How do you know your religion is the right path?

Just about every faith in the world claims to be The Way; the one true path to hope and salvation. Whether it be Christianity, Judaism, Islam, atheism, paganism, Buddhism, or anything else, they all claim to hold the Truth. Each says they are the right way of thinking, to the exclusion of others.

So my question is, how do you, personally, know? Most people have a fairly solid set of beliefs, and I'm curious about the thought process that goes into aligning yourself with a particular faith or religion, particularly in cases where one converts as an adult away from the beliefs they were raised with. Even those of you who remain with the same faith or path your parents taught you, how do you know that your faith is The Truth, and not one of the myriad others that also claims to be The Truth? Each faith has the same arguments for their being closer to the Almighty than others.

Alongside this question, is the more specific one of how a person picks a certain denomination or sect of a religion as Truth over what is taught in other segments of the faith. Why or how does a person choose, say, Baptist over Episcopalian, or Catholicism over being a Jehovah's Witness, as examples.


This thread is not intended as a debate over who or what really is right. I'm not interested in that. And personally, I don't feel such a fuck-up species as ourselves has any grasp on what Truth really is. What this thread is meant for, is a simple question with a not-so-simple answer.

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

You don't. That's really the bottom line. None of any of it is provable. Even as hardcore as my experiences are where I'm having psychic visions, dreaming of events that are happening as I'm dreaming, having insight on people and knowing things about them, there is no way to physically prove any of it.

It's all faith. The difference with most people is they can't admit this. Pride makes them declare a truth when they are in the same boat as everyone else, operating on faith.

I believe no religion is the right religion..They all worship the same God. As long as it's peaceful and loving then that's great.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

meow85 said:

For me. I've already said this longtime ago. The condensed form. One man changed the course world, no armies, no palaces or santuaries, no royal standing, just a regular joe who gave a damn about people. That means something.

"Behind every successful woman there is an astonished man." General Ann Dunwoody

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

unlucky7 said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

LittleRedCorvette said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

morningsong said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

meow85 said:

"Behind every successful woman there is an astonished man." General Ann Dunwoody

I don't and that why I don't discredit anyone else's path either. I do what's best for me. I see a lot of people here use the bible to justify war and not helping their fellow man and I use to bible to justify loving people.

If I may, I'd like to ask a related question - it immediately popped in my mind reading this thread's question and responses: why on earth should there be just one Truth? Why can't reality/life be made up of several truths, several co-existing real-life facts?

I'm sorry to drop this question here and interrupt the flow of the initial question, but I hear so many times about one/'the' Truth whenever I hear people talk about religion - and here again it's happening both in the question and most responses, that I can't help wondering...

meow85 said:

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

You don't. That's really the bottom line. None of any of it is provable. Even as hardcore as my experiences are where I'm having psychic visions, dreaming of events that are happening as I'm dreaming, having insight on people and knowing things about them, there is no way to physically prove any of it.

It's all faith. The difference with most people is they can't admit this. Pride makes them declare a truth when they are in the same boat as everyone else, operating on faith.

Humility is a virtue lacking in a lot of people when it comes to the question of faith.

Flo6 said:

Well, you don't know. Just like you don't know if gravity is the right theory or that what you see isn't just a matrix. You have faith in its truth.

Also,

this:

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

meow85 said:

Humility is a virtue lacking in a lot of people when it comes to the question of faith.

If someone wants to tell me I'm full of shit after I've had a vision confirming their very thoughts, that's on them Like LRC said, I go by my experience and my experiences tell me my path is the truth. But still I will admit there is no way to prove it so I accept skepticism as part of the deal.

tmo1965 said:

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

If someone wants to tell me I'm full of shit after I've had a vision confirming their very thoughts, that's on them Like LRC said, I go by my experience and my experiences tell me my path is the truth. But still I will admit there is no way to prove it so I accept skepticism as part of the deal.

Which faith do you believe / practice?

duh! the bible tells me.

I believe my faith is the right one because the Bible has made many predictions that have come true. Some key predictions have come to pass in the past 100 years or so. I believe that Jesus is the Messiah because of the accounts of those who ministered with him.

The traditions of the Jews are also a testament to the events they commemorate, such as the Passover.

I believe that Christianity is the 1 right way because after considering the above, Jesus says that no one can come to the Father except through him.

Well exactly. So how come that despite statistical evidence to the contrary, most people still insist that there is just one truth? Admit that it's puzzling!..

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

meow85 said:

how do you know you've found the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with?

how do you know when you've found your new favorite shirt, the one that fits just right and has just the right feel to the fabric even though it doesn't look like anything special?

there are a bunch of things that you just know because they feel right. you can't explain it with logic or fact, it's just what holds true within a person.

my truth may be someone else's wet bag of smelly poop. that's fine. it's a good thing i don't like to fling my truth in people's faces.

morningsong said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

Flo6 said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

greenpixies said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

tmo1965 said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

LittleRedCorvette said:

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:[quote]You don't. That's really the bottom line. None of any of it is provable. Even as hardcore as my experiences are where I'm having psychic visions, dreaming of events that are happening as I'm dreaming, having insight on people and knowing things about them, there is no way to physically prove any of it.

I hope you find a path where you dont need to believe such things. I am sure the self-confidence you need is out there. good luck...

Anxiety said:

how do you know you've found the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with?

how do you know when you've found your new favorite shirt, the one that fits just right and has just the right feel to the fabric even though it doesn't look like anything special?

there are a bunch of things that you just know because they feel right. you can't explain it with logic or fact, it's just what holds true within a person.

my truth may be someone else's wet bag of smelly poop. that's fine. it's a good thing i don't like to fling my truth in people's faces.

It's not that The Joker's gay. What he is, is Batsexual. He'd be whacking it to Batsy whether our hero had girl parts or boy parts underneath that rubber.