Why do you practice a certain religion

>I'm not wanting a debate, just a reason why they follow a certain faith and not another, "I was born into it", and "my ancestors practiced it" are not sound reasons

Oh, so you only want reasons that you like?

>be muslim
>drink alcohol and fuck dudes all the day
>LOL WHO ARE YOU TO SAY I'M NOT MUSLIM

So if I'm Jewish and I eat a ham and cheese sandwich, I just stop being Jewish?

>every member of a religion has to be a frothing-at-the-mouth fundamentalist

If you're wondering why nobody wants to bother with this high level discourse you're pumping out, look long and hard in a mirror and rethink your life.

Why are you so defensive? If someone identifies as something, there needs to be a reason they identify as that specific thing rather than something else.
I'm just curious, I'm not out to insult anyone. It just seems silly to me to take a theological stance on something without defending it Theologically
Not an argument

You're not a practicing Jew anymore, no

I'm not defensive, I'm not even a theist. You're just one of a significant amount of smug assholes who spend their time trying to 'win arguments' instead of learn.

>If someone identifies as something, there needs to be a reason they identify as that specific thing rather than something else.

There doesn't need to be a reason for them to discuss in-depth it with any fuckwit who asks them.

....yes??? Jews can't eat pork, you ate pork, you're no longer a Jew
Why would you not believe in something %100

>it doesn't matter whether Christianity is true or not, I'm a Christian because (...)

how is following the most basic tenets of your religion "frothing-at-the-mouth fundamentalist"?

HOLY FUCK IF YOU CALL YOURSELF A JEW OR A MUSLIM OR WHATEVER THERE NEEDS TO BE A REASON

>not an argument

That's also not an argument, /pol/ack.

Either way, it wasn't meant to be an argument, just a facetious statement. Eating meat on Friday doesn't mean I cease being Catholic. Supporting gay marriage doesnt make me cease to be Catholic. Using a condom doesn't make me cease to be Catholic.

Until I renounce Catholicism or get excommunicated, I remain Catholic. I may not be a "good" Catholic, but I'm still Catholic.

Sorry if that rustles your bustle, friend.

>calls following basic shit "frothing-at-the-mouth fundamentalist"
No wonder religion in the West is dying.

Christians can't kill anyone.

Explain how Christians can join the military.

But I'm still a Jew. Just a non-practicing one. Don't wear yourself out moving those goalposts.

>Catholicism says you must do X, Y, and Z
>You don't do X Y or Z
>"I'm still catholic"
What the fuck

Yeah that's really fucking dumb. You believe in something because you think it's true.
Though the """""christians""""" that tend to say that are mere LARPers who use Christianity as an identity and don't take it seriously at all.

Christians can't murder, not kill, but I don't want to get into a religious debate. As for your second statement; Jews are confusing, they're a religion a culture and an ethnicity so one could be a Jew culturally but not religiously and vice verse. But my point still stands.

So to be a member of a religion, you basically can never commit a sin, ever?

Is that your argument? Am I following you correctly?

>hey guys i'm catholic
>no of course i don't believe jesus was the son of god
>still catholic though sweety

How's autism treating ya?

To be a member of a religion you have to believe that that religion is the one true religion and all others are false. Being a sinner is acknowledged by the RCC and they're not teaching you can never sin, it's natural to sin; but accepting homosexuality is a big no-no in Catholicism

Not an argument

>committing a sin =/= repeatedly and flagrantly going against the tenets of your religion

>implying I do

Read the Nicene Creed, heretic, which literally defines being a Catholic:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, the only-begotten, born of the Father before all ages. Light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in essence with the Father; through whom all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. He rose on the third day according to the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he is coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of Life, who proceeds from the Father. Together with the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified; he spoke through the prophets. In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I profess one baptism for the remission of sins. I expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

>because it taught me how to be a good person

you may have a genetic heritage associated with ancestors that were jews but you're not jewish by religion

Unless I guess you're the pope?

ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-christians-must-apologize-gay-people-marginalizing-them

Now tell me, Theologically, why you believe this, as opposed to another religion like Islam or Judaism?

acting on homosexual urges is a big no-no*
it's on the same level as non-marital sex

Supporting that behavior is still not ok with RCC dogma

well duh

Because I believe in the Abrahamic God, which is the same God Jews and Muslims follow.

The big difference is The Messiah, who the Jews think hasn't shown up yet and the Muslims think was Mohammed.

The answer is of course rooted in religion, which is inherently a matter of faith. Faith cannot be proven, only believed or disbelieved. I believe in it.

Maybe I'm wrong. That's the point of faith: I don't know.

>Supporting gay marriage doesnt make me cease to be Catholic.
I'm not sure if you were the user who said this

I guess
>Pope says gay marriage is from satan
cnsnews.com/news/article/pope-francis-same-sex-marriage-move-father-lies-total-rejection-gods-law
>Pope Francis speaks against Gay adoption
wdtprs.com/blog/2013/12/pope-francis-shocked-by-gay-adoption-urges-bishop-to-speak-against-it-boldly/
>Compares transfag rights to nuclear arms race
independent.co.uk/news/people/pope-francis-compares-arguments-for-transgender-rights-to-nuclear-arms-race-10061223.html
>Pope Francis says that there's no salvation outside the Church
catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2013/06/03/pope-francis-is-under-attack-for-saying-that-outside-the-church-there-is-no-salvation-its-a-poke-in-the-eye-says-one-presbyterian-why-hes-wrong/
>He excommunicates an Australian priest supporting gay marriage and women clergy
huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/24/pope-francis-excommunicates-priest-greg-reynolds_n_3983059.html
>Pope Francis is against gender theory and for traditional gender roles
ncronline.org/blogs/francis-chronicles/pope-francis-gender-theory-problem-not-solution
>Pope is against abortion
lifenews.com/2015/09/23/pope-francis-on-abortions-innocent-victims-its-wrong-to-look-the-other-way-or-remain-silent/
>He Encourages the use of force against ISIS
businessinsider.com/pope-francis-endorses-use-of-force-against-isis-in-iraq-2014-8
>Pope Francis is against lukewarm "faith"
catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-off-the-cuff-to-priests-religious-indifference-makes-god-vomit-69700/
>The Pope is misquoted often
christianpost.com/buzzvine/7-times-pope-francis-was-misquoted-132679/

I wasn't.
And yeah, the guy is a reprobate. Haven't been following your whole conversation until now.

>Because I believe in the Abrahamic God, which is the same God Jews and Muslims follow.
No. Christians believe in the Trinity. Muslims and Jews do not

As for the rest of your post; why have faith in Catholicism? Why not Islam or Judaism? Surely there is a reason you're leaning towards one over the others?

The vast majority couldn't even if they wanted to.

>which is the same God Jews and Muslims follow
Jews follow Yaldabaoth, muslims believe in a pagan moon god.

Why? Just read the Bible, Talmud, and Qur'An and come to the conclusion after studying them.

that takes effort and time, though
much easier to just believe what your pastor, facebook or r/atheism memes tell you to believe

Are you trying to spook me?

OP BTFO

Unsuccessful self-deception:
lesswrong.com/lw/r/no_really_ive_deceived_myself/
lesswrong.com/lw/s/belief_in_selfdeception/
lesswrong.com/lw/1f/moores_paradox/

>Muslims believe in a pagan god
What the fuck am I reading

It's even worse than that. My grandmother for example is a fervently religious Greco-Catholic. I made the mistake of talking theology with her once and I found out she essentially thinks Milton's Paradise Lost is scripture and recited a bunch of /x/-tier bullshit about how China is the Red Dragon in the Book of Revelations. I can only assume she saw this in a shitty American documentary on cable TV.

Do you believe in literal angels and demons? that's an obligatory part of the Catholic faith

Jews are a unique case because Judaism and Jews aren't the same thing. Catholic isn't an ethnicity.

>Why would you not believe in something %100
Why would you unquestionably follow every facet of a religious doctrine, even if parts of it are disagreeable? If I practice 99% of Christian Funadamentalists customs but don't want to stone gays, I'm no longer a Christian?

Allah is a retconned pagan god from the precursor religion in the area Mohammed got his seizures in.

No we(Muslims) still believe that Jesus was the Messiah, we also think he's gonna come back, we just believe he went up to heaven and one of his disciples was crucified instead.

Isn't Allah the Arabic word for the ONE TRUE God?

I'm a Pentecostal Christian because its really wild and Pentecostal Women are ride or die, I also guess that a series of events have led me to believe that the Universe and Humanity couldn't have just materialized from the ether without intelligent design.

what he's saying is that you may be culturally catholic, but you don't fit the definition of "catholic" unless you actually believe in the religion. nothing wrong with going to church, etc simply for cultural reasons, but OP was talking about believers

You know what truly boggles my mind? Married people cheating.

Assuming you're married within the Christian/Jewish/Islam tradition, you're telling you'll be with each other until death do you part. And you also believe that God knows and sees everything. So why the fuck would you ever cheat? It's not as if God doesn't know and won't punish you for breaking a wove to him.

Religion has the benefit of being a voice that tells you to be a decent person.

The only other outlets we really have that say this is literature and art which no one teaches you how to really appreciate and benefit from these days.

If that's the case he wouldn't have claimed otherwise.

Pentecostals, as least in rural Ohio, from what I've seen are the most batshit insane, make up shit as you go kind of Christian.

Most people who claim to believe in the Abrahamic God do not. They are heavily influenced by secular ethics, think that God is more of a convenient answer for creation and death than a real omnipotent being that will actually punish them for their actions.

Oh yea, those really rural Pentecostals are off the rocker, the church I go to are very biblical. The only thing that would turn off anyone there for the first time is the rather "assertive" proselytizing we do, we recently got a bunch of muslim refugees move into the area and my church leaders took it as the perfect opportunity to convert them since most of them are women and children (no really).

So far the madmen have gotten couple of them to convert, some of us have our doubts but they seem pretty genuine

>publicly sinning and encouraging sin doesn't mean I'm no longer a Catholic
By this logic Martin Luther died a Catholic.

>Christians can't kill anyone.
>Explain how Christians can join the military.
Here's a catholic retort:
ethics.sandiego.edu/Books/Texts/Aquinas/JustWar.html

>as least in rural Ohio
north, south, east, or west part of the state?
[spoiler]why are there so many Ohiofags on this site? I swear I see people talk about there on every board[/spoiler]

It's a thing called "act of faith". Go look it up.

East, near West Virginia. It's where my family is from, but I'm in Columbus personally.

>Why do you practice a certain religion

It's like asking why people are Americans if they were born in America.

Chances are it's because they were taught the religion, and had warm, fuzzy feelings when they associated it with family.

>A 2006 poll published by Le Monde and Le Monde des Religions in January 2007 [...] shows that 51 percent of French respondents indicate they are Catholic, even if they never attend religious services. Another 31 percent of those polled state that they have no religious affiliation.
>Among Catholics, only 8 percent attend Mass weekly, one-third do so "occasionally", and 46 percent attend "only for baptisms, weddings, and funerals." Only 52 percent of the declared Catholics believe that the existence of God is "certain or possible."

>An October 2006 CSA poll addressed solely to Catholics established that 17% of French Catholics didn't believe in God. Among believers, most (79%) described God as a "force, energy, or spirit" and only 18% as a personal god.

>Less than a third of young children are baptised
>Although there were ~450k baptisms each year 1900-2000, there were only ~45k confirmations each year 2005-2015, in short only ~10% of the baptized get confirmed.
>only ~20% of marriages are celebrated by the church

"Cultural "catholics"" will defend this.

>1900-2000
1990-2000, shit.

Why is this a problem exactly? At least they still consider themselves Catholics.

I'm not a catholic but I'm assuming that baptisms and confirmations are a pretty big deal in Catholic theology, how can you not do any of that and still call yourself a Catholic?

>They consider themselves catholics but don't believe in God, don't attend services, don't do the most basic and necessary rituals, probably never bothered reading the Bible and don't care what the Church has to say about anything they do
Why is this good news? I mean, unless you're an atheist.

>but don't believe in God

But they do?

Why would it be good news for an atheist?
It destroys their victim narrative of "muh evil religious majority is holding us back".

I'm also confused that nearly 90% of the Catholics claim they AT LEAST attend services for "baptisms, weddings and funerals" but then a majority of them don't bother baptizing their children or holding their weddings in church. Apparently the Church does celebrate most funerals though, but even non-Catholics would attend funerals anyway.

>Only 52 percent of the declared Catholics believe that the existence of God is "certain or possible."
>17% of French Catholics didn't believe in God. Among believers, most (79%) described God as a "force, energy, or spirit"

>"Only" have the population literally believe in God

Careful there mate. You might sound like you're not happy until 99.9% are as zealous as yourself.

half the population*

Act of faith - I don't know why I believe in what I believe, and I don't know why I act the way I act.
See also: insanity.

It's not even "half of them believe in God", it's "half of them believe the existence of God is certain or possible[!]"

This doesn't even classify as zeal, what are you on about.

>Among believers, most (79%) described God as a "force, energy, or spirit"

it's pretty much always been like this though, only the clergy were really read in the idea of God as the monad .

>it's "half of them believe the existence of God is certain or possible[!]"

Which could be argued is even more zealous than simply belief.

At least the part about people thinking it is "certain".

What the hell is "simple belief" if it's even weaker than "I'm quite sure God exists"? That's the bare minimum you need to qualify as a theist.
Also are you purposefully missing the point that the other half of Catholics won't even state that the existence of God is "certain or possible"? Even assuming "possible" is taken to mean "likely" that's still ridiculous.

>What is a reformed Jew

You are litreally a heretic if you don't follow the dogma, m80.

those aren't real jews desu. reformed is so watered down you can't even call it jewish anymore

unless it helps your narrative, of course

Because for some people, the religion is tied inextricably within a framework of land, folk practices, and legend.

It's autist tier to be unironically religious based on logical arguments.

>i am a (insert religion here) because (bullshit reason about culture or identity)

you retarded simpletons, religion is your tool to get to heaven in the afterlife, mosques and churches aren't fucking social clubs

Man u are not wrong people in ohio fucking love history and have encyclopedic knowledge when it comes to that. Lived in cincinnati for a few and had a roommate from central ohio. Smart as fuck but weird dude. Just a weird state overall cant quite figure out why.

You mean observant right?
Jews are Jews for as long as they live, just because the don't follow the Law doesn't mean that they suddenly aren't Jewish.

Those are sound reasons and the most occuring ones even though theists won't admit it.

Yeah but Jews are a different case, they're a culture, religion, and an ethnicity. You can't apply the same reasoning to a Catholic or a Muslim

A layman can test the data his biologyteacher gives on himself. The data a priest provides cant be tested so thats a false comparisation.