A Place to Lay Your Head- Peter

When I was young (10ish), I was very interested in Catholicism. I liked the idea of the rituals, the spiritual trappings, all laid out meticulously in the church, all aimed toward appeasing the Holy Spirit. My mother saw this interest, but chose not to foster it. That is, she didn't encourage me to take a more active role in the church. I don't see this as a bad thing, it's just the way things turned out. Years later, I was a young man (17), and I began to question all of the things that Catholic doctrine had taught me to believe. I questioned the need for the ritual, the need for prayer, the need to attend church at all. When I chose to leave the church, my parents didn't try to stop me. My mother simply told me that the church (religion in general) is just somewhere that you can go when life doesn't make any sense. The rest of the time, it's not important. It only matters when you begin to lose faith in the rest of the world. Religion is your anchor. Religion is a place to lay your head. I always kinda liked that idea. Its a very post-modern view of faith. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's an interesting viewpoint.

Bryan's views on Jesus are very unique. They are very similar to early Jewish views on Jesus. The Jews saw him as one more prophet, among the many that came before and after him. According to the majority of the New Testament, he's completely wrong, but that's the difference between a personal faith and a religious system of faith. A person can change his personal faith with relative ease. A religion very rarely changes.

A Verse In Contradiction - Bryan

Now I consider me and Pete to be very like minded individuals, or at least one could assume as much from looking upon the surface. However, even though we are very similar in action, I find we often differ in reason. To this I say "Jesus Christ a dictator"? Meh, I can't see it. You see to me, I always just thought of him as a guy with many good ideas, most of which when used can make life a bit better for all. Now I can understand how some can see it as such because, sad to say, there are a lot of Christians out there who make it seem as much, but when you come down to it, Jesus said "I am the way", he never said anything about being the only way. I chose to follow his way mostly because it feels right to me. Notice how I say "follow" and not "worship". That's because I don't worship Jesus (GASP!!!). What can I say, I'm also a fan of the whole "Thou shall worship no other but me" thing. And for those who bring to mind the whole three into one, I just can't buy it. If Jesus and God where really one in the same, he really didn't sacrifice all that much upon the cross now did he. All he would have done then was shed that lil' 'ol mortal coil. Was he really the son of God, couldn't tell you, that's between him and his mama, but I can tell you he was a good philosopher, someone worth takin' a listin' to from time to time. But I digress, as I've said before, he's not the only way, know both Muhammad and Moses had some pretty good ideas, and I found many other good ideas in Taoism and Buddhism. Heck I've even managed to find some atheists who have got some pretty good ideas on this whole thing called life. I suppose that's mainly the thing that shapes my faith, the want and need to be better. No matter what faith (or lack there of) you may have, all I thnk really matters is that you try and be good person, the path you take is all up to you.

Let's Talk About God(s)- Peter

This is my first post, so I'll try to keep it simple. This will be a brief overview of what I believe, and, trust me, it is a lot. I believe that God exists. I believe that gods exist. Please note that the singular is capitalized and the plural is not. I believe in animism, the idea of natural spirits (not ghosts, you understand), and I think they may or may not be the same thing as gods. I also believe in apotheosis. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, apotheosis is the ability to become a god. "A" you see, not "the."
I believe that Jesus Christ was the savior that God sent to help the world. I believe in some of the things he taught, but I don't worship him alone. When I was 17, my father (Joe) told me that Jesus Christ was (is?) a dictator. That sounds kind of blasphemous, but Joe had a good point. In essence, Jesus Christ said "Worship me, or you will go to Hell." That's a harsh way to put it, but it isn't untrue. In terms of Christianity, I feel that the acts of imperfect men tainted the perfection of Jesus' message and purpose. For those of you who are wondering, I was raised as a Catholic.
I also believe that I am out of food to eat. That is all for now.

A New Begining - Bryan

So as my first post for our new blog, I thought it best to start off with the Basic principle behind my faith, and that is, God is not pulling the strings. At least not 24/7/365. You see, God gave us free will so that we may choose him if we so desired. It would kinda defeat the purpose of it all if every time someone got on their knees to pray to have someone fall for them or give them a job, God just went and forced that person to do it. God gave us free will so we may do what we see as right, but also God gave us common sense so we could be able to determine what is right. My faith is not based on a nearly 2000 year old book that has been re-written anytime someone didn't feel it suited their needs, nor on it's various legends. Keep in mind I do still find them as a great reference point, but I don't feel their words should be taken as law. I feel the only true connection anyone needs to God is themselves. Anything more and things tend to become too complicated, at least in my eyes.