I am conducting a research project on religious people and their methods, could you guys help and answer?

Please answer the following:





Who or what is God to you?





Do you believe in life after death? Explain.





Do you pray? Meditate? Why or why not? If yes, about how often?





Do you feel religious belief or lack of it significantly affects a person's outward behavior? Explain.





Do you feel that the course of world events is guided by some spiritual power? Explain.

I am conducting a research project on religious people and their methods, could you guys help and answer?
WOW!!! Those are some pretty HEFTY questions, with some pretty LONG explanations due them... TOO Long for this style of "brief answers" forum.





I would be glad to attempt to tackle your questions, if you would like to email me... and I can email back my responses.








Have a blessed day.
Reply:Agnostic, so technically I don't have a religion as I don't believe in religions, but I can still answer anyways.





God isn't the God of the Bible or any organized religion. There's something out there, but I can't put a name to it. Is it God? Allah? Buddha? The Goddess? Dunno. It's just something I feel, but have no name for.





Life after death? Not so much in the sense of heaven or hell or that sort of thing. It's not quite "game over", either. My personal thoughts on the subject is that we're all made of energy and our mortal bodies are just "shells", so to speak, and that when death comes, we return to our energetic forms. Maybe we move on, maybe we're reborn.





I don't pray or really meditate, not in the religious sense. Do I meditate in the sense of taking deep breaths or pausing for a moment to calm down or relax? That I do, but not often, only when I'm really upset or stressed, then I take a moment to just sit down, do nothing except breathe and usually listen to a bit of calming music.





Religious belief or lack thereof doesn't really affect a person's outward behavior. Having a belief doesn't make you automatically "good", nor does not having one automatically make you "bad". There's good and bad in all of us and while focusing on a religious doctrine might influence our decisions, we are the ones ultimately responsible for what we say or do, not religion, so no, not significantly, if at all.





I also don't feel that the world is guided by a spiritual power. The events going on in the world today are the result of OUR choices, good or bad, as humans. We choose to make war on one another, then the resulting suffering, high taxes, and whatnot are the result of those choices. Religion or "higher powers" don't nudge us one way or another.





We choose to do stupid things or good things. Or not. Once we learn to accept responsibility for our actions, only then can the world get better.
Reply:"God" as in the Christian god - not much to me. I was Christian for a number of years but never felt like I belonged and never felt "God"





God/s and Goddesses - my deities are perfect for me and I for them. They challenge, strengthen and encourage me.





Life after death: yes. Either the halls of the gods in Vanaheim or Asgard or a peaceful rest in Hella's realm. For murderers and oath breakers - a rough afterlife.





Do I pray? No. I give honor to the deities, my ancestors, my family, my friends and myself.





Meditate: sometimes but I'm a Type A person - I gotta be doing two or three things at once or I go nuts. Meditation - usually when I'm out in nature - about once or twice a week.





Belief or no belief affecting behavior: Depends on the person, their beliefs and how strongly they hold to those beliefs. I strive for the Noble Virtues: Freedom, Tolerance, Boldness/Courage, Self Rule, Moderation, Steadfastness, Generosity/Hospitality, Truth, Equality/Justice, Family Responsibility/ Community, Honor, Strength, Troth/ Loyalty, Self Reliance, Wisdom, that affects my behavior.





World events: No, I don't believe in "end times" (which has been predicted for over 2,000 years) nor that any deity "blesses" any one nation over another.
Reply:1) god is nothing to me, he's as real as Zeus


2) I'll tell you when it happens


3)no, why would I?


4)yes, look at Hitler


5)yes, but it's man made
Reply:God is the Father of our spirits, and is omnipotent, and all caring and loving of us. It is his work and glory, to bring to pass our life everlasting in order for us all to be able to live with him eternally again.





I believe in a life after death (See first answer). Jesus Christ brought victory over death with his atoning sacrifice. That sacrifice paved the way for all mankind to have eternal life. There is a requirement, however. We need to trust in Christ and believe on his name.





I pray. It is my way to communicate to God. It is a way to feel of his spirit and learn his will for me. I also ponder often. The holy spirit can communicate through a still, small voice that is quiet and not pretentious. It requires quiet listening to hear it.





My faith is a guidepost for my life. It is a road map, if you will. By following the precepts and tenets of my faith, it provided guidance and direction to my life and gives me a sense of purpose.





Yes and no. While I believe that there is a God in heaven overseeing our well being, I also believe that God gives us free agency to choose things and behave on our own. That is how "repsoniblity" and personal accountibility" are created, by having the ability to choose for oneself how to act. God does not force us all to heaven; we have the ability to choose to believe and obey.
Reply:God can never really be known. We can only try to understand God throught God's attributes. God is one. God is time. God is truth. God is the originator of all things and unlike the creation. God is the most merciful, and the harshest in giving punishments. God is some many things and language falls short.





I believe in life after death. People go to either heaven or hell (no purgatory). The grave is a sort of "preview" of things to come.





I pray five times a day (most days) and may make shorter, more informal prayers throught the day. I pray out of gratitude to my Lord, as a reminder to myself of where my head needs to be, and to mantain balance in my life.





I definately think that religious belief will influence a person's behavior. If a person trully believes, his or her actions will reflect that. No one is perfect but if you see a person claiming to hold certain religious beliefs but there actions are routinely contradicting what they are saying, you really need to take a step back and wonder what's really going on inside people's heads. I think some people lie to themselves to such an extend that they think that they are religious believeres when they aren't. (God knows best.) As for atheist, they aren't condemned to have bad behavior because the don't belong to a religious group, but I think that true faith would improve their behavior. (Much of what we consider to be good and bad behavior corresponds with what religion tells us is good and bad behavior. Even without being a part of a religion, one will take religious ideals concerning good and bad behavior when it is mainstream.)





The last inquiry seems to be an interesting way of phrasing the old freewill/ fate question. On this I could go on and on, but I won't. (papers to write) I believe in both freewill and dive preordainment. The two aren't as incompatible as many peole think they are. You can always email me if you want further explanation.