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~eaterofsheep

I relate to quite a few points here. I'm also a monotheist without a particular religion. In my case, I think a lot of that is ignorance on my part - I really do need to sit down and read through the New Testament at least.

Your questioning of the Bible also makes sense to me, which is a particularly interesting topic of conversation with Muslims, who might tell you that the stories of Jesus have indeed been distorted and that the Quran corrects the distorted messages. Then again, the Quran is also perhaps not invincible, as it was originally spread orally, and the standardised version now known was not necessarily the version Muhammad would have approved of. I've heard that the Twelver Al-Jamia would correct any distortions there, but that's pretty esoteric and only supposed to be revealed in the end-times.

I think it's a shame that group-identity and religion are so closely linked, especially amongst Muslims and Christians. Surely if God has sent a messenger, the goal is for the whole world to be united by the message - so there are none left not following the message - and therefor no group identity to be found in following the message? By finding value in the religious group identity, are you profiting from the ignorance of others? Of course, there is going to be some identification with anything this important, but that is very different to finding a religion for identity reasons - if that makes sense?

Hopefully that didn't come across too aggressively, because I do also relate to you there. A lot of my identity came from the town I was born in, so moving elsewhere for university made me double-down on national-identity which just didn't compare, and even now my identity seems quite tightly-wrapped up in specific worldviews held by specific forums, which even if I don't quite agree with them now I cannot pry myself from because I have nothing to replace them with. It is as if I need something to point to to say "this is what I believe, here are my answers".

Good luck - I'm sure your religious life will continue to grow as long as you keep living. I think to an extent it is easier to learn new deeper things from actions and life experiences than from dedicated studying.

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