How do I pray when I do not believe in organized religion? Its obvious the catholic bible is filled with moral stories that are not true. Noah's Ark, Adam and Eve, the creation of the world. Science has proven all these things. Yet, I still have faith in my heart. I know that organized religion is a scam run by crooks and defilers, but I still believe there is a higher power out there that created our existence and I still feel a spiritual bond to that power.
My question is how does one pray when they don't believe in religion? Can you? is there any books that cover this? Is this what it means when hipster trash says"i'm not religious but i am spiritual."?
OP, you might find that you like meditation. I've gotten into Buddhism, and I really like meditation. On a neurological/cognitive level, meditation and deep prayer function essentially the same way.
That said, if you feel mainly Christian, I recommend checking out Quakerism. In Quaker meetings, people sit mostly in silence, waiting for guidance from God.
It sounds like you're more interested in the non-literalist interpretations of religion. However, there are lots of more philosophically-minded branches of religion. I personally like Soto Zen.
Xavier Lewis
> In Quaker meetings, people sit mostly in silence, waiting for guidance from God. So they just starve themselves to death?
Jacob Brown
It's definitely possible. I used to be in AA and they had some pretty great non-religious prayers. They're more like phrases used to calm your mind and find a moment of peace as much as they are appeals to a deity. >serenity prayer God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. >third step prayer God, I offer myself to Thee To build with me & to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy love & Thy way of life. >st. francis' prayer Lord make me an instrument of your peace Where there is hatred let me sow love Where there is injury, pardon Where there is doubt, faith Where there is despair, hope Where there is darkness, light And where there is sadness, joy O divine master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console to be understood as to understand To be loved as to love For it is in giving that we receive it is in pardoning that we are pardoned And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life Amen
are some very popular ones I recall from my days there.
Kevin Ramirez
I guess it depends on who/ what you think you're praying to and why. For example, if you're eating a chicken sandwich, and want to thank the chicken for his sacrifice, you could say, "thank you chicken, for your sacrifice," Either in your mind or out loud.
You might go check out the religious section of half price books and find something helpful there
Dylan Taylor
That doesn't even make sense. I'm talking about going to church. Instead of listening to a sermon, they sit and contemplate, though some Quaker meetings do involve some sermons. The point is, it's a more intuitive practice than other, more literalist branches of Christianity.
Ian Baker
>science has disproved Christianity Yeah if you’re a baptist fundamentalist. Virtually nobody else takes Genesis as the literal creation story.
We make fun of people like that. They’re almost as funny as the King James Version-only crowd. Because clearly Jesus and Moses spoke 17th-century English.
Brayden Foster
Pretty sure they have a surplus of oats
Luke Young
>sit in a room without saying anything, waiting for God >God doesn't say anything because he's too busy smiting people for fapping >keel over out of exhaustion
Adam Nguyen
kek
Aaron Harris
>Because clearly Jesus and Moses spoke 17th-century English. Why wouldn't they, obviously they did and especially Judas had a British accent because all villains have a British accent
I believe the proper pronunciation is jewdas like he Jewd that ass out for some silver
Andrew Evans
God, you're such a piece of shit.
Jaxon Cooper
Well Christ gave an outline of how to pray when he said "Pray hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, we pray for our daily bread (I think this has two meanings as Christ called himself the bread of life), forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors, lead us away from temptation for thine is the kingdom and the glory forever and ever, truth." He wasn't giving an exact prayer you say word for word, that's simply the outline of the best way to pray, which is basically "Can you please do this but you know better than I so thy will be done", "Please guide is all manner of love, warmth and kindness", etc. Also try praying not just consciously saying words but using you're unconscious mind.
I'm not sure if you believe Jesus to be the Christ as perhaps you threw the baby out with the bathwater. Christ's teachings are almost never talked about in the organized "churches", I recommend looking into them, they're simple but ignored and important, as Christ said, "The builders threw away the cornerstone".
Jordan Wood
Oy vey! How dare I insult G-d's Chosen!
Ayden Peterson
Please, tell me what you think about Jews, Muslims, black people, and latinos.
Logan Foster
All nonwhite groups which have no place in white countries. Jews tend to be cosmopolitan parasites, and are exceptionally dangerous, the rest are just symptoms of the disease.
Jackson Carter
What are your religious views?
Henry Butler
I'm not religious, although I do respect most traditional christian teachings. I have a greater soft spot for Orthodoxy, and after that Lutheranism.
Dylan Myers
lol thanks for telling me how literally retarded you are. Consider suicide.
Michael Morris
Wrong. Judas was from Staten Island.
Jordan Clark
Dunno what I was expecting entering a thread where OP asked for spiritual guidance; should have guessed you neckbeards would turn it into racial epithets.
OP, I know someone already said it, but read up on buddhism, it's really not a religion, more an ideology. Many Catholics, including some priests are also practicing Buddhists, not to condone Catholicism, I was raised Pentecostal, catholic masses are less fun than funerals imho. Start with "the art of happiness" it's more of a Buddhism lite primer, basic meditations and thoughts on changing your mental habits. I know it's not exactly what you asked, but unless you're really gonna just talk to a nameless entity you dont believe in, it's a good start. I'd also say try a few local churches, dunno where you're from, but here in the states its only the bad news that makes headlines, there are plenty of good people out there trying to find meaning in life, seek a group of like minded individuals whose doctrine makes sense to you.
Nicholas Davis
Not an argument
Samuel Smith
It's a self-evident fact.
Luis Williams
Just pray for whatever you believe is right, you don;t need to adhere to any particular sets of belief systems held by others. You don't even need to have a coherent idea of what you may be praying to - aside from a belief that something out there of whatever form could provide some good to you and others.
Isaiah Rodriguez
poopyface
Josiah Perry
Inbred white trash.
Anthony Morgan
ur mom smells
Thomas Jenkins
well OP there are 250+ orginised religeons. you are free to belive how you like.
if you havent seen the movie i suggest you watch it called: heaven is for real. its based on a true story about a preachers son called colton. he died for a few minutes when was young. and his dad wrote a book about it. he is now in his teenage years. and doesnt remember as much.
dont belive everything hipsters tell you most of their infomation comes from BS from the internet. make up your own damn mind.
i would call myself: karmic/spritual >>do bad shit, bad shit happens to you etc >>i know there is something out there whether it be good or bad its there (but not like a helicopter parent)
You're afraid of the world around you, so you've adopted a moronic ideology that only someone with no real world experience and weak critical thinking skills could fall for.
Ethan Roberts
>real world experience >muh anecdotes Not an argument >weak critical thinking skills That's what I would call people who steadfastly refuse to read sources or provide sources of their own. >moronic ideology What, wanting to preserve my own people and having moral standards? By what metric are you calling it "retarded"? You need to have some system of evaluating things besides "I don't like you therefore retard, QED".
Jaxon Clark
In the upper right hand corner you can click on settings and enter his trip into a post filter that way none of his posts show up and he gets to argue with himself. I was unaware of this setting for a long time so just thought I'd pass the information on if you weren't aware. It really makes browsing this board a hundred times more pleasant.
Logan Turner
Everything is more pleasant without dissenting opinions.
Aaron Edwards
>Everything is more pleasant without dissenting opinions. There's a difference between dissenting opinions and severe mental illness. That kid has never produced a sentient thought that didn't involve executing people who he doesn't like. There's no benefit in talking to a pile of shit like that. He only serves as a distraction to actually bringing people with dissenting opinions together.
Julian Miller
>I know that the Bible isn't literal. The question is of where you go from here. Do you have difficult religious conversations with people *who are open* to examine their beliefs? Do you study theology (a secular activity, for the most part)? Or do you give up interest? You're not the only one who cares about religious texts but does not take them literally.
>I know that organized religion is a scam run by crooks and defilers. Why did you make such a sweeping statement here? Is there something about being religious and organized that necessarily makes a person a scam and a crook? If you and I founded a religious organization right now, would that make the two of us scammers and crooks?
>My only question is how does one pray when they don't believe in religion? Can you? I think that you do believe in religion, and I think that it's difficult for you to pray when *you^ don't know what you believe in.
David Flores
Thank you, I actually didn't know that - I'll apply it.
Ryan Butler
It's certainly easy to discount unpleasant information by bashing the messenger, isn't it? Face it, you don't like what he has to say, not because of how he says it like you say, but because of what it stands for. If he was so crazy, it would be easy to refute him and his sources, but you can't and you filter him instead.
Leo Gomez
Kek. Geting a bit desperate aren't we hitler? Yeah no problem. Just tryna look out.
