What do you believe in - and why?

[Pandora]

I dont know what I believe, but something along the lines of the Judeo-Christian ethic. Oh dear which I've just looked up in wikipedia and thats not what I mean at all. Just that there are elements common to both religions that I identify with.

Hmm. I was educated at Catholic schools from p-12 but my family never went to Church other than for sacraments. So sometimes I wouldnt go at all in 12 months unless it was a school related thing.

In yr12 I took a VCE RE subject becuase it would give me extra credit toweards my TER score, and found that while I didnt necessarily agree with everything Catholicism had to offer, I was rather interested in Theology in general and have since done some research in to a few different religions.
I also discovered at this time that I had Jewish ancestry on my mothers side.

My kids arent Baptised and this does not sit well with me at all, but DH being an aethiest I also dont want him to get up and make a hippocrite of himself by saying he believes in XYZ when he does not. And its very difficult to get a child Baptised when your married to their father and he doesnt believe anything you do. *sigh*

Anyway I believe that theres a God, I belive Jesus existed but Im not sure he was the Messiah.
Christianity and Judaism are the religions I most closesly align with but Im not sure I can 100% commit myself to either one.
I hope one day that I can, because at the moment I feel rather isolated and alone, and I long for that sense of community and belonging.

ETA: I think one of the biggest issues for me, and its probably the inner scientist coming out, is the idea of belief without question. I dont think I'm capable of devotion without question, and thats what a lot or organised religion, Christian or otherwise, demands.

[Mummato2]

I was brought up in a lax Catholic family, baptised Catholic etc.....went to Catholic schools.

I loved the Christian upbringing but didn't like the traditional ways of the Catholic church. To me it seemed like they were focussed on practising traditions rather than what the bible says. I also found them extremely judgemental.

I married DH and he was brought up in a Born Again Christian family and to be completely honest - I can't support their beliefs and DH felt as though he was "brainwashed" growing up and didn't want to be part of it anymore when he left home.

So when we had our kids I was torn. I wanted them to be brought up with a faith, but it's no good if DH and I didn't 100% support our religions.

I started reading and researching and decided to try an Anglican church. I loved that it was almost identical to the Catholic beliefs with none of the crap that came with being a Catholic. I loved that they were progressive as well.

So both kids are baptised Anglican and both DH and I will be getting confirmed next year.

[boobaloo]

it's so great to see no controversy here!

i was raised fairly catholic, christened/first holy communion etc, and i went to catholica primary and secondary schools. my mum believes in god, but we never went to church, she's more a private believer.

my dp was raised very catholic, a lot of his uncles are priests, and religion has played a huge part of his life.
we got our children baptised, i think more for the tradition than anything. we also got it done at a brilliant church that was more about welcoming the baby into the community than the whole 'original sin' thing.

i am not really a believer in anything, i'd like to think that living a good life and being kind to others will get me through the pearly gates if they exist.
i also believe that on the other side, we will all be reunited with our loved ones, and i hope that we will forever live in our own utopia.

i don't particularly like organised religion, and i loath being preached at. it has caused numerous fights in my extended family, as some members are still very religious.
i think we all need to respect eachother, the earth, the animals to create a harmonious existance in this life.