I also want to react to this thread, because I am religious... In my point of view I'm not limitated because I believe in God... And I do not also follow someone or something like a blind sheep... In church the societies sometimes control each other too much.. It's the same in my church, and I really don't believe in that... I believe in God, I respect what's in the Bible and it's a Guide for me throught life, but believing in God does not depands on the fact if you're wearing a skirt or a hat or whatever... It depands on what you feel in your heart and what you do...
I feel Gods love in my heart, eventhough something really bad happens... All the bad things came into this world because of us, the human beings, and God is watching over us.. That doesn't mean we can't get sick or die, but it means we have a Friend who stands by us no matter what... And he has a plan with us.. When God sometimes closes a door, He opens a window... I can believe in that, and it helps me through the rough times...
Once, when I was doubting my relationship, because I thought I was in love with someone else too, I asked God to show me the way and to show me for which guy I had to choose... Through different signs he showed me that I should stay together with my b/f and to really go for him, and not for the other person... Or when my b/f is away and I feel really sad, I pray to God if He can stand by me and make me feel better, and after a while I feel some peace coming over me and I'm feeling better... I do also believe God uses people for that... When I feel sad I can also come to a friend like Am Rani... I believe God has given me her and my other friends to get through the rough times on earth and to bring joy in my life... It's His way to make me happy...
And the guidelines, told in the ten demands, are just to guide you through this world and to make the world better, not to restrict you in life...
And about se.x before marriage... I really doubt about the fact if you can or can't do that... It says nowhere in the Bible that you can't, but also nowhere that you can (it only says you can be hoo.ker or something, but I think that's normal)... My b/f is very religious so he doesn't want to have se.x before marriage, but he says you can se.xually almost do everything, exept for IT before you get married... I don't think that's true... You can do OR nothing OR everything...
As you can see, I'm religious, but not traditional religious... I believe in God and I will follow Him wherever He may go (like they sing in Sister Act
), but I don't believe all the restrictions the church puts on religion... I think that's also a reason people do not go to church or believe in God... I mean, how can you believe in a loving God when you can't do anything in life?