Religion?
 

Just curious... What religion are the rest of you? If it's too personal, and you'd rather I just put up an anonymous survey I will... I'm just curious as to what schools of thought are represented here.

As for myself, I'm a Deist/Rationalist. I believe in A god, not the Christian God, who made the world and all it's scientific rules, but leaves it alone now. For instance... I believe in evolution, but also in the fact that evolution was created by god.

People around here have few compunctions about answering questions about religion.

Just hope you have a big enough can to re-can the worms.

I'm Pagan.

That's what I thought.

Atheist and agnostic. I have no belief in magic, but it is not possible to know for sure.

Buddhist if you can call that a religion... Apathetic if not.

There could or could not be a god, but unlike Agnosticism which says you can not know, Apatheticism says I just dont give a flying fuck.
I DO know that organized religion is one of the most dangerous, 'evil' forces active in the world right now.

Buddhism is not a religion... I follow Buddhism closer than anything else. I have no religion.

Atheist. Always have been, always will be.

Christian. In the old-school sense of the word. Think pre-500 CE.

and try not to think Pat Robertson, Family Research Council, Republican Party, and Televangelists. It ain't the same thing.

Not sure anymore.

Catholic. I have a almost genetic appreciation for Celtic Christianity though and am trying to bridge the gulf without a major psychic blowout.

The name of my next band. :)

"Not sure anymore" also best describes me.

I'm a former Catholic who dabbles in atheism/agnosticism. I'm married to an Episcopalian who wants our kids raised in her religion. So I go through the motions out of habit and for marital harmony, but mostly don't believe any of it.

Edit: I've come to think that a creator set up the universe a few billion years ago to follow a certain set of rules and that science is trying to figure those rules out. I view much of Christ's teachings as a good idea to follow (golden rule, etc.) but doubt most of the stories in the Bible.

What Am I
 

Atheist/Materialist and somewhat of a Positivistic Nihilist. I reject the notion of free will and assert that life is essentially meaningless, but I do think people can create meaning through actions. Self-knowledge and continuous education will help.

Glatt, your edit kinda sums up what I think-ish.

I'm actually raised Catholic, and the rest of my family is still. But I can't believe it. It just doesn't make sense to me... And I know the whole point is it doesn't have to make sense, you just have to have faith... But if you don't have that faith, then what's the point?

I'm a Christian...in sprit I guess. Probably a hypocrite to most. I have strong moral foundations but lack the gumption to make the right decisions. I believe in God, and have faith...I just don't practice it much these days. My life, or at least my actions have pulled me far away from that...because it's hard to face reality...

I practice heathenry.

If you are not actually Volkish, I think the word does not mean what you think it means.

I dunno, I've found that when it comes to religion, words often work the way Humpty Dumpty says they do...

Oh, sometimes Heavy Metal is my religion... or noodles. Tang.

They say there’s a heaven for those who will wait,
Some say it’s better but I say it ain’t,
I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints,
The sinners are much more fun...
You know that only the good die young.

[NoBoxes IAW Billy Joel] :angel:

Jesus died for somebody's sins...
But not mine.

I keep thinking the last few years that nature is what we call God. And what if ancient greeks were right to believe in the 12 gods?

I dislike being labeled (by myself or others). I don't feel the 'need' to belong to any particular group of religious individuals. I take what I like and leave the rest...from many different theologies. If you want to know what I believe, observe my life. It is the strongest statement I can make about them.

Stormie

get off the cross and save yourself
 

religion...bleh.

Ah, but I do need to be part of a community. In rural areas, there are not that many existing community groups, options are limited. I could, I suppose create a group around something else, say mountain biking, but it probably wouldn't connect across generations or classes the way the church does. Religion serves other functions besides spiritual.

A question that has long vexed me....is there any truth to the claims made by about 35% of atheists? The whole "the church hurt me deeply" thing. How many actually have some kind of horror story, and how many just don't like the idea of god telling them what to do? I stop short of saying that people who start with the "when i was a kid, the church was mean to me" line are liars, because I'm sure SOME of them must be telling the truth. It's just that ALL of them can't be. There have to be other versions of this out there. Like "I went but it was boring, and I don't believe that stuff is true." 3 cheers for directness and honesty. But this "church is evil, and its members want to devour your soul and leave your grandparents penniless" nonsense is really getting old.

I'm proud to go back to church next Sunday to see how they been doing. Been gone for 2 months, and it hasn't done me a damn bit of good.

I also wonder if they can really claim to be hurt by phrases like "Under God" on money and stuff (you've heard the complaints I'm sure). If they really arn't a separate religious group then is it the same as a Muslem or Hindu being forced to look at it all the time? I mean, if you're athest then the whole thing is schlock to you anyway...

As, I guess, an athiest, I definitely say that stuff like that on money and such doesnt hurt me in the slightest...

BUT
If it can be in our money and our pledge and stuff, then maybe it can be on our monuments, and then maybe we can have monuments about it and then maybe... etc.
If my money is paying for religious stuff, or if laws grounded in religion (can you say, gay marriage ban?) start getting passed, that DOES hurt me.

What would the situation be if it said "In Hermes We Trust"? It doesn't "hurt" anybody, but there would certainly be some Christians fighting to get the paganism off of the money, and I would certainly passively support them (as long as they didn't try to replace it with "God") just as I passively support people who try to get the current 50's era junk out.

Is it a "complaint" or a "claim to be hurt" ??? (IE, does your claim of apples constitue a legitimate complaint regarding oranges?)

The most the church ever hurt me was when I was in first grade at a Catholic school and they kept me in for recess because I didn't bow my head when I said Jesus' name.

But for the most part the reason I'm not any sort of Christian/organized religion is I think it's bull. The morals are (usually) good, but I don't need to believe in all this Jesus-is-the-son-of-God stuff to have good morals.

I agree with Renn, except that I think that, though the morals WERE good, theyve been warped and twisted to the point that religion is MORE OFTEN used as a weapon than not. A lot of the problems in the world right about now are directly caused by organized religion.

In fourth grade, my Sunday school class was unruly. The teacher slapped me, which was humiliating at that point in my life. I returned to church only for Christmas and Easter. It wasn't until I was 17-20 years old that I decided that the concept of an omnipotent god was foolish. It's merely a crutch for those who don't accept personal responsibility and won't acknowledge that sometimes, shit just happens. I am not anti-God, per se, just don't insist that I think the way you do, and don't force your values on me. After having kids, I attended church regularly for my wife's sake, but stopped about a year and a half ago.

In 8th grade my parents sent me to a school run by the Missouri Synod (read "fundamentalist") Lutherns. The faith I had been raised in was a church called The Disciples of Christ or The First Christian Church. The Disciples beleive that no one should stand between you and God. Just as Jesus communicated directly with the first Christians - the 12 Disciples - He still does with us to this very day. You just pray and read the Bible.

The church bulletin lists the minister as "Entire Congregation." There's no doctrine to learn, and the Christian God I was exposed to until I met the Lutherns was all loving and all forgiving. The Disciples of Christ really is a pretty cool denomination.

Anyhow, I was stunned when I was introduced to Fundamentalism for the first time at age 13. All my classmates were members of the church and getting ready to be confirmed or something, so everyday, the Luthern Minister would come in and harangue us for an hour about unbaptized babies being burned in hell, and how THE END OF THE WORLD was coming any minute now and God was going to get you if you didn't watch out.

I didn't understand how this could be Christianity. The belief system was so different than what I had grown up with, and my Dad who was the one who took me to the First Christian Church was over in Vietnam. My mother is an atheist and wouldn't take me to church, and I knew it was hopeless to try to discuss religion with HER.

One day at lunch hour, one of my little fundie classmates asked me if I was "saved." I'd already given this question some considerable thought while enduring the daily harangues from "Pasteur Devil." I knew that the God of the Missouri Synod Lutherns wanted nothing to do with ME and the feeling was mutual. So, without hesitation I replied, "No, I am NOT saved!"

My shocked classmate ran straight to Pasteur Devil and snitched me out. I was called into Pasteur Devil's office, and we had quite the theological argument which ended with Pasteur Devil announcing to me that I was going straight to hell. I replied, "Good! Someone has to look after all those poor little unbaptized babies and it might as well be me." I think the only reason I wasn't expelled on the spot was because Pasteur Devil wanted the tuition fees my parents were shelling out for this so-called "education."

Still, I was only 13, and I felt worried about going to hell, but after a while I decided that it would probably be actually kind of fun to go to hell. My favorite writer, Samuel Clemens, would be there, as would a whole lot of other folks that I admired. If I went to heaven, I'd have to put up with folks like Pasteur Devil and a God who seemed little different from the supposed real devil.

All the other kids shunned me like I had the plague, and I persuaded my folks to forget private education and send me back to public school in time for the 10th grade. I walked away from Christianity at age 13 and seldom look back.

At this point I am sort of a Buddhist Deist, Navajo, nature worshipper. I beleive in an Intelligence of the Universe, but beyond that, I just try to follow my Buddhist practice.

There's always the Tao of Frank... I've been thinking bout' it....

Your church sounds even more like people inventing a etherial parent than other demoninations I've heard of. All-loving and all-forgiving is fine, but from what you said what's the point in even sticking the concept of God in there? You could have saved a bunch of time by just admitting you all gathered round and had a big 'I feel good about me' session every sunday. It's not even like it gave structure or guidence to your life because you were the authority,
so what you say, goes. Why even go to church to pray? You can talk one-on-one with god just fine from your own home. Did you need to stick in a diety to rationalize it? I'm sorry, but as much as it may have left you with fuzzy memories it has nothing which makes it religion.

I can bet that the leading cause of Atheism is Catholic School, second to actually reading the bible.

Another irony is that hardcore satanist are possibly more ethical than christians, that is if you believe in ethics.

I thought that the true irony of Satanism is that in order to be a Satanist you had to believe in the Christian God-Concept.

Not the satanist I've talked to.

Satan is more of a symbol then anything in LeVay Satanism.
Here is some info on it. The Nine Satanic Statements, Eleven Satantic Rules of the Earth, and The Nine Satanic Sins are good/humorous reads.

I'd say you were removed from Christianity and forced into religion which you walked away from. That's too bad. :(

I never saw your reply until just now, 9th. The Disciples teach the 10 commandments just like any other Christian denomination. They also beleive in baptism, total immersion baptism, at that. But they wait until a child is 12 or 13 or so to baptize them. They beleive a person should have some idea os what s/he is doing before s/he joins those who beleive in Christ by being baptized. The minister mostly gave sermons on stuff like kindness and compassion and asking for and following God's will. There was no hellfire and wrath of God stuff. But we did pray for forgiveness of our sins. There were Bible study classes where everyone sat around and discussed passages from the Bible, and what they meant to them. The purpose of going to church was to worship God. Sure, you could worship Him from anywhere you chose, but there's a certain power that you get from sitting in a congregation of like minded people, that doesn't always come when praying alone. And the word of God as written in the Bible was the authority. Feel as you wish about religion, but don't dis something you obviously haven't investigated.

And Bruce, I'd actually go back to the Disciples at this point in my life, but the closest First Christian Church is 50 miles away. I may make the trip one of these Sundays, anyhow, and check out how they're doing these days.

Nope.
Think of it as an anti-Buddhism. Instead of ridding yourself of the Beast, emotions and hedonism you become one/one with them... there is no faith, no real dogma. It is very much based in the teachings of Nietzsche.
The Christianity part is just imagery to show what it is against & a very convenient way to weed-out undesirables who think they may want to be part of the church.

I dunno, I personally have a really low opinion of Satanism and (sorry, anyone who's offended) wiccans and co., because I've known way too many stupid little goth posers who became satanist/pagan/wiccan/babtist just to make mommy and daddy mad. I know not all are like that, but the ones that are have coloured my view of those that arent.

Actually, I believe true Satanist are suppose to rid people like these from their ranks. I'm assuming they are not part of LeVay Satanism but a false view on what Satanism is about.

How do you have a low opinion of a Path because of those who have no idea of what it is?
Makes no sense.

Because for someone who is not on the Path, and is not a student of Paths in general, the only interaction you will have with it is the people who claim to be on it.

Partly for the same reason I have a lowered opinion of christianity because of the mindless right-wing sheep who use it as a justification for prejudice and discrimination. They've polluted it, and they reflect badly on those who actually are what they say they are.

Humor
 

I got this from the book, The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay. I like Granpa's outlook on religion.

You are stating that you know they have polluted it... make up your mind.

I have yet to meet any that arent the type I described, so though I know there are some out there that aren't like that, as far as my personal experience goes, I dont know a single thing about them, so my judgement is limited to those I do know.

Its just that the extreme fundies always make the news stories, and the fundie whacko - who is sure that everybody is going straight to hell except for him - is all too eager to force his views down your throat.

My uncle spent his retirement years working for Habitat for Humanity, my Grandmother who normally sold her fresh butter, milk, and eggs to make a little extra money, would often just drop off "care packages" to families who were in need - no charge. My cousin, a lawyer, does pro bono work for the disadvantaged. None of them ever talked religion much, although my Grandmother did sing hymns around the house. I wish I would have recorded them. They were beautiful old songs that had been sung from the time the first settlers came to live in the Cumberland Gap. None of these peope made or make front page headlines, and none of them try to button-hole people to bring them to some "true faith". The guy who is a true Christian may be the quiet kid sitting next to you in class, or the nice lady across the street who always waves "hello" to you. I think the Fundies are starting to drive REAL Christians under ground. Its embarassing to admit to being Christian, today. Of course, the ones who couldn't follow the true precepts of Christianity even if Christ actually DID appear right before them (for reals - not all this Fundie blather), are the most vocal and in your face. Funny thing, that.

Very good point. There was a religious band playing and I was there for the free food but I started talking to some of the guys. We talked about music and then the conversation turned to religion. He invited me to a church group and I quickly said I wasn't religious, which I do regret saying now, and he just nodded his head and said that I was always welcome.

That is a true Christian, not the bullshit pastors that damn you to hell if you don't read the bible three times a day.

Raised Unitarian if anything -- we moved after fifth grade and there wasn't anything in particular in the way of a Unitarian church in Rapid City back then, so we took to sleeping in on Sundays too -- now baptized and confirmed Episcopalian.

I like to think this helps me have a broad denominational perspective. To do Unitarianism well requires a strong intellectual effort; you must discover your faith. Anglican-Community Episcopalianism strongly encourages use of your intellect. The Episcopals say you don't have to disbelieve in dinosaurs to believe in God.

One fallout of such intellectual effort is the great heap of Episcopalian jokes. The "Ten Top Reasons to Be an Episcopalian" kind of thing is a great favorite. "Catholicism Light -- Now With One-Third Less Guilt" is another.

You can be a follower of Christ and not a Christian... the church is not needed.

That's funny. You've met me. You aren't enjoying it yet, and at the moment you're in quite a snit, but there's time.

Yeah. Religion makes a counterpoise to the centrifugal forces that tend to pull a society apart -- political divisions, generation gaps, et cetera. Religions make social glue.

Robert A. Heinlein never really saw that part of it and tended to bitch at organized religion as a means of making money through others' superstition, and he never acknowledged religion as a manifestation of the human instinct to be part of something greater than oneself. He coulda been an Episcopalian and still disbelieved in organized religion!

(The only thing wrong with the via media is all those other drivers yelling, "Hey stupid, quit taking your half out of the middle of the via!!")

You can be a follower of Christ and a Buddhist -- just one more of the Many Roads. I've heard you shouldn't try it on the professional-theologian level though, as the strain between belief systems can drive you rather buggy. But on a non-professional level, now, as a lay person...

Religion is business.

&, as always, "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car."

:rolleyes:

;)