What religion are you?

To what faith do you consider yourself a member?

  • Christianity

  • Islam

  • Buddhism

  • Gnostic/Agnostic

  • Pagan

  • Santeria

  • Hinduism

  • Judaism

  • Other

  • Atheist/none

  • Results of the 'test' in http://selectsmart.com/RELIGION/ (specify)

Results are only viewable after voting.
Whenever I see the work Pagan, I always think of the Dragnet movie (with Tom Hanks and Dan Akroyd .. one of my favs) where there was the big sign that said:
People
Against
Goodness
And
Normalcy

Hehehe, good stuff.
 
lol
and in just about any other movie i would have found that offensive!! But that movie was far to funny !! I love all that old SNL crew, especially Chevy Chase and Bill Murray.
but to bring this back to topic - how the media portrays pagans is a mixed bag. we have been getting more and more good press lately, at least partly thru community education efforts. i rarely see any tv shows that make me want to scream anymore. I like the ones that show that as a whole we are a good group of people with sincere belefs and practices but that true wierdos tend to gravitate towards paganism a s well. that is a pretty realistic picture of us.
 
what, no muslims or hindus on the site? i did think we would find some here considering how many there are in silicon valley. perhaps they are all pc users but that doesn't sound right to me.

i didn't really expect to find anyone from Santeria but i was hoping.
 
Wow! I'm surprised there are no muslims are hindus also!

I would have figured that out of at least 27, 28 something people there would be at least one. Heck I know about 5 muslims and 1 hindu at my school. Do you think that there is anything about the mac demographic that would create this? I'm roman catholic by the way.

Oh yeah, the same question goes for santeria.:D
 
Phil, I have also been wondering if there is something about the MacIntosh demographic that would create this. I wonder if Apple sells computers in India and Mideastern Muslim countries? I know there have been some export restrictions into some of those areas. But still there are large numbers of Hindus and Muslims in the United States and parts of Europe that should be exposed to Apple products.

I wonder if it has anything to do with fitting into the dominant culture? When one is trying to assimilate to a larger foreign culture, one is likely to adapt as many outward symbols of that culture as possible. Already being in possession of many things they might feel defensive about, they may be reluctant to advertise that they ' think different'. Plus with a national climate in the United States of distrust for Muslems, many of them might be afraid to make a traceable public declaration of their faith. Putting myself in their shoes, I could understand this.
 
yet another poll i would like to get any new peoples results for. the latest discussion about birth control reminded me of this thread.

so far the members of this site have been able to discuss their differences in belief without threatening or offending each other. diversity is a strength and not a weakness.
 
Christian here...Seventh-Day Adventist specifically

I've always felt God working in my life and leading me to where I need to be...so many doors need to be opened just for a person to even get into med school. There is no doubt in my mind that He has brought me to where I am right now...:cool:

www.adventist.org is the web addy to the home page of my church...check it out if you are curious, there is a whole section on the left of the page that has our fundamental beliefs, etc.

:)
 
so Izzy, on the website it talks about those who have died as "sleeping" while waiting for the 2nd coming. i have never heard that description used before. Could you explain it a little more? How would it differ from the other concepts of purgatory?
 
Isn't Purgatory where you go to wait to get into hell .. or something like that? I dunno.

Hey Izzy, in your sig you have a quote by Third Day, is that the Christian music group? One of my friends' father is a pastor and we ended up going to a concer by them last week, then I saw them on ABC last night. They actually weren't too bad... (pointless post, I know, but I'm a bit bored)
 
scott, i guess you could look at it like that but it seems sorta fatalistic:p

ordinarily puragatory is thought to be the place where your soul goes after one dies while waiting for judgement day. how you are judged would determine whether you go to heaven or hell. at least from a Christian perspective.

i am not sure that rooting for the sundevils will get you sent to hell, but who really knows?:D
 
I voted none but would have liked to vote for the Me.

I'm coming to an understanding I do things in life, in the ultimate, for selfish reasons.
I could love my mate. I would do this not only for her but ultimately for me. I could grow a friendship, fulfilling his or her needs for companionship, sharing in laughter and sorrow. Ultimately for me. I could adore and care for an animal, again for me. I could fight for the rights of the forests, once again, ultimately for me. I can procreate a child, love and cherish it, give it the guidance to live and be able to procreate for his or herself, ultimately for me.

I don't think I would be able to do any of these things without some ultimate rewards for me. Is being selfish truly a negative to live ones life as such? I'm inclined to think not.
 
Selfishness isn't bad at all. It's selfishness that's taken to the extreme that is. Personally, I think that any "selfless" act still makes the perpetrator be happy, so it's kind of a selfish act in the end -- although this is hardly what the term "selfish" means.

Personally, I voted "atheist", because I can't say that I believe in the existence of God. But I do respect my parents beliefs (although they hardly practice their religion either) and my grandparents (I pray to God with them when we're having a meal over at their house).

Maybe a better term than "atheist" would be "scientist". Although it sounds silly, I put a lot of faith in science and I like it a lot, so I guess you could call that a "religion".
 
i pretty much agree with SimX on the selfishness concept. Klink, I have been arguing that it is impossible to escape the kind of 'selfishness' that you describe since i was 13 yo. I would argue this is part of human nature and not a religion of its own. However if you see yourself as a part of diety or containing diety, then you are getting into pantheism and pagan beliefs. or even jewish mysticism. self motivation and reward are simply part of our survival instincts i thinkl

SimX, there are some inherent problems in calling science a religion. one, not all scientists are without other spiritual beliefs. My old advisor said to me that he thought "religion takes over where science leaves off." but since religion came before science as far as i know, my counter to that has always been that science attempts to explain religion. Much of our scientific study began during the ages of alchemy and gnoticism. Much of out modern medications are derived from ancient 'magical' herbs and plants. the two are linked very tightly. but because many scientists see themselves as the 'demystifiers' of religion and magic, then they tend to lean towards atheism. Yet many scientists i have met are very spiritual and very devout in their religious practices.

and beside people tend to get scientists mixed up with scientology when you start talking about it as a religious point of view.

all that being said, i believe it is possible to have the knid of unquestioning belief in science that others hold towards diety. not to say that one doesn't question the scientific process, but that one doesn't question that everything can either be proved or disproved thru proper scientific methods.
 
I don't see myself as a diety nor containing diety that I'm aware. My definition of selfish should be taken in the broad sense as in the love of self. If I construe the love of self as a practice or a way of life without diety, why can I not term it as a religion? I would argue religion itself is part of human nature and a survival instinct or a manifestation of it.
 
klink - i can respect that argument and can understand the point of view that supports it. but how is that different from atheism? I am not sure, but i think many atheists would believe in that perspective.
 
klink - that is the way i interpretted your original statement of wishing there is a choice for 'me'. You sounded to so reluctant to say you had 'none'. Gods and Goddesses know i wouldn't want you to feel like you were spiritually deprived because you don't belong to an 'official religion'.

maybe you should check out the Church of Bob;)

herve - almost got #2. but are you saying klink's beliefs are the same as atheism or are you saying your beliefs are the same as klinks? or both?
 
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