Welcome to the Faith, Religion, and Spirituality Community on 7 Cups!
This community has been a lonnnnggggg time coming. People have been requesting a dedicated space to talk about faith, religion and spirituality for quite a while. Apologies for the delay!
There is a significant amount of research that suggests religion and spirituality can be therapeutic. William James (one of our first psychologists) suggested understanding religion is right up there with understanding how people think, feel, and relate to one another. Indeed, there are nearly 8 billion people on the planet and 85% of people are religious or spiritual in one way or another. Any one thing that 85% of humans do suggests it is pretty important!
So, at long last, here is a home for religion and spirituality on 7 Cups. We imagine this as a safe space for people of all faiths to explore and support one another. I think we'll see sub-forums for all of the major world religions, newer faiths, and all sorts of spiritualities. We are starting with a handful of world religions. If you would like to request a category, then please let us know in the comments. All are welcome!
I'll close with this interesting point about religion. Religion comes from the Latin word "religare" which mean to re-ligament, re-connect, re-new or re-bind. It indicates that there is something broken about humanity and that religion might be able to help us reconnect to something healing that we lost along the way.
Click here to join the community taglist!
@glenM
While I'm not a strong practitioner myself, I do see many people here are and it sounds like a nice initiative for them so thanks for creating this space where people can share about their religion and how it impacts them :)
some people raised their valid concerns on the debates and conflicts which is oddly natural because not everyone agrees with everyone so I was wondering if it could be possible to include some specific guidelines for this particular community... even a general layout of posts? For people to share about their religion so there's minimal misunderstanding here and then also mention if they are seeking support or comments from others or if it's just a vent and they dont want to hear others' thoughts or experiences on it.
its important for everyone to observe kindness and respect, religion was never meant to be a factor to cause division... everyone can coexist harmoniously if we are mindful enough that not everyone has to believe in what we do and not everyone shares the same experience or opinion on things as ourselves 💕
I think this would be an opportunity to also learn about different religions and how different people practice their faith which I'm most looking forward to 🤗
@Optimisticempath I'm sure that the team are probably working on rules for this specific sub community but for now, I think if everyone agrees to be respectful of everyones belief system and not trying to push beliefs on others, then I think we will all be okay!
The rules here shouldn't really be any different than any of the other sub communities! The need to be sensitive is just as important here as it would be with depression support, disability support or even the Listener sub community.
With everything in life, there are two options - to fight or to listen 🙂 . I hope that everyone can come to an agreement to listen!
@beck1
@Optimisticempath
Hi there!
If you check the homepage you can find the rules for the community 😊
@MeaningfulSilence Thank you for letting us know ☺
@Optimisticempath
You are welcome!
@GlenM @@Jon7cups Would it be possible to apply a filter to one's feed, so one doesn't need to see threads from a specified subforum?
Sorry, broken tag, I guess. I meant @Jon7cups
@cloudySummer I second the motion. It's a good idea.
@cloudySummer Great suggestion!
I actually think this community is best left off the feed except for the subscribers.
@GlenM Thank you Glen! This was much needed ^ ^ We had been pondering over this for a while. This would be a great addition to our communities
I'm so excited for this newly created community! Hope I can find some answers here.
@GlenM
@GlenM
Thanks for this.
I was born and raised Catholic.
My legal parents meanwhile were practicing Satanists.
I grew up joined and escaped an official cult.
I was a Pagan for five years.
I am 100% Jesus follower now and I understand people who have had church issues, cause I could write a toxic religion/spirituality book based off all personal experiences!!
So I understand the hurt religion can cause and yet we all still need the Eternal.
Thanks for doing this!
Dear Glen,
Thank you so much for the long-awaited announcement. I second that praying is therapeutic and a great way to heal us mentally, physically, and spiritually, regardless of how damaged we are from within. The concluding part of your post was captivating. No matter who, when, and how an individual wants to connect to The Almighty Lord, they are all looking to mend their broken self and life.
I am fully aware of the fact that there are people with different beliefs than me. Some people believe in God but some don't believe in His existence and may or may not agree with me. Nevertheless, I am convinced that this is indeed one of the opportunities to come together with respect, politeness, and open-mindedness to learn from one another and appreciate each other's viewpoints. And if we don't want to agree/appreciate/learn then at the least we all can respect our differences.
It is a known fact that religion is a very sensitive topic and that's the core reason why people avoid talking about it. However, I strongly believe that religious discussion doesn't have to end up being a World War 3. I'd request everyone who is reading my comment to please avoid what people are doing on other platforms (being rude, sarcastic, judgemental, mocking people, attacking one another on personal levels, etc.) in the name of religion and maintain the decorum of 7 Cups — This is a reminder for myself first.
Maturity is embracing each other's differences and respecting them. If we can't do that we can't have a healthy and meaningful discussion anywhere. Henceforth, it is a heartfelt request to one and all that let us be respectful and kind towards each other because 7 Cups is very close to my heart. And it just pains me to even think of 7 Cups becoming as toxic as other social networking websites just because they decided to add a new religion-based community.
Much love,
-Angel 💙💜
@GlenM
@GlenM
Sounds good to me! Thank you.
@GlenM
Thanks for making or including this as part of the 7cups platform.❤️
Will this forum also include talks about the nature of faith and believing?
@EidolonSeeker I believe anything that is in relation to faith, religion and spirituality would be totally fine 🙂
@beck1 I am sooo tempted to post a couple quotes in response, one of which would be from Mark Twain... 😆 But seriously, I won't. As was said, this is to be a warm welcoming place for believers.
@slowdecline48
Friend - just post - discussions are OK here (for those who have the strength lol).
Thank you and helping with these information. I like reading them. I am just a click away if need me andci try to help everyone out.
