Scrub Jay Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I'm just curious to see how the board pans out spiritually (or lack there of). My guess is the majority will be Christian with agnostic/atheism second (granted, those are 2 separate choices in my poll). I'm also curious if we have any Buddhists on this board. I've always been fascinated with Buddhism but have a hard time getting past Buddha bailing on his wife and kid. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbecueMom Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Agnostic non-practicing Catholic apathist. Don't know, don't care, but there's fish on Friday. I guess agnostic for short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Christian here. Even though I suspect my Grannie thinks I'm a heretic since we do yoga. I think we have at least a few Buddhists who post regularly, hopefully they'll chime in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Quaker leaning, universal salvation believing, social justice loving, beloved community type Christian. I was raised Baptist, of the religious left sort of Baptists. My mother is an ordained Baptist minister. Dh is an atheist - raised Catholic, briefly Hindu. He was at Harvard Divinity when I met him. One of the ds is an atheist as well thus far. The other one tells me he's Hindu or Unitarian, both of which he has spent time in the communities of. I'm not sure if he's really up on Hinduism, but I think he likes spicy lentils and that the kids at the temple apparently played lots of games derived from the Ramayana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub Jay Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 I had thought there was an Ask a Buddhist thread on here during that board "phase" but I can't find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I had thought there was an Ask a Buddhist thread on here during that board "phase" but I can't find it. That isn't really surprising. I have had the worst time with the search feature since the last board change. Have you tried googling it? Sometimes it garners better results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspasia Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I was raised Mormon. I still consider myself Mormon (because I'm proud of my heritage--mostly--and it's such a big part of who I am), but my actual religious beliefs are agnostic and I am not currently active/practicing. I have no intention of being active ever again, but I maintain my Mormon identity. So basically, I'm an agnostic Mormon. (But I voted agnostic.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub Jay Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 That isn't really surprising. I have had the worst time with the search feature since the last board change. Have you tried googling it? Sometimes it garners better results. Your gift package of chocolate and wine ice cream is in the mail!! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/513724-ask-a-buddhist/ (yes, wine ice cream apparently exists http://www.mtlblog.com/2014/11/wine-ice-cream-is-now-a-thing-you-can-eat-and-get-drunk-on/#) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Voted Pagan but am an atheist too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Your gift package of chocolate and wine ice cream is in the mail!! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/513724-ask-a-buddhist/ (yes, wine ice cream apparently exists http://www.mtlblog.com/2014/11/wine-ice-cream-is-now-a-thing-you-can-eat-and-get-drunk-on/#) I am not one to turn down free booze. Or anything guaranteed to go straight to my ass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I had to vote other, because Kat somehow managed to overlook the extremely common Buddhist-Pagan-Agnostic option in the poll. :glare: :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Pagan, of the agnostic variety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub Jay Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 I had to vote other, because Kat somehow managed to overlook the extremely common Buddhist-Pagan-Agnostic option in the poll. :glare: :D The BPA! Dang it! (actually sounds very much what I lean towards!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 (edited) . Edited November 19, 2015 by Love Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I voted atheist but it took me a while to get where I am. Cradle Catholic most of my life then United Methodist for a few years. Hard core atheist (in terms of belief) for the past 10 years. I don't see myself ever going back to believing in higher power of any sort. Buddhism appealed to me on the surface, but then I dug deeper when I left Christianity and was searching. The whole trying-to-escape-this-life-and-reach-nirvana thing wasn't for me. Plus I don't believe in rebirth any more than I do an afterlife, so that ended my dalliance with Buddhism. I do enjoy meditating though. It clears my mind and calms me. I also flirted with various Pagan beliefs but I had no desire to exchange one set of rituals for another. I do like the connection to nature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Agnostic/Buddhist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Eastern Orthodox Christian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Christian. Definitely not Conservative Christian. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 New-agey agnostic cradle Catholic who likes some Buddhist-ish stuff, some Pagan stuff but still learning, so... I can't really be labeled, and probably never will fit any label neatly when it comes to spirituality. I voted as "undecided". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 other... apathetic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 You didn't include an option for "all of the above." ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Christian. Married to a current atheist, former Christian. Surprised there aren't more Buddhists. Sorry to not see (from the movie St. Vincent) "...I don't know what I am." ..."it's sweeping the nation...." That scene made me laugh because it was a sweet, funny way to handle the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Christian. Married to a current atheist, former Christian. Surprised there aren't more Buddhists. Sorry to not see (from the movie St. Vincent) "...I don't know what I am." ..."it's sweeping the nation...." That scene made me laugh because it was a sweet, funny way to handle the situation. Looking at the comments, there are quite a few Buddhist Agnostics or Atheists. With or without Paganism. I think the problem is that a lot of us who have studied Buddhism don't fit neatly into a single poll category, and that messes up the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Atheist is not a belief, it's a lack of belief... I am a secular humanist. I attend a UU church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Cradle Catholic turned agnostic turned convert to Judaism/evolutionary deist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Lifelong Mormon with Mormon pioneer ancestors turned nondenominational universalist Christian. More spiritual than religious at this point. I've only attended church services half a dozen times this year (mainly due to lack of church options--highly Mormon/LDS area means extremely small congregations at any other church). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Quaker leaning, universal salvation believing, social justice loving, beloved community type Christian... I quite like this description. I answered Christian in the poll but know I'd be "kicked out" of that category by some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Raised Roman Catholic...and that Christian by itself meant all the Protestant non-Catholics. So you'd need an option for Catholic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Looking at the comments, there are quite a few Buddhist Agnostics or Atheists. With or without Paganism. I think the problem is that a lot of us who have studied Buddhism don't fit neatly into a single poll category, and that messes up the results. I think any spiritual views that are not exclusive (as in, you can be It and Something Else at the same time without proponents of It arguing you're not really It) can make polling hard. Buddhism is a more "mixable" spirituality. Even so, I was surprised that there weren't more people who identified as just Buddhist. Maybe it's my particular social circles. I have a daughter who is a Korean adoptee who attends a very Asian (in pedagogy and ethnic backgrounds ) marital arts school with mostly children of Asian immigrants. We also celebrate some Korean holidays with the Korean immigrant community. Many of them only identify as Buddhist, not as a mix. I expected that to be more the norm than the mixed version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Roman Catholic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I had to vote undecided. I have a Jewish background (kinda sorta). My parents identify as Messianic Jews. I called myself Christian for years. I have checked out various different pagan groups. I checked out Mormons for awhile. To my family I call myself agnostic (mostly cause it makes them leave me alone), but really I just don't know. I have no idea anymore what I believe or don't believe. I kinda wish I could wash my hands of it all and just stick with agnostic, but I don't think that's really who I am, I am just really unsure of where I fit yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspasia Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 other... apathetic... This is my husband, who was also born and raised very Mormon. He just doesn't care about anything religious anymore. I think his religious experience was somewhat traumatizing for him. Atheist is not a belief, it's a lack of belief... I am a secular humanist. I attend a UU church. Atheism isn't a religion, but I definitely consider it a belief. It's an assertion--an active belief--that there is no God. If anything is a *lack* of religious belief, I would say it's agnosticism. But apathetic is even more so. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Protestant Christian here. I consider myself on the conservative side, but recognize that many more conservative believers wouldn't agree. My whole immediate family is similar. My mom is agnostic (and doesn't care). My dad will say he believes (and probably does), but rarely attends church or anything more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I voted other. I probably should have chosen Christian, but I like to be precise. :) The visible constructs of my life are Christian. My actual beliefs (or lack thereof) are deist, with some new age leanings thrown in. Mostly I am a work in progress and don't claim to have this figured out. My goal is to be a loving person who brings good into the world, and this is my wish for my kids as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 My beliefs are so muddled I have trouble finding words to describe them. I guess "progressive, social justice loving, definitely not claiming a denomination Christian, some days leaning towards panentheism or pantheism, with on and off agnostic leanings and Buddhist overtones" might work. Not sure where that would place me in your poll, so at least for the moment I won't vote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Oops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Raised Roman Catholic...and that Christian by itself meant all the Protestant non-Catholics. So you'd need an option for Catholic. Why would you say that? I know there is a subset of Protestants that don't consider Catholics to be Christians, but I've not heard a Catholic agree with that before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Mormon, and very much a practicing one, so I am a Christian, though some who voted that they themselves are Christian would say that I am not ;-P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Wow, no wonder this place sometimes feels like another planet! ( looking at the results ). Actually, it seems pretty representative of the US in general. (I realize you are not in the US.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Cradle Catholic, still Catholic and loving it. :) ETA: Roman Catholic to be specific. I voted Christian in the poll. Catholics are the original Christian! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I am a Christian. While I do attend a church with a denomination, I don't consider myself any denomination. I try to follow the Bible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Christian/Mormon/LDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I voted other. I was born, raised and spent more than 15 years of my adulthood in a mainline Christian group. (PCUSA, mostly) Never knew anything like a "conservative Christian" existed until I got online circa 1995ish. People were having a discussion about attending a baptism and their comments about Christians didn't match what I understood culturally and experientially growing up and early adulthood. Life went on, and the content of Christianity made less and less sense to me. As most of you know, I left that openly a few years ago now after struggling to be a progressive/liberal Christian. If I ever returned (when hell freezes over ;)), it would be from a mystical/contemplative, gnostic perspective. I flirted with earth - based religions (more than once, I might add) but the scripted rituals turned me off. The anger of many of the followers turned me off. The "alternative for the sake of being alternative" turned me off. I also flirted with Buddhism over the years, but (as mentioned in the OP), Buddha's personal history pervades my attraction to Buddhism. I agree with and incorporate some Buddhist principles and thinking, though. I don't know enough about Hinduism to say, except many gods doesn't make sense to me. I am not fond of exclusive religions at all - they are functional oxy-morons to me. I can't open to worshiping/following/honoring any god that would exclude people based on what often essentially comes down to geography and heritage. I read a stack of meditation books daily ranging from Celtic (with higher power), to metaphysical Christian, to spiritual, and Tao.Tao seems to make the most sense to me know, which is funny because it really doesn't make sense at all. But it at least doesn't have any myth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Wow, no wonder this place sometimes feels like another planet! ( looking at the results ). I know it's different in some places, but where we live, no one asks what religion you are, so I honestly have no clue how most of the people I know would respond to this poll. I assume the results would be pretty mixed, though. It's hard to get a real feeling about this stuff on an internet forum, too, because all it takes are a few loudmouths who burst into every possible thread to either preach their strong religious beliefs or, on the other side of the coin, "educate" people about why having religious beliefs is stupid and unscientific, and all of a sudden it looks like there is a huge movement one way or the other -- when really it's just the same small number of people on either side who make a lot of noise. I think most of the people on this forum are kind, decent, and tolerant. I also think that many people refrain from posting about topics that are either specifically religious or atheist in content because they don't want to be bullied or mocked by a few people who will almost inevitably show up to derail their threads or nitpick at their posts. Personally, I don't care what anyone believes or doesn't believe, because it's none of my business and I don't think religion or a lack thereof has the slightest impact on whether or not someone is nice, honest, caring, and decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub Jay Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Atheism isn't a religion, but I definitely consider it a belief. It's an assertion--an active belief--that there is no God. If anything is a *lack* of religious belief, I would say it's agnosticism. But apathetic is even more so. :) I have to agree as well. Atheism, to me, has as much belief as any religion. But I also come from the view that, in the end, we are just mere humans and truly have no flippin' clue. And I'm happy to live and let live - it's when certain religious people try and force others to conform to their religion. I am grateful to live in a secularly (apparently I made that word up) run country. Which screams agnostic for me but yet I yearn for something a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I know it's different in some places, but where we live, no one asks what religion you are, so I honestly have no clue how most of the people I know would respond to this poll. I assume the results would be pretty mixed, though. It's hard to get a real feeling about this stuff on an internet forum, too, because all it takes are a few loudmouths who burst into every possible thread to either preach their strong religious beliefs or, on the other side of the coin, "educate" people about why having religious beliefs is stupid and unscientific, and all of a sudden it looks like there is a huge movement one way or the other -- when really it's just the same small number of people on either side who make a lot of noise. I think most of the people on this forum are kind, decent, and tolerant. I also think that many people refrain from posting about topics that are either specifically religious or atheist in content because they don't want to be bullied or mocked by a few people who will almost inevitably show up to derail their threads or nitpick at their posts. Personally, I don't care what anyone believes or doesn't believe, because it's none of my business and I don't think religion or a lack thereof has the slightest impact on whether or not someone is nice, honest, caring, and decent. What she said! (Because like is not enough.) 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I know it's different in some places, but where we live, no one asks what religion you are, so I honestly have no clue how most of the people I know would respond to this poll. I assume the results would be pretty mixed, though. It's hard to get a real feeling about this stuff on an internet forum, too, because all it takes are a few loudmouths who burst into every possible thread to either preach their strong religious beliefs or, on the other side of the coin, "educate" people about why having religious beliefs is stupid and unscientific, and all of a sudden it looks like there is a huge movement one way or the other -- when really it's just the same small number of people on either side who make a lot of noise. I think most of the people on this forum are kind, decent, and tolerant. I also think that many people refrain from posting about topics that are either specifically religious or atheist in content because they don't want to be bullied or mocked by a few people who will almost inevitably show up to derail their threads or nitpick at their posts. Personally, I don't care what anyone believes or doesn't believe, because it's none of my business and I don't think religion or a lack thereof has the slightest impact on whether or not someone is nice, honest, caring, and decent. I agree with everything you wrote except not knowing how others in my IRL circle believe. Around my lunch table(s) at school we tend to talk about EVERYTHING at some point or another and there's definitely a bit of variety. ;) I can't imagine a taboo subject - or running anyone off/having them feel uncomfortable due to what they believe about any particular subject. I like it that way. It's not totally the same with neighbors - not as in depth - but we still have an idea. Acquaintances (other than those at church)? I've no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemiSweet Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Atheist here, although my dh sometimes refers to me as a raging atheist, but that wasn't an option. ;) I was raised as a believing but not really practicing Mormon, then I dabbled in Conservative Christianity for a few years and at some point in 2008 something just clicked and I went from Christian to agnostic to atheist pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shahrazad Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Muslim. I was raised Christian (Episcopalian) by my mother (parents were divorced) though my father and his family are also Muslim and went to Catholic school. I decided to learn more about my own faith and the other major religions and after reading the Bible, Qur'an, Torah, Bhagavad Gita, and Vedas cover to cover, I realized that Christianity was not the faith for me and eventually ended up becoming a Muslim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I'd probably still say christian if asked IRL, but I voted other as there are aspects of christianity that no longer define my beliefs. Probably more deist leaning - reading more on it during my winter break, with some aspects of Buddhism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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