Category: – Organised Religion

Breaking up with Organised Religion 

Weekly church, regular confession, fasting at lent, praying for forgiveness and generally trying to be a good person dominated my religious life from when I was old enough to understand it until organised religion and I broke up when I was 35. The break-up wasn’t long and drawn out; in fact it was short, fast and relatively painless for me.

If you had asked me when I was in the thick of my regular organised religious practices if I would let it go, I wouldn’t have believed you, as I have always known there was God and I was taught throughout my childhood that God equated to religion and church.  Continue reading “Breaking up with Organised Religion “ →

Why do we put God in a Box? 

I recall that as a little girl I used to feel a great sense of wonder, joy and magic in nature – in the sound of dry leaves under foot, the sound of the waves, the perfume of flowers, the beauty of a butterfly, the birds singing in the morning, the feeling of a gentle breeze on my skin and much more. In nature I could feel a connection to a grandness, to something more than just the physical world and more than just me. What I also recall as a little girl was that no one else, or at least the adults around me, seemed to experience the same level of wonder or sense of magic – or this was not expressed. Continue reading “Why do we put God in a Box? “ →

Because Religious People are Stupid, Right? 

Growing up, I was not raised in an overly religious family. I attended the local Catholic primary school and mass each week with my class, but outside of the big celebrations like Christmas and Easter, I was never forced to attend church or participate in mass with my family. As I grew older it became my choice as to what faith or religion I wanted to follow, and as such, I never had one particular doctrine, idea or belief imposed on me – I was allowed to be myself with this… I was allowed to explore.

I explored various and different belief systems and practices, from Buddhism to Christianity and everything outside and in-between, finding elements that touched me and discarding those that caused disharmony. For the first 16 – 17 years of my life my fascination with religion was strong, and of those who I thought were truly religious I was inspired by; they however, were not many and were far and few along.  Continue reading “Because Religious People are Stupid, Right? “ →

From Religious Confusion to Religious Truth 

My confusion about religion and God began at a very early age, probably from day one. My father didn’t believe there was a God but that there was a logical explanation for everything in the Universe.

His own father had been raised in the Catholic faith and from very early on was expected to be the priest in the family, but at 17 this pressure turned him away from the Catholic religion and he ran away to sea. He later discovered Rationalism and when he became a father himself he brought his own children up, including my father, in this belief. Continue reading “From Religious Confusion to Religious Truth “ →

Am I Religious?

I remember around the age of 16/17 being asked by a friend at school whether or not I believed in God. I responded by saying that it would be crazy not to, but I did not believe in God in the way we are taught through the varying religions. So at one level I was saying yes to God but at another level I was denouncing all of the organised religions that I knew. I grew up having been to schools heavily influenced by the Catholic religion and whilst I liked some parts of the teachings, there were far too many discrepancies that I did not agree with and which did not make any sense to me. Continue reading “Am I Religious?” →