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OC--I can honestly say that you are someone I admire for her logical, dispassionate arguments. (Me, being illogical and passionate, am lost here.)
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Pfft! Hardly, Bri. I'm the least logical, and moderate to highly passionate person I know. Often I stumble and I screw up what I'm trying to say, and I take things WAY too personally most of the time. (Everything is not about me, and I need to keep that in mind.)
I think the best thing I can say about myself is that I am open minded and willing to listen to other people. I really try hard to look at both sides of an argument and sometimes I even argue for the other side, (Devil's advocate) just so I can see where that side is coming from. (That really screwed LJ up for awhile.) I can just as easily jump over to the atheist position and the evolutionist position and argue their points too, although I must admit, not as easily or comfortably as I argue what I believe in.
I didn't come to my particular set of beliefs blindly. It's when I started searching in earnest that I found the answers. I'm perfectly willing to admit that I don't have all the answers, and that I could be wrong. I'll find out when I die, but unfortunetly, then I won't be able to tell anyone. But like my (apperantly offensive) ex-signature said,
"I'd rather live my life as if there is a god and die to find out there wasn't," I've got nothing to lose if there's no God after all,
"than live as though there is no God" that is, not doing what God says to do, which goes beyond being a good person and means LOVING GOD and HAVING A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM,
"and die to find out there was." because then it's too late.
If that's not your belief, I can't change that. I can't make you worship, I can't make you love God, and I can't make you experience his love and grace. No one can do that for you, build that relationship, except you and God.
What I CAN do, is present thought-nuggets. Throw them out there and see what happens. What I SHOULD do, according to the rulebook, is tell everyone I can what God has done for me, and explain WHY I believe what I believe.
I don't like it when evangelists try to scare people into converting (Way of the Master, et al.). Jesus didn't walk around saying "Love me and do exactly as I say or you're going to HELLLLLLLLLL!" He did, however, say a bunch of stuff about coming to save the world, because the only way to get to heaven is through him, and that the most important thing you can do is love him.
I am not any specific religion. I can't be. I read the bible, and I try to make sense of the verses as best I can, and apply them to my life. Why do I do this? Because I have come to believe that there really was a Jesus and he really was the bodily incarnation of the creator of the universe (and me) and he laid down some rules that are in my best interest. I love him. Because I love him, I want to please him. I want to make him happy. I want his spirit to hang out with me and let me know when I'm messing up, and feel the joy when I do good. I have felt the spirit. That has been one of my metaphysical experiences. I want to keep that joy with me as much as possible, and that means keeping to the rules.
It's a weird mixture of being selfish and being selfless. By being selfless, I bring good things to myself, which I like. By loving God to the best of my ability, I ensure my place in the spirit forever. You get what you give.
So you see, actually, I'm really emotional and passionate about it.
[/long-ass ramble]