What religion are you?

[Professor Grundy]

agnostic with an intense interest in gnosticism. But the whole god/false god/millions of other gods thing keeps me from gettin' serious about it. That and all the little things obviously ganked from surrounding religions.

I'm really into studying the origins of western religion, though, even if I don't particularly believe in any sort of higher power myself. I guess it's a nice journey through human ideas and psychology for me.  

[pretty hate machine]

I'm Buddhist/agnostic. I just try to keep my mind open to new possibilities.  

[immabee]

freelance magician. folk, pop, and spontaneous magic. slight personal interest (and leanings) toward vodou, chaos magic, modern shamanism, and absurdism.  

[Lycangoddess]

Demona_Darchanjel

Lycangoddess

I am a LaVeyan Satanist. Raised Methodist, and went to catholic school, but none of it ever sat well with me, even in childhood. Played around with Wicca and Buddhism in high school, and even tried agnostic and atheist.

I borrowed a satanic bible from a friend of mine figuring it would satisfy my curiosity. That was several years ago, and I have never regretted the switch.

Mind telling us more about your religion? I think it would help dispel some of the views concerning satanists.

Let me guess... I sacrifice babies, fornicate in the most vile ways possible, and am an all-around bad person? I have heard so many different stereotypes about what my religion entails, it isn't even funny. When I told my mom I had converted, the first words out of her mouth were "But you are such a nice person!"

I have read the bible six times cover to cover. I have a good grasp of it's dogma and principals. I don't agree with many of them, or how conflicting christian religions that follow it can be (sorry I am getting preachy).

At it's most fundamental, LaVeyan Satanism has the view of paradise now. No one knows what the afterlife is going to hold, or if there even is one, so saving up all your good deeds to get to heaven (abstaining from alcohol or sex, being nice to people who are mean to you, etc.) is a waste of time. It is seen as missing out on opportunities and cutting the fun out of life.

The idea of God itself is a concept that was created by humans. A nebulous deity that is supposed to be infallible and perfect, and in control of everyone's life, in at least some little way. If God was created by humans, it is already fallible because humans aren't perfect. We believe that instead of trying to come up with an idea of a god, treat our self like one. Myself, I celebrate my own birthday like there is no tomorrow. I find that once I make myself happy and empowered emotionally, spiritually, and physically, it is much easier to help out my friends and family if they are having a problem.

As a Satanist, I do have a more selfish and egotistical view of the world than most people. But I don't go out of my way to be mean to people. I still hold doors for little old ladies if they need help, and I work with handicapped children for a living. And the thought of sacrificing a baby makes my stomach turn (by the way, most of those nasty rumors were started by the Catholic church hundreds of years ago, in many cases to make more money).  

[Lycangoddess]

TheHellDevil

I know a LITTLE about LaVeyan Satanism.... The general gist is that you're not really devil-worshipping. Rather, it's more a belief in your own powers as a human and an animal, fulfilling instinctual needs and not harming others unless they do so to you. At least, that's what it seemed like to me. Feel free to correct me or fill in any missing blanks.

As for myself, I don't really have a religion probably because I had a rather diverse religious upbringing. I guess the main theme I see in most well-known religions is a desire to commit morally good actions. Sure, a lot of people distort religious values according to political agendas and personal gain and these distortions end up creating gaps or nonsense over time, but the general intentions of most religions seem pretty clear to me: a kind of hope in humanity and a way of living to cope with problems while causing minimal harm to others.

You did get it right, but worshiping Satan or one of his cohorts is involved. I hope my extended response also sheds some light. There are a lot of misconceptions that I resent.  

[JaydeElf1187]

Quote:

ivyisis-
I personally don't care what someone believes as long as they don't push their beliefs on me if I don't want them.

Same here. ^_^  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

Lycangoddess

Demona_Darchanjel

Lycangoddess

I am a LaVeyan Satanist. Raised Methodist, and went to catholic school, but none of it ever sat well with me, even in childhood. Played around with Wicca and Buddhism in high school, and even tried agnostic and atheist.

I borrowed a satanic bible from a friend of mine figuring it would satisfy my curiosity. That was several years ago, and I have never regretted the switch.

Mind telling us more about your religion? I think it would help dispel some of the views concerning satanists.

Let me guess... I sacrifice babies, fornicate in the most vile ways possible, and am an all-around bad person? I have heard so many different stereotypes about what my religion entails, it isn't even funny. When I told my mom I had converted, the first words out of her mouth were "But you are such a nice person!"

I have read the bible six times cover to cover. I have a good grasp of it's dogma and principals. I don't agree with many of them, or how conflicting christian religions that follow it can be (sorry I am getting preachy).

At it's most fundamental, LaVeyan Satanism has the view of paradise now. No one knows what the afterlife is going to hold, or if there even is one, so saving up all your good deeds to get to heaven (abstaining from alcohol or sex, being nice to people who are mean to you, etc.) is a waste of time. It is seen as missing out on opportunities and cutting the fun out of life.

The idea of God itself is a concept that was created by humans. A nebulous deity that is supposed to be infallible and perfect, and in control of everyone's life, in at least some little way. If God was created by humans, it is already fallible because humans aren't perfect. We believe that instead of trying to come up with an idea of a god, treat our self like one. Myself, I celebrate my own birthday like there is no tomorrow. I find that once I make myself happy and empowered emotionally, spiritually, and physically, it is much easier to help out my friends and family if they are having a problem.

As a Satanist, I do have a more selfish and egotistical view of the world than most people. But I don't go out of my way to be mean to people. I still hold doors for little old ladies if they need help, and I work with handicapped children for a living. And the thought of sacrificing a baby makes my stomach turn (by the way, most of those nasty rumors were started by the Catholic church hundreds of years ago, in many cases to make more money).

Thank-you very much for sharing, I already knew a little bit but that doesn't mean everyone has heard about Satanism. Bravo for coming forward and sharing with us!  

[luckdragoness]

I am not sure what you would call my belief system, as I refuse to call it what it really is. I am a Christian, but I don't call myself a Christian due to the negative context of the word.  

[ThisEmptySoul]

I follow Hinduism... more specifically Vaishnavism. Like most religions, Hinduism has a few denominations. In Vaishnavism, we recognize Vishnu as the supreme lord. Contrary to seemingly popular belief by people I have met previously, Hinduism actually is not the worship of many gods. True, there is the belief that there are various gods, however, we believe there is only one supreme God who rules over all the others. Some in other denominations of Hinduism do worship these other gods for material benefits, but it is best to serve the supreme over all others because the benefits we receive from demigods are only temporary... whereas the supreme can grant us eternal happiness. Despite this, we do not look down on those who do worship demigods.

Actually, we try not to look down on anyone. The human ego does not always allow for this, but what we try to apply to life is that no being is greater than another for any reason because we are all part and parcel to God. To disrespect another being is to disrespect God Himself, for He resides in all of us, whether we acknowledge Him or not.

There is a lot I could say, but I am not sure what or how much. I'm better at answering specific questions with teachings from my religion than I am at just describing it outright. For example:

looking_for_a_reason

There are times I wonder about christianity or any of the religions for that matter. How did they all REALLY get started?

According to Vaishnavism, because we are all part of God and belonging to God, we have a natural tendency to look for God, and this is where religion comes from. Of course, people have their own ideas of how to practice this belief and perform worship, so different religions were made to give people guidelines to follow in their journey to God. Each religion has different teachings to make it easier for some to follow {for example, not everyone could easily follow the regulation of no meat eating that Hinduism has, so they will follow a religion that allows consumption of meat}, but ultimately all religion will lead a person back to God if their desire is sincere enough.

As the statement above implied, religion is man made. It is actually recommended in the Bhagavad Gita to "Abandon all forms of religion and surrender..." to God. {B.G 18:66} However, the concept that God and religion are separate is foreign to most people and they have a hard time following or believing in God without it.

With all our modern technology and science, a large chunk of the population still hold to the belief of a deity they have not grasped by any tangible means. For any other concept {such as elves, fairies, etc.} the continually belief in something not proven to exist would be seen as childish, stubborn, and/or foolish. But for God, it is seen as honorable or commendable, even by those who disagree on practically everything else in life. To dismiss this phenomenon as just a fluke in the human psyche, I believe, would be negligent.

I'm sorry if there's words left out or if this is all poorly written... I am very tired right now. I would be glad to answer any question that may arise in the future, though.  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

ThisEmptySoul

I follow Hinduism... more specifically Vaishnavism. Like most religions, Hinduism has a few denominations. In Vaishnavism, we recognize Vishnu as the supreme lord. Contrary to seemingly popular belief by people I have met previously, Hinduism actually is not the worship of many gods. True, there is the belief that there are various gods, however, we believe there is only one supreme God who rules over all the others. Some in other denominations of Hinduism do worship these other gods for material benefits, but it is best to serve the supreme over all others because the benefits we receive from demigods are only temporary... whereas the supreme can grant us eternal happiness. Despite this, we do not look down on those who do worship demigods.

Actually, we try not to look down on anyone. The human ego does not always allow for this, but what we try to apply to life is that no being is greater than another for any reason because we are all part and parcel to God. To disrespect another being is to disrespect God Himself, for He resides in all of us, whether we acknowledge Him or not.

There is a lot I could say, but I am not sure what or how much. I'm better at answering specific questions with teachings from my religion than I am at just describing it outright. For example:

looking_for_a_reason

There are times I wonder about christianity or any of the religions for that matter. How did they all REALLY get started?

According to Vaishnavism, because we are all part of God and belonging to God, we have a natural tendency to look for God, and this is where religion comes from. Of course, people have their own ideas of how to practice this belief and perform worship, so different religions were made to give people guidelines to follow in their journey to God. Each religion has different teachings to make it easier for some to follow {for example, not everyone could easily follow the regulation of no meat eating that Hinduism has, so they will follow a religion that allows consumption of meat}, but ultimately all religion will lead a person back to God if their desire is sincere enough.

As the statement above implied, religion is man made. It is actually recommended in the Bhagavad Gita to "Abandon all forms of religion and surrender..." to God. {B.G 18:66} However, the concept that God and religion are separate is foreign to most people and they have a hard time following or believing in God without it.

With all our modern technology and science, a large chunk of the population still hold to the belief of a deity they have not grasped by any tangible means. For any other concept {such as elves, fairies, etc.} the continually belief in something not proven to exist would be seen as childish, stubborn, and/or foolish. But for God, it is seen as honorable or commendable, even by those who disagree on practically everything else in life. To dismiss this phenomenon as just a fluke in the human psyche, I believe, would be negligent.

I'm sorry if there's words left out or if this is all poorly written... I am very tired right now. I would be glad to answer any question that may arise in the future, though.

Wow, I like what your religion states, and you state it so eloquently for someone who was very tired. If you think of anything else to add, please do... This was very enlightening, my only request is that although it was a lovely shade, please pick a slightly darker color to make it easier to read next time. emo  

[monkeybite]

christian  

[Enderof616]

I'm a non-denominational Christian, who believes that the Holy Spirit is alive and active today.  

[ThisEmptySoul]

Demona_Darchanjel

... my only request is that although it was a lovely shade, please pick a slightly darker color to make it easier to read next time. emo

I've been using this color for at least 4 years neutral  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

ThisEmptySoul

Demona_Darchanjel

... my only request is that although it was a lovely shade, please pick a slightly darker color to make it easier to read next time. emo

I've been using this color for at least 4 years neutral

I'm sorry... sweatdrop I just wear glasses as it is, so light colored fonts are harder to read on a white background.  

[Dante_de_Fenal]

I am a practicing Roman Catholic and on my way to being a theologian. I am Roman Catholic because I believe that is the Truth (when I say this I'm not trying to convert anyone, I believe someone who is Jewish to believe that Judaism is the Truth, for a Muslim that Islam is the Truth, for a Hindu that Hinduism is Truth, etc. etc. etc. ... else why believe in it, eh?). I also believe that religion should be questioned (hence, why I'm studying to be a theologian). It distresses me to see how far the Christian Church, specifically, has wandered from the acceptance of Rationality and Reason as a part of the belief system. It saddens me to know that there are people out there who actually believe that someone cannot be both a scientist and a Christian (as a Methodist friend was once told, who is a scientist and a Christian). I enjoy honest questions and discussions about religion because they foster understanding and tolerance. I dislike it when people start making rash statements about topics they don't seem / acted as though they've not researched. I will admit to being "hard lined"; e.g. if someone comes up to me and tells me they are a Christian but don't believe that Jesus is Divine I would call them a heretic (as I would hope that a Muslim would be called a heretic for suddenly proclaiming the Trinity, because according to Islam (Surah 4:171, I believe) it is heresy). A cat is a cat if and only if it's a cat, and if someone calls him / herself --enter religious preference here-- he / she had better be willing to stand with the doctrine and dogmas of that religious tradition. Ignorance is an excuse up until it has been pointed out, if you research and find that you don't believe in it, call yourself something else because otherwise you are being a false witness. *deep calming breath* Sorry, I have been lurking in some areas of the ED Religion forum and this has been making me want to hit my head against the wall, just needed to vent somewhere safe sweatdrop

And by "hard line" I am referring pretty much exclusively to Church dogma prior to the Reformation, the bare essentials of Christianity that seperated Christianity from all the other religions that were being practiced when the Romans "ruled the world."