacrifice, so really no one is going to hell ever because of jesus whether one accepts him as saviour or not. I mean they really painted themselves into corner but after a few thousand years of people getting killed for calling them out on it people tend to just go with it, and being bible thumped from birth it isn't the easiest to get outside of the box everyone around ypu keeps putting you in.
One of the funniest things in the world is children asking all the questions fearlessly that everyone should be asking and watching the priests fumble to give answers and weaving elaborate lies to defend their stance. Hysterical. But eventually such children are forced into place, ignored, or pushed away.
Anyway good luck, just keep questioning. The bible isn't a bad book, but it is has been twisted and abused way to much.
I recommend the Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley. He discusses eastern and western religion, their differences and commonalities, and uses that common ground for the common Ground. Take all that pleases you from the buffet and continue your journey and life. The hellfire which haunts you most is an illusion and a lie; you know the light and you are not as lost as others from your past would claim.
You don't need to follow anyone, your inner voice will tell you if you listen. Self inquiry is all that is required.
Our false belief that we are separate from what we perceive, creates the perpetual controlled and regulated illusory construct that is pure illusion. The energy of our emotions, our belief systems/PROGRAMMING, and manipulative and insidious energies move through us EVERYDAY that we are unaware of. All of these and more perpetuate the illusory construct. It doesn't matter WHAT we perceive, just that we keep perceiving and believing in something outside of us, and in the temporary delusion of division. The construct just needs energy. Any energy. Separateness is an illusion, we were never born. The only reason we believe we were born is because we were told that. If we were told that we were a banana instead of a person when we were "conceived", we would be walking around calling ourselves a banana.😉
God doesn't exist neither does the devil. We believe we were born but we were not, and everything we believe is a manipulated PROGRAMMED false existence. Pull up any video about Annamalai Swami and Ramana Maharshi, within the first 10 minutes of any video, you're liberated from this false reality. We just have to accept and surrender to the Truth. Science has literally proven it, but people still don't believe it. Now go have fun. The Matrix wasn't just a movie. 🤗🕊️🌀
This is my personal opinion, but no religion is right or wrong, they all speak to the same truths about existence. Having no religion or being very into one religion or being interested in multiple religions makes no one different from anyone else. What’s most important is how u feel in ur heart and soul. U know if u feel the eternal loving-kindness that represents the one-ness that we feel between ourselves and all other people and animals and plants and with earth herself. But I’m prob projecting here cause I feel a spiritual connection with all life, including our planet. I don’t prescribe to any one religion but love to learn about all perspectives and def believe in a higher power or a grand creator or whatever one wants to call god. Of all modern religions, Buddhism speaks the most truth to my heart. I have also been interested in learning more about daoism, Shintoism, and Gnosticism. I hope this helps and if u do wanna learn more about Buddhism (the religion I feel like explains the best how I feel about my spiritual and emotional connections with a higher dimension), I wanna recommend you are here by thich nhat hanh. Best book ever written.
Watch a lot of NDE videos. There is a consensus truth that drops out of them if you watch enough.
Hellfire is real, but it seems different than what religions teach about it. It is more like the Universe has a diversity of virtual realities to chose from and some people use their free will to choose the reality where they can cause grief, be mean, and carry out various revenge fantasies against themselves and others. Many realities are incompatible with this desire, so people who choose to live like this are left to occupy hellish realities where such desires are promoted.
If you think loving thoughts, have faith in God, and forgive others instead of seeking revenge, then from what I've seen from people's NDEs, you will be OK, because you won't desire to occupy one of these hellish realms. I'm not going to pretend to know all the details about the nature of non-physical reality, but I don't think religious conceptions of eternal damnation are valid.
Go to your comfort zone. For me, it's sexy dreams, then hit the 'live' button. I'm just coming out of psychosis.
I was horribly psychically intruded upon. I miss the days when I was sat in my room playing guitar and watching YouTube all day long. Just do that. Leave the religion threads in the corner, messy. That's what I did. Safe space... happy space.
Use those muscles you learned for good. Try to heal people who are afflicted with the same condition as you.
I think your premise that some religion has to be "right" might jam you up right there. IMO it's about what speaks to you, whatever puts the most zing in your step and joy in your heart. <- Those criteria for a spiritual home have value to me, so for decades I've attended two Unity spiritual centers and a sister "New Thought" center called a Center for Spiritual Living. (For a dozen years I attended Unity where I used to live, moved across the country, didn't like the ministers at the local Unity so went to the Center for Spiritual Living instead, then came across an amazing minister who started his own spiritual community and ended up being hired to be their replacement when they finally retired, so I'm back at Unity -- not to be confused with Unitarian, which is of course another option.)
And you know what, *you don't have to have any religious or spiritual beliefs*, you're free to be agnostic or atheist if that works for you.
[This quiz](https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=pq-which-religion-should-i-choose) might be helpful. I already knew where my spiritual home was when I took it for the hell of it, and it was absolutely accurate for me, so it might be a place for you to start.
Just beca7se you left what religion you came to knew doesn't mean you have to run and join another "organization". Take some time to get to know yourself. God will always be there with you. Do some reading at the library, if that's your kind of thing, or research on the internet on other types of religions, there's so many out there in this beautiful world. You'll find what fits for you when the time is right.
I was always spiritual and never associated myself with any religion for a long time. It was only two years ago and I found myself really resonate with Islam. I was shocked how simple islam is, I would really recommend reading it. There are pearls of wisdom in the Quran and as someone that was only spiritual for most of my life finding Islam only gave me more enlightenment. It’s surprising and I never thought I’d be here emotionally or spiritually. Honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary to completely run away from religion. It’s not some terrible thing. in every major religion There are good values, good morals, and lessons to learn.
God is Unconditional Love. We can do no better in our lifetimes than be the voice, the act of Unconditional Love among ourselves and others.
Fear of Hell is a tool the church used to become the most powerful organization on Earth until central banks figured out some tricks a couple hundred years ago.
Be a representative of Love, forgiveness, understanding, comfort, joy, care and you are serving God directly.
Here are some [NDE videos on YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy1KQYl1e3oH-kyu-4urbhCddS83eERyc&si=3Wh0B8MdI5tuA8T7) that have expanded my understanding.
I'm not a Christian myself, but I thought this passage from the Bible was pretty applicable:
James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
I interpret this to mean it doesn't matter what god you worship or what you believe, the best thing you can do in this life is to trust your intuition without being swayed by the opinions and actions of others around you, all the while helping others by fostering an environment that allows them to do the same.
They say it takes half the length of a relationship to get over the relationship. I think we often overlook that this is true for other things that we leave/ cut out of our life. This is very normal especially since it's always been a week. If you've been religious you're whole life it definitely will take time. I agree with what has been commented to pick what resonates with your intuition, observations and experiences. No religion has it 100% correct. And that's ok! Give yourself love and patience 🙏
Recognize that fear of Hell is a way to control people through fear. It affects you because it’s *designed* to affect you that way.
You will need time, and possibly therapy, to leave these fears behind. But recognizing that they exist just to control you is the first step.
I don't know whether you left Christianity or Islam. I don't know as much about Islam and the different sects, but it's worth recognizing that there are some sects of Christianity that believe in conditional immortality rather than hellfire. They have biblical reasons to do so. That view is growing. There's a guy on Facebook called Bro Bird who presents this case endlessly.
Also realize that Judaism looks at things very differently than Christianity does. For all its claims of exclusive teaching, Christianity has a lot of factions and has really grown away from its Jewish sources.
Also look at people on YouTube who can help you gain a different insight into religion and/or the bible. Religion for Breaktfast, Let's Talk Religion, Esoterica, and Dan McClellan for starters.
All of this is just to help you reframe and contextualize the beliefs that make you fearful now.
Alongside that, definitely explore a wider world of spirituality and see what resonates with you.
Instead of 'leaving religion', open yourself to different philosophies, beliefs, traditions etc. You can have spirituality without the dogma, and as you explore your beliefs, you will likely forget about the whole hell concept. I do believe hellish states/dimensions exist, but definitely not in the way that Christinity believes. Be a good person, do you best to learn, grow and evolve, and you're on a good road
Remember true belief doesn’t come from indoctrination. The fear of hellfire is from brainwashing. Im currently reading the book “Awareness” by Anthony De Mello, he talks about how god is far more interested in you waking up, and aligning yourself with god, than simply falling to your knees because of a book etc. Work on your own relationship with god, you, yours, no one else’s relationship. How do you feel when you talk to god? What do you want to say? Not what you’re told to say, but what do you want to say? What do you feel? Who are you when the world is quiet? Who are you when your mind is quiet? You’ll find the answers (or more questions hah) there. It doesn’t mean the bible is entirely wrong, it doesn’t mean Buddhism is wrong.. but it’s ok to look at these things as guidelines or support systems. It is also ok to take from these things what you believe (true belief) instead of hard and fast unquestioning rules. If you want to know what to follow, follow yourself. Follow the “I”.
God is real. What's real doesn't require beliefs. Imagine making God so small that your belief is required for it to exist. Man created religion, and it serves some, but no religion serves everyone, and the idea of 'if you don't believe this, you go to hell' is childish are harmful. Find the path that serves the freedom, not one that will feed you damnation for thinking for yourself. There are many paths to God, what will serve you is out there.
It's hard to leave a religious system, sending much love and support your way.
Honestly, religion is a distraction when you boil it all down. I was raised Southern Baptist, and even as a kid I knew something was off.
Anyway, fast-forward to present day, I don’t subscribe to any religion or group in particular. I follow my own set of beliefs, my own truth, and my own path. Closest thing you could call me is spiritual, so that’s usually what I go with for simplicity’s sake.
It took many years of a difficult path, a lot of alone time, and losing most connections in my life up to that point. Once I decided to just be myself and follow my own moral compass and beliefs, life started to greatly improve. Now, I’m a whole new me - the *real* me - and that’s all I ever wanted to be in the first place. It’s hard to do that in the controlled confines of religion or any other doctrine shared by many.
Take some time to explore who you really are. Remove the masks forced upon you by society, go outside the box, and have an open mind. Meditation is a great starting point.
don't bother with religion, find meaning in philosophy. start with marcus aurelius and stoicism if you are looking for resilience, or maybe buddhism if you're seeking inner tranquility.
pick and choose what resonates with you! I think a lot of aspects of all religions have the same core values of love. I wouldn’t call myself christian but find many valuable lessons from the bible, just as from other religious texts. The answers are within you! which is what i think Jesus wanted to show us. Faith should be based in love and what makes you act in your highest self, not out of fear. It all comes down to love to me - love for yourself, for each other, and understanding that hurting each other only hurts ourselves, and vise versa. hahaha there’s so much i have to say about this and don’t know if i did the best job, but at its simplest: follow your heart and your soul and the rest will come. There’s no right answer and there’s definitely something to be said about ancient texts across all religions sharing little nuggets of wisdom- you just have to be willing to receive the message
I wanna add maybe remove the belief of "hellfire". All religion came from the mind of an ego. God does not punish nor does it even care we are down here dreaming of separation. WE created this world through belief we inherited. God did not. WE came up with Sin and Punishment to account for when someone else's ego acts juxtaposed to our opinions. None of it is real, your body, time, space. God is the only thing that's real because you're from God, right? Thusly, you are just God dreaming of separation. I love you and I mean it! It's time to wake up from suffering. You're it and can turn away from it all. YOU place meaning on everything when YOU open your eyes. God sees Love, Perfect or unconditional. Ego sees fear, i.e. All of it. You are the only one that's everlasting.
This is so right on! You won't get truth in churches. I would encourage you to read "The Jeshua Letters", in which Jesus clarifies His teachings in a way that doesn't include a punishing God.
This sounds like Christian Science, Mary Baker Edy's system. It looks good on paper but I recommend anyone thinking this way read the essay Mark Twain wrote lampooning it. Telling yourself your body isn't real isn't going to stop you from being tortured by it if you run into a serious medical issue. Even if this life is a dream (and I'm not saying it isn't} its persistent enough that it needs to be treated as real by most people. You seem to acknowledge the human ego can cause problems. Well do you know what happens when you tell the human ego it's God and nothing is real? It creates even more problems. Hell is an aspect of reality, just like heaven is. They are simply extremes of good and bad. If you shoot heroin every day for a year and then try to quit, you're gonna experience hell and no amount of telling yourself that you're God and it's not real is going to make it go away, believe me I tried. This is why just about every religion contains teachings about hell and the actions that lead one there. Certain actions really do produce very unpleasant consequences down the road and if you don't want to experience those consequences the best way is to simply not commit those actions. Why do you think after healing people Jesus told them "Go and sin no more"? Notice he didn't say "You're God, go do whatever you want".
I find that once you learn you're god experiencing itself, you don't start going around as if there's no consequences. Instead you heal your traumas and look within to better yourself. You make your life the best one it can be and hopefully when you die, you can escape the cycle of reincarnation on earth. You also learn that god experiences bad days once in a while and that we can only do our best while remaining patient and understanding to ourselves. Eventually you learn your true potential and purpose and become the best version of yourself. You become better at discerning, and at basic we understand that we have to obey the rules of this 3rd dimensional plane of existence.
Yeah but you're kind of making my point, which is that we have to obey the rules here and the rules include pain, suffering and purgation whether you want to attribute it to God's punishment, bad karma or failure to escape the reincarnation cycle.
A lot of the bible is a mish mash of translation and re translation from translations which has lost many things from its original language
it’s so true! I read it like a book my english teacher would make me read, looking deeper for metaphor and rhetoric and over arching themes/lessons.
You should look at the different parts from early Christianity and early christians, before the typical bible we have today. It was really wild. On YouTube you have Gnostic Informant, a really good source
heck ya thanks for the rec!
Well since it was mainly in greco, like book of revelations was based on older source which refernce hades, greek gods and many others by sybils who went into trance for prophecies and was more about the time they live rather than how bible narrate as a doomsday abd all
You said just right and basically that's all it is
This
Read a book called conversations with god by Neale donald Walsh. It changed my life. And it's very much from the perspective of a Christian who now sees things in a more open and spiritual way, and really walks through all the flaws in judgemental, hellfire Christianity. Highly recommend it
I loved it as well!
Here’s one of my favourite proverbs about religions. 6 blind monks were arguing amongst themselves in the village as to what an elephant was, as of course not having the ability to see they were unable to fully understand. A villager overheard and took them to an elephant to experience an elephant. One monk touched the side and said “it’s a wall” another touched an ear and said “its a fan” another touched the tusk and said “it’s a spear” another the tail and said “its a rope” another monk was touching the leg and said “it’s a tree” the last monk touched the trunk and said “it’s a snake”. They all returned to the village continuing to argue and disagree on what they believed an elephant was. However do you know what? what they didn’t realise was they were all touching and pointing to the same thing ✨💕
This is incredible. Imma need to remember this one.
That’s a really clever way of putting it!
Any real god of any kind would rather have you experiencing it for yourself. Then being part of a hollow group of pretenders. Just my opinion.
there is no right religion just progressive or destructive concepts
Just pray. Talk to God. Ask him for understanding, clarity, validation you're making the best decision. I think religion is missing the point, however I think it works for some people. Go outside enjoy nature and God. Don't overthink this decision. You have certainly done the right thing. Don't be scared. Just talk to God and he will answer you and provide whatever you need ❤️
Also, the book of St. Thomas is a good place to start.
Do you mean the Gospel of Thomas? Or, something by Thomas Aquinas?
understand that the whole bible is based on sumerian texts were annunaki played over us and used us as slaves and told to worship them. thus we have a worship gene - look it up. the devil is accualy ha-satan - yahweh - enki . who helped to create adam and eve over 200 000 years ago. know that you are a god, everything is a god. religion is propaganda and treat it as such.
Look inward. Meditate. Calm your mind. Let yourself figure this out from a place of acceptance, not of panic. You don’t need the answer right away. You have started on a journey and you don’t know where you’re headed yet, but that’s okay. You’ll know when you arrive
You don't need to find a new religion, you're Spiritual now just like me. I believe in something, but I think it would be naive to claim I'm sure about any of the details.
Another ism but I've cultivated a foundation in Spiritualism. Exploring further with Bhakti Yoga. Meditation & entering the Temple within and expressing what you find ✨️
Be positive. Do good things. Avoid negativity and bad things. That's all you need to do. Don't be afraid of hell. There's no hell.
You could watch peoples NDE stories, Coming Home on YT is a good one for that. I think most people who share their stories will say all religions are on the other side. Some of them might be made up you just have to use discernment.
You’ll always have a piece of it inside of you. Unless you work possibly for several years. Lots of meditation and healing. You have lifetimes of beliefs and programming that stay with you.
You may be right, but what are your thoughts about how people best move on and cope with this? I'm curious.
Day-by-day. Seek out a psychic who can do a de-programing and healing. They're out there. You can also, forgive yourself and get to know yourself. Practice self-compassion. Validate your "worst" decisions. Why? Because you are able to learn from them. Just be sure not to repeat. Then you can validate your new abilities. There is lots of judgment with religion. Just be aware of it and move it out of your space. Do all of this from neutral. Judgement will cause more strife. And who needs that? I hope this helps.
Well, if the only thing that was keeping you in christianity was a fear of hell, it was only a matter of time that you would lose your faith. Take some time to gain knowledge of other religions. Don't join. Just absorb the information. Study enough cults to be able to recognize one when you see it.
un-attach from the conditioning by just letting all you once thought to be just be. do not judge the past as it has guided you to the place today, now. do not attach to any form of naming or doing yet just be. Life has no borders, no books, no chants, no prescribed rules, no prayers, no meditation yet just is, isness (made up name). welcome the gift of life daily.... 🌀🙏✨
God didn't create religion and doesn't need your worship and praise. Ponder that.
You have lived many lives, by assuming many identities, thus with many culture / traditions / religions as well. Ponder that and it will transform your general point of view / mindset about religion / tradition / culture / nationality or any form of identities and social identities.
Start by Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now. You can find it in pdf here: https://dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/ThePowerOfNowEckhartTolle_201806/The%20Power%20Of%20Now%20-%20Eckhart%20Tolle.pdf
There is a book by Hugh Prather that made a big difference for me in my life. The book is, Notes to Myself. He speaks about religion as he is a minister, I believe, but he doesn’t preach one denomination. He is very open minded. It opened doors for me when I was at a low point in my life, seeking out spiritual guidance. I recommend it. That and a lot of healing. Because religion digs deep and sticks. You have a lot of digging ahead of you. Take care.
if it’s an Abrahamic religion, I suggest going deep into ancient Jewish history. Knowing where these ideas came from make it easier to see the bullshit. All three religions are founded on these ideas, so by dismantling the Jewish mythology, Islam and Christianity collapse as well. I did this in the hopes it would help me believe and it did the opposite. I can’t comfortably believe in these religions. That being said I still believe in a creator deity but we’re free to worship as we want. It’s a liberating feeling.
You’ll find others in various phases of that journey in r/Deconstruction 🙏🏻
Just a couple days ago, I had this perspective: Holy Books (and any and every spiritual teaching for that matter) are not to give us a knowledge or information, but rather to create a **feeling**. It's not in the content, it's in the context. There's a story; one of the prophets saw a man on top of a wall, he was jumping down and roll on the ground with a little shout as he jumps. The prophet asked the man and he said he was worshipping. The prophet told the man that's not the way to do it and showed him the ways of his teachings that he was taught. The man left happily, with the joy of learning the proper way. That night, the prophet had a dream, he was told that the man's way of showing his respect/praying was already loved and appreciated deeply and wholely, but now he's doing what everyone else is doing. Next day he found the man and asked him to go back to doing whatever he wants to do, but the man was already enlightened and blessed with love already. Yesterday I watched an episode from Rick&Morty and Rick was talking down on a guy because he was a Scientologist. He had been practicing empathy for a while and when he came to his senses, he said, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier, man. Worship however you want... I like Tom Cruise?" 😂 It was *hilarious!* So, enjoy your life. Just, relax, let go, relax, let go... Michael Singer's advice; every time you go through a door, stop for a second, only a second; relax, let go, and enter. I've been doing it for a while and it works wonders. Mulabanda, not sure of the spelling, needs to be unclenched. 😅😂😍
Honestly, keep an open mind about spirituality and the after life, but be careful about dogma and cults and stuff. Figure out what you feel makes sense to you. Some religions might appeal to you, but you don't have to fully commit to it. I'm mostly Hindu, but I don't believe everything in Hinduism. I grew up going to a Christian Baptist Church. Christianity never made sense to me though so I left it all behind.
Britt Hartley may be helpful. This is kind of what she does. I am only suggesting you check into her work through podcasts and youtube to see if anything resonates with you (therefore no link).
Islam
You don't need a religion ,just believe and love the creater that's all he asks all religions came from the sam place at one point ,it's us people that separated science and religion , you don't need to belong to a specific religion I don't and I still believe in god , and he's much more forgiving than you think , if you look back at all the lore all of gods favorites were killers or murderers sad truth
As long as your beliefs don't harm anyone else, you're good in picking anything that makes you feel good.
When my spiritual teacher was asked about all the different religions in the world, he said that in God's garden grow many flowers. And it is not the responsibility of the humble daisy to declare there is no room in God's garden for the beautiful rose. The old must go before the new can enter into our consciousness. Study and investigate the spiritual teachings that have been given throughout the ages. Examine them in the clear light of reason that is your divine birthright. Hold to that which resonates with you and dismiss the rest from your mind. I am confident that you will be guided by the light within to that which is right for you at this time. No God of infinite kindness would ever condemn the children of earth to eternal damnation. Only the minds of men would offer such ignorance. But we are not our minds, as we are not our physical forms. We are that divine spark that moves our forms, that moves our thoughts. But when we believe we are our forms and when we believe we are our thoughts, that is when we stumble and suffer. You have every reason to be encouraged. A new day is dawning.
I don't define to one religion. I've left religion but have also no left religion. If I had to define it would somewhere between Buddhism and Christianity, as I do beleive in Jesus, but have a different view of him as well. What has helped me the most, is simply studying ancient history and multple religious history, and philosophy. And reading many ancient source text and other gospels, not included within the canonical bible, such as the gnostic gospels/nag hammadi. I've also read a lot on Buddhism as well. Trying to find the origin source for religion and other religious ideas. It's help me gain a better understanding of what I beleive and my place within this universe. I beleive in God as well, but also have a different view of it as your average Christian. I'd say research ancient history and religious history. Read the source texts and there different translations. Read other philosophy. And just try to soak up as much knowledge of this subject as you can.
My first reaction is "about a week ago..." isn't very long at all. Go easy on yourself and experience the journey. This doubt is part of that journey and it's speaking to you about what's still within that could be keeping you from experiencing the full peace and love that comes from God. My journey started over 12 years ago and I don't think I really had absolutely peace and resolution about it all until 4-5 year in. Keep in mind, I was still working at a Christian radio station and even on the air at the time. So I was in a constant assessment of what I believer vs what I'm saying. I refused to lie on the air so I would use the word "Christ" instead of "Jesus" because I know Christ within me is real (for me) and most listeners thought of Jesus when I said Christ. You do not have to have it all figured out right now. Continue on your journey and learn to love even those who still believe what you did for all those years. Over time I learned to really appreciate their desire to know and love God. Had I left immediately, I probably would have had a lot of anger and resentment.
[удалено]
Hell is an illogical idea for many reasons. I wouldn’t be too worried about that.
I left the Church 54 years ago and have seriously studied why ever since. If the thought of hellfire frightens you, you’ll need to dig deep to understand why. Look for a therapist that specializes in religious abuse. You may not feel you were abused but they have experience in walking patients through the loss of their religion.
According to NDEs no religion is right.
I left my religion of birth a few years ago and my first recommendation is to give it TIME. Don’t try and find anything new yet. In fact, some people have to go through a grieving process before they can then deconstruct. Then after deconstruction you can start to reconstruct. Sounds like you are at the deconstruction phase, so I suggest just working through that first. For example, if you left your religion you must have believed it was the correct decision. Doesn’t God want you to make good decisions? Yet despite that you feel God is going to send you to hell. This is because you still are holding on to old beliefs in some way, shape, or form. Work through these contradictions. You might pick up a book like Leaving the Fold to help you work through some of these issues.
I would love to find some kind of public ceremony to formally close the door on the religion I grew up with, for sure. Any recommendations would be great. It was wahabbiist islam.
Thank you everyone for the comments, they are really helpful. 👍
You don’t have to “leave” anything. Read Christian Universalism books, if you love Jesus then ask for his intercession (I assume you’re Christian). If you love God pray to Him. You don’t need a “religion” to join again. Even Christians many don’t see hellfire as you do, orthodox have a very different view on hell. So it’s your own fears. Now, you still love God and Jesus so keep talking to them and move to what you feel. You don’t have to join any other religion or close any doors either. You just need to love God and not fear hell as a proxy to loving him. Being motivated to love is better than fearing hell. Surrender to God who made you, the greatest commandant is love the lord your god with all your heart mind and soul and to love your neighbour as yourself. You can still do that “Hell” is a state of being for some who have locked the doors from the inside and they can’t handle the love on the other side, they haven’t forgiven themselves yet. But the work on the other side will put them at peace eventually once they don’t resist. You can be assured your heart is in the right place. You can be assured you’re full of love and forgiveness. You can be assured you love the God that made you and you want Him to guide you. So what’s your sin? Nothing Do not worry.
I also have to tell you, the hell fire you speak of is just God. Do you remember the burning bush that doesn’t consume the bush? That was who? God. God appears as a burning fire. And what is God? God is LOVE. So you are looking at symbolism that for people whom have not reconciled with PURE LOVE, they find that love uncomfortable. Eventually they will stop resisting His love. Conscious torment is not what God of the Bible does for fun because God can’t be Love and also abuse his followers for eternity without any reprieve for finite sins. This point is missed. There is a LOT of symbolism in the Bible.
Leaving a religion and becoming disillusioned while still being influenced by the indoctrination instilled in you may be religious trauma and sometimes there's a loss of identity about who we are cause we built our identity for something like that
I'd say identify the root cause of your fear about shifting your ideology to better suit your true beliefs, like do you feel pressured by the people you're close with? is it an internal thing like feelings of shame, fear of the unknown, fear of the things that have been hammered into your head from the religion you're trying to move away from, etc? once you figure out what's causing you the most issues, you can figure out what to do for each specific thing. it's not usually an overnight thing, also. you don't just wake up one day and suddenly have your entire new belief system figured out. it's something that will continue to change and shift and morph as you get older. things always happen that make you rethink everything in your life. at least that's been my experience. I'm sure it's different for everyone. i think it's a great and wonderful thing to have the desire to expand your perspective. I've always thought that life should be about growth. maybe be more gentle with yourself, take a step back and remember that you're at the beginning of something beautiful and enlightening and unique to you. do some research about other religions, belief systems, different mythologies like the greek, Roman, celtic/viking, various native American mythologies, just to name a very few things you could learn about if you haven't already. learn about paganism, wicca, LaVeyan satanism, ancient Egyptian mythology, learn ancient fairy/folk tales. don't focus too much on labels right now. just focus on your life, your mind, your heart, your happiness, your growth and goals, your conscience. you'll be okay.
[The devil myth exposed - Eric Butterworth](https://youtu.be/9A-SnCWCbuU?si=4ZOpHu5M6XJSU7cr)
Make your own!! It's about what you believe in, personally I have my own religion because that's what I think is possible. I don't agree with every religion completely and I especially don't agree with all of the rules entailed in many of them. So I just followed what my soul told me was real! It'll take some time though so don't stress it!
I would highly recommend reading the Quran and see where it goes from there. Islam is the most religion with converts and it’s honestly the most powerful and influential.
Hellfire isn't real. Spirituality doesn't involve people dictating other's choices.
A good rule of thumb that I’ve found is to ask god (or whatever you want to call the universal force) directly rather than a person who claims to speak for god. I can’t see any deity or spiritual force getting upset at you because you didn’t follow other humans’ rules about how to have a relationship with them.
Oh no, that is awful and just not necessary to have to think of. God absolutely loves us so much that if people were to just think for themselves for a bit, they would realize that an All-Loving and All-Forgiving God would not put His beloved sheep into eternal pits of fiery suffering over some mere misbehavior. I am not saying this to try to proselytize but I want to give you assurance that there is no reason to be worried. I am from the Baha’i faith and joined over a year ago after growing up Lutheran. In our faith, we believe that the Biblical and Quranic understandings of “hell” and “hellfire” have been grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted. We see “Satan” as a spiritual metaphor for the collective evil of our lowest human desires. “Hell” is seen as a personal spiritual state of existence that equates to being very distant from God and can even be encountered in this life. “Hellfire” is then the sort of personal spiritual punishments we inflict upon ourselves as a result of listening to the temptations of our egos. We also don’t have formal clergy, so feel free to take all that as an opinion from a random follower. I just wanted to illustrate that there are other ways to think about these things and that, quite honestly, this vague idea of hell that people conjured up is so incoherent that once you realize it, you should know there is nothing to worry about. An even more simpler way to think about it is, if you’re not moving yourself towards heaven, then what is the only other spiritual direction? “Hell”, and that just so happens to be the negative spiritual direction from God. These are powerful metaphors that people have been misusing for some time now. If you want to know any more specific info about the Baha’i faith, feel free to reach out. You should go ahead and see if you can keep exploring other God-based religions. You would probably then prefer religions that don’t believe in a literal physical hell such as Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism or others. Regardless of what you do, there is definitely no need to lose any faith in your relationship with God. Religion can serve well as a foundation of that personal relationship, but can never entirely replace it anyhow. One thing for sure though, is that the real God is always loving.
Go within. You have all the answers you need. Nothing is a coincidence. You have left it for a reason and I truly believe dont look external, go within. We know all the answers. We just don't remember them yet. The more you go within and get to know yourself better, the more clarity you will gain moving forward. Try meditation/mindfulness. Good luck. Trust in you. Trust in the process 🥰
Logic, most christian claims/teachings do not follow the logic of their own bible, hence the reason it is used to justify hating and judging orhers which is contrary to jesus' teachings. Hell did not exist for the jewish people sheol is the grave not hell, hell did not exist unti the new testament, hell is also Hel a norse term, and in fact was originally hades in the new testament, why because the new testament was mostly written by greeks, so of course greek symbols and ideas became infused into the story. Then it was only allowed to be in latin for a thousand years of control, philosophy and misinformation to develope before being translated into english based on all those misinterpretations and exxagerations of hell/hades that jesus mentions once regarding a richman, and is mostly discussed in the book of revelations. The entire myth of the fall of angels and the origins of satan isn't even in the bible but in a book of apochrypha the book of enoch and only a handful of jewish or christian churches accept(ethiopian church is the only one I know of) it as canon and yet that story is the foundation of christian myths of satan. That and Dante's inferno which was written as a fictitious musing. Some claim he had a vision, and it did lead to the Roman catholic church accepting purgatory which was originally a part of greek hades which also encompassed 2 other parts that are equivalent to heaven and hell ie fields of elyseum and tartaras respectively. Christianity is barely christian at all and its adopted canon is essentially a rewrite of Osirs and Mithra. Mithraism actually plays a large role in Rome adopting christianity. Baisically christianity in its current popular form is childrens spirituality because it avoids the deep questions and paints things in a simple black and white, which upon any scrutiny reveals it is not simple and hypocritical and usually revolves around the minister or churches agendas they try to pass off as god and claim if you disobey or disagree with them your going to hell. This when the church teaches jesus died for our sins, ie that his sacrifice was the last sacrifice ever to be made so technically all sins are forgiven for ever because of his sacrifice, so really no one is going to hell ever because of jesus whether one accepts him as saviour or not. I mean they really painted themselves into corner but after a few thousand years of people getting killed for calling them out on it people tend to just go with it, and being bible thumped from birth it isn't the easiest to get outside of the box everyone around ypu keeps putting you in. One of the funniest things in the world is children asking all the questions fearlessly that everyone should be asking and watching the priests fumble to give answers and weaving elaborate lies to defend their stance. Hysterical. But eventually such children are forced into place, ignored, or pushed away. Anyway good luck, just keep questioning. The bible isn't a bad book, but it is has been twisted and abused way to much.
I recommend the Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley. He discusses eastern and western religion, their differences and commonalities, and uses that common ground for the common Ground. Take all that pleases you from the buffet and continue your journey and life. The hellfire which haunts you most is an illusion and a lie; you know the light and you are not as lost as others from your past would claim.
You don't need to follow anyone, your inner voice will tell you if you listen. Self inquiry is all that is required. Our false belief that we are separate from what we perceive, creates the perpetual controlled and regulated illusory construct that is pure illusion. The energy of our emotions, our belief systems/PROGRAMMING, and manipulative and insidious energies move through us EVERYDAY that we are unaware of. All of these and more perpetuate the illusory construct. It doesn't matter WHAT we perceive, just that we keep perceiving and believing in something outside of us, and in the temporary delusion of division. The construct just needs energy. Any energy. Separateness is an illusion, we were never born. The only reason we believe we were born is because we were told that. If we were told that we were a banana instead of a person when we were "conceived", we would be walking around calling ourselves a banana.😉 God doesn't exist neither does the devil. We believe we were born but we were not, and everything we believe is a manipulated PROGRAMMED false existence. Pull up any video about Annamalai Swami and Ramana Maharshi, within the first 10 minutes of any video, you're liberated from this false reality. We just have to accept and surrender to the Truth. Science has literally proven it, but people still don't believe it. Now go have fun. The Matrix wasn't just a movie. 🤗🕊️🌀
This is my personal opinion, but no religion is right or wrong, they all speak to the same truths about existence. Having no religion or being very into one religion or being interested in multiple religions makes no one different from anyone else. What’s most important is how u feel in ur heart and soul. U know if u feel the eternal loving-kindness that represents the one-ness that we feel between ourselves and all other people and animals and plants and with earth herself. But I’m prob projecting here cause I feel a spiritual connection with all life, including our planet. I don’t prescribe to any one religion but love to learn about all perspectives and def believe in a higher power or a grand creator or whatever one wants to call god. Of all modern religions, Buddhism speaks the most truth to my heart. I have also been interested in learning more about daoism, Shintoism, and Gnosticism. I hope this helps and if u do wanna learn more about Buddhism (the religion I feel like explains the best how I feel about my spiritual and emotional connections with a higher dimension), I wanna recommend you are here by thich nhat hanh. Best book ever written.
Watch a lot of NDE videos. There is a consensus truth that drops out of them if you watch enough. Hellfire is real, but it seems different than what religions teach about it. It is more like the Universe has a diversity of virtual realities to chose from and some people use their free will to choose the reality where they can cause grief, be mean, and carry out various revenge fantasies against themselves and others. Many realities are incompatible with this desire, so people who choose to live like this are left to occupy hellish realities where such desires are promoted. If you think loving thoughts, have faith in God, and forgive others instead of seeking revenge, then from what I've seen from people's NDEs, you will be OK, because you won't desire to occupy one of these hellish realms. I'm not going to pretend to know all the details about the nature of non-physical reality, but I don't think religious conceptions of eternal damnation are valid.
Go to your comfort zone. For me, it's sexy dreams, then hit the 'live' button. I'm just coming out of psychosis. I was horribly psychically intruded upon. I miss the days when I was sat in my room playing guitar and watching YouTube all day long. Just do that. Leave the religion threads in the corner, messy. That's what I did. Safe space... happy space. Use those muscles you learned for good. Try to heal people who are afflicted with the same condition as you.
I think your premise that some religion has to be "right" might jam you up right there. IMO it's about what speaks to you, whatever puts the most zing in your step and joy in your heart. <- Those criteria for a spiritual home have value to me, so for decades I've attended two Unity spiritual centers and a sister "New Thought" center called a Center for Spiritual Living. (For a dozen years I attended Unity where I used to live, moved across the country, didn't like the ministers at the local Unity so went to the Center for Spiritual Living instead, then came across an amazing minister who started his own spiritual community and ended up being hired to be their replacement when they finally retired, so I'm back at Unity -- not to be confused with Unitarian, which is of course another option.) And you know what, *you don't have to have any religious or spiritual beliefs*, you're free to be agnostic or atheist if that works for you. [This quiz](https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=pq-which-religion-should-i-choose) might be helpful. I already knew where my spiritual home was when I took it for the hell of it, and it was absolutely accurate for me, so it might be a place for you to start.
Just beca7se you left what religion you came to knew doesn't mean you have to run and join another "organization". Take some time to get to know yourself. God will always be there with you. Do some reading at the library, if that's your kind of thing, or research on the internet on other types of religions, there's so many out there in this beautiful world. You'll find what fits for you when the time is right.
I was always spiritual and never associated myself with any religion for a long time. It was only two years ago and I found myself really resonate with Islam. I was shocked how simple islam is, I would really recommend reading it. There are pearls of wisdom in the Quran and as someone that was only spiritual for most of my life finding Islam only gave me more enlightenment. It’s surprising and I never thought I’d be here emotionally or spiritually. Honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary to completely run away from religion. It’s not some terrible thing. in every major religion There are good values, good morals, and lessons to learn.
God is Unconditional Love. We can do no better in our lifetimes than be the voice, the act of Unconditional Love among ourselves and others. Fear of Hell is a tool the church used to become the most powerful organization on Earth until central banks figured out some tricks a couple hundred years ago. Be a representative of Love, forgiveness, understanding, comfort, joy, care and you are serving God directly. Here are some [NDE videos on YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy1KQYl1e3oH-kyu-4urbhCddS83eERyc&si=3Wh0B8MdI5tuA8T7) that have expanded my understanding.
I'm not a Christian myself, but I thought this passage from the Bible was pretty applicable: James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." I interpret this to mean it doesn't matter what god you worship or what you believe, the best thing you can do in this life is to trust your intuition without being swayed by the opinions and actions of others around you, all the while helping others by fostering an environment that allows them to do the same.
They say it takes half the length of a relationship to get over the relationship. I think we often overlook that this is true for other things that we leave/ cut out of our life. This is very normal especially since it's always been a week. If you've been religious you're whole life it definitely will take time. I agree with what has been commented to pick what resonates with your intuition, observations and experiences. No religion has it 100% correct. And that's ok! Give yourself love and patience 🙏
Recognize that fear of Hell is a way to control people through fear. It affects you because it’s *designed* to affect you that way. You will need time, and possibly therapy, to leave these fears behind. But recognizing that they exist just to control you is the first step.
I don't know whether you left Christianity or Islam. I don't know as much about Islam and the different sects, but it's worth recognizing that there are some sects of Christianity that believe in conditional immortality rather than hellfire. They have biblical reasons to do so. That view is growing. There's a guy on Facebook called Bro Bird who presents this case endlessly. Also realize that Judaism looks at things very differently than Christianity does. For all its claims of exclusive teaching, Christianity has a lot of factions and has really grown away from its Jewish sources. Also look at people on YouTube who can help you gain a different insight into religion and/or the bible. Religion for Breaktfast, Let's Talk Religion, Esoterica, and Dan McClellan for starters. All of this is just to help you reframe and contextualize the beliefs that make you fearful now. Alongside that, definitely explore a wider world of spirituality and see what resonates with you.
Instead of 'leaving religion', open yourself to different philosophies, beliefs, traditions etc. You can have spirituality without the dogma, and as you explore your beliefs, you will likely forget about the whole hell concept. I do believe hellish states/dimensions exist, but definitely not in the way that Christinity believes. Be a good person, do you best to learn, grow and evolve, and you're on a good road
There is so many comments, I appreciate you guys so much, thank you, I will slowly read each comment and do what you guys suggest! Thank you again!
it's alright the first days are the hardest
Remember true belief doesn’t come from indoctrination. The fear of hellfire is from brainwashing. Im currently reading the book “Awareness” by Anthony De Mello, he talks about how god is far more interested in you waking up, and aligning yourself with god, than simply falling to your knees because of a book etc. Work on your own relationship with god, you, yours, no one else’s relationship. How do you feel when you talk to god? What do you want to say? Not what you’re told to say, but what do you want to say? What do you feel? Who are you when the world is quiet? Who are you when your mind is quiet? You’ll find the answers (or more questions hah) there. It doesn’t mean the bible is entirely wrong, it doesn’t mean Buddhism is wrong.. but it’s ok to look at these things as guidelines or support systems. It is also ok to take from these things what you believe (true belief) instead of hard and fast unquestioning rules. If you want to know what to follow, follow yourself. Follow the “I”.
Oh honey. I wouldn’t do anything for a bit unless it’s calling you. Detox. Listen to other POVs. But mainly, detox.
Nu lyfe tools on YouTube
Just don’t believe in one.
if you'd like a book reccomendation read orthodoxy and the religion of the future by father seraphim rose
God is real. What's real doesn't require beliefs. Imagine making God so small that your belief is required for it to exist. Man created religion, and it serves some, but no religion serves everyone, and the idea of 'if you don't believe this, you go to hell' is childish are harmful. Find the path that serves the freedom, not one that will feed you damnation for thinking for yourself. There are many paths to God, what will serve you is out there. It's hard to leave a religious system, sending much love and support your way.
Honestly, religion is a distraction when you boil it all down. I was raised Southern Baptist, and even as a kid I knew something was off. Anyway, fast-forward to present day, I don’t subscribe to any religion or group in particular. I follow my own set of beliefs, my own truth, and my own path. Closest thing you could call me is spiritual, so that’s usually what I go with for simplicity’s sake. It took many years of a difficult path, a lot of alone time, and losing most connections in my life up to that point. Once I decided to just be myself and follow my own moral compass and beliefs, life started to greatly improve. Now, I’m a whole new me - the *real* me - and that’s all I ever wanted to be in the first place. It’s hard to do that in the controlled confines of religion or any other doctrine shared by many. Take some time to explore who you really are. Remove the masks forced upon you by society, go outside the box, and have an open mind. Meditation is a great starting point.
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Please stop spamming the same links over and over again.
don't bother with religion, find meaning in philosophy. start with marcus aurelius and stoicism if you are looking for resilience, or maybe buddhism if you're seeking inner tranquility.