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Religiously, I am unaligned. Not because I chose to be, because I have been completely unable to find anything or anyone with beliefs similar to mine. Despite deep searching, I can't find anyone. Not only that, but part of me fears even discussing my viewpoints regarding an all-powerful omnipotent being, death, the after life, re-incarnation... I fear it because I do not want to give people the impression that I am trying to convert people to my beliefs, and I'm scared people will accuse me of being "crazy". The few people I have talked to about it seem to think my beliefs make sense, but these people were agnostic and completely lacked religious beliefs of their own.
I recognize that there are plenty of open-minded individuals who would not only listen, but may even accept the things I believe for themselves.
I have an incredible problem with loneliness in the regard that I have nobody to discuss things like this with. Nobody who thinks or feels the same way as I.

Does anyone deal with this conflict? If you did, how did you manage eventually becoming comfortable discussing your faith with others (this applies to people with a faith that is a minority in their community)?

I do not know what you believe but there are many out there that have beliefs that make them feel alone. Many times others shun them for those beliefs and they are alone.
In that respect I know how you feel.

PM me.  Your beliefs can't possibly be as strange as mine.  Trust me.  My spirituality is all sorts of messed up.  It's kinda of like goddess worship, but without any goddesses.

Well my faith is certainly a minority where I live. There probably isn't anyone else at all around who shares my beliefs, and if there was one or two they probably don't talk about it much because they don't want to be told how they're wrong. Maybe it's because of my beliefs that I don't mind talking about it even if no one else agrees -- it's been a great source of courage and strength for me. I'm certainly not one to poke my beliefs at others for no reason though, so I usually only mention religious things if someone else already has.

From the few things you mentioned it sounds like your beliefs are similar to my own. You can feel free to talk to me about them, by PM if you're more comfortable with that. People say I'm a good listener.

I sent a PM to VeryGnawty, I could send you one as well.  :)
It's nice to see people being curious about each other. I've seen it happen too much where people refuse to listen to the beliefs of other faiths because they don't want to hear that they are wrong. If you are confident enough in your faith, you shouldn't be scared of other people's potential ability to covert you.

I have no faith only the objective reality and the unknown. I have no problems talking with others about it each person is different. I care not what they think.

Quote from: Yakshini on February 17, 2011, 01:59:42 PMI've seen it happen too much where people refuse to listen to the beliefs of other faiths because they don't want to hear that they are wrong. If you are confident enough in your faith, you shouldn't be scared of other people's potential ability to covert you.

People are only scared of information if they don't have faith.  If you truly believe in your ideas, then there is nothing to fear from information.  Jesus DIED for his ideas (if you believe Biblical accounts to be true).  That's a pretty significant investment in belief.

Most people aren't willing to die for their ideas, so they are afraid of people who are.  Suicide terrorists?  Scary stuff.  Ascetics who live in a cave for years on end eating leaves and bugs?  That's freaky.  People who are willing to risk death or serious bodily injury for their beliefs?  Yeah, that's wacko.  So, why are people so scared of such individuals?  It's because those types of individuals actually believe in something.  It's not something that they sit down and preach, it's something that they actually DO in their lives even when everyone else disagrees with them.  That is faith.

If you want to know what it's really like to have true faith, you should read Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling.  It is a philosophical ponderance that does a very good job of covering what faith actually means, and what a faithful person actually is.  Faith is not claiming something to be true and then debating every single person in the world until they all agree with you.  That sort of behavior has nothing at all to do with faith.

Quote from: Yakshini on February 17, 2011, 01:59:42 PM
If you are confident enough in your faith, you shouldn't be scared of other people's potential ability to covert you.

Indeed. Nothing bad can come of listening to the beliefs of others, assuming that you actually think about it and don't accept or reject it blindly. Either you will come to a new understanding, or you will be further convinced that what you believe is right (at least for you). Both outcomes are good.

QuotePeople are only scared of information if they don't have faith.

Having no faith does not equate to fear. No after life judgement means no fear of death. If anything not having the knowledge and facts is putting yourself in an unknown situation which could be painful. Beliefs are not facts.