but there is a difference.

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Is VTEC considered a religion?

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I remember watching a special on Penn and Teller about religion, and they summed it up excellently.

In the war of Religion vs Science, there is one key point to consider. Religion has a point. A decision. A Truth, if you will. This is the way it is, and we have to find ways to prove that this is the truth.

Science, on the other hand, has no truths. It has only facts. It has only Theories. We often espouse the most recently proven theories as Truth, but science acknowledges no truths. We analyze what we see and hear and find, determine if it fits what we believe, and if not, we shift what we believe.

So you need to decide for yourself which is better: a Truth that never changes, no matter the evidence, or a Theory that will change and grow as we learn more about ourselves and the Universe.

Which is yet another reason why I cannot believe in any of them--each of them have several different interpretations of which is correct, and each of the three squabble amongst themselves to determine which one is worshipping God in the proper way.

Seriously, bitches, what the fuck?

werd... Christianity has close to 34,000 different sects. A church divided is no church at all.

I've seen many anti-christ/religion many of whom echoes much of the same opinions as have been stated here, but when one comes across a situation where they may be facing their own mortality, they will be looking for a God.

Seen it happen.

There is only one God. But religions are merely human interpretation of this one God. As humans, we'r flaws & thus our interpreations vary. The day we realize that no single religion holds the full truth and that each religion has a piece of the truth will be the day we reach salvation. Too bad ppl r too self centered to see the big picture.

Ok, past observations on forums like revscene that deal with this topic tell me that it's not worth the time to reply... but hopefully the less vocal, but interested readers will enjoy the conversation here before the thread goes down in flames...

In any case, many responses so far have dealt with "why I think <insert religion/faith group here> is not as good as what I believe." Many responses address why you think religion is irrelevant.

But that's not really the question.

If I read the OP correctly, he/she is asking essentially, "Why do people believe what they believe? On what grounds do people make their faith choices?"

Everyone believes in something that they use to make sense of life, purposes, guiding morals, etc. So that's the way I'm answering the quetsion. Religion/faith/worldview is the set of morals, overarching principles, belief system that one chooses to use to view the world and their place in the world (be it Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Universalism, Atheism, Rationalism, etc).

Now to actually answering hte question.... Most are correct in saying that family and culture play a huge role in defining this. And like many who have responded already, you hit a point where you begin to question whether what you believe (or told to believe) actually makes sense of the world you see and its problems. So you take what you know and learn, combine it with some personal experience and hopefully observations of genuine adherents to the faith/religion and come up with what you believe. At least I hope that's what people do. Without thinking and interaction between your religion and the outside world, you either get fundamentalists (of any faith group) who are intolerant of anything contrary to what they believe, or you get people who just plain reject it. But faith/religion I think is more than a personal intellectual/philsophical quest. I think if your faith is really your faith, it affects how you relate to others, how you act and your attitudes. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of hypothetical/philosophical balony that you use to justify yourself before others.

So after processing what you believe, we see some of the results in this thread...

Some have given up on their family faith/religion because of disappointment, abuse, hypocrisy, etc. Some stick to it out of tradition and family/cultural loyalty. Others find other faiths/religions that seem to make more sense. Others explore (like me) explore whether what I've grown up in actually is worth believing in and find much contentment in it.

So whatever category you are in and if you are willing to acknowledge the world is bigger than you and your feelings, then you will at some point have to confront some major questions about what you believe... and come up with your "religion", "faith", belief system, whatever it may be.

If you've got this far in the thread (and in my response), then you're either interested in proving why what you believe is better than others here, or that you genuinely want to figure it out your "religion" for yourself. If it's the latter, then I hope you take the time to investigate and genuinely ask the tough questions about the world, life, its meaning (if any), and the problem of suffering and evil. Take some time for it. Talk to people who are genuine, reasonably knowledgable AND practice what they believe. It probably is worth your time.