Religion Poll

[nospin]

just curious, did a quick search and didnt see a poll about it here.
sorry if i missed any, no offense intended. comment as well if you want, i think i can add something if i missed it??

for the record, my knowledge of most religions doesnt go beyond wikipedia articles, and history channel documentaries. you can call me "agnostic" if you'd like.

[misk]

hmm...

thelema.

[poax]

bill bailey said

"most people when asked will write jedi"

[*grand*]

fuck about so many non belivers!! big up my religon crew yeah your big whatver it is dont discriminate leave that to lesser able beings!

[shonky]

fuck about so many non belivers!! big up my religon crew yeah your big whatver it is dont discriminate leave that to lesser able beings!

Yeah, leave discrimination to lesser beings. Religious folk are infinitely more tolerant and they have a better moral code due to their lovely guide books. I'd much rather get the opinion of someone who's superstitious than someone that came to a viewpoint logically.

I live in the most godless area of Britain according to the Independent. I am very grateful.

[Whistla]

very topical atm
what with the Dawkins book doing the rounds on various tv shows an magazine/newspaper columns.
i feel any kind of organised religion (like any large group, companies, governments etc etc...) is prone to corruption and general shittyness and wouldnt say i follow any particular religion, hence my "Other" vote.
I do firmly believe in the Oneness of all and see consciousness as being what our universe is made of, which i suppose can be seen as hindu, but i dont follow a sect or nothing. I think all the religions have useful things to help us understand our place in the universe.
I think all religions are mans attempt at understanding his place in the unverse and that cold logic cannot be the only way to finding our place in it (as science and many atheists will say) we are not cool logical beings and therefore our understanding of the world we are in shudn't be understood purely in those terms.
my understanding of God is not sum dude with a white beard and a lightning bolt to strike down sinners. but rather that we are all a part of the whole, we are god experiencing himself in polarity consciousness.
I guess if i was to say i was anything i would be a Taoist - "The Tao that can be described is not the eternal Tao" (the god that you can describe is not the eternal god)

[spaceboy]

Muslim. But more of the Rumi / Sufi variety, then what you see on Fox or Sky News.

We dont die, we multiply. As Mighty Moe of Heartless says!

[misk]

funny, i used to hate all 'religion'. I was an 'occultist', on my high horse, studying 'occultism' and generally pretty damn full of myself and my silly ways. nowadays i've kinda chosen a path that i consider more spiritual than occult (though still wrapped within the same philosophies).

its funny though, as you go down your own path, you begin to respect people on other paths more. Im talking about the celebate monk, not so much the sunday morning christian.

i can dig a catholic nun's beliefs and conviction as much as a buddhist monks, or my own.

Anyway, the group of parishoners only exist to elevate the priest/monk/nun/priestest/shamen/whatever to commune and merge with their God, in hopes that the spiritual leader will bring a piece of it (god) back with them to share.

i figure, fuck the middleman, ill find god myself.

[indi]

Religion is man's attempts to explain the things that happen in the world that cannot be explained by science.
Religion is a veil that man created to give faith and reasoning to all people and to take a lot of responsibility from them, rather than tell them the truth that they really are alone here and everything that has happened in the course of their lives is of their own cause.
Religion is man's control over man, used to inhibit decisons to prevent lesser men taking over the big men.
Religion is man's excuse for all the shit that they have caused over the years.



This makes me sound really pretentious I know. But I have good knowledge of most religions, and I'm not discounting the idea of spirituality at all.
I believe there is something higher than us and something beneath us, not like heaven and hell but more like different levels of consciousness. During the process of our soul's life, we move up the different levels of conciousness is various forms. The life we currently lead requires our conciousness to take a physical form, the next maybe a different sort of energy.
I like some ideas from various religions, the yinyang theories of buddhism and hinduism for example, but these are overthrown by the sheer weight of all the beliefs that negate these ideas.
I believe that my opinions on anything and everything defines my individuality in this life, that my actions and decisions are made based solely on my opinions, and that my actions and consequences are mine alone.

[diablo]

I missed the space ship last time around.
Anxiously awaiting its return

Find info here:http://www.wave.net/upg/gate/

[diablo]

I missed the space ship last time around.
Anxiously awaiting its return

Find info here:
http://www.wave.net/upg/gate/

[flippo]

I'm a scientist, and I figure you can't have your cake and eat it to. So any form of theology and other hocus pocus goes right out the window for me. I take great heed in many budhist principals though. In many senses Budhism isnt that much of a religeon, some forms of it are. Tibetian buddism for example has alot of theology and strange superstitions, which I just see no point in, being 2006 and all. The practices and psychological philosophies are totaly awesome though.

So I'm an Atheist, slightly agnostic on a technicality.

[gravious]

Religion is man's attempts to explain the things that happen in the world that cannot be explained by science.
Religion is a veil that man created to give faith and reasoning to all people and to take a lot of responsibility from them, rather than tell them the truth that they really are alone here and everything that has happened in the course of their lives is of their own cause.
Religion is man's control over man, used to inhibit decisons to prevent lesser men taking over the big men.
Religion is man's excuse for all the shit that they have caused over the years.

Personally, I also feel like this.

Like you, I also don't think this discounts 'religiousness' or spirituality.

I just think its seems a bit strange to have a book of rules and 'facts' to follow in order to achieve a particular form of spiritual enlightnenment. Surely that is a particularly personal experience.

I don't mean this in an offensive way, but I kind of feel like holy texts are a bit like diet-regime books. They give you a pre-prepared answer, some rules to follow, and usually some decent advice/teachings (often with a few dodgy bits thrown in). This works well for some people, but a lot of others get frustrated or give it up. Often, people would do better just to do some exercise, and find a balanced diet - find what works for themselves.

Anyways, thats enough allegories for this time in the morning

[indi]

Personally, I also feel like this.

Like you, I also don't think this discounts 'religiousness' or spirituality.

I just think its seems a bit strange to have a book of rules and 'facts' to follow in order to achieve a particular form of spiritual enlightnenment. Surely that is a particularly personal experience.

Exactly. I think that to experience enlightenment, you need to experience it first hand. Not from some other person's words from a book. Religion is like cafeteria enlightenment for those who are not willing to look for it themselves. Most people that have experienced some form of enlightenment find that it has little to do with God or the spirit, but a change in the way that they perceive knowledge. To me this is a good idea because its means that we have the ability to change ourselves without influence.

I don't mean this in an offensive way, but I kind of feel like holy texts are a bit like diet-regime books. They give you a pre-prepared answer, some rules to follow, and usually some decent advice/teachings (often with a few dodgy bits thrown in). This works well for some people, but a lot of others get frustrated or give it up. Often, people would do better just to do some exercise, and find a balanced diet - find what works for themselves.

Again, I think that religion is like instance enlightenment for those who are not willing to look for it themselves.
I also am not bitter, I have had a very religious upbringing (strict catholic family and boarding school), but had parents who encourage me to choose what I believe is right, even if that meant that I didn't believe that religion was right. I put this idea to some people and it seems so left to them that you can actually see them struggling with the concept. I dunno man.
I just think that we were born with free will for a reason.

[*decibella~~]

I agree with the points made by gravious & indi, I share the opinion that, religion is a comfort to people, a give them answers to the questions everyone in the world wonders about....how we arivved here, what will happen when we die, and how to ensure you live your life the 'correct' way as god (any god) intended.....

I want to live my life how i think is right, make the chioces i feel are right, and if they're not, it doesnt matter, coz ill learn from it and therefore be wiser to it, i have my own morals, not morals wich someone has laid out for me to follow.....

Now, a couple of points i want to make, just my personal view, i dont wish to offend anyone.....but religion is a successful business! I worked in a bank for a few years, and the various religous company used to pay great sums of cash regularly, and guys at the top used to come and bank their monthly wages from it...
People give money freely to these organisations, and the service in return is the answer to lifes greatest questions, lots of money is made from religion....hence the reason why there are so many religions now days, competitors in the market.... jus like if i wanted to buy a new insurance policy, many companies are in the market selling me the same thing, but with different terms & conditions, get me! Same deal with religion.
The fact that its not a proven theory, just something which people choose to belive in, and considering the ammont of grants, donations etc these religions get in return.......well you work it out! Some guy had the right idea on how to play on peoples need for 'meaning & understanding' in thier lives....

Another point is that fact i feel sad for the children born into very religious families who force their childeren into that way of believing without giving the child a choice.... from personal experiance of two friends of mine very much in love but not together because of religion and the backlash from their families.....its not right that because of hearsay and silly books that two people who love and care for eachother cant be together.

and im very respectful if someone chooses to belive in...well, whatver they choose to. But dont come and try to force it on me, knocking at my door and broadcasting it in the street with a megaphone. If i went round to their houses and started preeching that they shouldn't belive in thier religion and live their life they way they are, i would being blasphemous...

my opinion only, i dont mean to offend any religious heads
ONE LOVE MAN!
LOL

[*decibella~~]

I'm a scientist, and I figure you can't have your cake and eat it to. So any form of theology and other hocus pocus goes right out the window for me. I take great heed in many budhist principals though. In many senses Budhism isnt that much of a religeon, some forms of it are. Tibetian buddism for example has alot of theology and strange superstitions, which I just see no point in, being 2006 and all. The practices and psychological philosophies are totaly awesome though.

So I'm an Atheist, slightly agnostic on a technicality.

i think im goin to read up on Budhism, a few others have said to me its very interesting...
New Years Resoloution 1 - become a bushist!
no jokes, i will read up tho...

[gravious]

i think im goin to read up on Budhism, a few others have said to me its very interesting...
New Years Resoloution 1 - become a bushist!

You are right about pushing religions. That really pisses me off.

One of my relatives is a Christian missionary, and is off trying to turn some muslims into good practicing christ worshippers as we speak.
It really pisses me off. I think debate between different religious/non-religious viewpoints should be encouraged, but I've found people seem to struggle to see my point of view. And with the missonary its just one-way-traffic...


On that note, anyone see '30 Days' last night on More4? Was about an atheist woman staying for a month with fundamentalist christians. Really interesting. Sometimes I really don't think that some Christians understand the teachings of Christ.

The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love. That's the message we're brought up with, isn't it? Believe or die! "Thank you, forgiving Lord, for all those options."

[shonky]

On that note, anyone see '30 Days' last night on More4? Was about an atheist woman staying for a month with fundamentalist christians. Really interesting. Sometimes I really don't think that some Christians understand the teachings of Christ.

Yeah, that was a pretty good show. As someone who was christened but never went to church and has never been a believer, I do find all these ex-christians kind of interesting to watch (Dawkins was a christian in his youth). I think if you can look at the good bits of the philosophy of a religion but ignore all the superstitious elements, then that's quite healthy in finding common ground. I do get the feeling that a lot of this "power of Jesus within" malarkey has got a lot more to do with the power of the will and positive thinking than it has to do with any holy spook.

I watched another one with Ron Liddle the other day called "The Trouble with Atheism", which was interesting. There's some biologist who has been looking into Darwin's theories and noted flaws in some of his findings given new archaeological findings where some species seem to come from almost nowhere (although it could just be that they couldn't find what or where they evolved from).

This was used as evidence that atheists aren't always right in their assumptions, but I look at science as a slowly, unravelling knowledge that changes as new evidence comes to light, so those "constants" are always subject to change. I view personal morality on the same level where experience in life gives more wisdom as to why you should or shouldn't do certain things and this is in perpetual flux too.

I think that maybe religion fosters certainties regardless of evidence against and these "absolute truths" should not be questioned. That part in 30 Days yesterday where the atheist woman asked why they believe what they did about the afterlife and origins of the world and they just held the Bible up and said "it's all in here" without any hesitation I found somewhat unnerving. The other bit that I found awkward was where the christian family were chatting to the film crew and wondering what an atheist would have against Jesus - like it's an either/or question.

Don't think I'd have so many issues with religion if they were regarded as philosophies.

[gravious]

I watched another one with Ron Liddle the other day called "The Trouble with Atheism", which was interesting. There's some biologist who has been looking into Darwin's theories and noted flaws in some of his findings given new archaeological findings where some species seem to come from almost nowhere (although it could just be that they couldn't find what or where they evolved from).

This was used as evidence that atheists aren't always right in their assumptions, but I look at science as a slowly, unravelling knowledge that changes as new evidence comes to light, so those "constants" are always subject to change. I view personal morality on the same level where experience in life gives more wisdom as to why you should or shouldn't do certain things and this is in perpetual flux too.

Yeah, I saw a bit of that show. I sort of agree with some of his points, but I think the point above is more to do with science-as-religion than atheism per se. Sure, evolution has some gaps in the theory, but its still just a theory, an intellectual leap, so this is going to happen.

The main point is that you shouldn't accept anything wholly uncritically, whether its religion or atheism or science.

I think that maybe religion fosters certainties regardless of evidence against and these "absolute truths" should not be questioned. That part in 30 Days yesterday where the atheist woman asked why they believe what they did about the afterlife and origins of the world and they just held the Bible up and said "it's all in here" without any hesitation I found somewhat unnerving. The other bit that I found awkward was where the christian family were chatting to the film crew and wondering what an atheist would have against Jesus - like it's an either/or question.

Don't think I'd have so many issues with religion if they were regarded as philosophies.

Yeah, they were so set in their ways! Its a bit scary. They seemed to take personal offence at any discussion of the foundation of their beliefs. And in the end, they have taken their religion uncritically from their parents, and are continuing the cycle with their kids. I have a lot more respect parents that give their kids a choice.

[Whistla]

yeh i watched that ron liddle show, really enjoyed that.
the way he spoke to various peoples from various viewpionts and although he clearly has a belief in some form of "god" he didnt push it down ur throat imo. and allowed everyone to explain themselves prety much as they wanted.
the bit i found most interesting was when he visited the science place in the states where they are doin the matter into anti-matter experiments that many of the pro and anti god camp refer to. and the head honcho of that experiment said himself that the existence of god cannot be proved or disproved, even though lots of people claim these experiments as proof or evidence against a "god".
i do find the way that atheists and agnostics hav been lumped together a bit unhelpful, cos in my understanding an agnostic beleives in "something" whereas an atheist doesnt believe there is anything (unless im wrong)