How did you find your religion and what made you to believe in your faith?

i ahv ben from birth. Im Pagan,

PAGAN  9JA:

i ahv ben from birth. Im Pagan,

What made you remain a pagan?

jerryben12:

What made you remain a pagan?

when i was aa kid, i used to b pressurised or considered vvery weird or different when my fella classmates found out dat i was Pagan. Ther wer times when i used to feel lyk goin to d nearest mosque n just convertin maself and getting done with it once and for all. However, as i grew up i started readin about slavery n colonialism, etc., and i realised dat maybe I was actually one of d lucky few who retained der traditional practices and identity to date when all around us people had already given up and bowed down to foreign religions and cultures.My people hav kept der head high and hav never knelt b4 anyone else save our Gods. Then ofcourse, i saw how d muslims n chritians kept bickerin n fightin against each other in order to gain converts and der greediness pushed me further away from ever even thinkin about joining dem. To do so, i feel im demeaning maself n I am a person of self-respect. I have seen Pagan religions all obva da world and verywer its d same story. We people r alwayz subjugated and made targets of conversion which many a times, is done by force. To me, islam and christianity r merely symbols of our suppression and slavery at d hands of d foreigners. Nothing more.
Finally, there is d spiritual side. I like d concept of my religion. We try to seek d mystic powers of d spirits BECAUSE we belive da everythin has a soul of itself, be it animals, birds, fish or humans. We respect nature because it IS d reality. we divine in order to make ourselves more self-confident and more prepared to face this world. We deel d inner strength when we pray to our Gods because qwe Know dat der r out der sumwer looking aftrer us. they r our Gods n dey hav ben with us since time immemorial. thats d reason y ALL Pagan relgions do not have founders. Its because dey wer d religions dat wer actually handed down by d Gods. U say der is one God, but den God is all powerdful. He/she/it can imbibe himself*(her/it) in everything around us. so therefore if der is one God, den der can also be many Gods at d same time. We Pagans believe dat d Gods have d power to be pluralistic, power which u monotheists deny him even though u say he is all powerful.
so der u go,

Born into the one called christianity. Realised that god probably doesn't exist as a teenager but didn't duel on it. PLUS I HATED CHURCH, IT WAS  ALWAYS MIND NUMBINGLY BORING AND REPETITIVE.
Then the Da Vince Code came out and I just observed how christians were b_tching about it.  I remember wondering what they were so upset about, because the book was just fiction. Then I read the book and it was very entertaining, that's when I had the epiphany that if this guy could write a book about jesus and christians took it as an affront, their faith must be an illusion.
Researched the history of the church and the religion itself and whatever faith I had left evaporated. I Looked into other religions and realised humanity is crazy but still keep some kind of non chalant agnostic attitude. Got a little more educated, got exposed to the knowledge we have about the cosmos, more world history, ancient religious beliefs (Egypt, Zoroastrianism etc), science (Evolution? ) and realised gods (as described by humans) CAN'T exist.
To my surprise, the countries with the most amount of god/religion seem to be the most f_cked up place on the planet. eg? Nigeria.
So I thought there must be a correlation between poverty, ignorance and religion. I think anyone who cares to do a little research will also find this out to be true. Of course, otherwise intelligent people can also be religious but I think it's because they are unable or unwilling to undo their indoctrination.
So, religion appeared to be a copinig mechanism for people who are afraid of death, poverty and who can't fathom that this is it. There's no life after you die and that's what christianity seemed to be offering.
Also,  I didn't like the idea of a god who I've never seen telling me through some guy to give him 10% of what I work for.  REALLY?
Just look at the paradox of freewill and the all knowning christian god. probably the biggest reason I rejected the god hypothesis.

Became an agnostic, then became an atheist because the idea of a god who let two unclothed garden dwellers be deceived by a talking snake and then impregnating a young virgin/maiden in order to give birth to himself and then have himself /son get sacrificied to appease himself; all because of two unclothed humans who didn't even have the cognitive abilities to distinguish right from wrong but that doesn't mean sh_t to a god who would love to roast you in a fire.  The story also appears prior to the advent of christianity so if those people where full of sh_t, christianity must also be full of poo because it sounds like the same story with different character names.

Years ago humans thought Sango, Zeus, Odin, Thor, Esu, Vishnu, Ahura Mazda were as real as the air we breathe but modern man says they were mistaken. As far as i can tell, all gods have the same attributes as the aforementioned and since we all agree that those gods aren't real, we have to agree that all gods are fictional. Gods/religion are just the results of man's ability for abstract thought and inability to understand nature.

Besides if a first cause/ creator is responsible for this thing called the universe, humans are not going to be privy to this information because we are just part of of the billions of organisms that have populated this planet since time immemorial. Yes we are special, but not that important! We could kill off our species and other species by way of a nuclear holocaust tomorrow, but the earth and the universe will still be here.
If the universe was made for us, it won't be so vast, mysterious and sometimes downright hostile to human life. Google Magnetars and see how we could all be roasted without warning.  Hell, check out the earthquake in Japan a few weeks ago, tectonic plates don't respect humans or gods.

PS: All you Nigerian christians and muslims, when Jesus was frolicking in Heaven circa 600BC, prophet Zoroaster was promoting the concept of the struggle between good and evil. Look it up yourselves. Yes, 600 before your god or prophet, ancient persians were blaming every bad thing on the Devil, only they called it Angra Mainyu. The spirit of good was called Spenta Mainyu(the holy spirit) and the supreme deity was called Ahura Mazda.
Zorosater( PBUH) , was also a product of immaculate conception. The holy spirit has been impregnating people's wives/girlfriends/fiancees for a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggggggg time.

@PAGAN 9JA
i respect the fact that you stick to your tradtional hausa pagan beliefs rather than to go with the flow and follow islam or christianity. It proves that you can think for yourself unlike most people who are born into the box of a particular religion and can't think outside the box of that religion.

I am an atheist was born and bred into a weak catholic family here in london {minus the indoctrination and the dogma} as soon as i reached my teens and began to question religion and other things foundout about dinosaurs and evolution which sounds more credible and made more sense to me i realized that god is imaginary. And i would rather practice my traditional urhobo beliefs like you {if i knew them} than practice the beliefs of either of two imported religions.

manmustwac:

@PAGAN 9JA
i respect the fact that you stick to your tradtional hausa pagan beliefs rather than to go with the flow and follow islam or christianity. It proves that you can think for yourself unlike most people who are born into the box of a particular religion and can't think outside the box of that religion.

I am an atheist was born and bred into a weak catholic family here in london {minus the indoctrination and the dogma} as soon as i reached my teens and began to question religion and other things foundout about dinosaurs and evolution which sounds more credible and made more sense to me i realized that god is imaginary. And i would rather practice my traditional urhobo beliefs like you {if i knew them} than practice the beliefs of either of two imported religions.

i appreciate ur views on my religion. and i completely agree with what u jus said. Dinosaurs and evolution r d real stuff and d best part here is dat my religion does not contradict these two facts nor does it mention it as such. We people just respect animals, nature, elders, ancestors, Gods/d driving force and finally work. It is also well known dat science was progressing very rapidly during Pagan times but after d advent of christianity n islam during d dark ages, etc., der very many restrictions on this subject n der still r in many places. Had these 2 religions neva formed, we wud hav ben way ahead of our time. Anywayz, traditional religions n Paganism r dying fast with d break-down of tribal societies and culture and d advent of d monotheistic islam n christianity. Religion in my opinion is important, so long as its is d RIGHT religion in d right path since without being God-fearing or without d fear of d supernatural, we will all start commiting crimes without paying heed to our conscience and without being afraid dat der is sumwun above there keeping an eye on us. Anywayz, i wish u d best of luck and if u wanna return to ur ancestral beliefs i suggest u do a few simple things such as being kinder to animals, wearing traditional clothes when ur at home or when u feel lyk it to preserve ur culture, going bak to Nigeria for a few months or possibly years, on a spiritual quest to find ur roots and to learn more about religion and finally d simplest of all, by marrying a girl within ur tribe in case u ever wish to marry (NOT A RELATIVE).

Please keep the coming. Do not be hesitant to write your piece.

jerryben12:

Please keep the coming. Do not be hesitant to write your piece.

So what about you? Are You In Your Religion From Birth Or By Convert?

manmustwac:

So what about you? Are You In Your Religion From Birth Or By Convert?

Definitely from birth. I was born a Christian and I believe strongly in the power of the holy spirit.

@Jerryben12
I beg to differ, you were not "born" a christian. You were tought to believe in the christian god that's all. If you were born deep in the heart of Taliban land, you would be saying you were born muslim and getting ready to blow yourself up for paradise.

We are all born without the knowledge of any diety until someone tells us there's an invisibile guy who spies on you 24/7.

Martian:

@Jerryben12
I beg to differ, you were not "born" a christian. You were tought to believe in the christian god that's all. If you were born deep in the heart of Taliban land, you would be saying you were born muslim and getting ready to blow yourself up for paradise.

This is just your opinion

jerryben12:

This is just your opinion

Yea it's my opinion but simple objective observation proves me right. I repeat, if you were born in Taliban Land the odds are you would be toting an AK47 right now screaming jihad against the infidels. Then, maybe you would find Jesus, I highly doubt that though unless you move to Mexico. Heeeeyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzeeeuuuuuussssss

we r all born Pagan at heart, u realise dat when ur instincts start takin oer u,

No, you were not. You were born into this existence without any affiliation to any religious ideology. You were born into this world as pure as an open and empty pages of a new exercise book. Your mind started being filled with the ideology of christianity as soon as your mind began to form probably because you were born into a christian family.

jerryben12:

Definitely from birth. I was born a Christian and I believe strongly in the power of the holy spirit.

ok agreed. But then wer u born without your tribe NO. d blood in ya veins is d blood of your tribe which is genetically unique from other tribes. And tribe n religion r interconnected and inseparable since every tribe had his own traditional faiths. So thereby u wer basically born into your religion. Thats d reason y Pagan religions dont have founders.

but ofcourse when it comes to islam/christianity, u jus CANNOT be born into it cuz every christian person has converted into his religion or his ancestors hav done so ages ago. d christians realised this way back n dats d reason y dey do baptisms. All pure-blooded tribals r born Pagan.

@OP no one is born into a religion, the crime of dulling-awareness that our parents commit deserves worse punishment than hell itself. (just kidding) The problem with Religion is that it is closely tied to child upbringing rather than universal morals such as love, honesty, fairness etc. our parents teach us that those qualities are good simply because God says so not because they are actually good in a universal sense. So if some other religion i.e (y know which) says kill the infidels - that will be good to do because God says so and at such a tender age when the mind is receptive and malleable to the whims and misconceptions of our parents, we are cemented and super-glued into a religion with out the chance to actually taste and assess teh quality of what is been given to us. hence a crime of dulling awareness