What's your religion? (Or lack thereof)

[luckylassie]

I was raised totally non-religious. I can remember being a toddler and my grandma trying to make me recite a prayer every night. I had no idea why she was doing that or what prayer was. Later on, I became a non-denominational Christian but it took a while.

[Seven Severn]

Was raised United Methodist and had my atheist epiphany at age 10. Didn't tell anyone and kept going to church. Even if I had told anyone I still would have had to attend, which was fine because I loved it. Was heavily involved in the choirs and learned a lot. Only stopped attending when I moved away.

If I had to be raised in a religion I'm very glad that it was that particular congregation of the United Methodist Church.

[colt13]

I believe in God, but don't consider myself religious. I have issues with people using the Bible to divide instead of unite.

Grandmother was a Southern Baptist that would put her last dollar in the collection plate because "God will provide." Then we had no food on the table.

Mom was a Christian for the last 30 some odd years of her life, went through a huge judgemental phase about 15 years ago that was so bad that if something bad happened to somebody, she felt they must have done something to deserve it. We didn't speak for a couple of years, and 9/11 was the catalyst for slowly mending our relationship.

[alysee]

Grew up Catholic....read The Book of Mormon, read the KJV. I don't know what I am but I don't believe anything created us, and I believe Heaven is created by people to comfort themselves when people die. People die and they are dead.

[kthomp38+]

I was raised in a Southern Baptist not fundie (possibly fundie lite) church. I have attended a United Methodist Church with my husband since marriage. However, the belief-o-matic said Quaker as my number one choice.

[Staceyjw]

None. I'm an atheist. Philosophically, Im a secular humanist. Was raised a (cultural Catholic) by parents who believe none of the Catholic dogma. You know the type "Of course Im Catholic, I just don't think the pope is divine, that abortion is evil, that you go to hell if you're unbaptised, or that confession is mandatory. But you know, I AM Catholic...." LOL

[onlyorganic]

I believe in the saving blood of Jesus Christ.

[mirele]

Crud, I already answered this. Deleting.

[tinuviel]

Raised fundie-lite but got sent to full fundie Bible camps and such as a teenager. Flirted with hardcore Reformed theology, drooled over the VF catalogue, but eventually couldn't get over some of my philosophical issues with Calvinism. Converted to Catholicism in '06 and went Tradionalist/fundie-Catholic for a while. Yes, I took fisheaters seriously. Now I take Fisheaters to be seriously batshit crazy. Still go to Mass and Confession, but I've become more secular in a lot of ways. I guess by more secular I mean less codependent with God, less of a perfectionist, generally more chill about other people's choices and with mine as well. I don't think everything I do is a sin anymore, thank God!

So yeah, I've been multiple kinds of Christian fundy in my day. Hence the FJ addiction!

[Deleted10]

Raised fundie-lite but got sent to full fundie Bible camps and such as a teenager. Flirted with hardcore Reformed theology, drooled over the VF catalogue, but eventually couldn't get over some of my philosophical issues with Calvinism. Converted to Catholicism in '06 and went Tradionalist/fundie-Catholic for a while. Yes, I took fisheaters seriously. Now I take Fisheaters to be seriously batshit crazy. Still go to Mass and Confession, but I've become more secular in a lot of ways. I guess by more secular I mean less codependent with God, less of a perfectionist, generally more chill about other people's choices and with mine as well. I don't think everything I do is a sin anymore, thank God!

So yeah, I've been multiple kinds of Christian fundy in my day. Hence the FJ addiction!

Not going to lie, I love the Fisheaters website itself - it's a great resource. But I stay the hell away from the forums!

[katy]

I kinda posted this in the "lurkers" thread, but oh well. Raised fundie-lite, homeschooled with Abeka and went to PCC for college. Got married and my husband and I were full-fledged QF Fundies. Then, we converted to Catholicism and went the fundie-Catholic route. I don't know how many people on this forum have been exposed to fundie-Catholics, but they put most fundie protestants to shame, really. They are crazy.( Our family missed Mass last month on Fathers Day because we had so many family commitments and couldn't make it work. My children's godmother called me frantically, believing we were all in mortal sin, offering to drive my children to confession in case they die in a car accident this week and go straight to hell for missing Mass. Really. This may be WORSE than being raised in Gothard Camps?)

We are now flirting with Eastern Orthodoxy. Still conservative, still have our 7 sacraments, not so legalistic and won't send me to hell if I stop having babies or miss church on Sunday. I have 7 wonderful children and I homeschool so I guess that makes me a bit fundie-lite, but I also wear a bikini, listen to rock music, drink (gasp) watch tv, I don't really fit in to any "model" very well.

[tinuviel]

Not going to lie, I love the Fisheaters website itself - it's a great resource. But I stay the hell away from the forums!

Yeah, that's a fair enough statement. The main site is good for old papal documents, finding old feast day traditions and such which can be a lot of fun. But DUDE. The forums are nuts. Lots of guilt-ridden misogynists floating around in there. "I ate two cookies instead of one. Is that a sin?" "Probably. This is what happens when we have feminists telling us that gluttony is just part of 'taking care of yourSELF' instead of embracing mortification." Yargh. *smash*

[tinuviel]

I kinda posted this in the "lurkers" thread, but oh well. Raised fundie-lite, homeschooled with Abeka and went to PCC for college. Got married and my husband and I were full-fledged QF Fundies. Then, we converted to Catholicism and went the fundie-Catholic route. I don't know how many people on this forum have been exposed to fundie-Catholics, but they put most fundie protestants to shame, really. They are crazy.( Our family missed Mass last month on Fathers Day because we had so many family commitments and couldn't make it work. My children's godmother called me frantically, believing we were all in mortal sin, offering to drive my children to confession in case they die in a car accident this week and go straight to hell for missing Mass. Really. This may be WORSE than being raised in Gothard Camps?). [...]

Ugh. That sounds soooo familiar. I've found that a pretty high number of traditionalists are converts from fundamentalism of re-verts from being "fallen away". Combining fundamentalists tendencies with the zeal of new converts is a baaaaad thing. And the re-verts seem to do the convert zeal along with the fear of The World that so many protestant fundies do. Hot mess.

[Lainey]

Atheist agnostic with an interest in paganism, especially of the "kitchen witch" variety. Can't quite reconcile my lack of belief in god or an afterlife with having heard my grandpa snoring after he was dead, considering I wasn't the only one who heard it.

I think it would be great if there was an afterlife and a benevolent higher power. I'd love to see my dearly departed pets again.

I don't believe in Christianity at all; I think Jesus, if he existed, was a man who was one of many who claimed to be the saviour at that time in history. Or maybe a mishmash of them all. And since I believe in evolution and that most people are basically good, I'm not sure what Jesus was supposed to save people from, anyway. I think Hell was a fable created to scare people into believing so that the church could stay in power, and it stuck.

I was raised by a Catholic mother who kind of had a Native-American style spirituality about her...I think that's where my interest in Paganism comes from.

[Olivia]

Grew up fundie-lite. Seven day creationism, submission in marriage, homosexuality as sin, virginity til marriage, etc. But the people I grew up with were terrific, honestly. I was so happy in the church as a kid -- church itself could be boring, but I loved that it was like a big family. We had a death in the immediate family and the church just rallied around us. It's something I'd love for my kids, without the crazy. And there also wasn't a lot of legalism -- women could wear pants, work (though being a SAHM was the ideal once you had kids, it wasn't the only option), and Pepsi products were allowed. People loved their kids, even though spanking did seem to be the 11th commandment, and we had a lot of fun. We grew up always doing volunteer work and I love that.

As I grew up it just seemed like a lot of the things were unnecessary, and some beliefs were potentially harmful for some people (especially those with a tendency towards legalism, which I swear is probably akin to an addictive personality). I came to believe in evolution and equal rights for homosexual people.

Now I'd say I'm a moderate-to-liberal Protestant, non-denominational.

[duplessis3]

I was raised an American Baptist (liberal!) then was UCC for awhile and now I'm UU. I embrace the mystery. I'm sure I haven't heard all the versions of god/s so I can't discount them, and since I can't really know for sure - I'm content to not know. I think as a culture we get into a God/No God thing, much like our gender binary or good/evil stuff. I don't believe in the gender binary system and I for sure don't believe there's a good/evil (although some things are just evil, and some things seem to just be good) so why would I accept a god/no god choice? It isnt a yes or no question.

I'm sorry to whoever felt unwelcome at their UU because they weren't married with kids - you'd fit right in at our UU! Lots of singles, etc. My eldest son is UU / Heathen (Norse tradition and no, he isn't a racist.) It has been interesting learning more about that.

And you know, believing in an afterlife, or ghosts etc is not dependent on there being an Omnipotent Omniscent god. There could be lots of little gods. There could be no god and still be ghosts.

[Guest Anonymous]

I was raised an American Baptist (liberal!)

A ... liberal ... Baptist? It must be different in other regions, because where I live that combination is about as common as bisexual glow-in-the-dark unicorns.

[valsa]

None. I'm an atheist. Philosophically, Im a secular humanist. Was raised a (cultural Catholic) by parents who believe none of the Catholic dogma. You know the type "Of course Im Catholic, I just don't think the pope is divine, that abortion is evil, that you go to hell if you're unbaptised, or that confession is mandatory. But you know, I AM Catholic...." LOL

That reminds me of my father (not the specific beliefs though) According to him, he is a Catholic- just a bad one.

[HowRude]

Mainstream Christian (Apostolic) the people at my church are nothing like the bloggers or any other fundies. No one would dare be caught dead in a frumper, women wear pants, make up and can even lead a bible study or two when the pastor doesn't do it. Men and women have traditional roles but not in the fundie sense of traditional like you can go to college and have children if you would like. We watch movies and many of times there are references from movies in the sermon. In addition no one has been within 10ft of the SODRT. I think I have this experience because I'm in the big city not all churches are this way some are still very conservative as in marvel not after your own understanding means you are not allowed to play marbles. By the way dating is allowed (people would wet their pants laughing over the idea of courtship). My church has not always been this way as in there was no make up, pants, and service was every night twice a day expected to attend both services on Sunday. But hey we stepped into the 21st century and I'm happy to have this experience learning about God there.

[Deleted10]

I kinda posted this in the "lurkers" thread, but oh well. Raised fundie-lite, homeschooled with Abeka and went to PCC for college. Got married and my husband and I were full-fledged QF Fundies. Then, we converted to Catholicism and went the fundie-Catholic route. I don't know how many people on this forum have been exposed to fundie-Catholics, but they put most fundie protestants to shame, really. They are crazy.( Our family missed Mass last month on Fathers Day because we had so many family commitments and couldn't make it work. My children's godmother called me frantically, believing we were all in mortal sin, offering to drive my children to confession in case they die in a car accident this week and go straight to hell for missing Mass. Really. This may be WORSE than being raised in Gothard Camps?)

We are now flirting with Eastern Orthodoxy. Still conservative, still have our 7 sacraments, not so legalistic and won't send me to hell if I stop having babies or miss church on Sunday. I have 7 wonderful children and I homeschool so I guess that makes me a bit fundie-lite, but I also wear a bikini, listen to rock music, drink (gasp) watch tv, I don't really fit in to any "model" very well.

Have you looked into Eastern Catholicism? Might be worth a try for you. I'm currently reading up on it - I want to try the Byzantine Rite church near me but I'm trying to prepare myself for the differences between our Mass and their Divine Liturgy. I know the Catholic Answers forum is a bit... uh... INTENSE sometimes, but their Eastern Catholicism forum is a great way to explore that branch of the Church.

[nutella addict]

Hmmm. So I'd say Lutheran, was raised LCMS but never realized it was YEC until I read the wikipedia article a year or so ago, so I guess maybe not the strictest LCMS out there. We didn't ordain women ourselves but met female pastors on youth retreats and things. My German mother was raised Lutheran and my British father was raised Church of England. My Dad has no problem going to a Lutheran church. My parents liked the church because nobody judged them for having me before they got married, and I loved growing up there and doing the community service and choir stuff. We were all baptized and confirmed and sent to Sunday school, but missing church happened pretty frequently and in high school my sister stopped going and my parents let her figure out her own beliefs. I hung out with some conservative evangelicals in Campus for Christ (Canada dropped the "crusade" part of the name) and became a bit more conservative myself until I realized how much I didn't agree with them. I don't mind going to different denominations, I reckon God was behind evolution, I'm all for my gay relatives and best friends to be loved and accepted, and all that generally mainstream/liberal protestant stuff, although I'm pretty sympathetic to Catholics too, and think that I can't possibly know what God has planned for people after they die. Also my old (now retired) pastor was good friends with the rabbi of one of my best friends, and I'm big on interfaith stuff and learning about what other people believe. I guess my specific beliefs shift about a bit, although I still believe in God and that Jesus was the Son of God who saved me from my sins. I appreciate Luther's reliance on Scripture instead of what some clergymen tells me what to do, although I'll happily listen to other interpretations and decide for myself, and I'm big on looking at historical context. I also really like Luther's quotes talking about how God wrote the Gospel in nature as well ("on every leaf in springtime" was one). Personally I like a traditional liturgy for Sunday morning, although any other time I'm happy with contemporary worship songs instead of just hymns. Currently I attend Church of Scotland since there isn't a Lutheran church anywhere nearby.

Beliefnet says this about me:

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)

2. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (92%)

3. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (92%)

I had no idea I was 92% in line with Mormons... Hi Mormons! Wanna tell me what you believe?

I did not mean to make this so long, sorry!

[Guest Anonymous]

Fallen Catholic :)

[Cerysbell]

Raised Anglican, still Anglican. Any talk about submission etc is in the context of mutual submission, no one is interested in your birth control, or if you like a glass of wine, or if you can't always make it to church on Sunday because you have to work. Very non-judgemental.

[flojo]

Raised baptist/ evangelical/ pentecostl.

Have dabbled in fundie light.

Now unsure what I am... Nothing, maybe agnostic...

[Kelsey]

Atheist.

If someone asks though, I generally say I'm a UU so I don't have to face the non-believer stigma. I know I shouldn't but I live in the bible belt (south Georgia) and I don't want burning crosses on my lawn....or thrown out of my rental because it's the only one we could find that would allow all of our pets.