What religion do you identify yourself with?

I've seen quite a few polls regarding religion/spirituality and its impact on sex and sexuality, so I was wondering what sort of religious congregation we've got here.

I know there's a lot of religions out there but there's only so much space in here and being the westerner I am, I filled it with mostly Judeo-Christian religions... But there is an other option less

I've seen quite a few polls regarding religion/spirituality and its impact on sex and sexuality, so I was wondering what sort of religious congregation we've got here.

I know there's a lot of religions out there but there's only so much space in here and being the westerner I am, I filled it with mostly Judeo-Christian religions... But there is an other option less

Was raised Catholic, dabbled in southern baptist, and found that my own spirituality works best for me. I feel as if I was brainwashed growing up, because my parents did what their forefathers did before them, and to them, that was what was "right" and if you didn't believe, you were destined to go to hell.

I respect the teachings of the Bible as there are some good lessons, but to me, it is no more than a rulebook for humanity, some of it outdated, some of it still applicable today.

I do believe in a higher power, something magnificent that started everything, but I'm hesitant to call it "God". For all I know, it was just some spark, but I'm not going to dwell on it. It is what it is. less

pagan - (noun) a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions

Pagan is a very fluid and non-concrete term and reminds me of "queer" where the meaning can change depending on the intent and source. And I think it's especially true when in matters of religion, gender, and sexuality. It's all one huge grey area with a plethora of possibilities. less

With great difficulty .

Jen has the nub of it, but I'll expand on it a little.

Basically, I agree with the tenets that are most prevalent in the different pagan faiths (which, in actuality, don't differ all that much from mainstream religions, depending on where you look), and in that sense I am a pagan. The atheism bit comes in to play when I have a look at the mythology of it all. I live in Britain so I deal mainly with the Druidic and Heathen (Saxon and Norse) branches - However, that's a regional thing. If I were in Italy, it'd be Jupiter and his gods. In Greece, Zeus etc. In Mexico, Alom. In America, McDonalds - so I'll reference the Druidic and Heathen cultures. I look at the 'ancient' religions as ones that were influenced by what people saw around them, and then attempted to explain. Rainbows, in Norse religion, was Bifrost - the bridge from this world to the next. It is, today, known as a refraction of the sun's rays.

I am a logically minded person, so I go with the scientific explanation first - but note that that doesn't discount the possibility of it being a bridge, either. Another example - Yggdrasil, the tree of life (The world, to put it simply), and Nidhog is a wyrm (dragon type thing) that gnaws at its roots. Well, that, to me, is simply an interpretation, a guess. So I look on Yggdrasil as a metaphor for earth and our standing in it, and not as the physical, literal interpretation the ancients believed it to be.

These are just two examples, but I believe I've made my point: That some things in mythology (as a sidenote, I use the term 'mythology' when talking about mainstream religions, too) I just can't take seriously. That I feel it was merely a group of people trying to explain the world without all the facts. Or, as my girl once eruditely said, 'they made shit up as they went along'.

So let's move on to the other part that you brought up. That atheists believe there are no gods. I believe that there is a higher power, but that it's not a god as we know it. I believe that it's something that connects everything to, well, everything else. But I don't believe it has sentience, nor facets - or gods, as religion calls it -, personalisations, the Force, or whatever else people call it. Indeed, for us puny humans to try to put a face on such a thing, I feel, is quite arrogant! And, conversely, quite touching. We must feel a great loneliness, as a race, we humans, to feel so alone in this world, and in this universe, and awed by it, to want, perhaps to need, a creature, a deity, of eminence to care for us. Proof, if you will, that humanity is a sub!

Pretty sure I answered you there, but I do have a tendency to ramble, so if you need more clarification, just let me know and I'll have another attempt . less

No please - not more!

I still think that paganism in it's various forms is are forms of religion - like Christianity in all it's various forms.

Atheism on the other hand is defined as: "Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities." link

In general my experience is that atheists are either dismissive of or more likely hostile toward religion and the religious. Atheists generally consider themselves superior to those who 'believe in superstition'. less

No please - not more!

I still think that paganism in it's various forms is are forms of religion - like Christianity in all it's various forms.

Atheism on the other hand is defined as: "Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities." link

In general my experience is that atheists are either dismissive of or more likely hostile toward religion and the religious. Atheists generally consider themselves superior to those who 'believe in superstition'. less

Are you sure? I can go longer!

Well, Paganism is a religion, however, I'd read a definition once that, when put up against paganism, at least in the forms I'm familiar with, it would not be a religion. Like recruitment. No one I know, who is pagan, recruits as such. If people are interested, then we tell them more, but if not, that's fine. I guess it's just one of those things that people have to go to themselves. Still, I define myself as religious (just so as we're clear).

But I do disagree with your experience. In my experience, atheists don't consider themselves superiour, nor hostile. And when I define myself as atheist, that's not what I think. I define it as simple prevalence of science over belief in an individual's mind. less

I love that there are so many atheist! Alright, my kind of crowd!!!! I am 100% atheist I was not brought up with religion; except when my dad decided he wanted to play softball for chruch his friend went to, lasted one season. I plan on never ever allowing my children near chruch unless it is a funeral! I believe religion is pure evil! I do respect that people have their beliefs they are just not mine! less