The Astral Pulse

World Cultures, Traditions and Religions => Welcome to World Cultures, Traditions and Religions! => Topic started by: Donal on April 30, 2006, 18:49:19

Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Donal on April 30, 2006, 18:49:19
I'm agnostic.
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Beth on April 30, 2006, 23:22:22
Welllll.....I don't follow a religion at all, and Donal, unless I am mistaken, being an Agnostic isn't actually a "religion" either. Religions usually have some sort of system attached to them that sets a particular standard, or doctrine, for that religious belief.

Here is a rundown and definitions of some standard western choices:

Thesism [from the Grk Theos] is the belief in God.

Atheism from the Greek "a" (without) and "theos" (God) is the doctrine or belief that there is no God

Monotheism believes that there is only One God. This very specific type of theism is the basis of all three major western religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Polytheism believes in more than one God, and is usually associated with the further designation "paganism."

Deism [from the Latin Dei] is similar to theism by believing in the existence of a God or supreme being but denies revealed religion, basing his belief on the light of nature and reason. It is said that some of the founding fathers of the USA were Deists, e.g., Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

Gnosticism from the Greek gnosis "knowledge"; a belief system that flourished in Hellenistic culture. Gnostics held that the closest that humanity could come to knowing anything about God was to obtain "knowledge" of as such as possible. Through knowledge of the physical world, it became apparent to Gnostics that the physical world was just a chaos of dying matter, and thus evil, and that the spiritual world was both ordered and eternal, and thus the only and highest good.

Agnosticism from the Greek "a" (without) and "gnosis" (knowledge) is the philosophical view that while there may be a God, we cannot know anything about it, so the matter is actually irrelevant to physical life.

Seeker
is someone who cannot say what one believes at the time, and thus is usually on a search for their own truth.

These pithy definitions are, of course, far from saying all there is to say about any one of them.

I don't really fit into any of these categories, but I guess would I lean more toward Gnosticism than any other; even then it is not an exact match! I have always had my own brand of belief!! :wink:

~Beth
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: kai wren on May 01, 2006, 03:18:40
Hail Eris!
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: shadow.pulsar on May 01, 2006, 10:49:02
She changes everything she touches...
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Nay on May 01, 2006, 11:12:15
Hey Beth!  Thanks for the list. :smile:  So the Gnostics believe in one God, right?  I'm not knowledgable at all about these things.. :razz:
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Nay on May 01, 2006, 11:13:51
Quote from: kai wrenHail Eris!

Who's that?  

Nay  :grin:
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: kai wren on May 01, 2006, 11:26:14
Eris is the Greek goddess of discord and strife. She is Ares' constant companion and follows him everywhere. Eris is sinister and mean, and her greatest joy is to make trouble. She has a golden apple that is so bright and shiny everybody wants to have it. When she throws it among friends, their friendship come to a rapid end. When she throws it among enemies, war breaks out, for the golden apple of Eris is the Apple of Discord. She did this once during the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, and this act brought about the Trojan War.


Eris has been adopted as the matron deity of the modern Discordian religion, which was begun in the late 1950s by Malaclypse the Younger and Lord Omar Khayam Ravenhurst. In the process, however, she has lightened up considerably in comparison to the rather malevolent Graeco-Roman original. A quote from the Principia Discordia, the first "holy book" of Discordianism, attempts to clear this up:

   One day Mal-2 consulted his Pineal Gland and asked Eris if She really created all of those terrible things. She told him that She had always liked the Old Greeks, but that they cannot be trusted with historic matters. "They were," She added, "victims of indigestion, you know."[1]

The story of Eris being snubbed and indirectly starting the Trojan War is recorded in the Principia, and is referred to as the Original Snub.
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Nay on May 01, 2006, 11:39:18
Hehehe.. You just described me and all my bitchy friends.  :lol:  

Girls gone wild.. :vavoom:
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: kai wren on May 01, 2006, 11:50:53
Hail Nay!
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Ryuji on May 01, 2006, 15:36:23
im of no religion either.

but i do follow a bunch of religion's teachings ;)

so in that sense im a wiccan + shaman + druid + gnostic + buddist

WSDGB ... hehe

i do prefer the way of the pagan, or more closer an earthy one that does vibate more to my sould along with buddist (japanse type of thought system)

owell odd post this is :roll:

Blessings,
Ryu
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Kallas on May 01, 2006, 16:28:01
Well Donal im Agnostic too.

They had this big religious speech in chapel about two weeks ago (i go to a christian school) where they said that agnosticism is sitting on the fence in relation to christianity, god i wanted to kill some one. I really have very little respect for many christians my age they, really can be quite pathetically stupid.
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Beth on May 01, 2006, 18:36:08
Quote from: NayHey Beth!  Thanks for the list. :smile:  So the Gnostics believe in one God, right?

Actually...no! :grin:

This is one of the main reasons that "Gnostics" were deemed as heretical to the Roman Catholic Church.  Also, what "we" now term "Gnostics" were not just one group or sect; there were actually quite a few!

Most Christian Gnostics were dualistic/polytheistic, if we want to term it as such, in several different ways:

One group that I know of worshipped both a male and a female deity. I don't think that they even tried to roll this dualism into two different aspects of the ONE God, like Catholicism did with the Trinity.  For whatever it is worth, this was actually a pretty cool group: both men and women were priests and deacons and the women could actually serve and perform the ritual for the eucharistic meal. Needless to say, the Roman Catholic Church did not like any of this one bit!!!  :shock:  Believe it or not, it is also interesting to note that they did not have one designated "head of the church"--other than Christ; they would actually draw lots to see who would perform the rituals at the next gathering! Pretty democratic if you ask me!!:wink:

Other various Gnostic groups incorporated quite complex divine heirarchies complete with demi-gods and goddessess, also known as "archons" with the main kahuna God placed so high that he/she/it was not even involved with this physical world. They also developed very large "angelologies" and "demonologies" that would war amongst themselves, or wreak havoc on humanity whenever they took a notion~

Personally, the polythesistic tendencies is where I have to split from "Gnosticism proper" because I do not think that GOD has a personifiable gender or means of adequate description at all.  I do, however, like the Gnostic idea that "knowledge" is the highest and best way to obtain "salvation" and to glean whatever knowledge we can is to bring us that much closer to obtaining knowledge about "God."

~Beth
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Nay on May 01, 2006, 18:47:01
Wow, very interesting.  Thanks Beth.  I like the idea of female and male. :grin:

Nay
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: El-Bortukali on May 01, 2006, 19:17:28
Scientology.but i don't see it as a religion :smile:
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Synergy on May 15, 2006, 23:18:04
Rosicrucian myself.... even though they don't consider it a 'religion' as such, it most fits my beliefs!

I was born and raised a Catholic but nothing in Catholicism really clicked with me. Firts of all, I am a woman, and the whole 'women can't be priests' etc urks me. Second, any mention of OBEs and they say you are dabbling with the devil!  Well... all of my OBEs were pretty much spontaneous when I was growing up... so was Satan out to get me for some reason??  I don't think so.... my Father who had studied to be a proest actually dragged te local parish preist up when I was a teenager, to tell me that I was dabbling evil things.... imagine!  I wasn't even asking to have OBEs! They even threatened that I would be open to possesion!

Anyway Rosicrucianism actually gets into the descriptions of the astral and etheric levels... and gets into cosmology, sacred geometry, etc and thats what I find 'fits' most with me.  It almost uses science to explain existence... and they do believe in a supreme being... the Great Architect of the Universe... (very similiar to Freemasonry actually) That's the G in the Masonic Symbol btw.

Any other Rosicrucians out there??
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: atomvy on May 20, 2006, 10:23:42
just starting out to be a shaman
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: ubiquitous on May 20, 2006, 11:10:12
I'm not religious but reckon god is an atheist, god has to be? unless there is goddad
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Layla on July 02, 2006, 11:43:16
I don't really know. One of my parents is Christian and one is Muslim.
So, I don't really know yet. I'm doing research though.
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Vilkate on July 02, 2006, 15:48:14
I'm an odd mutation between Catholic, Buddhist and Pagan.

I guess that's called just "spiritual"
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Stookie on July 02, 2006, 23:09:12
your a Cathaganist  :)
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: WindGod on July 03, 2006, 01:28:00
Sun and wind worshiper.

Getting too much skin damage now, so I'm canceling the Sun worship part.

Still pray for winds though.

Also sort of a platonic Jehovah Witness. My spouse participates and sometimes we go to J/W lunch and dinner events together.
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: James S on July 03, 2006, 08:06:07
If I needed to stick a label on myself I'd say I'm a spiritualist. I don't belong to any religion or any church. Spiritualists have churches and even they're too doctrinal and preachy for me.

I guess I follow the concepts of New Spirituality as have been pretty well discussed in the Conversations With God books.

Blessings,
James.
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: thesickmoon on July 03, 2006, 09:08:54
I practice Haggenery, which is sometimes known as Haggenism.
Title: What religion are you?
Post by: Pasco on July 09, 2006, 13:58:56
Mahayanabuddhism
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: WalkerInTheWoods on July 13, 2006, 09:33:31
While I don't claim any one religion, Buddhism has become an interest of mine lately and I am looking to learn more about it.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Stillwater on July 14, 2006, 07:22:03
I have basically been deist since I was five, although I did not know the term until a few years ago. As of about 6 years ago, you could basically call me Buddhist, insofar as I believe in the core philosophy, although I do not think some of the auxiliary practices tacted on after the schism of mahayana and theravada are all that important. One of the main aspects that resonates with my deist personality is that you take beliefs one at a time, and accept only what makes sense to you, not what others, even Buddhist figures, proclaim.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: .UnderINK. on July 15, 2006, 01:04:20
I don't have a solid religion out of the list Beth presented, per se. My beliefs are a mix of agnosticism, spiritualism, and taoism I guess. I don't like to label it, really. I don't think that deeply into my 'religious' affiliation. I concentrate simply on what I believe, which is encompassed in several religions so I can't pinpoint it too much. I believe in the concept of taiji, yin and yang.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Stillwater on July 15, 2006, 18:06:28
Have you read the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) and/or the Zhuangzi?

I can reccomend them highly, especially they Zhuangzi, to any who haven't read them.

The Zhuangzi is the most modern of all ancient Chinese texts in my opinion, posing concepts that weren't current in western philosophy for another 1800 years, like, " Zhunagzi awoke one morning, after having dreamt he was a butterfly fluttering above the forest, and was not able to say whether he was Zhuangzi dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi."
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: CFTraveler on July 20, 2006, 19:38:57
Metaphysical Christian- If you've read my posts, you know what it is.
I have been told that it's a form of Panentheism (different from pantheism), or maybe monistic.  Or something close to that.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Enoch on July 23, 2006, 16:52:00
Hmmm not really any religion so many false paths in religion...I would have to say Gnostic,,but thats not a religon or hindu and neither is that.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Astir on August 07, 2006, 17:14:35
Agnostic.
But I'm interested in Shamanism.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Gandalf on August 12, 2006, 15:17:23
I suppose I would have to class myself as a pagan:

but as Lord Summerisle says in 'The Wicker Man', "a heathen perhaps, but not an unenlightened one..."
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: interception on August 14, 2006, 18:43:29
I'm not a big fan of organized religions.

Buddhism is nice though... at the moment I am resonating slightly with some of the ways of Buddhism, but I don't take everything about it as absolute at all.

I am keeping an open mind...
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: WalkerInTheWoods on August 15, 2006, 07:23:51
Quote from: interception on August 14, 2006, 18:43:29
I'm not a big fan of organized religions.

Buddhism is nice though... at the moment I am resonating slightly with some of the ways of Buddhism, but I don't take everything about it as absolute at all.

I am keeping an open mind...

Isn't that what Buddhism teaches?  :-)
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: MisterJingo on August 17, 2006, 06:41:21
I used to be Christian, but now I don't feel I need to follow anything. I simply explore and let my beliefs grow from my experiences. I guess any kind of organisation which requires faith in ideas outside of my direct experience makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. I'm too inquisitive to take anothers beliefs as knowns.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: slernach on August 24, 2006, 20:40:04
Who has two thumbs and is a Jesus-Freak, this guy!
Yes, I am a Christian.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Mydral on September 04, 2006, 05:14:56
Is believing in a univeral life energy a religion? If not then the only religion I would acctually consider is Buddhism
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Novice on September 04, 2006, 14:51:42
Like many others who have posted, I'm not a fan of organizated religion. I'm not sure what I call myself.....actually I don't call myself anything!  I guess if I had to label it, I would probably fall in the category Beth called Seeker. I read many religious texts and pick out what resonates with me. I live my life with those beliefs, which are constantly changing and expanding based on the more I read, understand and experience in life. So definately not a static thing!
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Enoch on September 11, 2006, 20:42:23
Gnostic= Knowledge. I am a seeker of true knowledge. If it includes a religion so be it. religions will be the end of all of us but hey we made um up in the first place so a guess we have to live with it. 
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Anador on September 20, 2006, 01:49:44
I am a mormon from provo utah... :-D
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: thesickmoon on September 21, 2006, 01:23:51
Quote from: Anador on September 20, 2006, 01:49:44
I am a mormon from provo utah... :-D

I've got a car with Utah plates. It's also got a sticker from the LDS school of business on it. I live in Texas, and have never been pulled over while driving it. It's been a year and one month now... is there some kinda Utah power over the Texas police?
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Anador on September 21, 2006, 03:16:18
ha ha... maybe...

but i too have utah plates and now live in arizona.. and never get pulled over..

But i believe its because of laziness... not magic..

I remember hearing that if a cop gives a ticket to someone that has plates out of state, than they have to fill out a bunch of paperwork and file a bunch of other stuff... therefore, when a cop see's you speed by.. and catches a glimpse of your plate.. he says to himself " ahh crap, i hate paperwork.. i'll let em go and get the next guy"...

Or it could be magical lucky mormon plates...

Who knows :-D

Anador
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: phantomassassin on September 23, 2006, 03:33:12
well what i believe that there is no god (no offence god believers) because how can someone who did just one thing. plus when u break the 10 commandments you dont get a swarm of locus at you or sumtin wacko like that. i belive in everything has a purpose. god on the other hand does not have a purpose and thus he doesnt exist because he does abosolutly nothing while we do everything. i bet if he was real we wouldnt have as much problems like we do today
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Enoch on September 24, 2006, 21:08:57
God is everything he is not some immortal being of myth like zues...etc. He is literally everything in existence. The ten commandments are standards to live up to. The only time you will have problems with the ten commandments or the seven deadly sins is after you die. You can tell when your doing things wrong...Everyone can. Dont lie to yourself. Ahhh i forgot you can have problems with your sins in dreams also. Every religion (almost) believes in the one true god. He may be under a differant name in all religions but he still exists. But even satanists believe in god, If they did not it would be foolish. 
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Mitch on September 25, 2006, 15:43:38
Quote from: Enoch on September 24, 2006, 21:08:57But even satanists believe in god, If they did not it would be foolish. 

I know a satanist, he doesn't believe in god. They believe that satan is the only god, and that he created us. They don't think he's evil or anything.

Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Enoch on September 25, 2006, 19:08:36
To each his own. If he were to learn about dreaming he would soon see that balance and harmony exist..( barely sometimes) and if his truth were true we would have ceased to exist long ago.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Mitch on September 25, 2006, 19:40:46
Quote from: Enoch on September 25, 2006, 19:08:36
To each his own. If he were to learn about dreaming he would soon see that balance and harmony exist..( barely sometimes) and if his truth were true we would have ceased to exist long ago.

He visits these forums regularly, or at least used to. He's into Astral Projection as well as satanism. :) He's not negative, because they don't believe satan is.
Title: Re: What religion are you?
Post by: Enoch on September 25, 2006, 21:06:36
My only point here would be that without GOD there is no astral projection. At least as i see god as being the ALL. But hey we all have a path and as long as belief in spirit continues that is what matters.  :wink: