Deidre

I did. When I left Christianity five or so years ago, and identified as an atheist for a time, I started reading up on it. Explored it, even. I found out a few years ago from my father, that we are part middle eastern (I always thought I was Italian and Irish, but come to learn my grandfather was middle eastern). and the culture, food, music, etc has always intrigued me, and in my reading about Islam, I started to develop an interest in Sufism. (a mystical approach to Islam) But, my interest in Islam was short lived, yet I find that Sufism still holds an interest for me.

Not qualified, but it would be interesting to teach a particular faith or set of spiritual beliefs to others. But, can faith be ''taught?'' Maybe the basic tenets of it, but beyond that, not sure much else can be 'taught.'' It's probably why I don't attend any one particular church all that often, because why is someone else's interpretation of faith, more relevant than how I view God, or my faith?

I agree, but at the end of the day, it's all subjective. Faith will always be subjective, no matter what the faith beliefs are. To me, I believe it is my truth, but my truth won't necessarily be yours. And vice versa. I don't get hung up on worrying what others believe, so long as their faith beliefs don't intrude into my life, or try to force me to believe what they do. I think that is a problem with many Christians, specifically, but not all Christians think alike.

So sorry to hear this, sending you hugs.

It makes total sense. I appreciate you sharing this. It's about what makes sense to us, what makes us feel complete maybe? Not sure if that's quite the right word, but...it only matters to follow your own heart. Ancient Greece seems to have beautiful rituals and traditions. Do you follow any particular set of ''traditions'' or anything that stands out from other faiths?

I agree that religion is not needed. I don't consider myself as "religious," but I'm knowledgeable about religions. I will agree that no one needs a religion or religious institution to be the go between when it comes to having a relationship with God. Think the main problem with religion in general is that many religious people seek to intrude into the government etc with their views. Not just Christians. Since Islam is growing at a significant rate I see it surpassing Christianity, and it will be interesting if Sharia Law tries to wedge its way into government. Time will tell.

That's true. But sometimes an atheist answers ''I'm an agnostic atheist,'' which really...agnosticism has to do with a place of knowledge, in other words...the atheist isn't certain that a god doesn't exist, but believes that one doesn't exist based on the lack of evidence. Some call themselves spiritual atheists, and on and on it goes. The thing is that when it comes to faith, spirituality, religion (not all are the same), people's ''relationships'' with their beliefs or their God or gods, will always be personal, and will vary from person to person. I don't think it's a bad thing, but I don't make up my own rules about Christianity, for example, there are obviously principles that I adhere to, but it's still a relationship between me and God, you know? Not for someone on the outside of my life to ''decide.''

lol! That's funny. When I left Christianity, a few of my Christian friends said ''you'll always be a Christian,'' and one other one said ''you were never a true Christian.'' It's pretty arrogant when ''friends'' tell you who they think you are, I lost a few ''friends'' during that time. So you were once a Calvinist, I don't know too much about Calvinism.

Who defines it, I guess is the better question. Are you defining it for someone else? Generically speaking, following Jesus would be good enough of a defintion for me, but I don't even need the label. Often times, if someone asks me my beliefs or if I'm spiritual, etc...I tend to answer, ''I believe in what Jesus taught, and try to follow His teachings.'' His teachings are what I feel comfortable as a guide to my life, but that's not to say it's not hard. You were once a Christian...the sum total of Christianity in my opinion, is forgiveness. There's a lot of white noise that gets in the way, but I don't think anyone can tell someone else...''you're not a Christian,'' etc. Many Christians feel that gay people shouldn't be a part of the church because they're living in sin. But, I don't see it that way...does that make me not a Christian? I believe that every believer's life and what he/she does is between them and God, and not for me to judge. That's the trouble with where Christianity has gone though, there are a lot of judges pointing fingers telling people they're not real Christians, but who are they to judge, you know? What makes one an atheist? Not all atheists think alike either. And again, who is defining it? Faith, spirituality, etc...it's not an exact science, it's based on the believer's experiences and subjective point of view. Everyone on this site has a different story as to why they left faith, there might be commonalities in the stories that overlap, but everyone's story is unique.

i guess I don't understand why if someone finds Christianity to be meaningless for him/her, why that same person assumes everyone should just take their opinions as facts and also find it meaningless?

I am trying, actually. Following Jesus doesn't mean someone will be sin free, or perfect. It means striving... Wow, we all seem to interpret Scripture differently. lol