# Afraid of picking "wrong" religion



## jedijeff

I just feel completely and utterly depressed and hopeless right now. I'm 20 years old and in all my life, I've never had a religion. I've never even stepped into a church or a synagogue or anything like that. My mother is Jewish and my father is Catholic so I guess that makes me Jewish, technically. But I don't feel it. I may be Jewish by birth but since I've never even been to a synagogue once in my life, I just can't help but believe I'm not really Jewish. So lately, I've been looking into a bunch of religions.

I've been doing some research on Unitarian Universalism and seem to be pretty comfortable with their tenets but being the excessively anxious person that I am, I'm worried that I might actually pick the "wrong" religion. I know this sounds incredibly silly but it causes me a great deal of anxiety and fear. I really have no clue what to believe because if I'm wrong and for example, don't believe Jesus is the son of God, yet still lead a "good" life, I'll go to Hell despite everything I've done.

I guess the issue of Hell is huge with me. I just have this omnipresent fear that I might go to Hell, no matter if I become religious or not. I've sinned sexually a few times in the past few years and I feel utterly ashamed of what I've done. I feel like I'm branded for life and that I'm doomed to Hell. 

I never thought at any time in my life that I'd have "Hell Anxiety" but it's definitely eating away at me at this point. I've lost pretty much all joy I used to have in life and walk around depressed and fearful all day. I just don't know what to do anymore. Ironically, I'm not suicidal since I'm so afraid of what will happen to me after death, so I guess that's a good thing.

I just want my life to get back to normal and for me to take pleasure in all the things I used to. I want the enjoyment I used to feel back in my life.


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## RX2000

It sounds corny, but I think you should follow your heart.


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## Bon

I agree, follow your heart. I don't believe there is a right or wrong religion, your personal relationship with Jesus (if that's that path you decide to take) is what matters. 
When I was younger, I attended different churches, I had to find a doctrine that worked for me, I don't know of anyone person that believes in what their church preaches 100 percent of the time, it's a matter of can you accept it;-).
There is always the non denominational church. What your heart says;-) 

Mazzeltov


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## GraceLikeRain

RX2000 said:


> It sounds corny, but I think you should follow your heart.


 :agree


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## TruSeeker777

I'd just like to add that The God I know doesn't want you to live in shame and guilt about things you've done in the past, nor does God want to condemn you to Hell for it. The God I know is all about forgiveness and restoration. Maybe you could try just talking to God (whatever form that looks like to you) and ask God to forgive you and guide you in the way you are to go. It's my prayer for you that when you do those things God will honor it and that all of that shame you've been carrying around will be broken off of you and you will feel a sense of direction as to what path to take.


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## KireiYume

I have to agree with pretty much everyone else: Just follow your heart. It took me almost two years to break away from all the negative thoughts I had about religion in general, the fear of "leaving" God and going to "hell" was big with me too, but Christianity was just not my thing and I knew that. So finally I realized that it's ok to just be who I am, try my best to be a good person, and do what I felt was right. In the end, that's all you can really do. Good luck with your journey. :banana


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## aristole

There's a physical hell which u appear to beleive in and their is the metaphorical hell which we experience as we judge and condem ourselves. Some christian churches interpret the latter as the intended meaning of hell. I onced beleive in the physical hell as that what I was taught early on and that was pretty scary.
As a bit of wisdom I have gathered as an older person (who went to a lot of different religious organization) when you find a religion or what ever organization that feels right to you, that,s the true spiritual orientation for you. This is true for every one.
My thought is there is no "true" religion or philosophy for every one. What feels right to you is your guide for "your true religion". It doesn't matter what your heritage is, again it's what feels right to you. Just experiment with the various faiths, ask questions, and feel proud that you are exploring.


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## Melusine

Don't worry about having a religion, you don't need one, everyone has their own idea's i suppose of what life's about and who God is/if he exists at all... Believe in what speaks to you personally. You don't have to be a follower of anybody else's beliefs. You will need to do alittle soul searching as well, but don't be discouraged by what other's condemn or support, people say irrevelant things without proof. I don't think there is a real physical heaven or hell, but what we create/allow ourselves into.


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## On the way

Just keep searching. Look around. Don't settle on one church/religion too quickly. 

I agree with the others -- God leads you by your heart, so just listen to that.


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## Anxiety75

If you decide to become a Christian, study the Bible carefully on the subject of hell. Many people would be surprised to find out that what the Bible teaches about hell is not the same hell that most people believe in (burning fire, devil with pitchfork, etc.) :um I don't fear hell because I learned it's not that way at all. But I won't get into that here. You can PM me for deeper info. I know it might be confusing.


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## Caedmon

Why do you want to pick a religion?


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## Emmy

LittleZion said:


> Just keep searching. Look around. Don't settle on one church/religion too quickly.
> 
> I agree with the others -- God leads you by your heart, so just listen to that.


 :agree


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## LeoSteal

I'm sorry to hear you are so stressed out on deciding a religion. Please dont be! Dont take life (or the after life) so serious. lets say there was a hell in worst case after this life and you'd choose a "wrong" religion and for some weird reason you'd be punished for this (which would seem very impossible already) then I have a question for you: Why would you live in Hell twice? Since you are going thru a Hell mind state now and Hell after this Hell is over. why go thru it twice? :stu 

I know fella, its fear. Fear is useless in 99,99% of the time. What I can suggest you to do is learn some Meditation (you can do that as a Jew or Christian aswell) and it will calm your unneeded stress by living into the moment once you get a hold out of it. 

God is known to be a good & forgiving lord by every religion and I couldnt imagen a god that would judge you by the choice you made to follow. All he would care about is that it makes you a better & happier person!

I myself choice to be a Buddhist since it makes me a better person. If there is a God then I'm glad I could serve him on a path which made me a happy person aswell.

I used to be like you when I was younger and I feared everything I could fear about. It was such a stressfull time but if it can be a comfort to you, I'm now over that and I'm sure it will move over soon for you aswell. This too will pass!

Best wishes.


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## UltraShy

jedijeff said:


> I've never even stepped into a church or a synagogue or anything like that.


Wow, that tops even my impressive record of avoiding churches. I think I'm under 10 church visits in 33 years.


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## adsuperfan

there are so many different sects of christianity to choose from, it can be confusing. if you are looking into christianity, what matters is that you accept Christ as your lord and savior, and that you try to live a christian life. i've learned that it's best to live life by faith in God, not by what you do. don't be afraid of anything, just go with what your heart tells you. if you accept Jesus, then He'll accept you. :hug


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## adsuperfan

word of caution: i'm not a pastor or anything, so what i said was things that i've heard, i don't know if i'm saying those things correctly (forgive me if i'm not) but i think you get the gist.


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## dianac

I agree with adsuperfan. and LittleZion 
Ask God himself to lead you to him. The Bible says draw near to God and he will draw near to you.


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## bronco028

> I'd just like to add that The God I know doesn't want you to live in shame and guilt about things you've done in the past, nor does God want to condemn you to Hell for it. The God I know is all about forgiveness and restoration. Maybe you could try just talking to God (whatever form that looks like to you) and ask God to forgive you and guide you in the way you are to go. It's my prayer for you that when you do those things God will honor it and that all of that shame you've been carrying around will be broken off of you and you will feel a sense of direction as to what path to take.


I agree...also on that note, I believe that if you are trying to find the "truth" if you believe in God even with a little faith if you ask he will tell you...just as most people here are saying, listen to your heart He will lead you.


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