Here's one that I've never seen a post on here before about haha. Just wanted to get an open-minded discussion going in regards to what people might "classify" themselves as, what the means to you and how it is part of your daily/weekly lives.
Myself: I grew up protestant in regards to going to sunday school but never picked anything up since my father is a hardcore athiest and that rubbed off on me for awhile. In the past few years have started finding my own faith and am now hoping to convert to Judaism soon :).
Looking forward to this thread!
Indifferent. ;)
Original Post by audikat: Just wanted to get an open-minded discussion going in regards to what people might "classify" themselves as, what the means to you and how it is part of your daily/weekly lives.
Agnostic Atheist, I suppose, and it has little to no impact on my daily life. I only really think about religion when others ask me how I feel about it. And how I feel is "indifferent."
Usually, anyway. Currently, I am contractually obligated to be in the service of Lord Cthulhu for at least two more months.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
May He soon awaken.
agnostic. not important to my identity, at all.
i remember that my conversion was a bit painful, initially - 'what's the point of x y z without a god' - but have for a long time been content to refer to broadly humanist beliefs.
i struggle to find common ground with people who are very religious (and who eg talk about it a lot, or use it to justify views with which i might strongly disagree)... not really a lot of scope for discussion if part of the end game involves 'i'm right because god said so; also, you're going to hell'. which is what energizes/underlies a lot of the issues that distress us as a culture.
still say 'bless you' if someone sneezes though, it's like a tic.
i do find aspects of religions beautiful. i really love the idea of faith being anchored in action, over intention, as in Judaism; the asceticism and community feeling of Mormonism; the compassionate dispassion of Buddhism... but this is more a kind of poetic appreciation.
I believe one's beliefs are usually too complex to be classified as one religion.
If I had to classify myself, I'd say agnostic. My family, however, is Orthodox Christian, albeit quite liberal. I respect religious people as long as I get respect in return (and, of course, if they don't go preachy on me).
I'm a protestant, member of Disciples of Christ denomination, Elder in my church, happy, peaceful, content. My faith is a very important part of my life.
Only a subtle difference from agnostic atheist, IMO, but I like the term better.
Catholic.
Christian. Not practicing any particular denomination (raised Protestant) but thinking of starting my own. It doesn't seem as if any of the popular ones fit my beliefs.
Catholic- Lack of progressive thinking
Baptist- Just want to physically assault the wacknuts protesting at funerals.
Protestant- Can I hold them responsible for the whole situation in Ireland?
Lutheran- Not really sure what my complaint here would be.
Mormons- It's well established that they are not Christians (I'M KIDDING Doc). If I had time to read that entire thread I might learn something.
So why do I answer Christian? That's what I know. The Churches I've gone to were usually Military Churches and mostly non-denominational. They were attended by Black, White, Asian and all other manner of people. I learned:
Don't Judge
Don't Steal
Treat others as you'd have them treat you
Help whenever you can
If you need help, ask for it (one of the things Churches are 99% of the time best at)
Be good, in your heart/soul/mind
I'm sure Buddhists/Hindus/Jews/Muslims/Agnostics/Athei sts/etc. mostly share these feelings but where the conscious effort to teach them was made was in the Church.
*steps down from soapbox, dons internet persona, goes on his merry way*
I was raised Methodist by parents who took me to Sunday School because that's what parents were supposed to do. My husband and I don't go to church and haven't raised our children in a religion. We intersect with religion during weddings and funerals.
I go along with Buck's creed of don't judge, don't steal, don't lie, the Golden Rule. My husband and I are good citizens, and my children are as well.
Unlike Buck, I try to keep my internet persona and IRL persona the same. 
I don't get as confused that way.
Pantheist. I believe God is the Universe and doesn't need to be worshiped or any of that mumbo-jumbo. Just need to respect all matters of life from a blade of grass to a person, as I believe we are all linked and made up of the same matter: from the universe (or God if that is easier to understand).
I have no bad feelings towards any religion/belief/spiritualness, just organized religion.
ETA: I'm one of those people who don't kill insects. Even spiders.
Hmm, difficult to classify. Pagan agnostic with strong overtones of Buddhist?
My tenets: Practice forgiveness, tolerance, generosity and gratitude. Stay rooted in the here and now to whatever extent possible. Spend a lot of time outdoors observing the abundance of life and finding joy in the wonderment and awe of it all. Breathe in, breathe out.
I'm staunchly Apathetic!
If anyone asks (and they usually don't) I say that I'm agnostic with Buddhist leanings. Buddism just makes the most sense to me.
I was raised Methodist, attended church every Sunday and was even involved in the Sunday school, so I tried to make all that work for me, but I just couldn't. I felt like a fake and none of it seemed connected to me or how I really felt. My mother is offended that I do not believe in God but I won't pretend any longer (as I did growing up).
ETA I think the other thing that turned me off Christianity was the lack of tolerance by it's followers. Reading the bible (new testament), this is not the message at all (the opposite actually) but somehow that does not filter through the Christians I have met.
I don't consider Buddhism a religion. It's more a philosophy and an ethic. I definitely identify with Buddhism, but something about "emptiness is empty" doesn't really fit in the same category as what does your god look like.
Original Post by lysistrata:
I don't consider Buddhism a religion. It's more a philosophy and an ethic. I definitely identify with Buddhism, but something about "emptiness is empty" doesn't really fit in the same category as what does your god look like.
Mine looks a lot like George Burns, I'm pretty sure.
@ lys: hope to not mischaracterize your views, inasmuch i understand them... and i have a superficial and erratic knowledge of buddhism, so please correct me if i'm skewing things... but it seems causality is one of its central tenets. if you feel like answering (don't feel you have to) - i am curious about how libertarianism/a belief in free will might square with this, or how you might have settled this question...
She taught me to respect everybody's right to their own religion and to expect the same of other people in return.
The only time I do not respect somebody's religion is if they are going door to door and trying to push their religion on me. I personally think that should be illegal.
Original Post by janelovesjam:
@ lys: hope to not mischaracterize your views, inasmuch i understand them... and i have a superficial and erratic knowledge of buddhism, so please correct me if i'm skewing things... but it seems causality is one of its central tenets. if you feel like answering (don't feel you have to) - i am curious about how libertarianism/a belief in free will might square with this, or how you might have settled this question...
Yes! The entire Buddhist metaphysics is about causation. It's a very complicated concept of causality, and I definitely do not claim to have any great expertise in understanding all the nuances. That's probably a few lifetimes of study away. ;) Plus, metaphysics has never been my strong suit.
With that said, I do not understand dependent origination to be necessarily opposed to the possibility of free choice. To use Hegelian terms, everything that brought us to this moment is causally dependent; the process of moving from this moment to the next moment is a process of becoming; and the process of becoming is the elimination of the near-infinitely possible in favor of the actualized. So every moment, which only arises because of the configuration of all prior moments that brought us to this moment, presents us with nearly infinite possible options, from which our choice will determine the possibilities of all the next moments. Volition and causality are interdependent, and that relationship is ultimately what is meant by karma. Bad karma is the accumulation of choices that increase the causes of suffering in the universe; good karma is the accumulation of choices that decrease the causes of suffering and increase the causes of enlightenment. Over many lifetimes.
Of course, I think this all fits perfectly well with libertarian political views. ;) Politics is ultimately about power and control over others, which in Buddhism would likely be regarded as an attachment (and certainly causes suffering!), so the more you can cultivate non-attachment to other peoples' actions and choices, the fewer causes of suffering in the universe. Ultimately, libertarianism (as I understand it) is just a philosophy of live and let live. Understanding causality means understanding that there is bad karma as well as good karma, and getting upset about the existence of bad karma is just increasing the universal suffering.
