25. Mainline Conservative Christian Protestant 32%
26. Roman Catholic 32%
27. Seventh Day Adventist 21%
I was raised in a religion, and went to church every Sunday until I was a junior at university. In one of my honors seminars that year, we happened to read basic beliefs of the 'fathers of the church', i.e. that man was born with the stain of sin and was therefore intrinsically evil.
No WAY did I believe people were intrinsically evil!! I basically chucked my religion that day, and forever after.
In EVERY personal contact I had with it, the church I was raised in did NOTHING but put obstacles in my path, no matter what I was trying to do (that involved the church).
I will never deal with any religion EVER again. I have no need for religion. I am a good person just as I am. I NEVER do anything to harm another. I ALWAYS try to be a positive influence in others' lives. I expend great effort when I think something I can do will increase another's happiness. I am a VERY loving person, and look for the best (and find it) in everyone. It is not difficult for me to be this way. It is easy, because it's the way I WANT to be. Does 'being good' have to be difficult? Must it be something we suffer in order to do? I don't think so. Am I pompous and self-righteous? Maybe. Oh well!!!
Religions throughout history have had negative effects on SO many peoples' lives. I have no use for religion for myself, and have no desire to inflict on myself an unnecessary system of rules. I believe there is some kind of Source of life; but certainly not one that pays attention to any of us, or "listens" and responds to prayers. The more I have learned about the marvels of science, the more I have had to believe in some kind of Source of life. PERHAPS an entity who IS Truth; who IS Goodness; who IS eternal.
But I choose to be a good person because it feels right to me, enables me to live with myself, and provides the lightness of heart that allows me to be happy and free from guilt. What else do I need, I ask you????? I am certain this all sounds pompous and self-righteous. Oh well!!!
If an organized group helps those in need, then I am all for their efforts. And I DON'T mean providing false papers to illegal aliens (which some church groups do!!!!)
Having said all that!!!!!.....I wish to mention something I think is quite interesting. A block from my house is a corner lot. It was purchased some years ago by a Unitarian Universalist church group. It's not a particularly large lot, and I couldn't imagine how a church would fit there. No room for parking.
Six months ago, the church members themselves began building their church with their own hands!!!! Each weekend, a little more was built. Two fairly small rectangular buildings, LOTS of landscaping. I drive past it twice a day going and returning from work, so I have watched every step. Once it was vandalized with grafitti. But today (Sunday) was I think the first day they held services.
I think building your own little church, in this day and age, is kinda cool. The people I would see out there working were often white-haired retired people. When the plants and trees are mature, that corner will be a haven of loveliness. I fully intend to check out that little church one of these days, since I scored 100% on Unitarian Universalist!!! Maybe it's a sign????? (almost like getting hit in the head with a 2x4 - a new little church, on which I scored 100%, ONE BLOCK from my house....hmmmmm)
On my first income tax return, as a brand new teacher, I listed my occupation as 'Musk-oxen rancher'. I thought that was funny. I thought, hey, they're getting my money; what do they care what I do! (Oh, the innocence!!! ) No, I wasn't audited. heh.
I'm a Christian, of the hardcore variety. God is awesome, I would die before I renounced my belief in my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Edit:
For what it's worth my test showed that I matched best with "Conservative Christian Protestant". The test was right on. Although I don't really like the test, but thats another story for another thread.
I'm a Christian, of the hardcore variety. God is awesome, I would die before I renounced my belief in my Savior, Jesus Christ.
cool
but, has anyone asked you to renounce your belief??
maybe they have, i know i am always getting people trying to get me to renounce my non-belief...luckily i am strong...
of course i wouldn't die before renouncing my non-belief...that's the nice thing about being an atheist, if someone held a gun to my head and told me to accept jesus or allah or buddah or ronald mcdonald as my savior, i would in a second...makes no nevermind to me (not that the situation is likely to ever happen)...
actually jesus seemed like a pretty cool dude...how people sometimes interpret his words and what they sometimes do in his name can disappoint me, but all and all he seemed cool enough
I am an atheist, an atheist being "one who disbelieves in god", and not inherently "one who believes there is no god". You might say, "Well, that's an agnostic." and if you had told me that five years ago, I'd be inclined to agree with you. However, over time, I've decided that agnosticism is a completely inconsequential extension of atheism, with little rational basis. After all, would you bother to label yourself with regards to your belief in the invisible pink monkey-giraffe, if it was possible that both the invisible pink monkey-giraffe existed and did not exist? Of course not, it is ludicrous to give credence to the possibility of an invisible pink monkey-giraffe.
EDIT: In hindsight, one might apply the same argument to atheism, but to be more clear, my logic would go back to agnosticism being a philisophical extension and atheism simply being the default label for non-belief.
And, regardless, it matters not to me what you call me. Like previous posters in this thread, whether I actually believed in a god or not, it would have little effect on my day-to-day life.
He sure is!!!!! In fact, I just had lunch with him this afternoon. We were placing bets on who would win the Superbowl. Haha! When I called him tonight informing him that he owed me 50 bucks, he told me about the dangers of gambling, and the inherent evils of materialism (and something about fig trees and lightning). He sure changed the way I looked at things. Wow, he is so amazing.
I will never deal with any religion EVER again. I have no need for religion. I am a good person just as I am. I NEVER do anything to harm another. I ALWAYS try to be a positive influence in others' lives. I expend great effort when I think something I can do will increase another's happiness. I am a VERY loving person, and look for the best (and find it) in everyone. It is not difficult for me to be this way. It is easy, because it's the way I WANT to be. Does 'being good' have to be difficult? Must it be something we suffer in order to do? I don't think so. Am I pompous and self-righteous? Maybe. Oh well!!!
Religions throughout history have had negative effects on SO many peoples' lives. I have no use for religion for myself, and have no desire to inflict on myself an unnecessary system of rules. I believe there is some kind of Source of life; but certainly not one that pays attention to any of us, or "listens" and responds to prayers. The more I have learned about the marvels of science, the more I have had to believe in some kind of Source of life. PERHAPS an entity who IS Truth; who IS Goodness; who IS eternal.
But I choose to be a good person because it feels right to me, enables me to live with myself, and provides the lightness of heart that allows me to be happy and free from guilt. What else do I need, I ask you????? I am certain this all sounds pompous and self-righteous. Oh well!!!
I agree with everything you just said Carol. Most (not all) of the church-going people that I've come across go for the wrong reasons (i.e. fear of a grim afterlife) instead of a firm desire to do right by others. In fact, most act completely different outside of church, and I find this extremely unacceptable. Even though I grew up in a Baptist/Methodist environment, I am decidedly agnostic, because I see no evidence supporting or rejecting a supreme creator; I do tend to lean towards the existence of a deity in that I cannot begin to explain the origin of the universe, but in no way do I believe in the Bible's view that God requires us to worship him in return for salvation (I'm more of a deist in this respect). Instead, I believe in doing right by your fellow man, regardless of whether or not a rewarding afterlife awaits.
People have their views on religion. It would be more apt to ask people how sincere they are about following their religion. I personaly think many would find themselves lacking in following the teachings of their faith. What category do these people fit into?
edit: I am talking about extreme cases like calling yourself a Christian and not going to Church for 20years (as an example). Such people aren't exactly an aethist, but how do they justify themselves as belonging to a religion they don't respect? It is just a topic for debate.
Interesting, I had a very similar conversation yesterday with a friend of mine who would best be categorized as agnostic. I think that Gelding's first post aligns with my friend's convictions. We'd begun discussing political alignments and eased into religion. It wasn't as much that he didn't believe in God as he had a lifetime's contempt for the hypocritical people he'd known who'd professed to be Christian while doing things that were anything but Christian.
I couldn't disagree, he was right. Humans are the weakest link.
It saddens me to see "thumbs up" Jesus dolls being sold in the mall, to know that future generations will only know Jesus as a pop icon, the ironic counterpoint of a rock&roll song, a joke. Much of the blame for that diminution of Jesus' message lies directly at the feet of Christians who've improperly bent the words of the Bible to their own means, whether by intention or simple ignorance. Turning to a catchphrase like "Jesus is awesome!" makes me wince because it sounds so silly, so comedic; regardless of the truth of that saying. DiscoCow's reaction exemplifies how people react to that kind of Teenage Mutant Ninjafication of Jesus.
I think that it's wonderful that the secular community shares a fundamental conviction of tolerance and fairness, but they've been sold a load of cobblers in regard to Jesus' message. He wasn't here simply to tell people to be nice to each other, it wasn't a Bill&Ted keynote speech to San Diemos High. It was a Paul Revere mission to make sure that everyone prepare themselves for heaven, trying to get them into the safety of an "eternal ark" (please, no baseball player corpsicle jokes here, leave that to me!).
My friend said "I don't believe in a God who would send me to Hell" but he didn't say "I believe in a God who would let his only Son die to save me from going to Hell". The idea of a dark and angry God isn't wrong, but it's an unfair characterization.
Anyway, I'm preaching now and have entirely forgotten what this thread is about. And I'm hungry too.
I hate it when I read AI before getting my morning started....
In case you're still in the dark, when fundies stop telling other people how to live their lives, I'll shut up.
I've never told a fundie how to live their life.
If you don't believe in abortion, don't have one!
If you don't believe in homosexuality, don't have homosexual sex.
If you don't believe in masturbation, don't do it (even though we know you all do it anyway, and fill yourself with guilt afterward ).
If you don't believe in sex before marriage, then go right ahead and save yourself.
Just don't tell others what to do, and then threaten them with punishment for not following your advice. Especially if you're in a position of leadership, like a minister, pastor or priest.
Jesus never damned anyone. He never judged anyone. So why do you all so-called "Christians" think it's your business to do so? In fact, it's extremely "un-Christian", isn't it?
Technically you are telling them how to live their lives by telling them not to tell other people how to live their lives. Technically. I agree with you though.
Comments
2. Unitarian Universalism 100%
3. Neo-Pagan 98%
4. New Thought 97%
5. Bahai Faith 93%
6. Mahayana Buddhism 91%
7. Liberal Quakers 84%
8. Reform Judaism 82%
9. Taoism 80%
10. Christian Science 78%
11. Hinduism 72%
12. Scientology 72%
13. Orthodox Judaism 71%
14. Sikhism 71%
15. Theravada Buddhism 69%
16. Mainline Liberal Christian Protestants 67%
17. Mormons 67%
18. Islam 60%
19. Jainism 46%
20. Orthodox Quaker 43%
21. Secular Humanism 43%
22. Jehovah's Witness 38%
23. Non-Theist 38%
24. Eastern Orthodox 32%
25. Mainline Conservative Christian Protestant 32%
26. Roman Catholic 32%
27. Seventh Day Adventist 21%
I was raised in a religion, and went to church every Sunday until I was a junior at university. In one of my honors seminars that year, we happened to read basic beliefs of the 'fathers of the church', i.e. that man was born with the stain of sin and was therefore intrinsically evil.
No WAY did I believe people were intrinsically evil!! I basically chucked my religion that day, and forever after.
In EVERY personal contact I had with it, the church I was raised in did NOTHING but put obstacles in my path, no matter what I was trying to do (that involved the church).
I will never deal with any religion EVER again. I have no need for religion. I am a good person just as I am. I NEVER do anything to harm another. I ALWAYS try to be a positive influence in others' lives. I expend great effort when I think something I can do will increase another's happiness. I am a VERY loving person, and look for the best (and find it) in everyone. It is not difficult for me to be this way. It is easy, because it's the way I WANT to be. Does 'being good' have to be difficult? Must it be something we suffer in order to do? I don't think so. Am I pompous and self-righteous? Maybe. Oh well!!!
Religions throughout history have had negative effects on SO many peoples' lives. I have no use for religion for myself, and have no desire to inflict on myself an unnecessary system of rules. I believe there is some kind of Source of life; but certainly not one that pays attention to any of us, or "listens" and responds to prayers. The more I have learned about the marvels of science, the more I have had to believe in some kind of Source of life. PERHAPS an entity who IS Truth; who IS Goodness; who IS eternal.
But I choose to be a good person because it feels right to me, enables me to live with myself, and provides the lightness of heart that allows me to be happy and free from guilt. What else do I need, I ask you????? I am certain this all sounds pompous and self-righteous. Oh well!!!
If an organized group helps those in need, then I am all for their efforts. And I DON'T mean providing false papers to illegal aliens (which some church groups do!!!!)
Having said all that!!!!!.....I wish to mention something I think is quite interesting. A block from my house is a corner lot. It was purchased some years ago by a Unitarian Universalist church group. It's not a particularly large lot, and I couldn't imagine how a church would fit there. No room for parking.
Six months ago, the church members themselves began building their church with their own hands!!!! Each weekend, a little more was built. Two fairly small rectangular buildings, LOTS of landscaping. I drive past it twice a day going and returning from work, so I have watched every step. Once it was vandalized with grafitti. But today (Sunday) was I think the first day they held services.
I think building your own little church, in this day and age, is kinda cool. The people I would see out there working were often white-haired retired people. When the plants and trees are mature, that corner will be a haven of loveliness. I fully intend to check out that little church one of these days, since I scored 100% on Unitarian Universalist!!! Maybe it's a sign?????
Gee willikers! Sorry this is SO LONG!!!!
Theological Engineering Exam
Once upon a time, I wanted to list as Frisbeeterian
- when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and you can't get it down
The last UK Census actually had significant numbers in the write-in section who listed "Jedi"
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2.../rank/jedi.asp
Originally posted by curiousuburb
Adults who found the selector test too simple might be interested to try the
Theological Engineering Exam
Once upon a time, I wanted to list as Frisbeeterian
- when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and you can't get it down
The last UK Census actually had significant numbers in the write-in section who listed "Jedi"
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2.../rank/jedi.asp
On my first income tax return, as a brand new teacher, I listed my occupation as 'Musk-oxen rancher'. I thought that was funny.
Originally posted by DMBand0026
I'm a Christian, of the hardcore variety. God is awesome, I would die before I renounced my belief in my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Edit:
For what it's worth my test showed that I matched best with "Conservative Christian Protestant". The test was right on. Although I don't really like the test, but thats another story for another thread.
same here. Jesus is awesome!!!
Originally posted by DMBand0026
I'm a Christian, of the hardcore variety. God is awesome, I would die before I renounced my belief in my Savior, Jesus Christ.
cool
but, has anyone asked you to renounce your belief??
maybe they have, i know i am always getting people trying to get me to renounce my non-belief...luckily i am strong...
of course i wouldn't die before renouncing my non-belief...that's the nice thing about being an atheist, if someone held a gun to my head and told me to accept jesus or allah or buddah or ronald mcdonald as my savior, i would in a second...makes no nevermind to me (not that the situation is likely to ever happen)...
actually jesus seemed like a pretty cool dude...how people sometimes interpret his words and what they sometimes do in his name can disappoint me, but all and all he seemed cool enough
g
But I didn't listen to my mom when she tried to teach me Ukrainian when I was young, so it's just that much easier to be a Protestant.
Originally posted by thegelding
cool
but, has anyone asked you to renounce your belief??
maybe they have, i know i am always getting people trying to get me to renounce my non-belief...
Hmmm... renounce non-belief... that will have my mind throwing out end-of-file errors for the rest of the day...
Originally posted by Merovingian
What religious convictions do you hold an why or why not.
My religious crimes & misdemeanours
I hereby confess.
Sang off tune in choir.
Dressed as a priest & was charged with insider gossip.
Flirted with a nun. See above.
Broke vows of silence via orifice, physiologically at the other end of intestinal canal.
Charged with "Deius Jocularium serium "
That is : believing that God has a sense of humour.
Aqua
EDIT: In hindsight, one might apply the same argument to atheism, but to be more clear, my logic would go back to agnosticism being a philisophical extension and atheism simply being the default label for non-belief.
And, regardless, it matters not to me what you call me. Like previous posters in this thread, whether I actually believed in a god or not, it would have little effect on my day-to-day life.
I try to avoid opium along with other addicitve drugs.
Originally posted by mattjohndrow
Jesus is awesome!!!
He sure is!!!!! In fact, I just had lunch with him this afternoon. We were placing bets on who would win the Superbowl. Haha! When I called him tonight informing him that he owed me 50 bucks, he told me about the dangers of gambling, and the inherent evils of materialism (and something about fig trees and lightning). He sure changed the way I looked at things. Wow, he is so amazing.
Praise Jesus!!!
Originally posted by Carol A
I will never deal with any religion EVER again. I have no need for religion. I am a good person just as I am. I NEVER do anything to harm another. I ALWAYS try to be a positive influence in others' lives. I expend great effort when I think something I can do will increase another's happiness. I am a VERY loving person, and look for the best (and find it) in everyone. It is not difficult for me to be this way. It is easy, because it's the way I WANT to be. Does 'being good' have to be difficult? Must it be something we suffer in order to do? I don't think so. Am I pompous and self-righteous? Maybe. Oh well!!!
Religions throughout history have had negative effects on SO many peoples' lives. I have no use for religion for myself, and have no desire to inflict on myself an unnecessary system of rules. I believe there is some kind of Source of life; but certainly not one that pays attention to any of us, or "listens" and responds to prayers. The more I have learned about the marvels of science, the more I have had to believe in some kind of Source of life. PERHAPS an entity who IS Truth; who IS Goodness; who IS eternal.
But I choose to be a good person because it feels right to me, enables me to live with myself, and provides the lightness of heart that allows me to be happy and free from guilt. What else do I need, I ask you????? I am certain this all sounds pompous and self-righteous. Oh well!!!
I agree with everything you just said Carol. Most (not all) of the church-going people that I've come across go for the wrong reasons (i.e. fear of a grim afterlife) instead of a firm desire to do right by others. In fact, most act completely different outside of church, and I find this extremely unacceptable. Even though I grew up in a Baptist/Methodist environment, I am decidedly agnostic, because I see no evidence supporting or rejecting a supreme creator; I do tend to lean towards the existence of a deity in that I cannot begin to explain the origin of the universe, but in no way do I believe in the Bible's view that God requires us to worship him in return for salvation (I'm more of a deist in this respect). Instead, I believe in doing right by your fellow man, regardless of whether or not a rewarding afterlife awaits.
edit: I am talking about extreme cases like calling yourself a Christian and not going to Church for 20years (as an example). Such people aren't exactly an aethist, but how do they justify themselves as belonging to a religion they don't respect? It is just a topic for debate.
Originally posted by talksense101
What category do these people fit into?
Human
Fellows
Originally posted by Fellowship
Human
Fellows
In some cases, yes. Still, many people use religion as an excuse to behave badly.
Stick *that* in your pipe and smoke it.
I couldn't disagree, he was right. Humans are the weakest link.
It saddens me to see "thumbs up" Jesus dolls being sold in the mall, to know that future generations will only know Jesus as a pop icon, the ironic counterpoint of a rock&roll song, a joke. Much of the blame for that diminution of Jesus' message lies directly at the feet of Christians who've improperly bent the words of the Bible to their own means, whether by intention or simple ignorance. Turning to a catchphrase like "Jesus is awesome!" makes me wince because it sounds so silly, so comedic; regardless of the truth of that saying. DiscoCow's reaction exemplifies how people react to that kind of Teenage Mutant Ninjafication of Jesus.
I think that it's wonderful that the secular community shares a fundamental conviction of tolerance and fairness, but they've been sold a load of cobblers in regard to Jesus' message. He wasn't here simply to tell people to be nice to each other, it wasn't a Bill&Ted keynote speech to San Diemos High. It was a Paul Revere mission to make sure that everyone prepare themselves for heaven, trying to get them into the safety of an "eternal ark" (please, no baseball player corpsicle jokes here, leave that to me!).
My friend said "I don't believe in a God who would send me to Hell" but he didn't say "I believe in a God who would let his only Son die to save me from going to Hell". The idea of a dark and angry God isn't wrong, but it's an unfair characterization.
Anyway, I'm preaching now and have entirely forgotten what this thread is about. And I'm hungry too.
I hate it when I read AI before getting my morning started....
Originally posted by tonton
In case you're still in the dark, when fundies stop telling other people how to live their lives, I'll shut up.
I've never told a fundie how to live their life.
If you don't believe in abortion, don't have one!
If you don't believe in homosexuality, don't have homosexual sex.
If you don't believe in masturbation, don't do it (even though we know you all do it anyway, and fill yourself with guilt afterward
If you don't believe in sex before marriage, then go right ahead and save yourself.
Just don't tell others what to do, and then threaten them with punishment for not following your advice. Especially if you're in a position of leadership, like a minister, pastor or priest.
Jesus never damned anyone. He never judged anyone. So why do you all so-called "Christians" think it's your business to do so? In fact, it's extremely "un-Christian", isn't it?
Technically you are telling them how to live their lives by telling them not to tell other people how to live their lives. Technically. I agree with you though.