This "series" was originally going to be weekly, but since it’s gotten off to such a good start I figured why wait until next week!? :P

I have to say that I was surprised by the various religious beliefs held by people who commented on the last post! I have been visited by SO many different "kinds" of people that I can tell that discussions are going to be really interesting! I hope everyone who has visited so far keeps coming back! :D

Following on from asking you what you believe, I’m curious to know how you came to believe it. I know some people have already mentioned this, but I’m interested in hearing how you developed the beliefs you hold, especially if you came to to them as an adult and they differ significantly from the ones held by your family when you were a child.

Personally, I wasn’t raised in a religious family, although I think if you asked my parents what they believed, they’d say they believed in the Christian God, or in some kind of higher power anyway. It’s not something we really discuss. They both attended church regularly as young people and met as a result of attending the same congregation. I went to a Christian (Anglican) intermediate and high school (From age 11 to 18)¹, but although we had regular chapel services, the environment was very liberal, and I never felt pigeonholed into one particular belief system or a sense of having been told "Because you are a student here, it is a given that you believe X. Dare to believe Y and you won’t fit in".

As I already said in a reply to a comment on the previous post, I’m kind of sad that I didn’t develop an interest in religion while I was still at high school. It would have been an interesting environment to contemplate in. The chaplains there were very personable and I imagine they would have been very open to discussing this kind of thing.

Although Brooke (who went to school with me) commented that at time she did convince herself that she believed in God while at school, I don’t remember ever doing this. While I don’t recall being entirely convinced in the other direction either, I never felt any "connection" with the faith-based activities I took part in. I was always left thinking "Even if all of these things are true, as a whole, they make no sense, this does not compute!"

Right! Enough about me, I am interested to hear about you! I want to know lots of different things, but I’m especially curious about people who came from a similar background to me. How did you make the connection I never seemed to?

- Faith Questions I: What do you believe?

1. I didn’t choose to go there for a religious reason, but because my parents believed the standard of education would be higher and I would be less likely to experience bullying, which had been a serious problem for me at primary school. Ironically though, I was still bullied at this particular school, right up until my last year, but that’s a story for another post, and absolutely zilch to do with religion! [↩]

Ok. Since I have nothing else exciting to blog about today (This weekend has been good, and busy, but not terribly blog-worthy) I figured it’s a good time to start writing about, and encouraging other people to write about, personal beliefs and faith.

Like someone else (Rebecca?) suggested, I want to start by asking everybody what they believe (Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Non-religious etc) so I know who’s actually reading this and don’t end up aking questions and discussing things nobody is interested in.

Personally, I come under the umbrella of "Non-religious", but that’s a post for another day! :)

Yesterday was my last “official” day of university! I’ve finished all my classes and assignments, but thanks to the structure of my university’s academic year, I will not have my graduation ceremony until December! This leaves me in a bit of a weird frame of mind. I’m done, I have (assuming I pass this class) completed my degree, but it really doesn’t feel like it! Oh well, maybe it will at the end of year!? I’m sure I’ll still be around to blog about it then, so we shall see.

In case you have not notice (or are reading this through a feed reader) I have a new blog theme. I’ve wanted one for awhile, but because I’ve been studying I haven’t had the chance to make one until today. As usual, I don’t know whether I like it or not. Obviously I liked it enough to put it up, but I’m just not sure whether I LOVE it. Hmm, what do you think? Better, worse or the same as the old one? Any suggestions for improvements?

In other news, now that I’m no longer studying and (theoretically) have more time to blog with content other than memes and quick updates, I’ve decided to engage in some purposeful blogging. As some of you might already know, religion, particularly Christianity, is a pretty significant interest of mine, and since I seem to have connected with quite a lot of Christian readers, I figured it might be worth posting some blogs about what I think, along with some questions for you (collective you, as in, anybody, not just Christians) about what you think.

FYI @ Concerned People: This is certainly not going to take the form of a debate, lol, it’s not an opportunity for me to wave my arms around and try to dissuade you from what you believe in, so if you’re concerned about being drawn into a rant-fest if you comment, you shouldn’t be, I’m not crazy, I promise. :)

FYI @ Real Friends: You should read this “series”. There might be some stuff mentioned that YOU didn’t even know about me! ;)

EDIT: Ok, have now uploaded a slightly different header, with a different photo of me.