If I wanted to find religion (hypothetical question)

:1: hellfire and brimstone people scare more seekers away than they'll ever know. i ran screaming for 20 years! :hysteria: get away from me you freaks.
when you become comfortable in your beliefs, Christianity or other, then these people mean less in the scheme of things, in fact they are laughable to me now. i them. so what if you can quote book, chapter, verse.
So what indeed! Many of the worst can quote book, chapter and verse but when it comes to actually LIVING the book, chapter and verse they've quoted that's where it ends.
I'd rather see people LIVE their faith. It is far more powerful.
Mother Theresa LIVED her faith. wow. Was she perfect? No. But daily she tried to live God's word, not just repeat it.

first of all, look within yourself, what are you missing, what are your core beliefs and what do you think is really wrong with the world?

organized religeon, any kind will have pro's and con's

do you beleive in a supreme bieing, a diety? if not well then a lot od religeons are already removed for you and you should start to look at some of the eastern religeons or the earth/Druid type of religeons.

I'll agree with Andy that no person can tell you what to decide. a good book to read is called "Doubt" and it will go over a lot of the religeous bases for you.

as far as i am concerned, i am a religeon of one. it's great that way, i never miss a service.

Hmm... for someone who is not already a believer but still misses "something" ritualistic or communal in their lives? I would look into Universal Unitarians or atheist paganism. You could also, of course, join a book club, do volunteer work, organize a hiking trail, things like that. 

first of all, look within yourself, what are you missing, what are your core beliefs and what do you think is really wrong with the world?

Do you have to be missing something to be religious???

Do you have to be missing something to be religious???
I think this is more along the lines of what is missing in the "big picture" of your life ?
Direction, serenity, hope, whatever you feel you need that, for some reason, is not supplied by the "secular" world.
Ask yourself wouldn't you feel you were "incomplete" (missing something) if you didn't have your faith ? Unless you haven't had a faith, you can't know what it feels like not to have a faith.

I would tell you to go to the woods. Nature. That's where religion is.

I would apply iodine to the affected area and blot with acetone. If God has not appeared within 1 week, smooth the area with a nail file and try again.

I'd say visit some places of worship and talk with the people there. Get to know their beliefs.

I grew up Catholic. I attended Catholic churches until this summer when I started to date my now fiance. I started attending her church which is somewhat similar to a Baptist church. I'm liking the programs they have much better now. I'm attending bible studies, studies on other religions, and am helping with the youth group. All three things I never did with the Catholic church. And I'm learning other things that are not quite biblical with the Catholic church.

My next step is to travel up to Purdue and talk with my old Catholic priest and learn a little more.

In the end, it's not what church you choose, it's just choosing God and Jesus. The church/religion is just a way to express what you believe. (Although some say that you need to celebrate and worship to remain saved)

So, who do you think MADE those woods? Nature?

I think this is more along the lines of what is missing in the "big picture" of your life ?
Direction, serenity, hope, whatever you feel you need that, for some reason, is not supplied by the "secular" world.
Ask yourself wouldn't you feel you were "incomplete" (missing something) if you didn't have your faith ? Unless you haven't had a faith, you can't know what it feels like not to have a faith. Yes Andy, that is what i meant. Thanks

So, who do you think MADE those woods? Nature?yup!!

My church is in suburbia! :hysteria:

Dives, your bible must be different than mine because my bible DOES contradict itself. Until the New Testament was written, Jesus Christ wasn't even an option.
If you read the old testament, in order to reach the altar you better bring an acceptable sacraficial gift or you're gonna be struck dead immediately. But because Jesus Christ was the sacraficial lamb, I no longer have to do that. Of course, depending on your "religion", some believe you still have to bring real sacrifices to the altar because that's what the bible says to do. The bible also talks about Simon and Peter. It's contradictory until you realize later that Simon and Peter are indeed the same person.
Mech, if you find religion you will not find faith. If you go to a faith based organization and they impose a whole lot of rules on you (how to dress, how to act, what you can and cannot do) and that god will hate you if you don't follow those rules, you have found a religious organization and I suggest you run fast.
The people you meet should love you, love god, and teach that god is a loving, but can be vengeful, but he's not this horrible monster. Salvation is a gift, and receiving a gift should be easy and unencumbered.

If I may hightlight a couple from Genesis: Abraham and Sarah are escaping to Egypt. When they get there Abraham tells Sarah to lie and say she is Abraham's sister and not his wife or else the Egyptians will kill him. Sarah does that and within a short time Abraham is doing pretty well. Dilemma: Has God rewarded Abraham for his lie ? Think about it: As a direct result of him telling Sarah to lie, he is friendly with the power brokers and doing very well financially. Meanwhile, his wife is being treated as single woman by his Egyptian buddies. (Why did you tell us she was your sister ? We have now sinned against your God...) When Moses comes down from Sinai he reads off the commandments. When he gets to Canaan, he relates commandments to Aaron who will lead the tribe to the promised land. Dilemma: The two versions are different. Has there been a revision ? Which version do we use ? Have circumstances changed and Moses feels we don't need the "missing" ones ? Just some thoughts.

If I may hightlight a couple from Genesis: Abraham and Sarah are escaping to Egypt. When they get there Abraham tells Sarah to lie and say she is Abraham's sister and not his wife or else the Egyptians will kill him. Sarah does that and within a short time Abraham is doing pretty well. Dilemma: Has God rewarded Abraham for his lie ? Think about it: As a direct result of him telling Sarah to lie, he is friendly with the power brokers and doing very well financially. Meanwhile, his wife is being treated as single woman by his Egyptian buddies. (Why did you tell us she was your sister ? We have now sinned against your God...) When Moses comes down from Sinai he reads off the commandments. When he gets to Canaan, he relates commandments to Aaron who will lead the tribe to the promised land. Dilemma: The two versions are different. Has there been a revision ? Which version do we use ? Have circumstances chenged and Moses feels we don't need the "missing" ones ? Just some thoughts. God seems to have the terrible habit of using ghost writers for books which are full of ambiguities and open to a wide variety of interpretations.