What religion/faith are you?

[USS Triumphant]

Most of the time, I seem like an Apathetic Agnostic - "We don't know, and we don't care."

But I actually do have some religious beliefs. I believe in Eris (HAIL ERIS), and that Chaos is the force in the universe that rules everything else. I don't worship Her, though, because what good does that do when one moment She may decide to be pleased with worship and the next, that you're an obnoxious sycophant?

I have some fondness for the Norse god Tyr. I like the things Jesus taught us about how to treat each other. And I don't like His Dad, but I believe He has a hard job to do, so some of the crap He has pulled might be understandable. I have some memories of the world that we come from and go to before and after this one. I've met actual demons and fought against them.

But I always bear in mind that I was hit in the head really, really hard in a wreck when I was 15 (diagnosed severe brain damage). So any religious beliefs I have that violate what seems logical are suspect. And, I think that just about everyone else that has religious beliefs has a brain that is also damaged in some way - they've just never been diagnosed. (That's not meant as an insult, btw, just speculation.) Heck, if some studies are any indication, our brains will "experience god" with certain direct predictable stimuli, and so they may just be wonky all the way around. Maybe it's a side effect of whatever allows our organic machine to be self-aware, or illogically creative, or... I dunno. But it definitely seems to me that religious beliefs should be labelled "for entertainment purposes only" unless we have empirical and reproducible science to back them up.

One problem with the poll..atheism isn't a religion, it's an absence of one.

I've known two kinds of atheists. The first doesn't believe in a deity because there's no evidence for one. For that kind, you are correct - although it still, like agnosticism, would count as a religious belief: the belief that there is insufficient information to say that there is. The other actively believes there is definitely NOT a god even though that can't actually be proven. They're the sort of people that feel the need to belittle believers even when the area of discussion is not a place where solidly known science contradicts a religious belief. And *that* is a religion.

 

[BillJ]

I tend to think there is more to us than this physical existence. But I don't believe there is some Sky Daddy pulling all the strings.

 

[Amaris]

Most of the time, I seem like an Apathetic Agnostic - "We don't know, and we don't care."

But I actually do have some religious beliefs. I believe in Eris (HAIL ERIS), and that Chaos is the force in the universe that rules everything else. I don't worship Her, though, because what good does that do when one moment She may decide to be pleased with worship and the next, that you're an obnoxious sycophant?

I have some fondness for the Norse god Tyr. I like the things Jesus taught us about how to treat each other. And I don't like His Dad, but I believe He has a hard job to do, so some of the crap He has pulled might be understandable. I have some memories of the world that we come from and go to before and after this one. I've met actual demons and fought against them.

But I always bear in mind that I was hit in the head really, really hard in a wreck when I was 15 (diagnosed severe brain damage). So any religious beliefs I have that violate what seems logical are suspect. And, I think that just about everyone else that has religious beliefs has a brain that is also damaged in some way - they've just never been diagnosed. (That's not meant as an insult, btw, just speculation.) Heck, if some studies are any indication, our brains will "experience god" with certain direct predictable stimuli, and so they may just be wonky all the way around. Maybe it's a side effect of whatever allows our organic machine to be self-aware, or illogically creative, or... I dunno. But it definitely seems to me that religious beliefs should be labelled "for entertainment purposes only" unless we have empirical and reproducible science to back them up.

I've known two kinds of atheists. The first doesn't believe in a deity because there's no evidence for one. For that kind, you are correct - although it still, like agnosticism, would count as a religious belief: the belief that there is insufficient information to say that there is. The other actively believes there is definitely NOT a god even though that can't actually be proven. They're the sort of people that feel the need to belittle believers even when the area of discussion is not a place where solidly known science contradicts a religious belief. And *that* is a religion.

That is interesting that you believe in Eris. I don't mean that in a bad way either. Even though I'm an Agnostic Atheist, I have a strong devotion to the Moon (Hail Luna ). It seems weird to some people, but it makes me feel better, and it harms no one.

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

I tend to think there is more to us than this physical existence. But I don't believe there is some Sky Daddy pulling all the strings.

What does God need with a BBS?

 

[Amaris]

What does God need with a BBS?

99.999% Server Uptime.

 

[urbandefault]

I have to wonder, what difference does it make, and why do you care?

 

[USS Triumphant]

I have to wonder, what difference does it make, and why do you care?

Maybe because when you're uncertain, you want to know what all of the really smart, beautiful, and successful people believe?

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I still believe in Santa Claus

Well in that case, you better be good, because you know he sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake too.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Santa never gave me the racing car set I wanted when I was a kid so fuck 'em.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I have to wonder, what difference does it make, and why do you care?

Curiousity? Hoping to start an interesting conversation?

 

[Amaris]

Maybe because when you're uncertain, you want to know what all of the really smart, beautiful, and successful people believe?

And yet, I answered anyway!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I know prayer and belief give people real, tangible, feel good benefits. I think it's a way to tap into your serotonin or whatever brain chem it is that floods you with soothing good feelings. People who are really good at it literally have trained their brains to give them what they need when they go through the patterns of prayer and repeated beliefs. That's why you get people with long term depression or other issues who are believers but feel like failures because they never "feel" god's presence. They simply have a harder time pressing the right brain buttons because of their own makeup. And then you get wildly emotional folk who feel everything dramatically, some people manically, and get praise for it in religious settings because it's seen as successfully being close to god when in fact they just have very easily pushed brain buttons.

This has been my theory for a while as to why religion "works" for people.

 

[urbandefault]

My point is, it doesn't matter. Be who you are, believe what you will. Don't force it on anyone else, and we're all good.

 

[Kemaiku]

Uhh, well, yeah. But we're all just having a nice conversation asking each other questions. Your tone is kind of hostile and I'm not seeing why.


Annnnnyhoo, I'm an atheist, but I have a real weakness for collecting various and odd religious/mythological nicknacks when I travel somewhere. Bought a Faerie Key this week because it just looked cute. *shrug*

Been doing that on and off for 12 years or so now.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I find some religious statues type things appealing to @Chemahkuu Stuff has the meaning we ascribe to it.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

What are we talking here, like Jolly Jehovah Green Giant size? God-zilla size? Galactus? Could giant God create a rock so heavy He could not lift it?

In all seriousness, I think humans try to fit God into a narrow definition. I think we miss something when we do that.

 

[Amaris]

Well, this is all temporary anyway. Once I start my sex and marshmallow mine cult, things will change for the better*.


*(better for me)

 

[Crow T. Robot]

Don't force it on anyone else, and we're all good.

That's the key thing, though.

Most people who oppose religion oppose organized religion, exactly because they have a tendency to try to force their beliefs on other people. No one really gives a wit's end what you personally believe, but the moment you try to force those beliefs down others throats -- such as trying to get laws passed to ban Evolution, or luring kids out from school so you can try to indoctrinate them (and yes, both of those things have happened within the last few months alone) -- that's when it's gone waaaay too far.

The fact that they keep infecting the government and passing laws of a governmental system that went out of its way to try and separate church from state kind of says it all, really.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Well, this is all temporary anyway. Once I start my sex and marshmallow mine cult, things will change for the better*.


*(better for me)

You don't *mine* marshmallows, silly... they grow on trees.

You should try to get the details right, since we all know cults are generally regarded as paragons of truth and correctness.

 

[Spider]

I am open to the idea of a Creator, but I am not open to Earth centric religions. If there is a Creator, we haven't the slightest idea of who or what it is.