QOTD: Your Religion

[atlasien]

What's your religion?

I'm an atheist Unitarian Universalist with vague remnants of Shintoism/Buddhism.

And if you give the old standby "I'm spiritual but not religious" you have to add more detail.

[averagejoette]

I'm a Buddhist(mahayana branch). I gave up meats/ poultry/ fish, simply as a personal choice. I feel like I should be doing more, but my mind isn't ready for it yet. Meditation is still really hard for me.
I was atheist for a while, then agnostic. I was drawn to buddhism because it's nontheistic
I also went to Catholic school for 8 years, so I know a little about that religion. I never converted to catholicism.

[JadeDragon]

I'm a follower of Mahayana Buddhism now, with an interest in Chan.

When I was a kid, I went to an Anglican school, which tried to scare the crap out of me with stories of going to hell and the devil (think Jesus Camp), so I did the church-going thing, even though my parents are (Tibetan) Buddhist. (I don't think it's a good idea to force children into a religion when they're young, as that could possibly screw them up, but I think I came out relatively unscathed.) I went into Wicca after that, in my teens, and realised that other religious viewpoints could exist without the hellfire-and-brimstone admonishments.

When a bunch of stuff happened during my late teens, I retreated from religion for a while, and took some time to contemplate where my life was at that point. I was then drawn to Buddhism, because it gave me a peace that I really needed then.

I don't practise the physical aspects as often as I should, because of work and other commitments, but I do try to meditate at least once a week. I'm not that consistent either, but having my mala in my hands really helps with the concentration.

[Scowl]

Haha, we're all a bunch of lazy Buddhists here! Actually I've never called myself a Buddhist, although I do share the beliefs and I've tried to meditate regularly. However, I'm not ready to give up my vices just yet (I've been saying that for years) and I don't think I have the proper discipline for it, anyway.

What's your religion?

And if you give the old standby "I'm spiritual but not religious" you have to add more detail.

I actually hate saying that, but it's probably the most accurate description for me. I guess you can blame it on growing up in the US, but to me, being "religious" implies being devout and believing dogma. I do believe in some kind of divine providence, and I do believe that there's more to existence than the immediate and the physical. I believe in reincarnation, and I know for a fact that Chi/Qi is real.

And then there's some other stuff that would probably sound a bit crazy, but I won't get into that.

[nskripchun]

The short:

I consider myself a Protestant Christian, with strong interests in being progressive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Christianity), liberation theology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology), the emerging church movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_Church), and ecumenism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_ecumenism).


The looong story:

I'm a PK (pastor's kid... not player killer, ha). I was raised in a conservative evangelical Chinese (Cantonese-speaking) church, the oldest Chinese church in Seattle in fact. As a kid, I never really questioned things much... knew all the "Sunday school answers" while at the same time I was a mischievous kid. I used to get in trouble a lot at church for being a smart ass.

I had some traumatic experiences around the beginning of junior high and wanted to de-convert. Hung around a lot with the Asian crowd, and some Japanese American friends invited me to do kendo with them. I got really into the philosophical aspects of the martial art, and spent a lot of time reading about Zen Buddhism all throughout high school. At that point, I pretty much considered myself non-committed to anything.

My senior year in high school I went through some more drama and after coming through that, decided to re-explore what it meant to be a Christian. I got baptized on Easter in the same church I grew up in which was significant to me because as a kid, I had always closely associated my identity with being Christian as linked to being Chinese American (I had attended public school my whole life, and there was neither a lot of Chinese people nor Christians).

College and post-college has been a sort of continuation of my spiritual journey. I've had some great experiences, most notably a summer spent in the Brazilian countryside volunteering at a Japanese-Brazilian church, and about a year and a half in Japan, meeting monks, the Korean-Japanese (zainichi) Christian community, and the Islamic community there.

[LaiSteve66]

Agnostic leaning towards Atheism.

[minbo]

I'm spiritual, but not religious. :)

When I was a little kid, I tried to rationalize religion. I decided that if there did exist such a thing as god or gods, why would they want people to worship them? I didn't go The Simpson's route and decide that god is a vain and insecure creature that constantly needs external validation, instead I decided that they were most likely beings that somehow derived sustenance from the mental energies that were directed to them through worship. They in essence tamed people into giving them these energies by performing "miracles". Therefor, logically it would be best to find a god who's sphere of influence was specialized in areas you wanted something to happen in, who was on the hungry side and willing to put in the extra work to get and retain new converts. I wanted increased snow days off from school, so I worshiped the Mighty Thor for a year. The funny thing is, the week after I started, we got an unexpected snow day! Go Thor!

Now I split what people use religion for into parts and address each aspect separately.

First is "How things work", in that religion attempts to explain the unknown. I turn to science for that, so you could say that Science is my religion for that aspect.

Second is "Why things work", why are we here and what is my reason for being, was there a primal urge that started the big bang, etc. I don't currently have anything going on here, religious or philosophical. Sometimes things just are, a cigar is just a cigar, there does not have to be a reason for everything. This aspect also imparts followers of religion an additional emotional safety net in times of stress, comfort in the feeling that there is a reason for things to happen.

Third, religion really does play a huge role in defining the social contract. I think that philosophy and secular morality can and will provide the basis for social contract in the future, but it cannot be denied that secular morality and philosophy it is largely still based upon religious tenants or exploring areas already covered by religion. Even if I disagree with the moral rules of a religion, at least if I know about it, I know how to interact with the people of that religion. If I had absolutely no frame of reference, it would be first contact every day, and I'd probably get into arguments far more often. I'm a weird variation of humanist in this regard. A little objectivist, a little libertarian, a little socialist, a little selfish...

Lastly, people are just geared biologically for a sense of holiness or mysticism. Be it a feeling of awe in a beautiful place, "seeing a bright light" during near death, peace and wholesomeness from prayer/meditation, plain superstition such as with numerology, a sense of sacredness when in altered states of mind. You can't fight it, if you work with it it can actually benefit you greatly. I meditate to center myself, (especially before competitions, in times of emotional stress, before trying to perform a tough "feat'), feel awe in some locations, use talismans or icons (pictures of people, sentimental objects) to anchor my emotional well being.

[lycheng]

I'm a Humanist.

[theme]

I don't believe in god but I'm terrified of him.

[Synthetic]

well,

i believe in governing spirits and god(s), but i'm not religious....

though, technicaly, one could argue that if you had original ideas about higher powers and made money by telling people about them, then YES...you are religious as you just established a religion.

i used to be religious. i was raised catholic and went to a catholic high school, but believing in a religion is really just believing in someone else's spirituality. what they view religion as may not apply to you...hence, the term "cafeteria catholics"....catholics who pick and choose what they want to believe in and what to ignore.

[LowFrequency]

I'm atheist.

But I can be very superstitious. For example, I always touch the outside of an airplane before boarding.

I guess I never grew out of the belief in spirits and ancestors and what not my mom instilled in us when we were little.

[atlasien]

I could almost say I am religious but not spiritual...

I feel a sense of wonder in front of nature, works of art, deeply symbolic buildings and so forth. But I don't believe in anything metaphysical such as ghosts, spirits or the afterlife. I don't believe there is a meaning to life, or any kind of fate. I am just not interested in ontological or theological questions. The scientific method can answer a lot of things, and what it can't, I just accept as unknowable.

On the other hand as I creep into middle age I find religion to be very important. I view church as a social mechanism that ideally encourages people to get together and act according to their higher selves. I'm joining the Unitarians for that and because of their religious education program -- they teach kids the precepts of all different kinds of religions but tell them not to worry about hell because it doesn't exist. That's crucial for me. I think a lot of people fall into destructive churches and cults because a charismatic person enters their life and puts the fear of hellfire in them. We are genetically programmed to believe in absolutist answers. A good defense is knowing in advance that there are many paths out there.

I'm kind of a loner but I'm not especially introspective. What I appreciate about Buddhism (and also, I have heard, parts of Judaism) is that your actions are of greater importance than what you believe. What I believe doesn't strike me as cosmically important, as long as it makes me reasonably happy.

[cattygurl]

I'm an atheist Unitarian Universalist with vague remnants of Shintoism/Buddhism.

I'm an atheist with vague remnants of Shinto/Buddhism/Paganism. I have gone to a Unitarian church before, and out of all the Christian churches- the one I felt most comfortable in.

[Ike]

When asked, I say I'm non-denominational Christian. I must admit to not thinking about religion a lot though.

[jook]

Despite having been brought up in the Korean-American church community since an early age, I try mightily to not be one of those so-called "nominal Christians".

Postmodern attitudes keeps Christians on our toes nowadays. So...to paraphrase Stephen Colbert, I believe that everyone has a right to their own religion or belief system, be it Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Juche, Systematic Atheism, Humanistic Rationalism, Capitalism, Absurdism, Know-Nothingism. There are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior.

I once had a discussion about faith with an atheist. He said one of the reasons why he couldn't accept Christianity was because of the doctrine of the Virgin Birth. How can we accept the myth that a baby can be conceived without the involvement of a father? I asked him on his views on how the universe came into existence. He said, via the Big Bang. I said, without God? He said, yes. I said to him, how is it possible for you reject the idea of a baby being born without the involvement of a father but accept the theory that the universe could come into being without the involvement of a Father? I tried to help him understand that with a Creator, all things are possible and accounted for but without, logic and understanding falls apart.

My theological heroes are CS Lewis and Tim Keller.

My pastor once said the best Christians are those who used to be criminals, like gangsters. I believe that the best Christians are those who were once committed atheists.

In sharing the gospel, I believe that Christians need to think outside of the box. The old way was to reject the other person's religion or beliefs outright and say: "you're wrong, Christianity is right". I believe, instead, it is better to engage in healthy dialogue and say to that person, "let's say, for arguments sake, you are right." And then help that person to realize the fullest extent of their own beliefs to their logical conclusions and see if it still makes any sense. In other words, effective evangelism involves being a bit of a Devil's Advocate (ironic, isn't it?).

Therefore, I have a mostly intellectual interest in theology. Fellow believers tend to get put off by that, preferring an experiential spirituality. I think it is OK to have a mostly intellectual interest in theology, because one day God will smack my head and the knowledge will simply shift from the left side of my brain to the right.

I also believe that the Bible may have certain things to say about identity politics and I am trying to explore what that is.

In conclusion, I'd like to share this: http://www.interviewwithgod.com/playprayer.htm