What's your religion?

[PapiBear]

What religious faith do you follow?

Please be sincere with your answer. Elaborate if you'd like.

(Thanks to Isidour for the idea.)

[Disney-Fan]

Nice topic idea but lets not turn this into a heated debate over which option is the best, worst etc.
I am 100% atheist. Not a Jewish atheist, no. None of that rubbish. I don't believe in the presence of a higher being, and it's in my humble opinion that nowadays religion has done more to harm this world than to add to it. That's not to say it didn't serve it's [very important, significant] role once upon a time but, in my opinion, its time of being needed has come and passed.

[PapiBear]

Nice topic idea but lets not turn this into a heated debate over which option is the best, worst etc.
I am 100% atheist. Not a Jewish atheist, no. None of that rubbish. I don't believe in the presence of a higher being, and it's in my humble opinion that nowadays religion has done more to harm this world than to add to it. That's not to say it didn't serve it's [very important, significant] role once upon a time but, in my opinion, its time of being needed has come and passed.

Thanks for answering the question "what religious faith do you follow?" So, okay, you follow the Atheist faith. Thanks again!

[Disney-Fan]

No need to pull a sarcastic comment out of the hat. You opened up a thread, I participated. I thought that's how it works.

[Siren]

Wicca with some Native American beliefs and practices thrown in. Blessed Be!

[rs_milo_whatever]

i'm a Seventh Day Adventist, which is a protestant religion

Blessed Be!

hey siren, i regocnized that from charmed (huge fan) did you get that from there, or is it an actual wiccan blessing???

i really hope i'm not sounding stupid

[Siren]

Blessed Be, as well as So Mote It Be are original Wiccan creations that media, like Charmed and Buffy borrowed with artistic license.

[rs_milo_whatever]

that's what i thought,

but i want to know you basic beliefs of Native Americans

[MK Sharp]

I was christened into the Uniting Church, but I'm now an atheist. The good thing about moving from the Uniting Church to atheism is that you don't have so far to go - the only real effect is that you go to fewer tea and scone mornings.

But I'm thinking of starting my own religion, just based on the Pentateuch (since there seems to be broad consensus over that bit of the book). I figure if you're going to have a god, you might as well have an old-fashioned, Old Testament, big angry vengeful God. Added to which, if you have your own religion, that means you have your own God to yourself, which I figure increases the chances of Him listening to your prayers and smiting parking inspectors.

The trouble with trying to follow the Bible literally these days, though, is that the RSPCA and PETA won't let you set fire to doves...

[Siren]

that's what i thought,

but i want to know you basic beliefs of Native Americans

Each tribe is a little different. So my beliefs are not a relfection of all Native Americans. Nor of my entire tribe.

I believe in Father Sky and Mother Earth. I believe in giving back to what you take. So if I take a branch from a tree, I give the tree water in the exchange. When I eat meat, I don't only thank my Mother and Father, but also the animal itself, for it is my Sister or Brother. Native Americans believe all living things are connected. The connection is a spiritual one. Animals can lead us on paths either by coming to us or by us going into them through meditation.

[candydog]

I consider myself non-religious. Yes, I know that I said I believe in magic in my Magic thread, but not as part of a religion. I do agree with Disney-fan though about how religion can do more harm than good in today's society. I do respect other religions, I just don't follow one myself.

[Simba3]

Great poll question PapiBear, though I didn't see my answer there. I usually consider myself agnostic. I believe in Jesus Christ, but not necessarily in all the ways that many people do. I believe in evolution. For the most part, I really just consider myself a very spiritual person. I believe in things like karma, fate, and destiny to a certain extent. Live and let live. PEACE AND LOVE

[PapiBear]

Great poll question PapiBear, though I didn't see my answer there. I usually consider myself agnostic. I believe in Jesus Christ, but not necessarily in all the ways that many people do.

Care to elaborate on that?

[Wonderlicious]

Satantist, baby.

Okay, I'll stop joking. Well, I guess that I'm agnostic on the whole (not sure whether God is real or not, and don't question it too much or else I'll make myself dizzy), yet I do hold some values of the Christian faith (mainly due to being raised around Catholicism), along with some other views from other religions such as karma.

By the way, the Christian values does not include me picketing soldiers/AIDS victims' funerals with "God Hates Fags" banners. Homophobia is sickening, and I hate how so many people can justify prejudices by looking at some random obscure passages in the Bible (nope, these aren't the Gospels, and Jesus isn't shown poo-pooing gays). I also get annoyed at how some Protestants view Catholicism as a completely different religion (perhaps more alien to them than a strange cult of a tribe in a deep deep jungle, so it seems) and constantly dismiss it as a religion for paedofiles, which is just a horrible accusation. Growing up in a Catholic environment (aka going to a Catholic school), I was never taught how to be homophobic, and even the R.E. (Religious Education) teachers told us that being homophobic was wrong.

If I were God, I'd send the homophobes in Christianity to hell, along with anyone else who justifies their wickedness as being for the sake of Christianity (or any religion). That is truly using God's name in vain, and is offensive not to God, but the whole world at large.

[Nandor]

Adding one vote for the Agnostic team ^^

[Prudence]

I'm a Christian. Primitive Pedestrian Baptist, to be precise. (Teh, that sounds like we only believe in walking as a means of transportation. That's not what it really means at all.)

[carter1971]

I am a Christian, Roman Catholic specifically. While some may consider it a stretch to believe in a creator, I find it just as much a stretch (more, really) to believe that our intellect and consciousness evolved from the Big Bang.

Also, most religions teach peace and love as core values. Many problems in the world today have to do with people not following their religions properly, not with the religions themselves. I can assure you that God is disappointed with many of his "followers" and does not endorse their activities, particularly acts of violence committed in His name.

[Dottie]

What does "agnostic" mean?

I was baptized as a Roman Catholic. I believe or maybe I don't in a higher being, but I do not believe in the Catholic Church.
Sometimes I wonder if I am an Atheist, but then I pray when I want to and feel the need for it. I might believe in God, but not as the God from the Bible, but God as a higher being who loves us and to a certain extent leads us.

[castleinthesky]

I'm a Christian, first and foremost. My denomination is Roman Catholic. I don't necessarily agree with Roman Catholicism on all issues, but I agree with it more than any of the Protestant and Orthodox branches of Christianity.

[Disney's Divinity]

I'm an agnostic Christian. I believe in a creator/God, although sometimes I question the certainty of the Bible (considering it was ultimately written by men, not by God). And, personally, I usually don't agree with the idea of Church, because I feel that every individual has to decide for themselves what is righteous (either from the Bible or personal experience). In the end, I think love of others is the ultimate rule, regardless of religion.

What does "agnostic" mean?

I'm pretty sure it means that you don't deny the possibility of a creator/superior being, but you don't deny the fact that there's no evidence to support it either. At least, that's what I've always held it to mean.

1.

a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.

2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/agnostic