# What religion were you raised on?



## RayO_ElGatubelo (May 23, 2010)

So this thread is about what religion your parents raised you on.

I was raised Roman Catholic, for example. I'm not a believer anymore. Never was. But that's how my parents raised me.


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## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

I was theoretically rised as a roman catholic, but my parents never cared for it much either.


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## TashkentFox (May 23, 2010)

Roman Catholic too, although my family isn't especially religious (they're mostly agnostics) they just saw it as a formality.


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## auzbuzzard (May 23, 2010)

Not that devoted Catholic no.

Raised on? Not really. No one at home is really religious.


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## Taralack (May 23, 2010)

inb4shitstorm


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## Lobar (May 23, 2010)

Methodist, but was never strongly into it.  I was a Doubting Thomas for as long as I can remember.

Not sure what to vote.


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## RayO_ElGatubelo (May 23, 2010)

Damn, I forgot the Methodist! I don't know where to fit them.

Lot of Catholics (lapsed and otherwise) in here.


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## Tally (May 23, 2010)

None, my parents are Christian but they definatly didn't force it on me. Thank _god_ for that.

Even if I had been forced to believe something, I would have dropped it at first chance.


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## Ranzun the Dragon-Shark (May 23, 2010)

Presbyterian Christian =D



Waits for an religious catholic or baptist to bash him for being Presbyterian*


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## Ben (May 23, 2010)

Shouldn't you have included a general option Christian in that poll? Seems logical to me.


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## Lobar (May 23, 2010)

Drop Lutheran and put in "Other Protestant", and maybe tack "and other nontrinitarians" on Mormonism as well.


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## RayO_ElGatubelo (May 23, 2010)

Ben said:


> Shouldn't you have included a general option Christian in that poll? Seems logical to me.


 
10 spots...


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## Tally (May 23, 2010)

Ben said:


> Shouldn't you have included a general option Christian in that poll? Seems logical to me.



Or a "none". Lack of religious upbringing=\= athiest upbringing


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## LizardKing (May 23, 2010)

None.

I honestly can't remember religion ever coming up in conversation or really being any kind of influence. My dad took me to church a few times though on Sunday; holy fuck that was boring.


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## CaptainCool (May 23, 2010)

my mom is evangelic, my dad catholic. they never forced anything on us though, we were free to choose for ourselves


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## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

RayO_ElGatubelo said:


> 10 spots...



You don't have to actually fill them all. And there are more religions and christianity variations than the ones you mentioned anyway.



Tally said:


> Or a "none". Lack of religious upbringing=\= athiest upbringing



There is the "Other" option.


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## Apollo (May 23, 2010)

Roman Catholic. I still believe, just not in the Roman Catholic religion.


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## Ranzun the Dragon-Shark (May 23, 2010)

HenriW said:


> Roman Catholic. I still believe, just not in the Roman Catholic religion.


 Belieeeeeeeve, the power of Christ compels you!


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## Irreverent (May 23, 2010)

Mom was United Church, Dad was Greek Orthodox, step-mom was Anglican, step-dad was a United Church Minister, most of my island-born relatives are Anglican or Rastafarian.

I'm a practicing Epicurean Agnostic since '82.


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## TashkentFox (May 23, 2010)

Ranzun the Dragon-Shark said:


> Belieeeeeeeve, the power of Christ compels you!



Not even all six hours of Lew Grade's Jesus of Nazareth every Easter for 7 years converted me.


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## TashkentFox (May 23, 2010)

Epicurus FTW!


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## Tao (May 23, 2010)

Catholic. Private Catholic school and all. 

It sucked majorly. I pray to god but I don't need church to be one of my subjects in school.


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## Takun (May 23, 2010)

My family was Christian.  From 5 to 14 I did not go to church and was barely raised anything so I voted agnostic.


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## Corwin Cross (May 23, 2010)

Catholic, and I am under strict orders to convert you.


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## Ranzun the Dragon-Shark (May 23, 2010)

Grand Salamander said:


> Catholic, and I am under strict orders to convert you.


I dislike Catholics :L



Go molest a five year old D8< Scram!


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## Alstor (May 23, 2010)

Being raised on a Roman Catholic family. But with a lack of participation in it and time to think, I really don't know my current religion.

EDIT: It might be this one religion that I can't think of the name of. It's the religion that believes that God wasn't involved in anything after he created the universe.


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## Pliio8 (May 23, 2010)

My mother never discussed religion to us, it was up to us to decide. My eldest brother is Atheist and so is my Twin. My next eldest brother is Agnostic, and I'm Imperial Gnostic/Agnostic =B. The only thing swaying us was our highly religious grandmother...


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## Ranzun the Dragon-Shark (May 23, 2010)

Pliio8 said:


> My mother never discussed religion to us, it was up to us to decide. My eldest brother is Atheist and so is my Twin. My next eldest brother is Agnostic, and I'm Imperial Gnostic/Agnostic =B. The only thing swaying us was our highly religious grandmother...


 >-> Tsk, another lombax. I used to think they were a rare and dying species.


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## Zolen (May 23, 2010)

Raised on the idea of Christianity (not sure what kind all I got from them was, God is real, Jesus was his son, and heaven/hell exist and depending on how you are in life determines where yours going. I over all was never sure if such things that they said were true)

I just turned into a Agnostic at 14 and have been one ever since


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## Jelly (May 23, 2010)

roman catholicism and goof-ball christianity


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## Ibuuyk (May 23, 2010)

Other: None


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## Jelly (May 23, 2010)

Ibuuyk said:


> Other: None



Atheism's up there. ^__^


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## Corwin Cross (May 23, 2010)

Come on, I'm not a priest! And I don't agree with everything Catholicism has to say.


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## Ibuuyk (May 23, 2010)

Jelly said:


> Atheism's up there. ^__^



Atheism is believing there's no God.  I just wasn't raised by religion.  Slight diff between believing something doesn't exist & not knowing about it.


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## Willow (May 23, 2010)

Christian Methodist, or something like that

Not as devoted as the other people in my family though


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## Jelly (May 23, 2010)

Ibuuyk said:


> Atheism is believing there's no God.  I just wasn't raised by religion.  Slight diff between believing something doesn't exist & not knowing about it.



Atheism is a non-belief in religious or supernatural beliefs.
Agnosticism is a lack of knowledge of religious or supernatural beliefs.

So, I think that's what OP was going for.

i dont think there's any introductionary rites to atheism
i mean, unless atheists get together with their secret decoder rings to eat cheese pizzas in salman rushdie's house while they jerk each other off to videos of richard dawkins talking

which is kind of cool
i dont begrudge you guys that if its true


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## Lobar (May 23, 2010)

Alstor said:


> EDIT: It might be this one religion that I can't think of the name of. It's the religion that believes that God wasn't involved in anything after he created the universe.



Deism.  It's not really an organized religion though.


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## Attaman (May 23, 2010)

I was born into a Christian Family - Lutheran, to be precise.  Over time I shifted from that to Agnostic-leaning-Christianity, Agnostic 50-50, and now Agnostic-leaning-Atheism.


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## Don (May 23, 2010)

I was born and raised a Catholic, and for the most part I a still am one. I'm certainly not the most devout Christian, but I go to church every now and then and always wear my rosary. 

Recently though, I've become interested in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. While I still consider myself a Catholic, I prefer to wear the Orthodox cross over the Catholic one.


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## Werecatdawn (May 23, 2010)

Im in utah....

 So mormon.

The evil bastards....

Why im now agnostic...


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## Aleu (May 23, 2010)

Various forms of Christianity (with the exception of Catholic).
I hate Seventh Day Adventist Church.


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## Rakuen Growlithe (May 23, 2010)

Wow, there a lot of Catholics/ex-Catholics here. Anyway I was told I was Anglican.


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## Doppelganger#13 (May 23, 2010)

Grew up going to catholic school got kicked out never really believed any of it and still don't.

Some aspects of Laveyan Satanism really appeals to me


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## TashkentFox (May 23, 2010)

Rakuen Growlithe said:


> Wow, there a lot of Catholics/ex-Catholics here. Anyway I was told I was Anglican.



Well it is the largest religion in the world, sadly.


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## Oovie (May 23, 2010)

Entire family in the US is Christian, my parents tried Jehovah's Witness for quite a while. *rubs eye's tiringly remembering the Kingdom Hall* I'm not quite sure what my family in Australia is, my mother was raised Christian I believe as well.

Parents ended up going spiritual when I was around 16, which I had absolutely no interest partaking in. I just kind of stayed silent never speaking about it till moving out, not going to lie I think it's turned them into loons (though I'd never tell them that). 

I'm convinced I was atheist from the start, just following orders growing up. I never "bought" into what they were telling me, what a relief it was to finally be able to deny it.


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## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

I was raised as a atheist(apparently you can be raised as one), christian now and no I am not this much of a prick irl.


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## Nylak (May 23, 2010)

General Christian here; we didn't really have a sect, nor go to church.  My parents were pretty lenient and let me do what I like, though when I was younger they did encourage me to practice their faith and I was pretty religious for awhile.  

Around age ten I became agnostic, and a couple years later took up Buddhism and have kept it up since.  The fam's pretty accepting; even if they didn't take it "seriously" for the first few years, they still humoured me.


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## Torrijos-sama (May 23, 2010)

Roman Catholic. Attended a few Marronite services as a child, though, as well.


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## Browder (May 23, 2010)

Baptist. Christ on a cracker four hour services. At least it was fun.


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## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Nylak said:


> Around age ten I became agnostic, and a couple years later took up Buddhism and have kept it up since.  The fam's pretty accepting; even if they didn't take it "seriously" for the first few years, they still humoured me.


What's funny is my uncle is buddhist and he thinks christians dance around a fire holding snakes and speaking in tongues, can someone spell wtf?


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## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> What's funny is my uncle is buddhist and he thinks christians dance around a fire holding snakes and speaking in tongues, can someone spell wtf?



I like your uncle already, even if for pure comedic value.


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## Authur (May 23, 2010)

I no longer know what kind of Christian I consider myself, but I know that I don't hate gay people to the point of picketing them. I don't even know whether or not I should stick with the religion, but I do know another thing; I'm a good party-goer(though I need slight improvement). Hell, I've been to a Barmitzvah before and partied with a bunch of Jews. That was pretty fun! But I digress. I may be Christian, but I take interest in learning about the other gods that different people pray to, and am a big fan of magic and mythology. I try to keep in mind that only I control my actions, so somewhere down the line I may give up my Christian faith if I wish, but I'll still celebrate Christmas. I still have the holiday spirit in me, you see. But for now, I'm a Christian who thinks pretty freely.


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## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

I was raised as a Catholic since birth. I very recently was Confirmed as Blaise, and I plan on becoming more entertwined with the Church community & others at large over time. It's something I really want to do, as I've always felt that I have been called to love others more.


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## Nylak (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> What's funny is my uncle is buddhist and he thinks christians dance around a fire holding snakes and speaking in tongues, can someone spell wtf?


Having practiced both, it seems to me like he has a more accurate view of Christianity than most Christians have of Buddhism.  :3


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## Kommodore (May 23, 2010)

I was (predominately) raised by my Grandparents, who are Lutherans. They never tried to beat anything into my head and when I disagreed, I disagreed and they did not give me too much trouble about it. As a result I had a loose, but recognizably Christian, upbringing in my family. But none of my family was ever the God-fearing type and a lot of them are atheist or more spiritual, so Religious (capital R) thought never really dominated my thought.


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## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Nylak said:


> Having practiced both, it seems to me like he has a more accurate view of Christianity than most Christians have of Buddhism.  :3


Average christian's american's view of buddhists, "welcome to quickymart, would you like a slurpie?" :V


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## A Concerned Citizen (May 23, 2010)

Fundamental Baptist. D: Luckily, we didn't go to church that much.


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## Willow (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> Average christian's american's view of buddhists, "welcome to quickymart, would you like a slurpie?" :V


I always thought of Buddhists as monks or really spiritual people who meditated


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## Jelly (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> Average christian's american's view of buddhists, "welcome to quickymart, would you like a slurpie?" :V



or thats like
hindus

i dont know what's cuter that you got that wrong because you, personally, don't know the explicit facts of an indian/pakistani stereotype
or that you possibly do and you used it wrong anyways

i just want to pinch your little cheekies! <3

Buddhism is a nice side dish for most Americans, which has always struck me a little strange. But my dad was like totally big into these Buddha conspiracy theories about how Buddhism affected Christ heavily and those Thich Naht Hanhian comparisons of Buddha and Jesus eating hummus together and chilling under a fig tree
and ive gotta admit buddha's head really does accent the garden pretty well

And actually, one strange thing about Catholicism is I've noticed an upwards trend of Gnosticism infecting the apotheosis of the Church and dogma and stuff
When I went to Sunday school for my Confirmation, I brought up the Book of Thomas (which I had thought was part of Catholic canon) and my teachers were impressed and discussed how sin was a distance from God and Hell was a terminal cognitive dissonance

and my mom, as a catholic, still has these weird rural practices
and they all do that stupid evil eye crap in the family
and talk about how you can't kill moths

just kind of extending on the religious weirdness in the upbringing


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## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Jelly said:


> or that you possibly do and you used it wrong anyways
> 
> And actually, one strange thing about Catholicism is I've noticed an upwards trend of Gnosticism infecting the apotheosis of the Church and dogma and stuff


I'm not even catholic and I've noticed that.
I did it on purpose as a joke,


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## Ibuuyk (May 23, 2010)

Jelly said:


> Atheism is a non-belief in religious or supernatural beliefs.
> Agnosticism is a lack of knowledge of religious or supernatural beliefs.
> 
> So, I think that's what OP was going for.
> ...



So agnosticism is the lack of knowledge?  I was raised agnostic then.


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## Viva (May 23, 2010)

My parents tried to get me into catholicism.  They saw that I was never really interested in it, so they gave up.


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## Shark_the_raptor (May 23, 2010)

None, I think.  Maybe Baptist.  My aunt had me go to church every Sunday until I was 10.  Was a nice nap on those benches.


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## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Shark_the_raptor said:


> None, I think.  Maybe Baptist.  My aunt had me go to church every Sunday until I was 10.  Was a nice nap on those benches.








Even the pope's done it.


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## Shark_the_raptor (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> Even the pope's done it.



D'awww.  030  He looks adorable.


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## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> Even the pope's done it.



He's just contemplating.


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## rougekty (May 23, 2010)

I was raised Catholic, stopped believing, searched for another religion to fit me; and I found Wicca.


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## Kilehye (May 23, 2010)

My mom was raised Lutheran, dad was raised Jewish, and they hated being forced into it all by their parents, so they decided not to force or indoctrinate my brother and I into anything. They wanted to let us learn on our own and choose our own paths. They're so awesome.


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## Glitch (May 23, 2010)

Lutheran.
But I am soooo atheist.


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## Captain Howdy (May 23, 2010)

I _was_ baptized, but I wasn't raised with any religion. The baptism purely for show, because my parents are not religious at all. My dad was a Quaker, and my mum was Catholic. I tried out Christianity in my mid-teens with my boyfriend, but it didn't work out.


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## garoose (May 23, 2010)

I'm glad Jewish was up there as one of the main choices..... oh wait

but yeah, born and raised and bar mitzvahed and confirmed Jewish


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## Zolen (May 23, 2010)

Ibuuyk said:


> So agnosticism is the lack of knowledge?  I was raised agnostic then.



Not exactly how it works, but okay



rougekty said:


> I was raised Catholic, stopped believing,  searched for another religion to fit me; and I found Wicca.


Hm, interesting, while I know it's ideal's I have come to see that people who follow that tend to follow it a bit differently from different area's. I may ask a few questions at a later date if that is okay.


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## Tweaker (May 23, 2010)

I was technically raised catholic, but I never actually practiced the religion. I consider myself an atheist now, though I'm not horribly closed-minded or anything like that.


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## Tally (May 23, 2010)

Ranzun the Dragon-Shark said:


> I dislike Catholics :L
> 
> 
> 
> Go molest a five year old D8< Scram!



Coming from a furry? Really?

Whatever happened to disliking people grouping you because of a small minority of perverts? Go yiff in hell D8< Scram!


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## gdzeek (May 23, 2010)

Raised Mormon, and its made my life very good, I'm not ashamed. but I can see why people are annoyed with us.

edit: 4 raised mormon? show theyselves !


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## Tewin Follow (May 23, 2010)

No religion, though our _public school_ told us to recite the Lord's Prayer every assembly and have visits from a hip, guitar playing priest.
Also I went to a lot of after-school clubs where we were taught songs like "God's great love" and "Noah's Ark".

...
-cries-


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## Unsilenced (May 23, 2010)

My parents gave me a choice. I could be Jewish or Christian (my dad was Christian, my mom was Jewish.)  

I was circumcised and not (I don't think...) baptized, but the choice was still mine. 

They didn't ever make me go to church, and ended up going with "none of the above" and being an Atheist.


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## Tewin Follow (May 23, 2010)

Unsilenced said:


> My parents gave me a choice. I could be Jewish or Christian (my dad was Christian, my mom was Jewish.)
> 
> I was circumcised and not (I don't think...) baptized, but the choice was still mine.
> 
> They didn't ever make me go to church, and ended up going with "none of the above" and being an Atheist.



Your parents sound decent. It shouldn't be their choice, and they respected you enough to let you choose.


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## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

Tally said:


> Coming from a furry? Really?
> 
> Whatever happened to disliking people grouping you because of a small minority of perverts? Go yiff in hell D8< Scram!


 
Hmm... I'm more inclined to agree with Tally. 

That was uncalled for, Ranzun, and last I checked, this thread was a poll asking what religion you were raised under, not bashing everyone else's beliefs.


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## gdzeek (May 23, 2010)

Harebelle said:


> Your parents sound decent. It shouldn't be their choice, and they respected you enough to let you choose.



Indeed, its a sign of good parenting that their children learn and make good decisions by their example but in the end its your own choice and should be.


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## Verin Asper (May 23, 2010)

Baptist and Methodist


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## Conker (May 23, 2010)

Catholic. My beliefs are...conflicting but I'm not an atheist by any means.


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## Ames (May 23, 2010)

Christianity (not really any specific branch) and Islam.

Also, why the fuck does it say Muslim in the poll?
A Muslim is somebody who follows Islam.
Islam is the name of the actual religion.


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## rougekty (May 23, 2010)

Zolen said:


> Hm, interesting, while I know it's ideal's I have come to see that people who follow that tend to follow it a bit differently from different area's. I may ask a few questions at a later date if that is okay.


 
Sure, just message me if you want to know anything. =w=


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## <CaliforniaStripes> (May 23, 2010)

Harebelle said:


> No religion, though our _public school_ told us to recite the Lord's Prayer every assembly and have visits from a hip, guitar playing priest.
> Also I went to a lot of after-school clubs where we were taught songs like "God's great love" and "Noah's Ark".
> 
> ...
> -cries-


wow, in all the schools i've been to, every one of them is prohibited by law to do that, church and state are supposed to be seperate i thought and i was told it was illegal for them to do that idk where you went and im sure there are places like that


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## SnowFox (May 23, 2010)

Harebelle said:


> No religion, though our _public school_ told us to recite the Lord's Prayer every assembly and have visits from a hip, guitar playing priest.
> Also I went to a lot of after-school clubs where we were taught songs like "God's great love" and "Noah's Ark".
> 
> ...
> -cries-



Do they still do that? It used to be the same at my school, I never really thought anything of it at the time but I'm surprised they were allow to do it now.


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## PenningtontheSkunk (May 23, 2010)

Raised Catholic then converted to Wicca/Paganism. ))O((


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## rougekty (May 23, 2010)

<CaliforniaStripes> said:


> wow, in all the schools i've been to, every one of them is prohibited by law to do that, church and state are supposed to be seperate i thought and i was told it was illegal for them to do that idk where you went and im sure there are places like that


 
I recently got in trouble for wearing a pentacle, was forced to take it off now I'm carrying a list of my rights around school in case it happens again. They say you have the freedom of religion, but in my school apparently not. There is bible clubs and prayer silences during my school, which is fine. But why force me to take off my religious symbol?


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## rougekty (May 23, 2010)

PenelopeSkunk4 said:


> Raised Catholic then converted to Wicca/Paganism. ))O((


 
Merry Meet )O(


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## PenningtontheSkunk (May 23, 2010)

rougekty said:


> Merry Meet )O(


Yayz I'm not alone :3

Blessed be ))O((


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## rougekty (May 23, 2010)

PenelopeSkunk4 said:


> Yayz I'm not alone :3
> 
> Blessed be ))O((


 
Haha yay Blessed be )O(


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## Mr Owl (May 23, 2010)

Catholic. Am I still catholic? Fuck no.


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## TashkentFox (May 23, 2010)

It's nice to see that so few catholics remained in the religion, at this rate the Catholic church will consist of three retards from Belfast and the Pope by the end of this century.


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## Tewin Follow (May 23, 2010)

SnowFox said:


> Do they still do that? It used to be the same at my school, I never really thought anything of it at the time but I'm surprised they were allow to do it now.





<CaliforniaStripes> said:


> wow, in all the schools i've been to, every one of them is prohibited by law to do that, church and state are supposed to be seperate i thought and i was told it was illegal for them to do that idk where you went and im sure there are places like that



This was the early-mid 90's, but it doesn't seem right in hindsight.


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## Bloodshot_Eyes (May 23, 2010)

Nothing 'til I was like... three? Then Mom married my step dad, and I was raised Catholic... as soon as they split up I stopped going to church...


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## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

Heh, am I the only still-practicing Catholic on FA & FAF?


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## gdzeek (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> Heh, am I the only still-practicing Catholic on FA & FAF?



I wouldnt be suprised, apparantly staying with the religion you grew up with is a dying breed. 

probably for obvious reason though unfortunately.


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## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

gdzeek said:


> I wouldnt be suprised, apparantly staying with the religion you grew up with is a dying breed.
> 
> probably for obvious reason though unfortunately.


 
Obvious reasons? As in because the pope should be removed for not punishing that sick ba***rd? Because same-sex couples cannot marry into the Church? 

I do have my own beliefs, and quite a few of them contradict Catholic beliefs. I think the pope is not worthy of his position, and that everyone has a right to marry whoever they choose. But I will follow my beliefs, as far as the guidelines of the Catholic faith. (i.e., even though I'm bi, I will not marry another man because of my religious beliefs)


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## gdzeek (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> Obvious reasons? As in because the pope should be removed for not punishing that sick ba***rd? Because same-sex couples cannot marry into the Church?
> 
> I do have my own beliefs, and quite a few of them contradict Catholic beliefs. I think the pope is not worthy of his position, and that everyone has a right to marry whoever they choose. But I will follow my beliefs, as far as the guidelines of the Catholic faith. (i.e., even though I'm bi, I will not marry another man because of my religious beliefs)



My respect for you has increased, well said

edit: hmm that was kind of a sloppy answer on the end on my part, I need to think more thourougly


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## Tewin Follow (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> (i.e., even though I'm bi, I will not marry another man because of my religious beliefs)



;-;

You only have one life to be happy, you shouldn't let something like a religion stop you from loving someone.


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## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

gdzeek said:


> My respect for you has increased, well said


 
Likewise, and thank you. 

I'm sorry (even no one on here is gonna care since they're not Catholic), but the pope is corrupt, and has no right being in his position. It just makes me sick, but I haven't the faintest idea why so many people left the Church after the scandal broke out. The Church is a community, but should not be viewed upon by its leader (even though he is [supposed] to be the holiest) He's sick.


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## gdzeek (May 23, 2010)

Harebelle said:


> ;-;
> 
> You only have one life to be happy, you shouldn't let something like a religion stop you from loving someone.



Yes, but he shows strength and passion rare in this world.


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## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

Harebelle said:


> ;-;
> 
> You only have one life to be happy, you shouldn't let something like a religion stop you from loving someone.


 
I had a hard time coming to this decision. Yeah... somtimes, I really wish I had a guy who'd love me. But I can't see myself growing older with another man, knowing how fragile my relationship with him would be because of my beliefs. I give my heart to God first; that is my decision, even if it is painful.


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## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

gdzeek said:


> Yes, but he shows strength and passion rare in this world.



And he wastes it on that. I'm not sure if it's all that commendable.


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## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

gdzeek said:


> Yes, but he shows strength and passion rare in this world.


 
...Thank you. That means a lot, really. :cry:


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## Tewin Follow (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> I had a hard time coming to this decision. Yeah... somtimes, I really wish I had a guy who'd love me. But I can't see myself growing older with another man, knowing how fragile my relationship with him would be because of my beliefs. I give my heart to God first; that is my decision, even if it is painful.



I'm not going into this one, but if you think it's best, then do what you must. I just don't think God would hate you for being happy?


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

Harebelle said:


> I'm not going into this one, but if you think it's best, then do what you must. I just don't think God would hate you for being happy?


 
No, He wouldn't. But God wants- and knows- what's best for me, and I accept His plan for me. Besides, my happiness isn't that important; in fact, I realized a little while back that my happiness- true happiness- stems from loving others as God loves me.


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

szopaw said:


> And he wastes it on that. I'm not sure if it's all that commendable.


 
Wastes? Why would I waste my time on something I did not believe in fully and sincerely?


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> Wastes? Why would I waste my time on something I did not believe in fully and sincerely?


Wow you have alot of faith.


----------



## gdzeek (May 23, 2010)

what is a waste is only a matter of opinion, I think carefree sex is wasteful because it harbors the potential to destroy a lasting relationship later on when i matters. 

but thats only my opinion, but its my passion to someday create a relationship with someone when all others could careless. Other think this is foolish too. it takes a lot of passion and discipline o achieve. so yes Felix is highly commendale


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

My faith is something hard for me- I have many doubts about and in faith. Because of my personal beliefs, they clash repeatedly, and I am left stranded and lost in a blizzard.

I'm not like a lot of teens. I want a lasting, wonderful relationship with another person. As I said, I can't marry another man because of my faith, and I don't want to marry a woman because, while I'm bi, am still not attracted in full to the idea of raising a family. In other words, I'm still very confused. Still in a blizzard.


----------



## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> Wastes? Why would I waste my time on something I did not believe in fully and sincerely?



Oh, I fully believe you that you're devoted to it.
It's just that, as far as I recal, the quote about homosexual relations comes from the same book that speaks about pork being unholy and having to cook meat and diary products in two different sets of cookware. Which was rebuted by Jesus in the New Testament, yet people still cling to those certian fragments.
Plus, being a self-made martyr for some vague idea that was popularised by bigots doesn't gain any respect from me. So IMO, it's a waste of dedication that could full well serve a better cause.


----------



## gdzeek (May 23, 2010)

szopaw said:


> Oh, I fully believe you that you're devoted to it.
> It's just that, as far as I recal, the quote about homosexual relations comes from the same book that speaks about pork being unholy and having to cook meat and diary products in two different sets of cookware. Which was rebuted by Jesus in the New Testament, yet people still cling to those certian fragments.
> Plus, being a self-made martyr for some vague idea that was popularised by bigots doesn't gain any respect from me. So IMO, it's a waste of dedication that could full well serve a better cause.



Not all christian Ideas come from the Bible, nor reasoning for it. there are different kinds of happiness and ideas that are held most highly have very good reasoning for being followed.


----------



## Endless Humiliation (May 23, 2010)

Unitarian Universalist


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

szopaw said:


> Oh, I fully believe you that you're devoted to it.
> It's just that, as far as I recal, the quote about homosexual relations comes from the same book that speaks about pork being unholy and having to cook meat and diary products in two different sets of cookware. Which was rebuted by Jesus in the New Testament, yet people still cling to those certian fragments.
> Plus, being a self-made martyr for some vague idea that was popularised by bigots doesn't gain any respect from me. So IMO, it's a waste of dedication that could full well serve a better cause.


 
And what would that better cause be to you? 

The New Testament contradicts the Old many times. Some people take the references literally; others don't. For a comparison (which is something I don't normally do), take the Shia and Sunni beliefs of the Islamic religion. Shias are not nearly as radical as Sunnis. It just depends on the person.


----------



## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> And what would that better cause be to you?
> 
> The New Testament contradicts the Old many times. Some people take the references literally; others don't. For a comparison (which is something I don't normally do), take the Shia and Sunni beliefs of the Islamic religion. Shias are not nearly as radical as Sunnis. It just depends on the person.



Dunno, something that would improve people's lives. There are many possibilities that require strong will.

That's what I was pointing out. Many chrisitans just choose to obey those certian fragments, even though they're technically not valid anymore. Chence it's not a matter of religious belief, but personal preference, only vailed as "word of God", because there's no better excuse for dodging responsibility for one's ideas.

Basically, I don't have any qualms if you don't want to live with a man just because you wouldn't feel comfortable with it, I don't want to either. But I feel no sympathy for doing that out of religious reasons, when they're obviously... The best word is probably "misguided".


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

szopaw said:


> Dunno, something that would improve people's lives. There are many possibilities that require strong will.
> 
> Basically, I don't have any qualms if you don't want to live with a man just because you wouldn't feel comfortable with it, I don't want to either. But I feel so sympathy for doing that out of religious reasons, when they're obviously... The best word is probably "misguided".


 
I said earlier that I felt called to love others as God loves me. I'm going to work at Christian Services for my Senior community service project next year. I'm really looking forward to it. 

That's just it; I _want_ to live with another man, but because of my beliefs, my relationship with him would be unstable to the point of destructive. That's why I can't, and I won't. My faith and happiness share a connection; while I may not always be happy in my faith, I trust God to do the best- and right- thing for me. I don't feel my beliefs are misguided; after all, I'm following His light through the blizzard. I may not see Him, or the road ahead, but I'm following Him nonetheless.


----------



## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> I don't feel my beliefs are misguided; after all, I'm following His light through the blizzard.



Eat kosher too, then.


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

szopaw said:


> Eat kosher too, then.


 
...I beg your pardon? :|


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> I'm following His light through the blizzard. I may not see Him, or the road ahead, but I'm following Him nonetheless.



Looks like you're following a Hinkypunk there.


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> Looks like you're following a Hinkypunk there.


 
Ugh, maybe.  I'm in a blizzard, though; not a swamp.


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> Ugh, maybe.  I'm in a blizzard, though; not a swamp.



Point is, you're being a dumbass by following caveman superstition instead of using logic and reasoning.


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> Point is, you're being a dumbass


And you wonder why christians think atheists are assholes?


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> And you wonder why christians think atheists are assholes?



No, frankly, I don't.


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> Point is, you're being a dumbass by following caveman superstition instead of using logic and reasoning.


 
Namecalling? Really? :| I don't enjoy being cussed at. It's lewd, and very disrespectful.

Faith doesn't always see eye-to-eye with logic and reasoning; in fact, it rarely does. But I keep my faith all the same, despite scientific evidence. There are things in this world that cannot be explained through logic.


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> And you wonder why christians think atheists are assholes?


 
Everyone has the right to believe what they believe in. I'm never going to tell you that you're wrong for your beliefs, even if I don't agree with them personally.


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> No, frankly, I don't.


Jeez why is it you get to call felix a dumbass for having faith and get away with it?


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> Jeez why is it you get to call felix a dumbass for having faith and get away with it?


 
 You said Christians were dumba***s, not me specifically.


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> Faith doesn't always see eye-to-eye with logic and reasoning; in fact, it rarely does. But I keep my faith all the same, despite scientific evidence. There are things in this world that cannot be explained through logic.



What this bit tells me: "I've got issues with myself and can't be arsed to solve them on my own. So I look to blind faith in order to satisfy my issues."

It's kinda like a heroin addict taking more heroin in order to satisfy himself, rather than seek help.


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> What this bit tells me: I've got issues with myself and can't be arsed to solve them on my own. So I look to blind faith in order to satisfy my issues.
> 
> It's kinda like a heroin addict taking more heroin in order to satisfy himself, rather than seek help.


 
I trust God to guide me, and help me in times of need and confusion. 

I do not take drugs. EVER. Don't reference that with me. :|


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> I trust God to guide me, and help me in times of need and confusion.
> 
> I do not take drugs. EVER. Don't reference that with me. :|



Heroin addicts also trust upon heroin in times of need and confusion :V


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> You said Christians were dumba***s, not me specifically.


I didn't say that, Ishnuvalok did.
Also Felix don't argue with ishnuvalok, trust me.


Ishnuvalok said:


> It's kinda like a heroin addict taking more heroin in order to satisfy himself


Wow... That is probably one of the most asinine things I've every heard.


----------



## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> ...I beg your pardon? :|



The book which word you're following was rebuted by Jesus. As a christian, you're supposed to follow his teaching. If you chose to follow said book after all, do it properly. Also


FelixBandercoot said:


> (i.e., even though I'm bi, I will not marry another man because of my religious beliefs)


Right now, you pointed out that you're bi, not gay, so not being with a man doesn't close your gate to happiness. In conclusion, you are neither a good christian nor a good jew, and you're choosing an easy sacrifice, while at the same time prising how much of a noble person said sacrifice makes you. Using God as a way to back up your pride is a horrible sin.


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> Wow... That is probably one of the most asinine things I've every heard.




Meh, may be a bad analogy, religious people don't end up dieing from overdoses :V


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> I didn't say that, Ishnuvalok did.
> Also Felix don't argue with ishnuvalok, trust me.


 
I'm lost in all the posts; I don't know who's saying what. 

Argue? I'm trying to defend what I believe in! I'm not going to let Ishnuvalok run all over me and tell me I'm someone that I'm not.


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> Meh, may be a bad analogy, religious people don't end up dieing from overdoses :V


...Wow someone is hitting every fucking branch on the intolerant tree.


FelixBandercoot said:


> I'm lost in all the posts; I don't know who's saying what.
> 
> Argue? I'm trying to defend what I believe in! I'm not going to let Ishnuvalok run all over me and tell me I'm someone that I'm not.


Trust me Felix most of the guys here that will argue against you pretty much want nothing better than to get you to quit church when religion topics come up.


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> ...Wow someone is hitting every fucking branch on the intolerant tree.



Yeah, I generally do that when it comes to religion. It's gotten me into trouble at school before.


----------



## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> Argue? I'm trying to defend what I believe in! I'm not going to let Ishnuvalok run all over me and tell me I'm someone that I'm not.



Tule of thumb - if your ideas can be easily dismissed without being an intolerant dick, don't flaunt them.


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

szopaw said:


> The book which word you're following was rebuted by Jesus. As a christian, you're supposed to follow his teaching. If you chose to follow said book after all, do it properly. Also
> 
> Right now, you pointed out that you're bi, not gay, so not being with a man doesn't close your gate to happiness. In conclusion, you are neither a good christian nor a good jew, and you're choosing an easy sacrifice, while at the same time prising how much of a noble person said sacrifice makes you. Using God as a way to back up your pride is a horrible sin.


 
Excuse me? 

I already had this conversation. I don't follow all of my Catholic beliefs because I don't agree with them. I don't need you telling me what I can or cannot believe in, so I suggest you shove it. 

Pride? I am proud of the person I am, even though I have made mistakes, but I do NOT use God to back up my pride. I trust Him to guide me, and do what's best for me; even if the decisions are tough to make.


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> Yeah, I generally do that when it comes to religion. It's gotten me into trouble at school before.


Being that intolerant is sure fire to earn you a darwin award one of these days.


----------



## Jelly (May 23, 2010)

???


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Jelly said:


> ???


Basically Felix is bi and has alot of faith and faf is trying to get him to quit church.


----------



## Thatch (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> I trust Him to guide me



Well, you could as easily dismiss the idea that god doesn't want you to live with a man as the others you claim to disagree with. If there's anything that makes it more entitled to be followed, there are also others meeting the same criteria you most likely don't follow as well. Like eating kosher food. Pigs are filthy, just like man love.



CannonFodder said:


> Basically Felix is bi and has alot of faith and faf is trying to get him to quit church.



Nah, but poiting out all the illogical claims is just too easy. And he didn't really say anything besides "God guides me", so I think I might as well stop here.


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

FelixBandercoot said:


> I don't follow all of my Catholic beliefs because I don't agree with them.



Picking and choosing, my favorite aspect of religious people.


----------



## Jelly (May 23, 2010)

No, I meant:
what do you mean by:
"Being that intolerant is sure fire to earn you a darwin award one of these days."

???


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> Being that intolerant is sure fire to earn you a darwin award one of these days.



Well here I'm just being a complete dumbass, that's what is fun about the internet, religious people can't bomb me :V



Jelly said:


> No, I meant:
> what do you mean by:
> "Being that intolerant is sure fire to earn you a darwin award one of these days."
> 
> ???



Apparently he thinks I'll get beaten/bombed by muslims.


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Jelly said:


> No, I meant:
> what do you mean by:
> "Being that intolerant is sure fire to earn you a darwin award one of these days."
> 
> ???


Because if he acts like this irl he'd have it coming a mile away.


----------



## FelixBandercoot (May 23, 2010)

szopaw said:


> Well, you could as easily dismiss the idea that god doesn't want you to live with a man as the others you claim to disagree with. If there's anything that makes it more entitled to be followed, there are also others meeting the same criteria you most likely don't follow as well. Like eating kosher food. Pigs are filthy, just like man love.


 
*sigh* Forget this. I'm not going to waste my time here, when no one is going to, in the least, respect my opinion or even halfway listen to me. Sorry for any inconveniences, and for losing my temper.


----------



## Jelly (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> Because if he acts like this irl he'd have it coming a mile away.



wow

this is really uncomfortable


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> Apparently he thinks I'll get beaten/bombed by muslims.


I wouldn't doubt it.


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> I wouldn't doubt it.



Thing is I can't get bombed through the internet, I can be more of an ignorant asshole if I so wish.

In real life I'm a different person when it comes to criticizing religion.


----------



## CannonFodder (May 23, 2010)

Ishnuvalok said:


> Thing is I can't get bombed through the internet, I can be more of an ignorant asshole if I so wish.
> 
> In real life I'm a different person when it comes to criticizing religion.


You know I just thought of something, when scientology was getting irl trolled, why didn't they just buy 4chan?


----------



## Ishnuvalok (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> You know I just thought of something, when scientology was getting irl trolled, why didn't they just buy 4chan?



Because they're greedier than Jews. 


You saw that one coming, didn't you? :V


----------



## Lunar Wolf (May 23, 2010)

I was raised Baptist, however my beliefs are a bit ...different then that


----------



## greg-the-fox (May 23, 2010)

Reform Judaism, though no one in my family is actually religious and I'm now an athiest.


----------



## RayO_ElGatubelo (May 23, 2010)

I FORGOT JUDAISM!!! DAMN IT!


----------



## Hellerskull (May 23, 2010)

I was forced to covert as Mormon by my grandparents and I allowed them to just to make them happy. I 'resign' few years ago after my father's death. I never go back to church again. 

My mother is a wiccan (not active anymore), and my step-dad was Catholic, but later become agnostic. They give me a freedom to choose whatever religion I want to be in. I'm general christian and I'm happy with it.


----------



## Bittertooth (May 23, 2010)

never had a religion.  only cared about the things i could sense.


----------



## Trpdwarf (May 23, 2010)

I depending upon where I was and which church I got shoved into. I've been in multiple christian denominations.

That said I dissociate with religion now.


----------



## Skidd (May 23, 2010)

Raised Mormon, currently somewhat Agnostic - but I like the idea of Spiritual Naturalism - I know it sounds like a fruity fairy druid thing, but what I believe is a spiritual respect and spiritual awe for nature. My worship is learning - biology, chemistry, physics, you get the picture. I do not believe in anything supernatural - I get my spiritual dosage just from the natural world around me, I don't need bells or whistles.

It's agnostic with a HINT of druid flavor, I suppose. More of a philosophy than a religion, I suppose. I'm still dragged to mormon church by my relatives, and I like it well enough - though some things invoke mild puppy-kicking rages. But I like the belief in purgatory but no hell, along with the kind of "spiritual cycle" that eventually you get to become a god(dess) and create your own world and junk. :B


----------



## Milo (May 23, 2010)

I found the right religion eventually... or at least, a better one


----------



## Kvasir (May 23, 2010)

pagans all the way here


----------



## virus (May 23, 2010)

buddhism, self guided. Western religions make zero sense.


----------



## Darkwing (May 23, 2010)

Milo said:


> I found the right religion eventually... or at least, a better one



Wait a minute whaa... 

I thought you were atheist


----------



## Milo (May 23, 2010)

Darkwing said:


> Wait a minute whaa...
> 
> I thought you were atheist



lol this thread is calling atheism one. I just voted it as one.


----------



## Darkwing (May 23, 2010)

Milo said:


> lol this thread is calling atheism one. I just voted it as one.



Oh... 

But the poll is asking you what religion you were raised on. Didn't you tell me that your parents were religious


----------



## Torrijos-sama (May 23, 2010)

CannonFodder said:


> You know I just thought of something, when scientology was getting irl trolled, why didn't they just buy 4chan?


 
4Chan owns its servers, supposedly.

And because Chanology mostly went on outside of 4Chan.


----------



## TreacleFox (May 23, 2010)

Catholic... I was baptized and stuff. :/
Not anymore though. ^^


----------



## Volug (May 23, 2010)

I guess you can say I was raised Mormon, pretty much everyone where I live is one, over 80% for sure from what I have seen.  *points to location*

I only went to church to get away from my parents, believe it or not.  I also went to their seminary classes during highschool, mostly because I didn't want to take some classes and I had to fill in some spaces.

The bad thing is, 75% of the students that attended seminary are just Mormon on the outside, but are complete ass holes on the inside.  Those that actually stick to the religion are very nice people and I have a great deal of respect for them.  All the Mormons I met out of state (very few) have also been very nice, great people.

Right now, I don't really need religion, I'm fine as is.  I never really "joined" their church, but I know a lot about it.  I just don't feel as if I really need it.


----------



## Tally (May 24, 2010)

Meadow said:


> Catholic... I was baptized and stuff. :/
> Not anymore though. ^^



You've seen the light! You were misguided and then illuminated!

That sounds familar.


----------



## Roccie (May 24, 2010)

Raised catholic. But my parents were kinda rebel catholics, and so am i  As in, we "believe" somewhat, but aren't super strict.


----------



## gdzeek (May 24, 2010)

Tally said:


> You've seen the light! You were misguided and then illuminated!
> 
> That sounds familar.



I know right, a poll on who stayed with the original faith would look pretty pathetic,


----------



## Tally (May 24, 2010)

gdzeek said:


> I know right, a poll on who stayed with the original faith would look pretty pathetic,



I imagine it would be the same ratio as a poll on foxes/wolves to owls here. With owls being original faith of course.


----------



## gdzeek (May 24, 2010)

Tally said:


> I imagine it would be the same ratio as a poll on foxes/wolves to owls here. With owls being original faith of course.



now that makes me feel lonely. XD


----------



## Lobar (May 24, 2010)

Meadow said:


> Catholic... I was baptized and stuff. :/
> Not anymore though. ^^



If you were baptized, you're still on their records, and they include you in all their statistics until you die.

You can fix that though!


----------



## Airborne_Piggy (May 24, 2010)

Caltholic! 8D
I realized it sucks around grade 6, so I deconverted.


----------



## greg-the-fox (May 24, 2010)

RayO_ElGatubelo said:


> I FORGOT JUDAISM!!! DAMN IT!



yeah, i was gonna say something but i didn't want to start a shitstorm or anything


----------



## MichaelFoster (May 24, 2010)

Satanist. I quit liking religion at around 14. It's freakin poop!


----------



## mrhippieguy (May 24, 2010)

I was raised with SRF, still do a few of the things they teach, but am a Satanist now. Basically I practice SRF's techniques and Satanism's ideals, and rituals if needed. (talking LaVeyan Satanism here, not anti-christianity)


----------



## Rai Toku (May 24, 2010)

Born and raised Mormon. Dropped out gradually the past few years, but officially when dad stopped caring about what religion I chose to be. Until then, he'd drag me along, and practically demand I be a part of the religion, though never outright. He's one of the biggest reasons I dropped out, really.
I don't have any real beef with the church, the people, or anything else about it, I just don't understand certain aspects of organized religion in general, and it's made me not want any part of it. I can be a good person AND believe what I choose to.


----------



## Airborne_Piggy (May 24, 2010)

I heard many Satanists are really just aggressive atheists.
Is this true?


----------



## Nargle (May 24, 2010)

I was raised to ask questions, be open minded and figure out what I believe on my own. I would consider that agnostic. Kind of irritated that Agnostic and Atheist are lumped together, because they're completely different. Being raised Atheist means my mom would have been telling me "God does not exist!" Which is the opposite of what she was going for. You know, the be open minded and decide for yourself plan. Not the telling you what to believe plan. As for what religions my parents believed in, my dad was supposed to be Catholic (His family was, but he wasn't very religious at all. He wasn't Atheist, he just didn't bother to do all of the things associated with Catholicism nor did he really care if there was a god or not.) My mom on the the other hand, was raised Catholic, but kind of explored Paganism for a while. I think for the most part she is Atheist as of now.



Airborne_Piggy said:


> I heard many Satanists are really just aggressive atheists.
> Is this true?



As far as I can tell, Satanists are just people who resent Christianity so much that they made a religion out of spiting it. Sounds kind of unhealthy in my opinion.


----------



## Slyck (May 24, 2010)

I wasn't really raised in a religion or even a lack thereof. My parents are, well, I don't even really know. I guess you could qualify me as agnostic or deist. I'm kind of in the middle of those two. I selected atheist / agnostic though. Didn't see the 'other' 

And there's eight mormons? Dude that's a lot of mormons!


----------



## Don (May 24, 2010)

It's official, I think I may have finally found a forum more God-forsaken than Gamespot OT :V

Since I already posted my response earlier in this thread, I'll just go out and ask what the is the deal with Wicca? I thought Paganism went out of style two millennia ago? No offense, but I just cannot take anyone who calls themselves  'Druid' or 'Satanist' (and yes I do realize Wicca is different than Satanism, I was just using the two as examples) even the slightest bit seriously.


----------



## Lobar (May 24, 2010)

Don_Wolf said:


> It's official, I think I may have finally found a forum more God-forsaken than Gamespot OT :V
> 
> Since I already posted my response earlier in this thread, I'll just go out and ask what the is the deal with Wicca? I thought Paganism went out of style two millennia ago. No offense, but I just cannot take anyone who calls themselves  'Druid' or 'Satanist' (and yes I do realize Wicca is different than Satanism, I was just using the two as examples) even the slightest bit seriously.



I know right?  It's so much less realistic than Genesis. :V


----------



## Trpdwarf (May 24, 2010)

Airborne_Piggy said:


> I heard many Satanists are really just aggressive atheists.
> Is this true?



Atheism /=/ Satanism


----------



## Stargazer Bleu (May 24, 2010)

Pentecostal/Baptist were the 2 churches I been to most growing up.

I have attended Cathloic, Mormon, and Jehovah Witness before. The later 2 of these were strict. Or seemed like it to me.


----------



## CynicalCirno (May 24, 2010)

You forgot inserting Judaism, which action clearly spits in my face.

I was born Jewish and I will never change. I feel safe in it, I have a great country, I don't have to do things I don't want to do and I feel in a family. Also, Jewish people are smart.

I don't do things that the stereotypical jew does. I eat mixed cheese and meat, don't fear the jewish bible, don't fear god, don't fear any other thing, because I believe that god, if he exists, cannot affect the Earth and he wouldn't want people being his slaves. I am not his enemy either way.


----------



## MichaelFoster (May 24, 2010)

Airborne_Piggy said:


> I heard many Satanists are really just aggressive atheists.
> Is this true?



Yup. Actually, they're misotheist. That means they hate god. So they say they're satanists because it's the most effective opposition against the magic bearded man.


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## Jelly (May 24, 2010)

MichaelFoster said:


> Yup. Actually, they're misotheist. That means they hate god. So they say they're satanists because it's the most effective opposition against the magic bearded man.



LaVeyan Satanists don't actually believe in God according to LaVey's works.
So, they're kind of atheists. They use the metaphor that the Self is God, through the revelation of Satan that was introduced by Christianity. so i guess this could be apotheosis for some of them, if they actually believe they're deities as individuals

but LaVey was clear in announcing that it was metaphorical, in part, to satirize the cognitive dissonance in christianity

Most Satanists are LaVeyan or descendants of LaVeyan Satanism.

They're closer to antitheists than misotheists.
misotheism usually implies belief
because its talking, primarily, about believing in its existence but rebelling against it, or despising it
But they believe that God was invented to keep people in servitude of certain principles that actually damage or hinder the individual.


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## TashkentFox (May 24, 2010)

Airborne_Piggy said:


> I heard many Satanists are really just aggressive atheists.
> Is this true?



Here is a wikipedia extract on the Church of Satan that might be useful.



> The Church of Satan does not worship or support a belief in the Devil or other supernatural entities. "My real feeling is that anybody who believes in supernatural entities on some level is insane. Whether they believe in The Devil or God, they are abdicating reason," said Peter Gilmore. Gilmore defines the word _Satan_: "Satan is a model or a mode of behavior. Satan in Hebrew means 'adversary' or 'opposer'; one who questions."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Satan#cite_note-gilmoreinterview-1
> 
> Satanists within the Church of Satan adhere to these as guidelines on how to live. However, it is important to remember that Satanists generally do not view the Satanic sins, statements, and rules of the earth as things that one must go out of their way to do. The Satanist ideally sees these things as truisms and how they naturally live their lives, as opposed to a Christian or Jew, who would strive to follow the words of Christ or the mitzvot, respectively.


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## Irreverent (May 24, 2010)

Jelly said:


> Atheism is a non-belief in religious or supernatural beliefs.
> Agnosticism is a lack of knowledge of religious or supernatural beliefs.



The hell?  Burn your dictionary.

Atheism is without a belief in theism....you can still believe in supernatural forces with a belief in a god(s). North/South American Indians might be the closest to this definition. 

Agnostic is the opposite of Gnostic.  Its not a lack of knowledge, its the belief that its impossible to tell.  Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.


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## Tabasco (May 24, 2010)

None. I resisted Christianity since day one, as a preschooler.


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## Jelly (May 24, 2010)

Irreverent said:


> The hell?  Burn your dictionary.
> 
> Atheism is without a belief in theism....you can still believe in supernatural forces with a belief in a god(s). North/South American Indians might be the closest to this definition.
> 
> Agnostic is the opposite of Gnostic.  Its not a lack of knowledge, its the belief that its impossible to tell.  Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.



1. Yeah, no. Maybe I like Durkheim a little too much, but I'm not fond of re-establishing words to mean something that we already have words for, to the loss of that word's original meaning
because that's crazy talk, man
Atheism is an absence of belief in the supernatural.
2. Gnosis is mystical knowledge relevant to the supernatural qualities of the universe. Or the knowledge of the supernatural. Agnosticism refers to the uncertainty of the nature of the divine, or the supernatural quality of the universe. But it can be taken to that definition, too.


also you shouldn't get your information or definitions of sociological topics from a dictionary


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## Thatch (May 24, 2010)

Jelly said:


> 1. Yeah, no. Maybe I like Durkheim a little too much, but I'm not fond of re-establishing words to mean something that we already have words for, to the loss of that word's original meaning
> because that's crazy talk, man
> Atheism is an absence of belief in the supernatural.



Well, "atheism" IS literary "without god(s)". But imo, in the current western connotation it means what you're saying anyway, so XVI century interpretation doesn't bother me much.


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## Jelly (May 24, 2010)

szopaw said:


> Well, "atheism" IS literary "without god(s)". But imo, in the current western connotation it means what you're saying anyway, so XVI century interpretation doesn't bother me much.



its kind of nightmare to lump spirituality and non-spirituality together
especially when you have more exact words for the religions

i think that's why most 19th-20th century writings on the subject just used the word "Atheism" to describe a non-spiritual/supernatural universe
well, that and the increased interest in Eastern culture because of art and new lines of communication; so I'm guessing there was a pretty big desire to get words properly defined for all the new crap that was coming in


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## Kivaari (May 24, 2010)

All my parents did to teach me about religion was hand me a bible and say I should read it. I didn't even finish genesis before I decided it was a bunch of crap. I think most of my knowledge of it comes from the Simpsons.


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## RayO_ElGatubelo (May 24, 2010)

I don't like the term Satanism, because it implies a belief in a fictional horned malicious being.

Really, you deny the existence of God yet acknowledge this bastard.

I don't like the idea of self as God either. It opens up the door for so much exploitation...


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## Error 404 (May 24, 2010)

My mum is a Lutheran, my dad I'm not entirely sure. I was baptized, went to sunday school, and around the age of 7 both me and my sister complained enough so that we didn't have to go any more.

Now I'm an atheist, my dad has a Flying Spaghetti Monster bumper sticker (so I think he's atheist or agnostic), and I'm fairly sure my sister is an atheist as well.
Haven't gone to church in years :3


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## Fenrir Lupus (May 24, 2010)

Catholic, have doubts, also have legit reasons to believe other than being told to believe.  Haven't gone to church for I don't know how long, don't know if i'll ever go back...  especially after reading a bunch of Ayn Rand...


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## Ð˜Ð²Ð°Ð½ (May 24, 2010)

Fenrir Lupus said:


> Catholic, have doubts, also have legit reasons to believe other than being told to believe.  Haven't gone to church for I don't know how long, don't know if i'll ever go back...  especially after reading a bunch of Ayn Rand...





Fenrir Lupus said:


> Ayn Rand...


à² _à²


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## Fenrir Lupus (May 24, 2010)

Easog said:


> à² _à²



Don't à² _à²  me until you've read _The Virtue of Selfishness._  Ignorant prick...


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## Ð˜Ð²Ð°Ð½ (May 24, 2010)

Fenrir Lupus said:


> Don't à² _à²  me until you've read _The Virtue of Selfishness._  Ignorant prick...


What makes you think I haven't?


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## Hateful Bitch (May 24, 2010)

Catholic, but I stopped going to church as soon as that confirmation stuff was over with.


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## Milo (May 24, 2010)

Easog said:


> What makes you think I haven't?



I'll join your religion easog :>


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## Ð˜Ð²Ð°Ð½ (May 24, 2010)

Milo said:


> I'll join your religion easog :>


I hope you're ready to be branded and run naked! :3


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## Milo (May 24, 2010)

Easog said:


> I hope you're ready to be branded and run naked! :3



does it have anything to do with a "higher being"?


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## Ð˜Ð²Ð°Ð½ (May 24, 2010)

Milo said:


> does it have anything to do with a "higher being"?


You could say that.


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## Milo (May 24, 2010)

Easog said:


> You could say that.



...ohoho :'D

I'm there!


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## blackfuredfox (May 24, 2010)

I was raised Catholic, but Im not really sure what I am any more. I guess to put a name on it, Switzerlandism, I stand neutral on all things.


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## Russ (May 24, 2010)

Mom Christian. Dad Muslim. Neither of them cared too much. Spent my first years in a Christian majority country. My school years was in a Muslim majority country but strictly secular environment. Mom encouraged experimentation.

So...other I suppose.


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## Vriska (May 24, 2010)

Baptist.
 But my parents are the cool christans not shouting "MAKE JESUS SAVIOR OR U GON DIE RIGHT NAO!"


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## Irreverent (May 24, 2010)

Jelly said:


> also you shouldn't get your information or definitions of sociological topics from a dictionary



Really?  Since I'm fresh out of Cracker-Jack boxes and Fortune cookies, where should one get said definitions from? And how would the source be trusted?  Clearly doing it for longer than you've been alive isn't trusted validation.


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## Kranksty (May 24, 2010)

I am a Non-Denominational Christian which means I go to a church that accepts people for who they are and were they are in the life.


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## Torrijos-sama (May 24, 2010)

Easog said:


> à² _à²


 
à² _à²  can only express the confusion and disappointment we all share to the unspeakable name having been uttered upon this forum.


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## Isen (May 24, 2010)

Presbyterian.

What a weird poll.


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## Fenrir Lupus (May 24, 2010)

Easog said:


> What makes you think I haven't?



Typical response.


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## Fenrir Lupus (May 24, 2010)

JesusFish said:


> à² _à²  can only express the confusion and disappointment we all share to the unspeakable name having been uttered upon this forum.



LORD VOLDEMORT BIOTCH!


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## Jelly (May 25, 2010)

Irreverent said:


> Really?  Since I'm fresh out of Cracker-Jack boxes and Fortune cookies, where should one get said definitions from? And how would the source be trusted?  Clearly doing it for longer than you've been alive isn't trusted validation.



Debates on semantics in comparative religion texts would tell you something more useful
than a dictionary.
Dictionaries are political because they require a prescriptive stance to certain terms, and they're reluctant to change what used to be descriptive.

which is why some dictionaries up until recently rarely included gender as a role-based cultural concept
or anarchy was defined as "a state of total chaos"

Also, this is ridiculous since in context of the thread its clear that atheist/agnostic was referring to mechanism/uncertainty/impossibility, not religion with amorphous deities
and as i said
thats why the concepts are divorced now

Sure, you could call a certain religions "atheist" if you define atheist to mean a lack of simple, clear-cut Western plastic mold deities (which a great deal of the world's deities do not easily fit - bodhihood, Aum, Kramic Saiva), but that has two problems:

1. The bulk of Western (Abr./Gr./Ro./No./etc.) theory and discussion based on atheism is built around secular reality, and the refutation of the existence of supernatural impact.

2. You lump Eastern and non-"Western" (though, I'm not really aware of any Native American religions that don't really have "deific" representations of natural/supernatural reality) religions which have clearly defined names, easier categories, and wildly different notions of the supernatural "deity" and "reality" with a complete non-existence or absence of supernatural realities, deities, events, etc.

I have never read a theorist, philosopher, theosopher, or ethnographer refer to religions in this manner.
And I very rarely see it referred to in popular dialog in this way.


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## Trpdwarf (May 25, 2010)

I'm in this kind of late but you do have "Atheistic religions" but Atheism is not a religion of and by itself.

EDIT: Don't ask me how it works. I know it does. I'm too tired right now to explain.


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## Vaelarsa (May 25, 2010)

My parents tried an on-again-off-again Christian thing a few times, but I never really got into it, and they didn't make me go / listen / follow the beliefs / whatever.

My dad raised me to think with rationality and sense, and my mom really didn't care and just let me do my own thing all the time.


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## TreacleFox (May 25, 2010)

Lobar said:


> If you were baptized, you're still on their records, and they include you in all their statistics until you die.
> 
> You can fix that though!



lol I will try to do this...


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## Captain Spyro (May 25, 2010)

Southern Baptist.

I don't know what I believe anymore...


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## Irreverent (May 25, 2010)

Jelly said:


> Debates on semantics in comparative religion texts would tell you something more useful
> than a dictionary.
> Dictionaries are political because they require a prescriptive stance to certain terms, and they're reluctant to change what used to be descriptive.
> 
> ...



You seem to indicate that dictionary terms (agnostic/atheist et al) should not be trusted because they are descriptive (generally) and thus recommend turning to theorists, philosophers, theosophists, or ethnographers for better definitions.  The irony being, that class of theological explorer all use language codified from dictionaries.  The irony of your circular reference is not lost. And while you may be correct in your arcane usage, its likely that the average fur responding to yet-another-religion-thread-on-faf (tm) would be best served by the common English vernacular of the terms.

tl;dr Although they can't spell colour and humour properly, even Webster's Dictionary gets it right most of the time.


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## Jelly (May 25, 2010)

Descriptive to a certain period and a certain audience (which then becomes prescriptive).
I stated that, that's why they're slow to change. Especially with sociologically references.
Dictionaries have paradigms they have to uphold because of seniority and prescriptive audiences.

They use the terms according to the further development of the usefulness of the words in studies. If you knew very much about ethnographers its that they typically create and redefine words for better usage, and then their juniors and fellows continue to use words in the manner most useful to the research they're involved in.
There's a paradigm there, too, but people are less concerned about preserving a definition for the sake of commonality, and more for use (and will regularly state their new definition). It is used in the research as meaning an absence of supernatural belief. Which is something that stretches back from Durkheim and the early theorists to modern theorists and ethnographers.

And further, the way in which Atheist/Agnostic was paired was clear in what it was referring to. It was referring to an absence of belief/impossible to know/uncertain of the nature of divinity. Referencing a lack of clarity and knowledge of the divine to outright absence of belief in the divine. That's a 'dichotomy' in popular discussion.


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## Nall (May 25, 2010)

Satanism.


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## foxmusk (May 25, 2010)

i went to a hardcore baptist private school from preschool to eighth grade, but home life was pretty lax. christian beliefs, but not religious.


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## Gryffinswing (May 25, 2010)

I was raised on Christianity, though not like devout or anything of that sort.  My parents took us to church till we were like 10 then like the church started to get really pushy about us coming more often and going to church camp and all this and my parents pulled us out telling us we didn't have to go to church anymore if we didn't want to. 

At the moment I am agnostic, I respect all religions as long as they don't push on me.


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## Irreverent (May 25, 2010)

Jelly said:


> They use the terms according to the further development of the usefulness of the words in studies. If you knew very much about ethnographers its that they typically create and redefine words for better usage, and then their juniors and fellows continue to use words in the manner most useful to the research they're involved in.
> There's a paradigm there, too, but people are less concerned about preserving a definition for the sake of commonality, and more for use (and will regularly state their new definition). It is used in the research as meaning an absence of supernatural belief. Which is something that stretches back from Durkheim and the early theorists to modern theorists and ethnographers.



And while you may be correct in this assessment, I'm willing to bet that less than 1 tenth of 1 percent of all FAF forumites are familiar with this work.  For the unwashed, the common dictionary definitions will have to do. 



> And further, the way in which Atheist/Agnostic was paired was clear in what it was referring to. It was referring to an absence of belief/impossible to know/uncertain of the nature of divinity.



Which was and remains my original position.  Where I continue to quibble with you is in your belief that this extends to all supernatural beliefs.  



			
				jelly said:
			
		

> Atheism is an absence of belief in the supernatural.
> 2. Gnosis is mystical knowledge relevant to the supernatural qualities of the universe. Or the knowledge of the supernatural. Agnosticism refers to the uncertainty of the nature of the divine, or the supernatural quality of the universe. But it can be taken to that definition, too.



Lack of belief in God(s) or the impossibility of knowing of God(s) existence should not innately confirm a lack of belief in all things supernatural.  While I have no belief in the supernatural, and am Agnostic (by A. C. Clarke's definition of the word) there must be groups of people that are atheist/agnostic (by descriptive dictionary definition) but still believe in some supernatural phenomena.


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## Insidious_Christmas (May 25, 2010)

My parents raised me to be a Baptist Christian.
They failed so hard


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## ToeClaws (May 25, 2010)

Raised Roman Catholic, but stopped following it when I was 20.  Consider myself an agnostic pagan now.


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## Jelly (May 25, 2010)

@Irrev:
Yes, they would be considered unaffiliated spiritual people - which some may consider agnostic, since agnosticism doesn't refute the divine supernature of reality (I personally think this doesn't make that much sense, since you'd hold supernatural beliefs and "knowledge" of the supernatural universe; but Agnosticism is used in that light popularly).
Atheism, on the other hand, is inclusive to only non-belief in supernatural reality (and is chiefly used in this manner).

Not to mention how rapidly this definition deteriorates when you start applying non-Western aspects of "worship" and "adoration" to what we wouldn't formally consider deities. It becomes a mess.

Is Buddha a deity? He represents a supernatural human being that has attained oneness with the Absolute and escaped Samsara. This implies that the world we live in has its own separate personality from physical reality, Buddha becomes a vessel of Godhood, ie: Bodhi through dogma of "right action," oneness and absolution from the human condition is possible.

There's dogma, there's correct ways to achieve a state of supernatural existence (which is a reverse of "Western" deity, but contestable through the Talmud and Qumran as not applying to "Western" religion), there are realms of non-physical existence, there is worship and adoration of a goal to Godhood and the contemplation and acceptance of that Godhood as definite and necessary to reality's structure.

This is a religion and that is very easily argued to be a deity (and Buddhism was used as an early relation to how Eastern deification requires our understanding of religion to evolve).
Oneness with the Absolute is deific, and the Absolute is a deific alcove for the soul which has predestination to Enlightened Godhood.

How would that at all be compatible to an inclusive group of complete non-belief in spiritual circumstance? If anything it might get closer to a less clear and strong connotation like agnosticism. Maybe. Simply in the case of Buddhism since the state of Enlightenment is contrary to the human condition, and can only be made aware to the Enlightened. But, again, the word now has completely conflicting meanings - impossible to know, and yet there are means to know it, and specific people have known it. Uncertainty can just get the fuck out of the room.

You can repeat this for all religions.

the reason i was name-dropping durkheim
wasn't so much name-dropping for ego-tripping or anything, but so you could research the etymology of the term for yourself
he was one of the early ones to clearly define the term atheism as it was used in religious writings
just for clarification
if you think i was just using it to puff myself up or something

Incidentally, I don't think the atheist group on FAF is full of Buddhists, Taoists, Cao Dai, and unaffiliated mystics: they use a symbol of "secular" atheism, their posts are related to the refutation of supernatural impact on the physical universe and philosophical concepts and debates against the possibility of the supernatural. Whether that be big Jah to souls to the Kasmiri Saiva. I could be wrong about that.
but they're the unwashed masses, i think, anyways


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## Yaril47 (May 25, 2010)

Raised up on Catholicism, but too much bull-crap they believe and preach; so Atheist.


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## Apollo (May 25, 2010)

Also, might want to add that I go to a private Christian school, so, yeaaah.


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