POLL: Your Religion

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I know that there are many people on these boards who are from a wide variety of pladcdes, but I realized I do not know how wide the variety of religions represented are. So, voila! A poll to scratch my intellectual itch.

And to clarify an issue that many are mistaken on (including myself until very recently): agnoticism is not a religion. Agnostics can be either atheists or theists, but it is not a third category. Agnosticism is about what you 'know,' not what you believe.

These are the definitions of atheism and agnosticism I'm using for this poll:

Weak agnostics do not know if a god or gods exist. Strong agnostics claims that it is impossible to know.

Weak or implicit atheists do not believe in any gods. Strong or explicit atheists deny the existence of any gods.

[ October 25, 2002, 08:59: Message edited by: The Deviant Mage ]

Poll Information
This poll contains 2 question(s). 66 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Your Religion (66 votes.)

Are you agnostic? (Choose 1)
* Yes, I am. - 42% (28)
* No, I am not. - 58% (38)

Which faith do you most identify yourself with? (Choose 1)
* Christian (Catholic) - 15% (10)
* Christian (Orthodox) - 3% (2)
* Christian (Protestant) - 26% (17)
* Mormon - 3% (2)
* Scientologist - 0% (0)
* Jewish - 2% (1)
* Deist - 0% (0)
* Manichaeism - 0% (0)
* Zoroastrianism - 0% (0)
* Shinto - 0% (0)
* Wiccan - 2% (1)
* Buddhist - 6% (4)
* Hindu (Any form) - 0% (0)
* Islamic (Sunni) - 3% (2)
* Islamic (Shi'ite) - 0% (0)
* Theist (Vague or Individual beliefs) - 9% (6)
* Other Monotheistic - 2% (1)
* Other Polytheistic - 0% (0)
* Strong Atheism - 9% (6)
* Weak Atheism - 21% (14)

 

dude, i hope SP's alright with me.(Check the pole).Please don't ban me.....

[ October 25, 2002, 09:41: Message edited by: Ark ]

 

Don't worry Ark ... I think you're safe. As we used to sing in my church,

"The Lord told Noah to go build and Arky Arky, the Lord told Noah to go build an Arky Arky.
Build it out of, gopher barky bark, children of the Lord."

Deviant ... do you really think that there are practicing Manichaeists these days?

I think Saint Augustine practiced/dabbled in Manichaeism before his garden experience.

 

I was christianed Protestant, but I have dittached myself from the religion seeing as how it was invented by King Henry VIII so that he could marry his wife.

 

Z-Layrex: There are several different christian protestant religions. I myself am a Christian Lutheran (about 80% of the population in finland is), and it was invented by a german called Martin Luther (not King).

 

That's what I tended to think (Catholic here), but gradually learned that history of the Church of England and Protestantism in Britain is somewhat more complex than that.
Protestantism of course originated with Martin Luther, protesting against the excesses of the Catholic Church. Henry VIII refused to allow this new religion into England, and was given the title Defender of the Faith by the Pope; this is still held by the British monarch today. The Church of England was indeed founded to give Henry the authority to divorce Catharine of Aragon, but when it was first founded was a catholic church in all but name; as the Roman Catholic church beforehand it was the only permitted religion. Protestantism, in its more European sense, gradually came to England, partially allowed by the state as a counter to Catholics who were accused of plotting to overthrow the monarch as a heretic. The Church of England also moved in this direction. The English Civil War was, in part, a battle between different interpretations of the faith. Because there was still only one legal religion, different factions wanted the Church of England to reflect their own beliefs; thus Catholics and the more traditional members of the Church of England tended to support the Crown, while the more extreme Protestants (Puritans) tended to support Parliament, in both cases because of the sympathies of those parties.
Later on, the Church of England encompassed a broader spectrum of beliefs, as people decided it was more important to unify people than impose one set of beliefs on them. I think it was in the 18th, or maybe 19th, century when the Act of religious tolerance was passed, so that it was no longer illegal to avoid going to Church of England services, and people could worship as they wished. Now the Church of England still contains a broad spectrum, from anglo-catholics, whose services are very familiar to me, to more evangelical churches, which are not.

Phew!

 

St Augustine not only dabbled in Manichaeism before he converted, he was an ardent supporter of the Manichee way of life

 

That's a tough way of life...the elect in Manichaeism refuse to prepare their own food, for fear of damaging light particles the food contains.

As for their continued existence; I doubt it, but I can't be sure. Manichaeism was always an underground religion, it may have adapted itself somehow, somewhere. It doesn't seem much less plausible than having practising Zoroastrians, but suddenly you find the Parsis of Northwest India comfortably worshipping fire and worrying about Ahriman.

[ October 25, 2002, 20:07: Message edited by: The Deviant Mage ]

 

@Deviant:

Hey, I wanted to reply to your post, but I didn't find the option I was looking for. i believe in God (Allah, Buddha, Zoroastre, Zeus, Jupiter, Manitou, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris or whatever), but I don't feel my beliefs related to any of those religions, or any other religion for that matter.
There is nothing more subjective than one's own beliefs, so I'll never assume anyone could understand precisely my point of view.

 

That's why a put in Theist(Vague or Individual beliefs), to catch the religions that may slip through the cracks.

'Theist' isn't a religion in the same sense that Cotholicism or Sunni is. All it means is that the person believes in God(s). It sounds like it fits you perfectly.

And Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) isn't a deity. He's the founder of the religion. The god that would be worshipped is Ahura Mazda...the religion is sometimes known as Mazdaism. Ahura Mazda is the Good Principle, constantly battling Ahriman, the Evil Principle. The world is their chess board, pretty nearly literally.

 

Woo Hoo!!! Out of 4200+ members, there are 2 Mormons!!!! Heh...living in Salt Lake City, I've gotten used to being the majority...I kind of like being a minority again!

 

Hmmm, I see myself as an atheist, I see no reason to believe in a/any god(s). If I have to choose any religon wich I found somewhat attached to It must be Buddism...

I think it would be cool with gods like the mythologies and forgotten realms...

 

Oh god, you're not planning to make a new religion like those Jedi enthusiast geeks, are you?

 

"Like those Jedi enthusiasts geeks"

Lol. I've never understood that. I mean I am a huge SW fan/geek/whatever you wish to call me . But I'm not making a religion out of a movie concept. That wasn't Lucas' goal either.

 

This has of late been bothering me. I am a Christian. And yet... when I think of God, the afterlife, and eternal heaven... It's sort of the same way I thought of Santa when I was eight. It would be really cool if they did exist, and I really try to believe in their existance... but deep down, I just don't believe. Do you have any idea how much it sucks to be an UNWILLING atheist?

 

I am a Christian. I don't understand atheism or agnosticism.

 

I'm sort of strange. I'm agnostic insofar as I don't know whether or not there is a god, but I'm atheist in that I tend to disbelieve in every religion I learn about; I have no more belief in Jesus's divinity than I do Zeus's (though I do think that the Bible, has some worthwhile messages).

 

I'm a pagan convert.

 

Hmmm... I don't see 'grassroot pantheist' anywhere on the list? (/me gets a disturbing feeling of being separated from the unity)

 

Hey, where's Satanism on that list?