What's your religion? (Or lack thereof)

[mirele]

I am an exmormon secular humanist who appreciates the idea of an afterlife.

This.

[zeebaneighba]

Secular Buddhist, though I do not have a Sangha, so i guess I am technically not really Buddhist. I meditate and study, but I am on the fence about reincarnation and I really am not interested in all the rituals and cultural trappings. It's more of a way of life for me rather than a religion; a way to make myself a more peaceful, more compassionate person.

And good for you, Emmyfair!

[FaustianSlip]

Gardenvarietycitizen- It's interesting, because people in Japan still found it kind of weird if I explained that I couldn't eat XYZ because of religious reasons (sometimes it was just easier to say I had an allergy), but here in China, people will mostly back right off if you tell them that you don't eat something for religious reasons. Say you don't like it, and they'll try to change your mind, but say it's because you're Jewish or Muslim or whatever, and they won't bother you about it any more. The Muslim community is definitely helpful, since it at least gives people a frame of reference (and gives me restaurants to eat in where I know there won't be any stealth pork in my food!). There are also a couple of fantastic vegetarian places here in my city, which also removes any kashrut issues.

What will happen on Passover remains to be seen. I'll probably go down to Hong Kong and buy a ton of stuff there, order some stuff online and then try to convince myself to stay true to my Ashkenazic roots and avoid rice for the duration. My Chinese instructors were horrified when I told them you can't eat rice during Pesach. Heh.

[mirele]

Well, here I go.

I grew up in a fundamentalist home that evolved into tridentine catholic - think fish eaters. Since I left at seventeen and never looked back, I either attended a Quaker or United church, as available, to keep my family off my back. I'm done with that now.

I've been following the path of a green witch since I was fifteen. Only people very close to me know this, but I'm starting to see that being who I am to everyone is so much better for my mental health ....

There. As they say, I'm out of the broom closet.

Wow, how do you go from fundie to Tridentine Catholic? I see the strict part, but fundies are all over Catholics about statues and praying to Mary and so on, they'd go ballistic with the Latin mass and all that.

[Red Molly]

Hey Soldier of One, and anyone else.....I am a garden variety earth goddess worshiping pagan. I attend a local temple that *might* be called congregational Wicca, though I am not Wiccan. All Wiccans are Pagan, not all Pagans are Wiccan. Kind of like all Catholics are Christians, not all Christians are Catholic.

[emmyfair]

Mirele, crazy long story, you're right. I don't elaborate usually, because it's hard to explain - basically, it was a very fundie - like High Anglicanism, and a group I like I've only ever found in my home town. When that group ended, my family went the Catholic route. Does that make more sense? I've been through the ringer with religion - it makes everything really difficult, especially since so many people in my family have different beliefs, and I was bounced around a bit after my parents split up. Fun times.

[Cliodna]

Pagan. Irish Prytani Tradition. Definitely not Wiccan (for the benefit of a couple of my favorite trolls). We believe in a balance in all things, light and dark, night and day, male and female. Our Rites are almost without exception performed by a High Priest and High Priestess together.

[TheSassyOne]

Card-carrying cradle Catholic here! My husband is Southern Baptist and he's still getting used to some of the strange (as he calls them) things we do; the whole - no meat on Fridays during Lent - still confuses him, especially when I come home from work and he's cooked steak. :(

I do practice my faith with my local Church parish. Though I ask my hubby if he wants to join one of the local Baptist churches, he's like, nope, not so much. But he's made it very very clear to me, that I will NOT make him Catholic. :evil: :evil: [that's what he thinks] :twisted: kidding, I'm kidding!

[alphaeta08]

Raised Catholic, currently atheist. Easy jump once you learn the scary stuff the Church actually wants you to believe. :?

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Atheist, born and raised. I was given the total freedom to explore religion, attend church or youth groups if I chose, and so forth without parental pressure. But I never for one second took any of it to heart, even as a young child.

No matter how often this comes up, I'm always fascinated by how diverse FJ is (even if the rug-shitters will never believe it!).

[Kaylee]

Reformed Baptist with IFB/fundie roots/leanings and a very drawn out and confusing religious background.

If I ever really stopped believing in God (again), I'd probably be a non-theistic Satanist.

Yeah, huge jump there but it's pretty suited to my personality and I still think Anton LeVay was brilliant. It's just not exactly compatible with belief in God, and I'm too attached to ritual (even of the Christian sort) to ever be a plain ol' atheist.

[terranova]

Devout atheist.

[Cassandra]

Atheist, born and raised. I was given the total freedom to explore religion, attend church or youth groups if I chose, and so forth without parental pressure. But I never for one second took any of it to heart, even as a young child.

No matter how often this comes up, I'm always fascinated by how diverse FJ is (even if the rug-shitters will never believe it!).

SO jealous. To this day after being 'out' as an atheist in my Catholic family for 10 years I am still getting shit from them.

Even though no one in my family, excluding my grandmother, is devout I am told I'm going to hell.

[ADoyle90815]

I'd say that I'm a Christmas/Easter Episcopalian. My brother was actually baptized Catholic, but only because he almost died as an infant from pneumonia. My dad resented his childhood where Catholicism was forced down his throat, and since I was a healthy baby, I wasn't baptized in that church. My mom was raised Episcopalian, and since they allow women and gays to be ministers, I prefer that church. I have a gay cousin who I refuse to shun because of the way he was born, as I saw another gay relative kill himself through alcoholism because my Catholic grandparents never would have accepted him.

My mom married an exmormon almost a year ago, and some of his children are still Mormon, and they didn't get upset at us non-Mormons drinking coffee in front of them, or seeing the coffee machine on my mom's kitchen counter. I don't feel comfortable about wearing even a one piece swimsuit in front of them, so when I saw them over Father's Day in Las Vegas while visiting my mom, I wore shorts and a t-shirt. I went swimming in my mom's pool before the arrived, and got right back in after they left.

[Guest Anonymous]

Lutheran. I, too, had freedom to explore religion without parental pressure. The fact that I wasn't browbeaten as a kid undoubtedly accounts for my still feeling a connection to Lutheranism now.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

SO jealous. To this day after being 'out' as an atheist in my Catholic family for 10 years I am still getting shit from them.

Even though no one in my family, excluding my grandmother, is devout I am told I'm going to hell.

Being atheist is hard enough even while having your family's support, so my heart goes out to you. I can't even imagine. That isn't to say I don't get shit from other family members, but I do know how lucky I am. My dad is vehemently anti-religion (and he knows more about religion and bibles than anyone I've ever met) and very outspoken about it, so it amazes me to this day that he was able to let my brother and me come to own conclusions without pressuring us. I still to this day do not know exactly what my mom believes or doesn't believe. She never, ever, ever talks about it.

[dawn]

Raised a half-hearted Greek Orthodox, now an atheist.

[muffynbear]

I was raised Christian (protestant). I was forced to go to church and youth group every Sunday. I never really bought into it. I mostly attended these things just to socialize with my friends. I lived in Massachusetts. We have a large Wiccan population. I became fascinated with Salem and that whole culture. I loved learning about different types of pagans, spells, etc. even though this was at odds with my christian upbringing. As soon as I turned 18 I stopped going to church and have been doing my own thing. While I respect religion, I consider myself agnostic.

[Sunnichick31]

I'm Muslim. It's hard because I live in an area without ANY Muslims, and of course no mosque and the majority of the people here are very ignorant of Islam. I swear to God the next time someone asks if I dress the way I do because i"m cold I'll scream! But yea, it's pretty hard since there aren't Muslims here, and I'm sick of the Muslims in the community closest to me. (when I see them they basically tell me everything I'm doing wrong.) I can't wait to move to an area with a larger Muslim community. That will be amazing! Also, I can't wait for the day when I don't have to worry about leaving my house without pepper spray. Once people figure out that I'm a Muslim, the Islamophobia is bad enough that I fear for my safety (with good reason. I don't particularly like being hit by random people in Walmart and screamed at when I'm stopped at a red light).

[Inanna]

Non-denominational pagan. ;D

[taylor48]

I was raised in a church of Christ. I now belong to a couple of ex-church of Christ support forums. That being said, I do believe in God. I would like to find a church I feel comfortable attending. I haven't found that yet.

[Soldier of the One]

I'm Muslim. It's hard because I live in an area without ANY Muslims, and of course no mosque and the majority of the people here are very ignorant of Islam. I swear to God the next time someone asks if I dress the way I do because i"m cold I'll scream! But yea, it's pretty hard since there aren't Muslims here, and I'm sick of the Muslims in the community closest to me. (when I see them they basically tell me everything I'm doing wrong.) I can't wait to move to an area with a larger Muslim community. That will be amazing! Also, I can't wait for the day when I don't have to worry about leaving my house without pepper spray. Once people figure out that I'm a Muslim, the Islamophobia is bad enough that I fear for my safety (with good reason. I don't particularly like being hit by random people in Walmart and screamed at when I'm stopped at a red light).

Gosh, Sunnichick, I am really sorry to hear about the discrimination you've been facing! That's just so horrible. I hope you find a better (and more tolerant!) community soon--sounds like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Thanks everyone for their responses. This is so interesting.

As a devout monotheist (of the Jewish variety), I am really intrigued by Paganism, different conceptions of God/the Divine and polytheism because it is so far removed from my personal frame of reference. I feel like theologically, I have little in common with Pagans but ritually, ethically and morally I do. Judaism is also a ritualistic religion that is very earth-centered and we also have some conceptions of the Divine that are a bit off the beaten (Christian) track once you dig into our mystical traditions (i.e. the Shechinah, the Divine Feminine). So I have a natural curiosity towards Pagans. Also because I value the emphasis on religious tolerance and respect for the earth/life that a lot of Pagans preach, so to say.

So please, Pagan FJers, indulge me:

What's your concept of Divinity? Do you believe in one ultimate Divine reality or in multiple gods? How do you relate and worship the Divine? How do you choose the gods you work with? What are the rituals you perform? And how do you build and interact with the greater Pagan community?

Thanks!

[Eponine]

I'm Muslim. It's hard because I live in an area without ANY Muslims, and of course no mosque and the majority of the people here are very ignorant of Islam. I swear to God the next time someone asks if I dress the way I do because i"m cold I'll scream! But yea, it's pretty hard since there aren't Muslims here, and I'm sick of the Muslims in the community closest to me. (when I see them they basically tell me everything I'm doing wrong.) I can't wait to move to an area with a larger Muslim community. That will be amazing! Also, I can't wait for the day when I don't have to worry about leaving my house without pepper spray. Once people figure out that I'm a Muslim, the Islamophobia is bad enough that I fear for my safety (with good reason. I don't particularly like being hit by random people in Walmart and screamed at when I'm stopped at a red light).

This makes me really sad. I can't believe people really act like this, how disgusting. :( I hope you can move soon!

I'm agnostic but it goes in cycles for me - sometimes I go through definite periods where I'm very connected to Judiasm and sometimes I feel a bit UU. One parent comes from a very liberal Protestant family and the other from a mainstream Catholic family and I was raised liberal Methodist. All my friends growing up were either Jews or non-practicing Catholics and I came to really love Jewish services. I have a lot of respect for many pagan belief systems as well. I guess I see a lot to like in several religions - especially certain cultural aspects - but I can't really buy into any of them fully. So I'm still exploring.

[fundiefan]

Agnostic deist, maybe? I am atheist when it comes to the god of Abraham; that one, there is nothing I believe in or accept for any aspect of life.

The possibility of a supreme being, though? A 'creator', if you will? Could be, but I don't need to know and don't care to know and it doesn't matter to me one way or another.

[LilMissMetaphor]

This sorter gives you a good idea if you're uncertain about which religion your beliefs are in line with. I posted it on the old board before.

http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/ ... Matic.aspx