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I dont follow any religion. Religion is just a way of manifesting the idea of “faith”. If u believe in urself, then thats ur religion. Its basically the principles u believe in. God, ultimately isnt a lot of different people. God is what u put ur faith in. Religions, in my opinion, are formed from doctrines laid down by preachers. So when u adopt a religion, u are adopting someone’s faith, and agreeing with it, and choosing to believe in it.
And no, I dont think religion should be made a part of politics, simply because it twists a lot of things to subjective suitability, and divides people based on difference in faith, killing any tolerance.

I have been bought up as a Jehovah’s witness and I would not recommend it to anyone who likes to think for themselves.

Religion is based on belief and not fact. Politics is based on the real world. There are standards that can help the world but shouldn’t be forced on anyone.

I’m agnostic, and that basically means, that I don’t care about religions…
Some believe it’s a matter of faith, but I need evidence of things, and I don’t find any evidence that says me that God exists, or doesn’t exist…
Therefore, I don’t really care about it, since we’ll all know if there’s a God or not when we die, and till that, I want to spend my time living a good life, without worrying about things like those…
And, religions have always been mixed up with politics…always…although, in some cases it would better if they didn’t…

I’m a Neopagan, this means I’m weird. Seriously though, we are a bunch of generally unaffiliated individuals and very small groups (think about 3-15 people.) Most are panthiests although we have a few panenthiests, theists, deists & even some agnostics in our numbers. We have little or no formal doctrine or (for want of a better word) scripture. We express our spirituality through reconstructionist pre-Christian religion and do not generally preclude other faiths.
I do not have any quarrel with other religions excepting when they try to influence my thoughts or actions as a result of their faith and am very concerned with the way some followers of mainstream faiths (well… any faith come to think of it) have a habit of indoctrinating children into their faith while the child is at an impressionable age where it will believe anything. I also take issue with the Dawkins crowd (evangelist-athiests) who constantly harrass people of any religion seemingly requiring them to justify their beliefs. My belief is my own and I do not ask others to share it with me or use my ideas against them, if they want a debate on an academic level then that’s fine if I have the time but if they get personal I’m not interested.
As a sideline note my particular branch of Neopaganism is Witchcraft, I’m a Hedgewitch. I mention that with trepidation because that usually gets me associated with the teenage, gothic ‘I want to be Buffy the vampire slayer’ crowd. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them I’m just sick of being mistaken for them, people get the wrong idea very quickly.
As for should religion be mixed with politics? NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

Christian Here, As Of 22/8/08.

Just because I’m a nosey git could you write why you came to religion and Christianity in particular, what it means to you and where you intend to go with it? If you have time of course, that sort of thing can take a lot of space ;)

I recommend reading books by Daniel Quinn (espcially The Story of B). He’s pretty good at making you look at religion in a way that will change you forever.

I will say that I don’t believe that I need “saving.” Saviorist religions came about when people started suffering on a large scale by the hands of other people. When they thought they didn’t have the power to save themselves, a man named Moses strolled down the mountainside to tell them they didn’t have to… and for some reason people bought into it and its just spiraled out of control since then.

As far as politics go, I don’t think religion should play a role unless you live somewhere that has a relgio-political system. In which case, while I don’t necessarily agree with the set-up, it should play a role. I’ll play my role by not living there.

I Became A Christian Because I Had No Meaning In My Life, I’d Been Kicked Out My Band, I Argued W/ My Parents Loads, I Felt So Empty & Numb, Nobody Knew Who I Was, I Felt Like I Sucked At Eveything I Used To Think I Was Good At, I’d Never Had A Gf, I’m Overweight..
I Was Invited By A Friend To A Christian Camp, & Some Other Friends Were Going, & It Was Only Like £80 For A Week Of Kayaking, Bmxing & Stuff So I Said Yes.
We Had An Evening Meeting, & A Guy Called Gavin Calver Really Touched Me Over The 2 Nights He Spoke, I Really Connected W/ Him, His Parents Were Christians But He Walked Away From God, As Am I. He Said That God Loved Me, I Could Leave My Past Behind & Be Forgiven, I Would Have Meaning In Life, I Could Have Eternal Life & That Jesus Died For Me, So I Could Be Forgiven, & God Gave His Only Son, The Only Perfect Human Being, To Die, So That I Could Be Saved, & Jesus Willingly Took My Place. He Said He Saw A Future Where Moulds Would Be Broken, The World Would Come To Know God, & Our Generation Would Stand Up And Be Counted, & He Spoke Of His Anguish At The Fact People Were Being Told To Leave Church, Because They Were Different, He & His Best Fried Were Kicked Out Of Sunday School & His Friend Has Never Been In A Church Since, Except For His Wedding. So It Means A Lot To Me, That I Can Change The World, That Jesus Died For Me, & God Loves Me Always, No Matter What I Do. & My Plans For It, Well I’m Expected To Get A Good Profession, But I Feel My Future Is In A Christian Band/A Preacher, To Spread The Words I Heard Those 2 Nights. & Sorry For Being So Long-Winded XD

See, I just don’t get it…

If that’s what it takes for you to feel your life has meaning, then I’m happy for you. I’m not trying to say that it’s all nonsense. But I honestly cannot fathom that mindset.

I’ve felt down at times, like my life was pointless and directionless, etc., but I’ve never felt that I needed to be forgiven for anything, or that some guy had to die 2000 years ago so that I could have access to that forgiveness.

I don’t really want to continue with the post, because I don’t want to come across as offensive to you or your religious views, I guess its best I stop.