Quote Originally Posted by Alpha
How does one just 'choose' a religion? Is religion just a commodity on a supermarket shelf, where we pick the one that is the cheapest and most satisfying (least effort, greatest perceived spiritual benefits)?
I don't think you can just choose a religion, but you can choose a path which might possibly follow a particular religion, therefore making you part of it. "Choosing" a religion isn't like choosing which clothes to wear in the morning. It's a massive decision which needs a lot of thought put into it.

I think that for a religion to be taken seriously, you'd need to of have been raised on it by your parents or school or whatever. Some people have turned to religion when something happens in their life which is either good (possibly love) or bad (illness or disease).

Quote Originally Posted by Alpha
Because no-one can actually prove their religion, how can we actually choose the 'best' one? Is it a case of finding the most 'believable'? The most compatible (with your other opinions), or the most humanistic? Is it just a matter of birth, and if anybody converts, it's more irrational than rational?
I was raised to be a Christian. A load of shit happened to make me question Christianity. What annoyed me was that when I put these questions forward to my teachers and even the vicar, I wasn't given a proper answer, which therefore lead to even more questions. Eventually, they stopped giving me answers because they got pissed that I was wasting their time I can imagine.

When I went to my secondary school, I hadn't heard of other religions because we were pretty much sheltered from it at my primary school. In my new class, I talked to the Muslim girls and asked about their religion. I must have asked too many questions again because they got pissy with me, leaving me saying: "I was only curious..."

Why, when religion is questioned, do people tend to back off and get defensive as if the curious people are trying to disprove or take a dig at the path this person has chosen? I know not everyone knows the answers - heck there might not even be a straight answer - but an opinion to me is as good as an answer. Everyone should be able to question their own religion, and form their own opinion of it instead of viewing it as how they're "supposed" to.

When it comes to converting to another religion, I believe it's something that requires a lot of thought and research. It's not possible to become a Christian* overnight.

*I used it as an example. Feel free to change it to whatever.

Quote Originally Posted by Govinda
I made my own belief system. It goes like this:

Trees are cool
The sky is cool
Outside is pretty when it rains
Children are the best people around
Cats are cooler than we
You have no excuse for being unhappy unless you were born on a rubbish tip in Mumbai or similar, so stop whining
Money is just money, don't hoard it - it can buy someone a roof or a flushing toilet, you know
Everyone has the right to their own faith and opinions unless they are directly harmful, it's about what gets you through the day sane
No God had anything to do with: MRI machines, defibrilators, comfy duvets; no God had anything to do with M-16's, nuclear weaponry, and Twitter
The sky will always be blue until the sun blows us up
So respect that shit and look after all of it because, here's the deal, your life actually DOES depend on it.

I'm not recruiting disciples right now, but you can apply anyway.
Sounds like my kinda belief system. Where do I sign?