Faith, when did you find it or lose it?

PFC Alexander Oliveira — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:27:30 -0400

This is not a debate on our beliefs, rather a discussion. A lot of service members have found their religions or, like me, never saw the need for it. What was the moment in your life that you either became religious or figured out that you did not want/need to be religious. How has your religion shaped you as a person, likewise, how has your lack of religion shaped who you are?

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Apr 6 at 2016 2:35 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:35:23 -0400

For me, faith and religion can be viewed as two different things. You do not necessarily have to have religion to have faith. While you may not believe in a God or Gods, you still placed your faith in the idea that the person to your left, right, front and back were trained and prepared to do their job when called upon. You can also refer to this as putting your trust into people. Again, you are not necessarily saying there is or is not a God or Gods when you do this.

Religion, to me, is a collective body of people that place some of their trust in the idea of a higher power. They place this trust in this idea because it helps them deal with things.

Response by PFC Alexander Oliveira made Apr 6 at 2016 2:39 PM

PFC Alexander Oliveira — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:39:02 -0400

i had a girlfriend in high school who came from a strict religious household. she was kinda losing her religion but her family was not. long story short i was told i would need to start attending services and bible studies with them to continue seeing her. i did for a while but her father noticed it had no affect on me and i wasn't soaking it in, so to speak. so that ended us. i saw the real negative side to religion because of my bad experience. at that point i had become a bad atheist, an asshole of one. i was rude on the subject, couldn't be told otherwise and i hate that i ever acted like that. now im much more respectful about it all. it took me years to come to terms with the fact that was an isolated incident of a bad experience. but also i had never been involved with religion before then. i learned afterwards the definition of atheism and what it means to be agnostic and many other non religious terms and i found comfort in that .

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Apr 6 at 2016 2:50 PM

SrA Edward Vong — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:50:43 -0400

For a deist like myself, I believe that a higher power exists, however I don't believe the higher power has any effect on our daily lives. Therefor my faith is only in the existence of the higher power and the after life.

The only idea of faith is that if I live a good and fulfilling life based on the human knowledge of right or wrong, I will be rewarded in the end.

Response by Cpl Jon Westbrook made Apr 6 at 2016 3:13 PM

Cpl Jon Westbrook — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 15:13:06 -0400

I'm not religious, but I am spiritual. I know God exists, but I've learned more about him in the woods or exploring the Earth than I ever did in church. I don't trust the bible, its been blatantly altered for political benefit and it has been used for hundreds of years along with religion as a means of control.

Response by Col Joseph Lenertz made Apr 6 at 2016 3:17 PM

Col Joseph Lenertz — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 15:17:28 -0400

By the time I was 10 or 11, I had memorized the Catholic Mass (except for the Homily, of course). I could recite every piece verbatim, without thinking, and I saw many (most?) of the people there doing the same thing...not thinking. So I slowly drifted, away from faith and God for 25 years. While getting a MS in Astronautical Engineering, for a short time I was one of maybe 4 or 5 people who were advancing the field in measuring high speed heat transfer of transpiration-cooled rocket nozzles. 2nd order differential equations and numerical methods were my daily friends. As we attempted to push theory forward through experimentation in a high speed shock tube, we learned another layer of truth. Just a tidbit. And I noticed that same phenomena was happening everywhere in science. The history of science, and it's path, pointed me in the direction of God (again). While it is difficult to explain, I remain convinced that God's universe is beautiful, and God wants us to learn and grow, and we do learn, and gain greater understanding of His universal truths one layer at a time. If we work hard, He allows it to be exposed. So now I am for the first time studying the Bible, and I am finding beauty and universal truths in it. I am very much a beginner in my theological study, but I am beginning to understand why the Bible has survived for 2,000 years in spite of natural human cynicism.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 6 at 2016 4:17 PM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 16:17:48 -0400

I don't usually participate in religious discussions but, found this one interesting. I believe I have faith however, I am not a big fan of religion. I was raised Catholic and only practiced seriously for a few years pre-teen.

The day I lost "faith" in religion was in 2006 while deployed to Iraq. I read the Quran and was shocked at how closely it followed or parts of it mirrored/mentioned the bible or people in the bible. I started reading about religion, the crusades, the inquisition, etc. etc. I came to the conclusion that religion was found/prcaticed for man to control the masses and gain power for the highest ranking clergy.

There is a lot more to the story but, I don't want to offend anyone or start a crazy thread. I respect peoples right to practice whatever religion they want. I have faith but it's my own faith.

Response by Capt Gregory Prickett made Apr 6 at 2016 4:18 PM

Capt Gregory Prickett — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 16:18:44 -0400

By reading the Bible, over and over, and seeing the truly vile and evil things that were done at the behest of God, but because he was a so-called deity, it was not only OK, but was supposedly good. That led to a study of other revealed religions, only to find the same type of problem.

I'm sorry, but it's not OK to own other humans as property. It's not OK to discriminate against women. Punishing women for being raped is not OK. Genocide is not OK, nor is human sacrifice. Imposing your religious beliefs on others, at the pain of death for apostasy is not OK.

Secondly, having faith is not a good thing, it is not something to be admired. It is gullibility, the act of believing in something without any evidence to support it.

Response by CPT Joseph K Murdock made Apr 6 at 2016 4:56 PM

CPT Joseph K Murdock — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 16:56:02 -0400

I lost my faith at 13 when I read Mila 18. It's a book about the mass genocide of Jews in Poland and the freedom fighters (can't think of the proper term) during the occupation in WWII. The book took me to a dark place where I partially still reside as it is just a continuum of history replete of genocides, to include the murderers of ISIS and the Indonesian government against the Papua New Guineans. There is no way to reconcile the basic ideals of mankind with such malevolent savagery.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2016 9:18 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 09:18:19 -0400

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Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2016 10:08 AM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 10:08:54 -0400

I was agnostic for a long time. I found a certain faith through the study philosophy. I have never had blind faith. Always questioning. I was given a mind for a reason and I can understand certain things. Causality is one of them. The universe cannot exist based on our current understanding. Causality is a necessity. Everything has a cause. My belief is based on the concept of the Aristotelian Prime Mover requirement. There must be something before something. There can not be nothing before something. It is impossible given the physical nature of the universe.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2016 11:21 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:21:22 -0400

Faith, well I've always had faith. Faith that id wake up, have a roof over my head, food in the fridge. Religion, I grew up with religion and could recite the mass and knew all my prayers. But a personal relationship with my Savior? That happened in Daharahn 1991 and that's completely different than Faith and Religion.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2016 1:55 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 13:55:13 -0400

I was raised in the Church-the Baptist Church that is; so it wasn't any wonder that at age five, I went down to an alter and repeated the prayer our pastor taught me, and went on to the "little swimming pool" to emerge "born again". About fifteen years later, as I was just beginning my career as a naval officer, I had been "hit" with the realities of life beyond my small, mountain community, and exposed to the thinking of every philosopher from Locke to Sagan, and everyone in-between.

I left college a bit confused about a great many things.

What I didn't do was take the road most "obvious", and abandon faith-Instead, I gave myself an ultimatum: Explore the history, culture and facts...then ponder the mysteries...THEN, and only then, decide whether you really believe what you think you do...or accept a duty to admit otherwise.

It took several years.

Along that road, I probably courted the dark more than the light...I'm fairly certain I met the devil along the way. There must be a God, and He must employ some hard-core angels, because I was daring Hell to prove to me it existed as well. Finally, I hit the point where I knew two things for certain: First, that there are such things as the divine and the demonic...Second, only one path guides a human being to both discipline and compassion; strength, alongside mercy. It actually surprised me a bit that the greatest truths I ever encountered merely supported all the concepts I had learned, but couldn't have understood, as a child. Even then, it wasn't "immediate". I experienced everything from the Catholic and Orthodox churches to obscure schools of Christian thought, and contemplated things that I hated to even sleep to walk away from. Still, that path led me back into the light, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was in every way spiritually concerned, "Re-Born".

No matter what happens in this world-or how opinions may change, I know that my heart and soul will remain loyal to God and His son Jesus Christ...the bravest man that ever walked the earth :)

Response by SFC William Swartz Jr made Apr 7 at 2016 1:55 PM

SFC William Swartz Jr — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 13:55:18 -0400

I pretty much lost it 19 August 1994, the day my step-father passed away at the age of 46...I know that "the man upstairs" had a plan, but I do not understand why someone that was in good health, a great life and was a good man was taken so young from everyone that love him.

Response by SGT Laura Delgadillo made Apr 7 at 2016 5:41 PM

SGT Laura Delgadillo — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 17:41:59 -0400

I remember the day clearly. I was in 4th grade when they started teaching us about Greek Gods. Zeus, Hera, etc. I remember thinking "why do we worship this "God" but not Zeus? I asked priests, my mom, nuns, no one gave me an acceptable answer so I began to research as much as i could on the topic. And the more educated I became the more illogical religion was. I see religion as something people are indoctrinated with and are too scared to let go of it for fear of the unknown.

Response by MCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 8 at 2016 1:46 AM

MCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 01:46:18 -0400

I was raised Roman Catholic - and lost my faith in the Church during my Confirmation. I was a huge history buff, and asked why the Church thought it was cool to use murder and terrorism to gain converts in the Middle Ages. I was told to shut up or I would be excommunicated.

Feeling a need to fill the void, I began studying ALL religions, and learned a LOT about how they work and how they developed. I studied the Bible extensively, and a very charismatic man talked me into giving my soul over to Jesus... and I fell so hard that I even ended up earning my Ordination as a Christian Minister and had my own congregation as a Preacher at the Church of Christ in Leesville, LA.

My need to eat forced me to move away, and I found that I couldn't maintain the lifestyle without having horrible double standards - and, since I didn't want to be another Swaggart or Jim Bakker, I set aside my calling but remained very spiritual.

I went back to studying the Bible - and looking at what I had been preaching - and was floored. The hate and misogyny and homophobia and violence I preached - all well supported by the Big Black Book of Rules - I was just astounded. I began studying all faiths again, and realized that they were all in business (key word there: BUSINESS) for two reasons: To keep the masses in line, and to perpetuate a special class of people above the rest. (the clergy).

I began to look very closely at what was being said by religion, and what could be proven, and that was the final straw. I've been an atheist for about a decade.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 8 at 2016 6:28 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 06:28:55 -0400

I found faith quite a few years back. But it wasn't in religion, because I've never been a religious person. I found faith and belief in myself. Whenever I find myself in very tough situation, I dig down deep into the "Brutus" and will get myself out of it.

Response by SPC David Glines made Apr 15 at 2016 6:49 AM

SPC David Glines — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 06:49:56 -0400

I personally lost mine when the Towers fell I thought to my self if there is an all powerful God why in the hell did he let it happen to innocent children and the men and women

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 28 at 2016 5:59 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 17:59:58 -0400

I started out as a Southern Baptist, absolutely certain in what I believed. In my late teens I started asking questions and not liking a lot of the answers I was being given. In my mid 20's I was a Christian because it made slightly more sense to me than anything else I had come across, and I enjoyed many aspects of the fellowship.

When I was in my late 20's I had a crisis of faith and ditched Christianity and embraced Wicca. I've been practicing for about 25 years now and my beliefs have continued to evolve and mature, I now identify more as a Naturalistic Pagan than a Wiccan although I embrace the limitations of mans knowledge and understanding a lot quicker than many others who call themselves Naturalistic Pagans.

I have faith that there is a Divine force out there, although I don't accept that Divine as being all powerful or all knowing or even that I can truly understand the Gods any more than my dogs can understand quantum physics. How can a human consciousness limited by time and space understand a Divine which is not limited by time and space?

Response by SFC Joseph Weber made Apr 28 at 2016 6:39 PM

SFC Joseph Weber — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 18:39:41 -0400

Started fading in the 7th grade, completely gone when I read about police in Central America somewhere killing babies.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 29 at 2017 9:30 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 09:30:13 -0400

I lost it at around age ten. I remember being at temple (my family is Jewish) and the rabbi talking about the exodus from Egypt. I was already burying myself deeply in my father's book collection and was fascinated by both World Wars, so I asked why if god protected his so-called chosen people against the Egyptians and later the Romans with direct intervention, did he do nothing when the Nazis put six million Jews (and fourteen million Christians) in gas ovens?

I don't remember his reply, but I had no trouble figuring the answer out myself.

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Jul 29 at 2017 9:46 AM

MSG Brad Sand — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 09:46:04 -0400

To your posted question, I truly came to my faith when I was studying all the things that had to be just precisely the way they are for there to be life on Earth or for there to even be a Universe? To me, if one was to honestly look at the science supporting or opposing their being a higher power, the proof is so much greater that there is but no matter how much greater the evidence, for the sceptics there was always a bit more one would need...and a light went off in my mind that this was designed too. The individual can have all the proof in the World BUT they must also elect to take a final step of faith.
To the larger question, I am not sure why you muddied the question of faith by pulling a side question of religion? Maybe it was unintended maybe it was in the same nature of my path and one getting close to the same place I was at and fearing that you would have to make a choice of faith, but it seems many want to attack religion because they are afraid of the question of faith? There is much that man has done in the name of religion that is terrible but that fault lies with those people IMHO.

Response by SGT Jen Roy made Jul 29 at 2017 9:52 AM

SGT Jen Roy — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 09:52:13 -0400

I found my faith when I was 12 years old and hold it dearly.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 29 at 2017 3:49 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 15:49:28 -0400

Boy, is THIS ever a loaded topic! At the ripe old age of 74, I have seldom ever shared religious or spiritual values/experiences on the Web. Hoping to NOT invite an onslaught of vicious comments, for I represent only my own views and thoughts on the following. I was raised as a Catholic because my Mother was Roman Catholic. I was educated from first grade through high school in a Catholic school. I entered the Navy right out of high school (four days after graduation), so that was my background. After a few years on active duty, I experienced a NDE (Near-Death Experience) which affected the rest of my life. For those who have no idea what is involved in a NDE, please GOOGLE the term, as I will not relate it here. I saw and heard things which so deeply affected my conscience that I have never forgotten them and likely will not until the day I die. I DO BELIEVE in life after death and the hereafter, but will not expound on my personal view.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 1 at 2017 2:20 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 14:20:28 -0400

I don't think I ever truly had faith or belief in any religion. I was raised Catholic - I had zero choice in the matter. When I think back, I remember constantly in my head questioning everything I was taught at church or CCD. I stopped going to CCD in 9th grade because it was stupid. That was when they give the church's version of sex ed (abstinence only) and I'm like "What am I doing here?" I don't think I ever really believed any of it. When we had to go to Reconciliation...I'm like 9 at the time and what am I going to confess to a priest to be forgiven? I would always say "I pick on my brothers" and the priest says "say 10 hail mary and 20 our father" and then I'm good. I left thinking what just happened? Plus I saw the constant hypocrisy of the people within that church and overall and just couldn't handle it. I did all of it - baptism, First Communion, Confirmation. And then for some reason my mom made me go to the graduation thing at church when I graduated high school. It was awkward because I hadn't been at CCD in four years. They let me do it and gave me a certificate.

I just find no comfort in religion and have no faith in it. If there is a higher power I'll find out when I die. I'm not going to pretend I know what it wants or how I should live to make it happy. I'll do the best I can and find out when I die. It's my afterlife no one else's.

My dad actually converted to Catholicism when he married my mom to "make it easier" to raise us kids. I wish he hadn't. He is now Methodist. He enjoys his church much more because mainly they care. When we stopped going to Catholic church no one came by to ask what was wrong or if everything was ok. Not one. He said two weeks after my stepmom and he went to this current church they missed a Sunday being out of town. He said the pastor called up the next day and asked if everything was ok.

Some people like the community aspect of church more than anything it seems.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 4 at 2017 10:36 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 10:36:58 -0400

when my parents left me and my brother to be raised by my grand parents about 25yrs ago.