I know what you mean, that's WHY I'm not "of any religion"...I just wanted to rate your question back up cos some weenie rated it down w/o comment.

I really don't mind it. Everyone has their own version of the supreme being. It's a very personal thing and if you can't relate to what you belive it will have no meaning to you. As for it being a waste having Faith is never a waste. As Ossininian said to St.Patrick "My brother, all paths lead to the same place."

I'm not very religious, but I am spiritual. I don't mind differences in beliefs, as long as they are not imposed upon me. Everyone needs to believe in something and as long as they are leading positive lives, no harm done and nothing wasted.

Very true. That is why if you're going to adoptt a religion you should carry out thorough and critical comparison tests. After all if you are particular about your car you wouldn't just buy any old car. And don't judge any religion by its bad followers. You wouldn't judge a car by a bad driver would you? Look at the rule books of the religions, their scriptures. The question is hinting that "to be religious is to throw away all common sense". That is a sweeping generalisation, and as such it is flawed. The HQ is a religious book yet it appeals to the common sense. It has many statements, scattered throughout its pages, ending with the question - do/will you/they not understand? These invite the reader to reflect upon the statements. In several places the HQ throws challenges with words such as consider, give thought, contemplate, reflect, seek to understand. In other places it makes statements addressed to men of understanding and men of wisdom. A popular axiom says that every rule has an exception. Perhaps the HQ is an exception to the question's implied rule that "To be religious is to throw away all common sense" salaam eleikom (that's the greeting of Muslims everywhere, and of Jesus too)

That's one of the reasons why I'm not of any religion. I'd feel slightly stupid knowing that my religion, the most important thing in my life, could be completely different if I happened to be born somewhere else in the world. Yet, my religion would be the 'only true' religion... Somewhat lol-worthy.

i've always looked at it that way! there's SOOOO many gods... picking the right one would be like picking the winning lottery numbers!

But what if they are all true? I found common threads in all religions. I have discovered that we all can't get to a destination by the same route. If our destination is Cleveland or God, one route will not fit all. In that case, they are all correct.

All the little creeks, streams, big or small rivers etc... lead to the ocean. :)

i believe i am on the right path, but even if my religion turns out to be wrong, i won't have wasted my life. i don't do anything worthless or time-wasting because of my faith.

I asked myself that question long ago. I eventually accepted the fact that my limited knowledge narrows what I'm able understand...what makes sense to me. So I stopped worrying about what the "best" or the "right" religion was. I accept what I can intellectually grasp and that's all there is to it. Oh...before I forget...NOTHING is nonsense if you find fulfillment with it. What's nonsense and time wasting is people being obsessed with something you have no interest in or dislike. It's not enough that they have no use for "whatever it is", they want to convince everybody else to dislike or be disinterested also. I guess it takes all kinds.

That is like saying Sweeden is the one true government. Or America is. The fact that we have so many wonderful definitions of how to worship, contributes to the idea of how facinating creation is. Searching our hearts on ways to worship God and the many ways individuals see God is delightful. When wars start up and people argue that has to do with their small ideas and their tiny egos. Check out the 5 or 6 main faiths. Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Muslim, Wiccan, to name a few. They are all exemplary ways to worship and none of them deny God altough each has a method to honor the Sacred.

Life can be a spiritual journey. There's nothing wrong with there being many religions, most have valuable moral guidlines that serve a purpose in this world. You can't control peoples minds, but a religion that allows or promotes murder shouln't be acknowlegded.

So are you saying that people shouldn’t believe in anything because they could be proved wrong by someone else or some thing else? The whole meaning for faith is belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit. I personally do not care if other people want to have a different religion its their choice, as long as it doesn’t affect my life in a negative way.

No religion is right and no religion is wrong. What you believe in is up to you and in the end, your beliefs won't get you to hell or heaven, your actions will.

Religion was developed because of a lack of understanding and is maintained through fear. All religions are false.

I go to a Methodist church but when I study the bible or spend time with the Lord I'm not a Methodist, I'm just Plumsplum spending time with the Lord. Now you might think this is crazy...sorry if you don't understand what I'm saying you would have to experience it to get it....but the Lord reveals thing to me and HE grows me in the direction that HE wants me in. I don't think that it's the denomination He cares about, I think it's the heart of the person. He did lead me to the church I'm in BUT I believe it's because of the people that make up the church and how we could fit in as a family NOT because it was a Methodist church. Jesus knows your heart, that's where the true story is, not whether you are Methodist, Babtist or whatever.

I don't consider religion to be based upon numbers and odds of getting it "right". Religion is more than just belonging to a denomination, or wearing a particular item, or saying a particular saying in the hope that you'll go somewhere cool after you keel over. In many ways religion involves personal sacrifices, training of the mind, body and soul, thinking and doing things for others. How this is attained is ultimately up to the individual. Believing in one God, or two, or many, is no more "nonsense" than believing that one doesn't exist, or believing in mother nature, or aliens, or science. None of us have the answers, and so the best we can do is follow a path which we believe is right. And if I get to the end of my mortal existence, and just before I kick that bucket I find out that some tribe in Africa had it right... who cares? I lived a good and honest life, did what I could for others and made a difference in the best way I knew.

The fact that some religions have become big business paid for by the members, who in turn get nothing more then a spot in their kingdom. People in America have become so gullible they can't see past the obvious. http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/theodore_dreiser/church_and_wealth_in_america.html http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon392.htm

I am a muslim and i don't think like what you say because i'm 100% sure that Islam is the truth all Muslims belive in that Because the relegion of Islam belive in all prophet and belive in one god

Makes since to me. They definately cannot all be right if they contradict each other. I believe that one is right, but your point might be that they are all wrong. (John 8:32; Eph 4:3-6; 1Cor 1:10-13; 2Cor 13:11; 2Tim 4:3-4) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john8:32;Eph4:3-6;1Cor1:10-13;2Cor13:11;2Tim4:3-4&version=DARBY;NASB;KJV;ESV;HCSB

Some of the answers reminded me of this poem... "Abou Ben Adhem Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold:— Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the Presence in the room he said "What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head, And with a look made of all sweet accord, Answered "The names of those who love the Lord." "And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so," Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerly still, and said "I pray thee, then, Write me as one that loves his fellow men." The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night It came again with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blessed, And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest." Author: James Henry Leigh Hunt ___________________________________________________ So if there is a God I don't think he will be so petty as to hold someone's religion against them. I think he will be more concerned about how they served the earth and how they dealt with their fellow human beings.

i totally agree....i've never been devoted to any sect...just God and HIS WORD...there is a sect that i agree with the simple WAYS and ADHERENCE to Bible teaching.... Salvation is 'personal' ..a religion, no religion, will or can , bring u Salvation....its U AND GOD ...PERIOD..... always known this since old enough to read......no. ritual or practice is IMPORTANT to HIM, just my HEART/SOUL....

Who says that all the religions aren't correct. If I want to travel to another state there are many different ways for me to get there but they all get there in the end.

I would say all useful religions are basically up to the same thing: attempting to unify or integrate the individual with the whole of life -- breaking down the artificial separateness of the ego and reconnecting it with others, with nature, with the universe, with oneself. That is, without a doubt, a critical task, and it's no accident that mankind has evolved many tools for assisting with it. And, there's no problem with having multiple paths to accomplishing that, there's a kind of natural selection at work even here -- those that simply don't work at all will fall by the wayside. Religions which accomplish nothing in the reunification domain end up giving their followers Kool-aid or just fading from view. But there's still plenty of "rub" with the way religion is normally constructed, and most of it has to do with the ego of the group replacing the ego of the individual in the hierarchy of control. "We are all that matters" is not that much better than "I am all that matters". "We are always right" is an extension of "I am always right". "Our enemies are of the Devil" dovetails nicely with "my enemies are trying to ruin me". In an ideal religion, there would be none of this separatist silliness. Another rub with religion is the issue of beliefs: like putty applied to a hole in the wall, beliefs fill in gaps in knowledge with something insubstantial and pliable. They are an attempt to present a smooth surface of understanding in order to garner more credibility than has been earned, and a way to alleviate the anxiety of uncertainty without having to truly acknowledge that one does not know the answer. The ideal religion would discard beliefs entirely, relying only on those practices which have been shown to work, and that knowledge which withstands challenges reliably. I don't see how such a religion could possibly endorse metaphysical ideas like God or the soul or heaven and hell. It would have to remain silent where knowledge is unavailable. But there is nothing to stop this religion from doing the work religion is good for: reintegrating the individual with the whole.

I just stick by my principles and live out my days as they come and enjoy. There's no point in worrying about it so long as you grab hold of what you really want. All religions contradict themselves in one way or another and the die-hard followers will become nuisances no matter how they interpret their teachings; just learn to be respectful of the fact that they have a right to their own beliefs and leave it at that.

Best thing is find a religion which is not organized and which doesn't rule you. Almost all religions say the same thing. Organized religions are block thinkers. LIke politcial parties.

Religion "in the Beginning", so to speak, was merely the truth. Anything that's true is part of that religion; anything that's false is not. Unfortunately, we mortals are generally stupid and invariably imperfect, and those imperfections have led to the thousands upon thousands of contradictory belief sets and denominations thereof. Some were created by well-meaning individuals who are worshipping God to the best of their ability; others were created by power-hungry individuals who were doing quite the opposite. But somewhere in the midst of all that, the truth remains.                                                                                          In the end, you’d have to be a complete imbecile to take someone else's word for which Church is true, unless that someone else is God Himself.                                                                                          https://www.mormon.org/me/162J

Who am I or anyone else to judge what is right for an individual to believe. Here is the test for myself. Is the belief system or religious views of the faith in question exclusive where the dogma separates and judges others you truly don't know, it is not a belief i subscribe to. Where humankind is pitted against humankind based on belief is not a belief i subscribe to. Stereotypical judgements of "Others' beliefs historically has been the basis and justification of much bloodshed. When I dig deeper, I see that there is more that connects us and unites us where culture, ethnicity and religious disposition are secondary. Broad generalizations about any group breeds ignorance. The key is learning from our choices and listening more deeply how those choices affect us and others.Then nothing is wasted.

its just the way it is, not much i can do about it

I feel it appropriate to laugh at simple minds like you, that have no understanding of such matters - but plenty of opinions. There are so many languages and dialects out there as well, it does not mean one languages is "wrong" or that anyone learning a "lesser" language has wasted their time or life. Religions like languages are appropriate for certain regions and peoples. No one needs to learn all or reject all - but it takes a common sense (one that atheists are disabled in) to know that Chinese is not going to do much good if you're communicating with Spaniards. Likewise some religions are appropriate and others not. It;s dullards like you that have wasted your life on nonsense opinions and trolling others when it's you that doesn't fit in.

That would be so sad wouldn't it. But I believe if you compared what you believe with the Bible you have a better chance of not, as you say, "wasted so much of your life on nonsense". The way I see it there is only one Bible and even it says in the King James Version at Ephesians 4:5 "One Lord, one faith, one baptism". so the thing to do is look for the religion the promotes one faith. Here is a link I feel you might find interesting. https://www.jw.org/finder?srcid=jwlshare&wtlocale=E&prefer=lang&docid=1102006290

Most people sleep walk through this life, not just the religious, it usually takes a brush with your own mortality to wake up I don't care that there are other religions or sub religions, I am walking my own path, and to this day, I am learning and unlearning.

Well...that's not sound reasoning. *** Example: let's imagine that there are 6 million first graders (instead of 6 billion religious people) who are presented with the math problem "2 + 2 = ?". Out of those 6 million, 600,000 give the wrong answer, and altogether the 6 million children give 6,000 different answers. *** For any given child, Is there a "high chance' that they have answered incorrectly? No. Of those who answered correctly: some of them knew the answer, some of them were fairly certain of the answer, and some just got lucky and guessed correctly. And the same is probably true for those who answered INcorrectly. That is: some were sure they were correct (but were mistaken), some weren't sure, and some simply guessed. *** The point is this: just because there are a large number of possibilities available to a person does not in and of itself indicate that there is a high chance that any particular choice a person makes is incorrect. That is what you are assuming, and that simply isn't valid reasoning. Not in OR out of religion.

I feel it is written in the Bible for false prophets to function in their prophetic role illegitimately or for the purpose of deception. Matthew 24:11 "And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray."

Having faith in God is all that is required.