What religion/faith are you?

[valkyrie013]

Well one of the local churches recently left a nice plant on my doorstep, with a card saying please join us etc. Now, someone could have got upset, but I just acknowledged the plant in the spirit it was given. Wishing me a good Christmas.

So I'm one for the freedom to be whatever you want to be, and if you give me something or offer a greeting or conpliment, even if it was in the vain of religion, I accept it in the spirit it was given and move on. If they offer to teach me or join them I politely decline, sometimes saying "I worship his shadow, may his shadow fall upon you..

Just accept that every person you meet in life is different from you, and treat them how you want to be treated.. The world would be a better place.

 

[Discofan]

People who quote Aquinas, usually forget to mention one thing, IE that back in his time it was a crime not to believe in god, scratch that, it was a crime to believe in a slightly altered version of the central dogma! A crime punishable by torture followed by death, a horrible death, burned at the stake! So even he had his doubts about what he said, we would never know because either he would have refrained from writing them down or he would be burned along with his books.

 

[valkyrie013]

Well the burning at the stake has turned in to the Twitter mob, or death threats by random people, or being de personed if you don't follow what a section of humanity follows.
So new age inquisitions..
And just like then.. Guilty until proven innocent, if there ever given a chance to prove there innocence.
So just a general be kind, and give other the chance that you would like to have if you were in a similar situation

 

[Discofan]

Well the burning at the stake has turned in to the Twitter mob, or death threats by random people, or being de personed if you don't follow what a section of humanity follows.
So new age inquisitions..
And just like then.. Guilty until proven innocent, if there ever given a chance to prove there innocence.
So just a general be kind, and give other the chance that you would like to have if you were in a similar situation

Not relevant to my point. Plus comparing twitter, IE words written on a screen, to be actually burned alive is going a little too far IMO. If you don't like twitter, no one is putting a gun to your head to keep using it.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I was baptized but not raised as anything. As a teenager I went through a brief Christian phase, a two year Wiccan phase, and read up quite a bit on Judaism.

Last year I reconnected with Wicca but now I just consider myself pagan.

 

[Discofan]

There are no Wicca where I live. Until recently I didn't even know what it means.

 

[Armus]

But you said that we have no claim on something that was never ours to begin with. No creature created themselves or the world in which they were placed. If God took away our air and sun, we are as dead as that theoretical murdered child.

If I built a shelter for homeless people and then one year after they all moved in I burnt it to the ground, would I be just in that action?

How people are supposed to treat their fellow man is one thing, what people can demand from God is another.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

@Discofan Wiccans and pagans tend to be discreet when out in public because of the backlash from other faiths. There are some that display it proudly by wearing a pentacle or some other symbol.

 

[Discofan]

How people are supposed to treat their fellow man is one thing, what people can demand from God is another.

You seriously don't see that your response is a non sequitur to his statement?

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

I self-define as agnostic because, as a scientist, I seek evidence. I have zero evidence that any supreme being or “creator” exists. I also have zero evidence that one does not. That said, I’m a very active member of a progressive Christian church because the thoughts and actions represented in Jesus are an example I try to emulate. It works for me.

Let me also speak to the Apollo moon landings. No, I was not personally there, the highest form of evidence. I do, however, understand almost all of the science and math involved and know a few people who worked on small, specialized aspects of the project such as space suit air filtration. The evidence that 12 men set foot on the moon and 15 more circled it is indisputable. No bogus arguments can alter that knowledge. This is how evidence works and no “faith” is required.

 

[T'Bonz]

I'm a Christian, non-denominational, just a plain ole Christian, version human-flawed.

I'm tolerant of other faiths. I dislike when those of my own faith do really crappy things but I guess that makes me a hypocrite since I'm flawed too.

I enjoy being a Christian, God is real to me and makes sense to me. Like anyone else, I question.

During my teen years, I looked into other belief systems but pretty much settled back into what I felt was right for me.

It's a big world and there's room in it for everyone. I just hate to see people fight each other over religion though - Catholics/Protestants in Ireland, for example, or Moslems vs. those they consider infidels.

As for historical eras - stuff like the Inquisition horrifies me for more than the obvious reasons. People who believe in God will believe in God; burning them or killing them because they don't fit your idea of how Christianity should be expressed is just abhorrent. Ditto killing non-believers. Not acceptable to me.

It's part of why I'm non-denomination - most denominations are because of differences of opinion in scripture (those differences don't seem so major to me) or different customs, rituals. I feel at home anywhere that I feel God is, and that includes synagogues too.

Getting personal about religion makes no sense to me. In the end, if you're religious, it's between you and God. No one else. If you don't believe, it's your opinion and no one else's business. We all try to make sense of life in our own ways. I prefer God, even if I don't always understand Him. If He has white hair, it's probably due to people like me driving Him nuts.

 

[Avro Arrow]

And would someone please correct the spelling in the poll. It's "atheist" not "athiest."

OK, since PLS is no longer around, I’ve made the change to the poll option. (Although it feels a little weird correcting a three year old misspelling...)

 

[Timewalker]

OK, since PLS is no longer around, I’ve made the change to the poll option. (Although it feels a little weird correcting a three year old misspelling...)

Thanks. It's a respect thing, like some people might be miffed if their own category's name was misspelled.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

^ Yes, typos can be so embarassing. I'm prone to these myself and on average edit every post about 5 times. You can proof-read a post a gazillion times before hitting 'submit' and nevertheless you always overlook at least one. LOL that's propably a popular topic for the 'things that frustrate us all' thread.

Respect and shame are also what I miss in many established religions. Respect for others and shame at their own shortcomings. Everyone thinks their own opinion is the only right one. That's only human. But we should strive to be a little more superhuman and at least tolerate other opinions (though acceptance would of course be better than mere tolerance).

And that's one strength of the internet: can you imagine a group of people with such contrary opinions discussing religion at a pub or at a public meeting? There'd be murder within 5 minutes.
But here, everyone needs to think of what they are saying, stick to the point, keep it short and try to be inoffensive. And the result is exactly the respectful and civilised debate I am missing sorely IRL.

Hmm, it just occured to me that while the Force has a lot of followers, there is to my knowledge no Trek-related religon though all-powerful beings like the Q, the wormhole-inhabitants or Nagilum would easily meet the job description for gods. I wonder what caused these different developments.

 

[Butters]

Star Trek itself appears to be a belief system for some.

 

[Timewalker]

Hmm, it just occured to me that while the Force has a lot of followers, there is to my knowledge no Trek-related religon though all-powerful beings like the Q, the wormhole-inhabitants or Nagilum would easily meet the job description for gods. I wonder what caused these different developments.

DS9 was the first Trek series that seriously touched the topic of religion as an ongoing facet of its characters and setting. Prior to that, there were more than two decades of episodes and movies making religion less influential in the daily lives of people living on Earth (and presumably on human-dominant Federation colonies).

Star Trek emphasized science over religion. Star Wars doesn't have much science in it, preferring to emphasize fantasy.

If you want a science fiction series/franchise or even just a novel that inspired some sort of religion or spiritual belief, you need to look at some of the New Wave stuff from the 1960s. Specifically, I'm thinking of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (the Martian water cult brought to Earth) or some of the philosophies of Dune (way back then, someone asked Frank Herbert if he was trying to start a new religion; Herbert was horrified at the idea, since one of the major themes of Dune was how easily religions could be manipulated to gain political and military power).

 

[rhubarbodendron]

thanks for the tip! I thought I had read every Heinlein but this one must somehow have escaped me.
Yes, religion is an excellent vehicle to manipulate people. The hundreds of "holy wars" led by all sorts of religions are a sadly accurate proof of that point

 

[KimMH]

Star Trek itself appears to be a belief system for some.

You could follow far less useful religions.

 

[valkyrie013]

Slight sidestep, and would like to hear opinions in the matter,
A number of books I've read, and maybe to a point star trek.. That have the opinion that as a civilization grows and evolves to a space faring society that the belief in God steadly goes away because science has explained most things etc.

Some shows like Babylon 5 still have pretty much every religion and was in front on alot of episodes. Even a made up religion called foundationism that dr Franklin had.
So just wondering any opinions

 

[Gov Kodos]

Star Trek imagined beings evolving into higher energy planes and becoming Q, Organians or come other damn thing. So much more sensible than some bronze age schmuck becoming an angel or demi-god. No sign of religion declining in the world just a switch to other powers on high making life better from new age quackery.