figuring out my religion

[some ftm guy]

i wondered about something because i keep contradicting myself with where i am in the religion/spiritual realm. i go from not believing in anything to being almost christian...i guess. i most of the time believe that there's something there. i don't know what and i don't really care what anyone wants to call it my mind is really open like that but it's confusing because i can easily believe an atheist's argument against all religion yet easily take to heart what someone says about God and Jesus. one can say "no one can go through life or face even one day alone, if you believe you are alone, life will be so much harder, nearly impossible than if you knew (this God entity) was always with you everything would be like following a flow. effortless." that makes sense. but where is this God? what is it? it's some invisible unprovable creator? your supposed to just believe it's there and let a book tell you what is real, how things, life , people are supposed to be, what happened and what didn't. everyone has a different opinion and I've seen soooo many of the wrong kind of religious people and what they've said to those in the LGBTQ community, even to those working in a job they don't want you to work in, or you're marrying, dating someone they don't think is right for you on and on and on even to their own kids and use the book that was written a few centuries ago in a completely different time by whoever it was, probably some random person who felt like dictating people because there's no proof on any of that. and it's all over every form of media. i could probably never get along with 99.9999% of anyone claiming to be religious because of all the anger, hate, prejudice I've seen. yes there are some, well o.k a lot that have spirituality that actually treat ALL people as they want to be treated but compared to everyone?

what kind of religion is out there where you believe whatever is. is. everything that breathes, lives, grows no matter what it/they look, sound, act like has a spirit, deserves love, equal treatment in home, law, everywhere and you don't have to say God. is that buddism? or i guess i can just say I'm spiritual without any direction because i can't believe that the whole universe and all life in it is here on coincidence. maybe but i kind of have trouble grasping that, i believe that maybe every single living creature be it plant, insect, animal or person has a purpose. but i don't believe in any of the bible stories.

haha confusing. is anyone else like this spiritual/religion wise?

[justmeinoz]

Good name choice eh, Noah! Any good around boats, if you say yes it's a bit of a worry!

One thing worth remembering is that the Bible, especially the Old Testament, was written down by scribes at various times, and in different circumstances.  None of it is meant to be read as straight history the way we know it today.

A lot of it is allegorical moral instruction for a very different society that was groping slowly forward in it's understanding of morality and the nature of the Divine. Some of it is downright theological/political propaganda for a small people surrounded by enemies who wished to destroy them utterly. Their scriptures were the only thing keeping them from being assimilated by their pagan conquerors.

When you get to the New Testament you are faced with a totally unexpected idea of the nature of God and what is required to live a moral life.  All the old rulesand ideas get turned on their head.

If you can find it , Isaac Asimov's "Guide to the Old Testament" and "Guide to the New Testament" are a good place to get a handle on the way they were written, and a lot of historical explanation of the background of each Book.  Like all the begatting! (Asimov probably wrote more non-fiction than fiction.)
Just my 20 cents worth, Karen.

[Julie1957]

You might want to look into the Unitarian Universalist Church.  It is very open and accepting and it sounds like it might fit with what you describe as your beliefs.  The Quaker religion is also very accepting and might be something to look into (I'm Quaker myself). 
- Julie

[some ftm guy]

o.k. google list
Quaker - i think I've heard that word once ever before this.
unitarian universalist church....that's kind of a mouthful lol.

and no i didn't name myself after the bible Noah. it just came to me for whatever reason, it just fit instantly  that'd be funny if i some day have a boat and a lot of pets though 
thanks 

[DriftingCrow]

what kind of religion is out there where you believe whatever is. is. everything that breathes, lives, grows no matter what it/they look, sound, act like has a spirit, deserves love, equal treatment in home, law, everywhere and you don't have to say God. is that buddism? or i guess i can just say I'm spiritual without any direction because i can't believe that the whole universe and all life in it is here on coincidence. maybe but i kind of have trouble grasping that, i believe that maybe every single living creature be it plant, insect, animal or person has a purpose. but i don't believe in any of the bible stories.

haha confusing. is anyone else like this spiritual/religion wise?

I just happened to discover Sikhism recently. Before looking into it, I already knew what I believed, and surprisingly, Sikism is soooo close to everything I already believed. I am doing more research on it, but it's looking more and more attractive to me the more that I read.

If you're looking for a religion that has equal treatment, Sikhism might be worth doing a little reading on. They believe that religions are equal, that men and women and people from all races are equal, etc. A lot of Sikhs view LGBT individuals as equals too. In Sikhism, God is genderless and so are people's souls. 

Some things about the religion can be challenging for trans people, because they believe the body is a gift from Waheguru (their word for God) and it should be left in it's pure form-which includes keeping unshorn hair-so this would leave physical transition out of the question.