I guess...no, I
know I am a minority in this thread and largely in this forum; I am a practicing Christian, Lutheran to be exact.
Many years ago I was an atheist, and a damned proud one at that. Circumstances in my life happened so that slowly I became a Christian, or rather, I came back to the religion I was raised on. Both my parents are very devout, as is my brother, but my parents never forced me to go to church, even as a child; the only time it was required was when I was going through communion. Once I "graduated" I rarely went back.
So what are my views? Well, I believe in a higher life form than myself, and with that I believe that a)this life form sent ambassadors (Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad) if you will, to teach Gods ways of living and b)that his one ambassador, Jesus Christ, died for my sins and yours. I follow the teachings and words of Jesus Christ and try my best to adhere to them. But I am not perfect, nor am I holier than thou.
-Do I believe that the Earth was created 6,000 years ago? No. What I believe is that my creator gave us humans free will to do as we please, and to be judged not by his creations, but by the creator when we pass from this plane of existence to the next.
-Am I evangelical? Again, no, even though I do belong to an evangelical Lutheran church (ELCA) I am not going to berate others to convert to my way of thinking, because I believe in freewill.
-Am I final arbitrator on religion here on Final Gear? No. Please do not pester me about it. If you are angry at Christianity, take it up with the Vatican, not me.
-Do I care that you are not religious? Nope. My perception, respect and fondness of you changes
NOT ONE IOTA. What I do ask for, is that you treat me the same way. You can talk until you are blue in the face about how religion is a fallacy, berate me over my personal choice, call me a fool, and it will not change my views. And if someone was to bully me, mock me or whatever, I will not be angry, but pity them for being so narrow minded and judgmental, it reflects on who they are, how they treat others, and most importantly, how they feel about themselves. Think about that, if you are person who is an internet bully; I have received death threats because I dared to be open about my beliefs.
I am an individual, please judge me on an individual basis.