It depends on what you mean by “Jesus.” A god who came to earth and rose again? I would question why you would believe that if you’re not spiritual. But a Jesus who hand an interesting take on Judaism, flirted with messianic ideologies, and who apparently impacted someone who would eventually deify him, well, we’re pretty sure that guy existed, we just don’t know much about him.

As to sin, well, that would depend upon the creation story, which is incompatible with what we know about earth’s evolution. And here I would ask, “Why do you need sin?” We all ask the bigger questions about “right and wrong,” but at our everyday level, we know to “do no harm.”

God, heaven, afterlife... it all depends on how you define them. Do you do so against the backdrop of Christianity? That would put you back in the religious camp. But to consider the bigger questions, and use the term “god,” “heaven,” all that, as long as you’re not using those terms to bring harm, I see nothing wrong with it.

Morons

Where exactly are you finding these extremely weird/confused people?

As we are not born religious-we are taught the precepts.
And like a journey, one isn't there in 1 step. Individuals
are all differently affected to different depths/the same with
free thought. First you loose the building(affirmation of beliefs); then you clarify some facts - one way or the other.
People should NOT fear knowledge, so by learning about
religion and over time getting more understanding of how it
effected ourselves,we remove it's impact. I didn't have a choice in my early years- when I did ,I acted upon it.
And I still am.,,,good post
Thanks

There are lots of non-denominational Christians out there. A lot of them perhaps, have had unpleasant experiences with the traditional churches?

A lot of people are believers but don't go to church or practice religious customs .

It's like xmas and Santa Claus Ishtar bunny xians.....fun to give presents BUT NOT EAT CANDY EGGS laid on dogshit lawns by boy bunnies.....same with astrology....cocktail party Atheists want their gawdless cake and pretend they are going to heaven with Capricorn jeebush geehobah ghostholes....Woody Allen said : " gawd, ? I am the loyal opposition" and " gawd, he is an under achiever "

I thought I rejected all forms of magical thinking at the age of 15 but I caught myself at the age of 45 thinking that good or bad luck was a thing. I didn't believe in talismans or black cats or broken mirrors. I just thought that luck was something like a force of the universe. That it affected my life in ways. I wonder if today, at sixty, I still have something of that sort that I'm not aware of. Looking back, as innocuous as it seems, believing in luck was somewhat limiting. Realizing that made me more vigilant towards myself and others. I'm a physics enthusiast and, since I'm an amateur, I have to rely on the experts when I read about it. I'm constantly on the lookout for biases. Obviously we all have them, the best scientists have them too. I'm ok with those arising from different interpretation of evidence. I'm not ok with those having to do with our inherently superstitious human nature.

I would say that’s more being spiritual. I know a few people that say they believe in a higher power but not what they preach in church

I find it difficult to understand them. I have a good friend who talks about sin and is a 12 stepper who really believes that god is the 'higher power'. I've confronted him about it and he says it's entirely possible to believe in god and not be religious. I disagree with him.

Well I believe some people aren't religious. But they believe in god or whatever. I think those people are alike agnostics. But they believe in god out of fear. Cause being an atheist can be scary

It sounds feasible to me that some people may feel that human organized religion is BS but they still want to believe there is something superior somewhere somehow

Weird! Its a contradiction in terms -- I can get the one about maybe a guy called Jesus lived -not about him having been the son of god unless its a metaphor; The origin of the word sin comes from ,sine, meaning without love, so that one might have legs -Don't think heaven is real.

No I definitely don't think you can believe and not be religious

There have been times when religion was thought to be an affliction of some sort. Someone who was called "religious" was someone who ranted and raved and never shut up about Jesus. This viewpoint was held by people who generally believed in God, but weren't religious about it. Hence, you might overhear a conversation along these lines:

"What happened to Fred? How come he doesn't come drinking with the rest of us anymore?"

"Oh, Fred got religion, and he hasn't been the same since."

"Poor fella. I hope he recovers soon."

"Amen to that."

So, in that sense, I think there are lots of believers who are not religious.

I’m an alcoholic but I only drink beer so it’s fine, right?

I suspect that this condition is no different from, say, evangelical christianity where the individual has dillusions about what the 'faith' tells them and a huge diversion when it comes to their actual activities in daily life.

Excellent question. I was raised a Christian but after talking with many different denominations have concluded, finite man can not understand infinite. Religion is history but written by the victors. Rational, logical science with replicated, peer reviewed experimentation is an obvious choice. But, we are still ignorant to so much therefore God is still not disproven. 8)

There is still lots to learn and unlearn.

well I guess you can if you are a bit 'throughother' and arent getting a lot of the art of logic in your life. But I guess it isnt worth talking serioulsy with someone who believes two contradictory things at the same time -( Like the mad hatter in Alice in Wonderland.)

People just say that so they don't offend anyone

What? Where?

Liars?

I guess it depends on how one defines the word religious. In the strict dictionary definition, no. Maybe they mean they believe, but don't subscribe to any organized religion? A modern version of Deism?

Either way they are crazy as cut snakes.

I dated a woman who called herself Christian, but never went to church. She felt she had read the Bible and in her mind, understood the message much better than any of the preachers and biblical historians and others who have studied it for centuries before. So she did not participate in religion as such, while still believing the tenets.