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What religion do you identify with?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Covalent, Aug 13, 2015.

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What religion do you identify with?

  1. Christianity (or Christian-based)

    46 vote(s)
    21.7%
  2. Judaism

    2 vote(s)
    0.9%
  3. Hinduism

    2 vote(s)
    0.9%
  4. Islam

    2 vote(s)
    0.9%
  5. Other

    30 vote(s)
    14.2%
  6. Not religious

    130 vote(s)
    61.3%
  1. BMC77

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    I didn't vote yet. I'm not sure which option is the best. Then, there was biAnnika's good point:

    I suppose I go along with "spiritual" over specifically "religious". I can also say I see value in more than one specific religion. I suppose in a way I probably come closest to Christian. Part of that is cultural. And the rest may be too theologically liberal to be Christian in views of many Christians.

    I have little church connection now. I have very loose ties with an ELCA Lutheran church near me, although I'm not a member, and recently have only attended limited services. Next formal service may well be December. Frankly, the church is not the best possible match for me, but they have an advantage in that there is some tolerance for theological diversity there.
     
  2. bubbles123

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    I was raised Catholic so I still am. I don't believe homosexuality is a sin and there are some other views of the church I've been struggling with. I also struggle with having faith in a God since I'm very science-minded I guess. So I'm still trying to figure it all out but I guess right now I'd call myself a semi-religious Catholic.
     
  3. wolf of fire

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    LaVeyan Satanism for me, I've considered others such as Jedi, Paganism, to name a few.
     
  4. kyoujin

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    I was raised Wiccan. I still have quite an interest in "the occult", though I am not a practicing Wiccan and do not worship any "higher power". I believe there is not a higher being, and that Divine energy is in all things. In that way, I am more animistic.

    I am not like this because I was raised in a similar belief system. I have had a period of high skepticism.


    Also, I am curious as to why you have hidden the results.
     
    #44 kyoujin, Aug 13, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2015
  5. Posthuman666

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    Heathen and Celtic Reconstructionist at your service. I was raised catholic, and it just wasn't for me.

    Basically, I honor the norse (Æsir and Vanir) and the gaelic gods. Separately, mind you. neither religion is crazy about dual practice and I don't want to upset the gods. The gods and goddesses I am particularly drawn to include Freyja, Brighit, the Morrigan, Baldur and Cernunnos.

    I make sure never to fall into a herd mentality. In the end, there is no proof for a higher power, nor is there really any proof there isn't. I believe in what I believe, and most don't, and thats fine. Equality is the most important human aspect.

    Like Lawrence, I too am a Chaote. I practice chaos magic, but have a huge interest in the occult in general. I don't normally use my gods in my practice however. I highly respect LaVeyan Satanism, and follow most of its tenets, without really being a satanist. Satanic sympathizer I like to say.
     
    #45 Posthuman666, Aug 13, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2015
  6. Daydreamer1

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    To avoid stirring the pot, I sometimes just say I'm not religious or I'm an atheist since I got a lot of hell from my rather evangelical classmates when it got out that I was a Satanist.
     
  7. RainOnVII

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    I'd say I'm a pagan-taoist, but I don't spend much time doing religious things...
     
  8. Rapha Lover

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    Deism <3

    I'm believe in God, but not in a divine intervention. It (to me, God has not gender, sex, form. It's a great force who created everything) give the opportunity to all us lead our own ways without divine intervention (no hell, no heaven, no angels, no demons, no Jesus, no Satan, etc.). Just he pure God which Creation is able to lead by itself <3
     
    #48 Rapha Lover, Aug 13, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2015
  9. Kaiser

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    Sithis.

    From the Void and back to it. Hail!
     
  10. AKTodd

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    Atheist. There is no god or gods, there is no point, there is no purpose, and there is no value to existence. Except what we choose to apply to it.

    My parents dabbled in the New Age movement when I was growing up, which ended very badly. Since then my mom has moved into what would be called 'spiritual'.

    Todd
     
  11. Eye Shine

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    more accurate than not religious agnostic
     
  12. Wallace N

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    First of all, it isn't even necessarily true that believers "think about religion" all that much. While many of them may claim to be religious, for some, that includes lip service at a church and otherwise not much thought beyond claiming that they believe a God exists and making sure they support the right talking points. They may not necessarily put much thought into it and certainly many of them may not even understand all the rules and doctrine of their religion. They may claim to be against homosexuality, for example, and do nothing but cite random Leviticus lines as justification. Do they really understand why they are opposed to homosexuality? Or why they are supposed to be?

    But let's then compare atheists to believers who do think about their religion a lot. For one, religion is all around us. It affects everyone, whether or not you believe in God. Religious doctrine helps shape law, it helps shape public opinion, it affects family dynamics, it affects schools...just because you are an atheist does not mean you can "get away from religion". Especially in a country like the United States, where 83% of the population identifies as Christian. Religion will affect you, no matter who you are. So religion is as much an atheist's issue as it is a theist's.

    When religious people in your town are fighting to remove evolution from the science curriculum and replace it with creationism, guess what, that has now become an atheist's problem, and they will have to be involved in arguments that involve religion. And you cannot argue a secular position against a religious one unless you understand the religion itself. Many religious people assume that atheists know nothing about religion, but you have to understand that most atheists (in the U.S. at least) are former Christians and were probably raised with it. Additionally, many atheists are simply interested in various religions and may study them. Even I once effectively argued against a Christian who opposed blood transfusions--in the end he conceded that the Bible did not overtly support his position. I was able to make this argument because I have studied the Bible.

    To the next question, the term "a thing" is very vague, so you will have to explain what you mean by that. Atheism is not a "club". It's a descriptor for people who do not believe in a deity. There's no membership, there's no fees, there's no rules and regulations. In fact, many atheists disagree on plenty of other issues. There are liberal atheists and conservative atheists. There are atheists who believe in energies and auras, and others who reject those things. "Atheism" is not any more a "club" than "theism" is. The opposite of "atheism" is "theism", not "Christianity", as some Christians seem to think. In fact, theists as a whole are often hesitant to group themselves together because their religious views put them at odds. I see Christians argue with Muslims all the time; yet they probably have more in common than they would like to think.

    Now, there are some organized atheist groups--and there are a few reasons why the golf analogy doesn't work. For one, people who don't play golf are the majority of people; golfers are a small minority of the population. It is more common for minorities to feel the need to form an organized group when they are glossed over by the majority. The majority takes it for granted. Secondly, golfers golf on their own--in their own golf courses among other golfers; but if golfers started putting golf courses everywhere and asking that they be tax exempt, putting pro-golfing flyers in people's windshields, going door-to-door selling clubs and balls, putting golf lessons in all public schools, then maybe non-golfers would form a group.

    The reason atheist groups exist is to gain recognition and often, to "check" religion. Now, not all religious people support creationism in science class and anti-homosexual legislation. But many do, and atheist groups often fight against the encroachment of religion in the government. Religious people often do not notice when the separation of church and state begins to be not so separate--but atheists often notice this, and these atheist groups often try to make sure they stay separate. An atheist group could also simply be a group of people with a common interest meeting to discuss it. Being an atheist can cause discrimination--there are plenty of issues atheists may face that they might want to discuss in such a group. Other times, they're simply for philosophical purposes; many atheists discuss the issue of how one remains moral without a God. That is something that a group of atheists may be interested in discussing. I'm just throwing out possibilities.

    In summary, there are many reasons why atheists need to care about religion and why many are interested in it. And there are plenty of reasons why they might form groups in their interest as well.
     
    #52 Wallace N, Aug 13, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2015
  13. PerfectlyNormal

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    But... Atheism is a religion.
    A religion is one's beliefs about God, and Atheists have the one belief that God is fake.



    Answer is Christian.
     
    #53 PerfectlyNormal, Aug 13, 2015
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  14. Wallace N

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    No, atheism is not a religion. If atheism is a religion, then theism is too.
     
  15. PerfectlyNormal

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    Yeah... Both are. Why would atheism not be a religion?
     
  16. Wallace N

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    Why would it be? Same goes for theism. So you're arguing that Christianity, Islam, theism, and atheism are four examples of four different religions. How do Christians differ from theists? Make your case. Then I will attempt to refute it.
     
    #56 Wallace N, Aug 13, 2015
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  17. PerfectlyNormal

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    __________________Religion
    ____Atheism_______________________Theism
    ____Agnostic_________Christianity,_____Judaism, Islamic, Others
    _____________Different Denominations_____?,______?,______?
     
    #57 PerfectlyNormal, Aug 13, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2015
  18. Wallace N

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    So in your view, "religion" is an umbrella term that covers a binary system where atheism and theism are the two divisions and all religions fall under one of these? Then atheism and theism are not religions, they are categorical nodes in a tree system. And to make matters more interesting, there are religions that are theistic and religions that are atheistic.

    You defined religion as "beliefs about God". First of all, this is Judeo-Christian-centric, as "God" is not necessarily an appropriate term to describe the deities of other religions. Atheism and theism are the beliefs about the existence of deities. Atheists do not believe in them, theists do (where "them" is a generic term that could refer to just one). A religion is not a belief about a deity. That would mean that the belief that God has a beginning is a religion or that God is three persons is one is a religion...these are not religions, but specific beliefs and doctrines. Same goes for atheism and theism--they are not religions, but beliefs (or lack of one, in the case of atheism--as that is one way of describing it).

    A religion is a system of beliefs centered around a belief in a higher power or the supernatural. That is what differentiates it from simple descriptive terms for beliefs like "atheism" and "theism". As I mentioned above, there are such things as "atheistic religions", such as some sects of Buddhism, which do not believe in a deity, though they do believe in spirituality. What makes it a religion (according to some) is that is a system of beliefs regarding the supernatural. A system of beliefs that does not deal with the supernatural would probably be called a "philosophy" rather than a religion.

    Many people who insist that atheism is a religion are politically motivated, which you do not seem to be, but I am trying to explain why it is an inadequate descriptor.
     
    #58 Wallace N, Aug 13, 2015
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  19. PerfectlyNormal

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    Not everything supernatural is religious, ghosts are supernatural, and are most likely in some religions, but that does not make ghosts alone a religion


    And plain Atheism is a religion in itself and some religions are also Atheistic.
    Plain Theism is a religion (no other religious beliefs other than just knowing God or Gods exist), and most religions are Theistic.
     
    #59 PerfectlyNormal, Aug 13, 2015
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  20. Wallace N

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    I did not say everything supernatural is religious; I don't think you understood what I wrote.

    And you have not explained how atheism is a religion, but simply continue to repeat the same phrase with no evidence and no explanation. It's like talking to a wall here.

    I think I'm done with this.
     
    #60 Wallace N, Aug 13, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2015