What religion most reflects your views: Belief-O-Matic Quiz with poll (updated)

[mariacallas]

Although i was baptized roman catholic, and still go to mass once in a while...i firmly believe i am a Buddhist at heart (this does not mean i do not pray to God,or i am at a crossroads between buddha and God...as a matter of fact, my knowledge and practice of Buddhism is not a replacement for the christian way of life that i grew up with; on the contrary, it enriches and enhances my spiritual life as a whole ..) Zen and Buddhism is just so right for me. Ive studied it many years back, and little by little i see how it fulfills me as a person...and how it continuously leads me towards the path of Enlightenment. Unlike the rigidity and uncompromising teachings ive known most of my life as a Catholic ,(i respect my faith, but i do not adhere to everything it says ..not at all. Im a very lax catholic, very open minded..none of that extremist bullshit; that i can be this way and still respect my religion is a sort of personal challenge i thankfully have mastered without resorting to being BITTER or agnostic..). On the other hand, the basic tenets of Buddhist teaching are straightforward and practical: nothing is fixed or permanent; actions have consequences; change is possible. Thus Buddhism addresses itself to all people irrespective of race, nationality, or gender. It teaches practical methods (such as meditation) which enable people to realise and utilise its teachings in order to transform their experience, to be fully responsible for their lives and to develop the qualities of Wisdom and Compassion....now THIS is the way id like to eventually attain inner peace and my own personal nirvana...more so than what i have learned in Christian schools or by reading the Bible. Now i can say i have truly made MY OWN adult choices regarding my religion(s) and Buddhism has given me an inner peace i was not able to experience during ALL my years of studying in strict catholic schools! doh!8(

 

[Grim]

I personally don't follow any particular faith or belief structure, but I can relate to some aspects of many of them. I don't believe we can ever truly get it down right because we can only guess, so I remain open to many ideas. I believe that there is something out there beyond the material world, but I would not go as far as saying that it is one way and not the other, that is why I don't like organized religion. I am comfortable with living my life with questions rather than accept answers which nobody can prove.

 

[Christian Soldier]

^agnostic?

 

[Grim]

Uh, I guess you can say that. I think there is something out there, but in my mind I am sure that whatever it is, it is probably a quite different than any religions would have you believe.

Western religions often try to simplify god to a single omnipotent being which watches and controls everything and judges people. They also center the earth as the main thing in the universe. Eastern religions provide a more philosophical approach which I like a little more, but I still don't like them because they throw in concepts like karma and reincarnation which have absolutely no basis.

Basically I am saying I don't like anyone telling me that something is definately one way and not the other without giving any logical explaination. I like some concepts from various religions and I make my own judgements about what makes sense, yet I never get to the point where I am absolutely sure that something is completely true.

Agnostic usually refers to someone who can't decide if there is a god or not right? I tend to think that there is some kind of higher power, or consciousness or whatever it is behind everything, rather than that we are just a complex system of matter that somehow gained consciousness and awareness like the materialists would have you believe. I just don't believe that that higher consciousness is anything we can explain, comprehend, or pin down, in fact we probably can't even get close to the truth without it being very vague.

 

[Belisarius]

For me, it would be a toss-up between Sufism and Gnosticism.

 

[Void]

I feel that a spiritual connection to one self, reality and God is far more important then anything else, and is the original message that founded the great religions.

 

[Christian Soldier]

For me, it would be a toss-up between Sufism and Gnosticism.

What's this mean to you? What do you believe exactly?

 

[David]

Mine's not on the list, and I refuse to be recognized as the other one.

 

[Christian Soldier]

David: Read the first post. So what do you believe?

 

[David]

I'm a Nihilist. I don't believe in any of that, and I feel my view should be accurately represented, as I know I'm not the only one here.

I also don't think that classifying it as other would make anyone understand it. I'll quit now. :D

 

[Christian Soldier]

Okay, so far the 'Other Belief' tally is:
Gnostic - 1
Sufism/Gnostism - 1
Agnostic - 2 (mistaken votes)
Unknown - 5 (haven't posted their belief in this thread yet)

Also 1 Nihilist who hasn't voted anything.

 

[jpgrdnr]

Gnostic for myself.

Why I said its heresy is because its not really Christianity. Its a mix of early Judeo-Christian (and other pantheons around the Med.).

Catholicism (I'm a former Catholic) considers this evil because it(Gnosticism) disregards the Bible as Law. The Bible is the Word of God and the Pope is His Leader on Earth (etc. etc.). Any Catholics want to correct me on this go ahead. I was just some kid in
choir who didn't know much about anything besides Lego at the time.

pg.4 from NH to pg. 5

summation: The Christian resurrection has already taken place

Which is very dangerous for Christians.
No Messiah. No salvation. Its already happened.

This is from the Apocalypse of Peter...its Jesus speaking actually

They will cleave to the name of a dead man, thinking that they will become pure. But they will become greatly defiled and they will fall into the name of error and into the hand of an evil, cunning man and a manifold dogma, and they will be ruled heretically. For some they will say evil things against each other....But many others, who oppose the truth and are the messengers of error, will set up their error and their law against these pure thoughts of mine, as looking out from one perspective, thinking that good and evil are from one source. They do business in my word...And there shall be others of those who are outside are number who name themselves bishop and also deacons, as if they have received their authority form God. They bend themselves under the judgement of the leaders. These people are dry canals.

Obviously someone who is rather po'd
at the whole state of things long ago.

There's a lot of weird academic ideas in it:

1. God is several Gods. A lot of soft opinions backed by old stories.
2. A greater expansion on the Creation myth found in Genesis. I wrote a previous post on why the Creation myth makes no sense at all. "Gnostic" writings fill in the gaps. Though it shifts.
3. More emphasis on Gnosis. Thats hard to explain. Its sort of like Tao in many respects. Spiritual Truth. Beauty. etc.
4. A thinking man/woman's religion. (sort of). Academic, really.
5. The story of who Seth was.

Basically, it takes into account a lot of the other Christian writings, Gos of Thomas, several Apocalypses (Peter, others).

At its root what it does is totally destroy the foundation of what Christians perceive. And in a sense it doesn't destroy anything at all.

This is from the sentences of Sextus. (From the collection called the NAg Hammadi library(HarperCollins).

A evil soul flees from God.
Persuade a senseless brother not to be senseles; if he is mad, protect him.
You cannot receive understanding unless you know first that you possess it.
In everything there is again this sentence.

I'm not saying I'm a strict follower(being Gnostic isn't something you "follow" anyways). But there's a lot of ideas in it that satisfy me.

 

[Evlorin]

1. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (100%)
2. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (97%)
3. Liberal Quakers (94%)
4. Unitarian Universalism (91%)
5. New Age (84%)
6. Neo-Pagan (83%)
7. New Thought (81%)
8. Scientology (75%)
9. Taoism (72%)
10. Bahá'í Faith (66%)

those were my ten from belief net, i don't agree with the first three as i don't think christ was any more than an ancient ghandi, not is god an entity of any kind, maybe just an idea.

I'm my own little thing, i probably relate to new age, i meditate a lot and do yoga, i use psychadelic drugs as spiritual tools, i believe that jumping onto a religion destroys your personality, you should be your own religion, understand things yourself, reason through things, look at everything in a neutral state and determine from there what should be done or believed.
You should observe the world as beautiful or whatnot learn from its simpleness. True spiritual enlightenment is gained through meditation and deep thought. Only through sorting out yourself and what you mean to yourself is anything achieved, in fact everything is achieved through this. Death i'm not sure of as of yet and life could all be a dream as far as i am concerned. Much more, i'll change my mind in my next meditation, its okay for things to change, you are only exploring things more intently to cause change.

 

[punktuality]

I'm a Nihilist. I don't believe in any of that, and I feel my view should be accurately represented, as I know I'm not the only one here.

"I dont believe in any of that" .....well duh"
"I know I'm not the only one here" ...... shouldnt it be "I know I am not here?"

 

[sourlemone]

1. Theravada Buddhism (100)
2. Unitarian Universalism (94)
3. Mahayana Buddhism (90)
4. Neo-Pagan (80)
5. New Age (75)
6. Liberal Quakers (72)
7. Hinduism (70)
8. Jainism (70)
9. Taoism (65)
10. New Thought (65)

all numbers in percent, thats from beliefnet. i definitely identify with a lot of buddhist philosophies, but my beliefs are more a combination of many than any one particular faith...i don't subscribe to organized religion, or even any kind of semi-organized faith...meh i'll put down buddhism, but i do get a lot of taoism as well

 

[DigitalDuality]

I'm suprised we haven't seen one person pop up and say "I'm so athiest.. i refuse to be recognized by the term atheist"

 

[Grim]

I'm suprised we haven't seen one person pop up and say "I'm so athiest.. i refuse to be recognized by the term atheist"

I'm pretty sure there are some people like that on bluelight. I remember getting into arguments with them a while ago.

 

[hydrobromide]

i voted agnostic, just because i agree with those beliefs (and lack thereof) more than any others.

 

[Jhon]

I'd like to say that while I'm an "atheist", atheism isn't a belief or religion.

 

[Christian Soldier]

I dont know why you think that, from the dictionary I got

atheism

n 1: the doctrine or belief that there is no God