Religion

[RandFan,Jr.]

I just wanted to see what religions you guys are in. Reply if you are a religion I did not list.

[Lord Emsworth]

I was baptized a Protestant (Lutherian).

Grown up in a village with mostly Catholics.

Became Atheist

[RandFan,Jr.]

Originally posted by Lord Emsworth
I was baptized a Protestant (Lutherian).

Grown up in a village with mostly Catholics.

Became Atheist
I was baptized Mormon

Raised with Catholics and Mormons

Became Agnostic:wink8:

[AmateurScientist]

Ummm..... Baptists and Mormons are Protestants. Protestants are simply Christians who are not Catholics.

AS

[Nucular]

Atheist, through lack of evidence; therefore strictly agnostic, I suppose.

I was raised agnostic (my Dad's a strong atheist, my Mum wonders about design in the universe).

I was a pagan teenager. I still like that stuff, but found I couldn't really maintain it and not be a hypocrite though.

Yup - agnostic atheist, looking for evidence and not finding it. Anybody got any?

[ehbowen]

I voted "Protestant," but I overlooked the button you had for "Baptist." That's the one I should have hit.

[rwald]

What happened to Jewish?

[justsaygnosis]

Atheism and agnosticism aren't religions. Technically buddhism isn't either.

[Kilted_Canuck]

Scientific Nontheist...basically an Agnostic by evidence, Atheist by belief.

[RandFan]

Originally posted by AmateurScientist
Ummm..... Baptists and Mormons are Protestants. Protestants are simply Christians who are not Catholics.

AS Mormons, Jehovas Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and a handful of others are not considered christian by the world wide councel of churches and othe prominent christian organizations.

Since Jared was raised mormon he was curious about them specificaly. Babtists while protestant represent a significant population in the USA and there is a clear demarkation between catholics and other "christians".

In other words he had specific reasons for asking about the groups in the poll and not simply whether someone was christian or not.

[c4ts]

I just realized something. The word "Jew" is missing from that poll.

[Yahweh]

I was raised to be Southern Baptist... I dont take bull**** seriously and today I am a devout atheist.

I also voted "Other" because I have an open mind about pagan cultures.

By the way, where is "Jew" on the list. And I dont recall seeing "Scientology" either...

[KS_SKEPTIC]

Originally posted by RandFan,Jr.
I just wanted to see what religions you guys are in. Reply if you are a religion I did not list.
If you're going to do a poll about religion you'll need to break it up a lot more than what you already have. Or make it more simple like: Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic, Pagan, etc. etc.
If I get any of this wrong I am sure somebody will correct me on this. So here goes:
First of all Mormon can be broken down into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints & Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Catholic has several different branches of Eastern & Western types (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, etc...).
Moslem has at least two branches of its own like Shia & Sunni.
Buddhist has several branches in it like Theravada & Mahayana (Japanese sects, Ch'an / Zen, Vajrayana / Lamaism / Tibetan Buddhism).
The Baptists which are Protestant to start with, can be divided into Northern & Southern Baptists and even possibly more.
Protestant can cover a whole lot of different Christian denominations (Baptists, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, etc. etc.).
Judaism which you seem to have forgotten, can be divided into three separate groups: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform.
You also forgot Hinduism which can be divided into many different groups.
Pagan & Neopagan has many different branches: (Wiccan, Norse, Egyptian, Celtic, Greek, Eclectic, etc...).
Satanism is a religion that is totally different from paganism. (It requires a belief in the Christian God and Devil).
There is also Scientology (started by a science-fiction writer), Jehovas Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, etc...
All these religions can probably be broken down to even more separate distinct groups.
Of course there are a lot more religions and branches out there that one could name but that would require writing a book.
After all Religion is Evolving!!! ;)

For the record I have been and always will be an Atheist.
I am in agreement with Isaac Asimov when he said:

I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say that one is an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or agnostic. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time.
Support Science Not Superstition!!! :)

[rwald]

Just for the record, there's a fourth sect of Judaism called Reconstructionist. Personally, I guess I'm somewhat of a Deist/Agnostic, though I was raised Jewish. Actually, that brings up another point: should deism be included on the list?

[ebola]

Just to expand upon what KS_SKEPTIC said:

One of the many types of Protestants ( who are Christians ) are Lutherans. They can be subdivided into the Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The last has a Canadian branch and an American branch.

Hinduism ( in India anyway ) has three major deities ( Brahmin, Shiva, and Krishna ), but each village has its own local deity which makes the village, and that village's form of Hinduism, distinct from all of the others. There are literally thousands of forms of Hinduism practiced in India.

Even among atheists, you run the gamut from hard atheists, who deny the existence of a supreme being, to soft atheists, who allow that a supreme being could exist, but have yet to see compelling evidence.

KS is right; for a poll like this to be meaningful, the categories have to be broad and non-overlapping. Otherwise, you will get lost in the details.

Eric

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

World Religions - in the most liberal use of the term, and by all means not all inclusive

Xians

R.C.s
Protestants
Eastern Churches
Anglicans
Marginal Protestants
Non-R.C.
Mormons

Muslims

Sunnis
Shias
Others

Hindus

Vishnavites
Shivites
Saktists

Buddhists

Mahayana
Theravada
Tantrayana

Jews

Confucians

Chinese Religions

Shintoists

Tribal Religions

Non-Religions

Athiests

New Religions

[Nucular]

Has anybody ever posted a poll, anywhere on the internet, in which people straightforwardly responded to the question instead of quibbling with categories and terminology? :wink:

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

Originally posted by PygmyPlaidGiraffe
Major Christian Churches- again, possibly not complete.
X'ians

1. R.C. rites


Last Rite
Eastern Catholic
Chaldean rite: Catholic, Syro-Malbarese
Syrian rite
Coptic rite: Copt, Ethiopian
Maronite rite
Armenian rite
Byzantine rite: Melchite, Ukranian, Romanian, Ruthenian, Hungarian, Slovak, Italo-Albanian, Bulgarian, Greek

Ancient Eastern Churches
2. Nestorian

3. Pre-Chalcedonian: Syrian, Syro-Malabarese, Armenian, Copt, Ethiopian

4. Orthodox
Several Patriarchates and Orthodox Churches: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow-Russia, Serbia-Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ch. of Cyprus, Ch. of Greece, Georgian O.C., Finnish O.C., Polish O.C, Czech-Slovak, Slavonic

5. Old R.C.

Protestant/Reformation Churches

6. Anglican

7. Lutheran (see ebola's post above)

8. Reformed & Presbytarian (Calvinists)

9. Methodist (root: Anglican)

10. Baptist (root: Mennonite)

11. Mennonite (Anabaptist)

12. Moravian (Hussite, Bohemian Brethren)

13. Society of Friends: Quaker (root: Anglican)

14. Congregationslist (root: Anglican)

15. Disciples of Christ (roots: Baptist and Presbyterian)

16. Holiness (root: Methodist) inc. Ch. of God, Alliance, Ch. of the Nazarene

17. Pentecostal (root: Holiness)

18. Salvation Army (root: Methodist)

19. Adventist (root: Anglican)

20. X'ian Brethren


Marginal Protestants

J.W. (root: Adventist)
L.D.S. (root: Disciples of Christ)
X'ian Science (root: Congregationalist)
Unitarian (root: congregationalist)

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

the above post for Christian is the best I can do for Categorising the Christian churchs, I don't have the information to categorise the other najor religions.

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by Nucular
Has anybody ever posted a poll, anywhere on the internet, in which people straightforwardly responded to the question instead of quibbling with categories and terminology? :wink:
Ideology like that is strictly theoretical. JREF is not only an educational resource on the paranormal, pseudoscientific and the supernatural, but also highly prizes its ability for its members to quibble and bicker. [Insert Smiley Here]

[Dancing David]

Nihilistic pagan buddhist

[arcticpenguin]

Rastafarian is not on the list either.

[KS_SKEPTIC]

Originally posted by rwald
Just for the record, there's a fourth sect of Judaism called Reconstructionist. Personally, I guess I'm somewhat of a Deist/Agnostic, though I was raised Jewish. Actually, that brings up another point: should deism be included on the list?

I must've been very tired last night when I typed that up to miss Reconstructionist. That's one I should have known!!! (Being born Jewish but not raised Jewish)
Thanks rwald for pointing that out.
Deist is the belief that God set the universe into motion but does not interfere with how it runs. So I see no reason why not to include it on the list. Sorry that I missed that one also.

[KS_SKEPTIC]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin
Rastafarian is not on the list either.

For anyone who doesn't know Rastafarian is a member of an Afro-Caribbean religious group that venerates the former emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, forbids the cutting of hair, and stresses black culture and identity.
Sorry for missing that!!!

On a separate note:
There is also Vodou or Vodun, religion of Haiti, also practiced in Cuba, Trinidad, Brazil, and the southern United States, especially Louisiana. (Vodou is commonly spelled Voodoo)
I'm sure that there is a lot more out there that I missed.
Maybe RandFan,Jr or someone else would like to start a new poll.
Just a thought. :)

[Frostbite]

Agnosticism. "I don't know, I don't care; where's my beer?"

[RandFan,Jr.]

Thanks for the imput, Im going to post a ne poll when I get time to.

[triadboy]

One of the most important religions in history is missing: Zoroastrianism.

There are still about 14,000 left in the world. Ahura Mazda is their good god. Kinda like Yahweh, but with a better beard.

[rwald]

And Baha'i, too, for that matter. I don't know anything about them other than that they're the forth major monotheistic religion.

[crocodile deathroll]

Nice to see some multiple choices, because I chose, Athiest, Buddhist and Other. I like to give Unitarianism a bit of a cuddle too.
In spite of the fact that I was baptised a Catholic, its beliefs are so out of line with mine I do not think they deserve a vote of so much as a lapsed Catholic.

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by triadboy
One of the most important religions in history is missing: Zoroastrianism.

There are still about 14,000 left in the world. Ahura Mazda is their good god. Kinda like Yahweh, but with a better beard.
Ahura Mazda's beard is wimpy at best. My beard makes brave men cower. If you care at all, Mr. Mazda uses "Just For Men Beard and Mustache Haircolor" on his beard. Someone is afraid to show their age. *coughwussycough*

[ntech]

Born and raised catholic.
Agnostic for years while researching.
Never found a shred of evidence.
Off the fence.
Now a devote atheist.

[Tricky]

The world's fastest growing religion, Jedi-ism is not on the list either.

(And for the record, Atheism and Agnosticism are not religions).

[ntech]

True
It's like; what is your favorite color?

Blue
Green
Red
Yellow
Orange
Purple
Clear


:jaw:

[triadboy]

Originally posted by Yahweh

Ahura Mazda's beard is wimpy at best. My beard makes brave men cower. If you care at all, Mr. Mazda uses "Just For Men Beard and Mustache Haircolor" on his beard. Someone is afraid to show their age. *coughwussycough*

Jesus, let me introduce you to some clippers, Yahweh. Other than ZZ Top who grows beards like that?

[Ruby]

Originally posted by RandFan,Jr.
I just wanted to see what religions you guys are in. Reply if you are a religion I did not list.

I voted "protestant" while gritting my teeth.

I grew up in an atheist/agnostic household. I was into Spiritualism in my teens and early to mid twenties. I became a major fundamentalist Christian at age 27. I started becoming a more liberal christian about three years ago. I was also becoming increasingly skeptical about any *supernatural* claims.

I am now a full blown liberal Christian. I no longer belong to a church.....don't know if I ever will again. I have been hurt deeply by the religious system; by Pastors who think they have a psychic hotline to God, and can put themselves up on a pedestool.

:rolleyes: