mega thread Everypony's Religion And Why?

[best poni 1,519]

Please don't take this as a personal attack, but I'm really tired of hearing this. To say that one must choose religion or science is a false dichotomy. I believe in both. Many do. Sure, there are religious people that reject parts of science in favor of very specific interpretations of their religious texts, but I honestly think they have to do a lot more mental gymnastics than those who simply accept what we've learned from the scientific method (and it's really not in conflict with the religious literature I can think of).

I knew this would happen.  I never said you have to choose science or religion. You know, I'm really tired of people making comments about my non religious orientation but that doesn't mean I should criticize the people that do. 

[Chara 1,565]

I am a Christian, my beliefs come from when I was being bullied almost to the point of suicide, I would have extreme depression hidden inside of me at School, at home, almost everywhere. That was when I had no one to turn to but God, I literally prayed to him almost every single night and guess what happened? It all turned better as time went by and I felt a new strength inside of me when I turned to God. A strength of happiness, joy, and of course showed off my inner weirdness (kind of how you see me now) I think God exists deep inside of me and I truly know that my faith belongs in non-other but God himself. 

[Jonny Music 3,410]

I am a Christian, my beliefs come from when I was being bullied almost to the point of suicide, I would have extreme depression hidden inside of me at School, at home, almost everywhere. That was when I had no one to turn to but God, I literally prayed to him almost every single night and guess what happened? It all turned better as time went by and I felt a new strength inside of me when I turned to God. A strength of happiness, joy, and of course showed off my inner weirdness (kind of how you see me now) I think God exists deep inside of me and I truly know that my faith belongs in non-other but God himself. 

 

You are of course talking about Jehovah (or Yahweh), right? Because of the many religions that exist, there comes to a point where we need to specify which God we are referring to.

 

For example, the Judeo-Christian God is also referred to as, Jehovah, Yahweh, The Great I Am, The Lord, and there are some more names where that came from (The names in bold are the most common of the names for clarification).

Edited December 11, 2015 by Jonny Music

[MontagnaMagica 307]

I knew this would happen.  I never said you have to choose science or religion. You know, I'm really tired of people making comments about my non religious orientation but that doesn't mean I should criticize the people that do. 

It's not a criticism of your beliefs. Like I said, it's not a personal attack. Actually, it does upset me that people are making comments about your non-religious orientation. And I can sympathize with the latter part of you original post, honestly. But when you implied that science and religion are somehow at odds, of course I'm gonna call that out!

Edited December 11, 2015 by MontagnaMagica

[best poni 1,519]

It's not a criticism of your beliefs. Like I said, it's not a personal attack. Actually, it does upset me that people are making comments about your non-religious orientation. And I can sympathize with the latter part of you original post, honestly. But when you implied that science and religion are somehow at odds, of course I'm gonna call that out!

I never said that they conflict with each other, also it isn't any of you business to call me out on it. I made a generalized statement about what I think explains things better, that's it.

[Lil Pip 775]

Yeah sure religion and science can go hand in hand, sort of like mold(religion) and pizza(science). Because cheese(good concepts) is produced from specific molds(I would say the christian religion has some molds which produce poison instead of cheese, but some of them can be good I suppose, but in nature they produce spores n are generally unsavory), which is delicious.

But no one wants moldy pizza, which is usually where it ends up (pseudoscience).

[Unikitty 1,212]

Agnostic. Because I think that were there an omnipotent(or even just a significantly advanced) being/species, they'd have the capabilities to keep themselves hidden from less advanced beings. Until we become close to omnipotent, it will forever be impossible to confirm or deny the existence of any such being, unless they decided to present themselves to us. We can take something as simple as wearing mottled print clothing(military camo) to hide ourselves from other people. If we can do something so simple yet effective, imagine what something a thousand, or hundred thousand, or even a million years more advanced than us could achieve.
And once we reach a level of advancement enough to be considered gods to beings in our current state, what's to say there isn't something that has surpassed the level of omnipotence even further, still leaving us in the dark about their existence.

It's naive to think that something magically came down and made us. And it's arrogant to think that we have the ability to know everything and claim that there is nothing out there greater than us.

[MontagnaMagica 307]

I never said that they conflict with each other, also it isn't any of you business to call me out on it. I made a generalized statement about what I think explains things better, that's it.

To be fair, you put your thoughts out on a public forum, so you're not immune to criticism. Sorry to have bothered you. If that was what you originally meant, OK. It obviously wasn't interpreted that way.

Yeah sure religion and science can go hand in hand, sort of like mold(religion) and pizza(science). Because cheese(good concepts) is produced from specific molds(I would say the christian religion has some molds which produce poison instead of cheese, but some of them can be good I suppose, but in nature they produce spores n are generally unsavory), which is delicious.

But no one wants moldy pizza, which is usually where it ends up (pseudoscience).

LOL! Well I can't speak for Christians (I'm not one myself), but I know that there are plenty who reject the "New Earth" pseudoscience theories, as you and I do.

Edited December 11, 2015 by MontagnaMagica

[Lithophila 291]

I am a believing cozy Christian sheep ^^. But i've considered Catholicism. But i am not sure yet. Either way. Its always nice to know your acquaintance

[CookieK 74]

Not sure what version of those religions you are talking about. I was always taught that God was also the Universe, or could be. God has also been described as all of us, and as simple "love."

 

Nothing concrete about God's actual being is hard and fast doctrine in Christianity because the idea is "we don't know God's nature. It would be arrogant to presume we as limited humans could claim to know God's nature." Although theological theories are common.

 

Hell in Islam, giving God ANY kind of description that would imply physical being is against the faith. 

Oh I didn't know that about  Islam,shows what I know  ,but I was meaning like god is the universe and its loving and caring but it can't control people or their actions,whereas I was always taught that the god in Christianity can and does on more than one occasion,same thing for Judaism. I didn't know that it was against Islam to imply that the God of Islam was a physical being,the other 2 big religions I always got the impression that their gods were physical,so I'm sorry if I upset anyone by clumping it together with Christianity or Judaism. That was a total asshole move on my part. 

Edited December 13, 2015 by CookieK

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Oh I didn't know that about  Islam,shows what I know  ,but I was meaning like god is the universe and its loving and caring but it can't control people or their actions,whereas I was always taught that the god in Christianity can and does on more than one occasion,same thing for Judaism. I didn't know that it was against Islam to imply that the God of Islam was a physical being,the other 2 big religions I always got the impression that their gods were physical,so I'm sorry if I upset anyone by clumping it together with Christianity or Judaism. That was a total asshole move on my part. 

 

Forgiven, just speaking as a Christian. Not everyone who is of those two faiths believes God is an interventionist deity. I don't to a large extent. I believe God acts through people. (Not that He magically mind controls them or something because that would go against free will, His greatest gift and responsibility to us.) Like all religions, both Christianity and Judaism are not one thing with no different interpretations between sect and individual.

 

In Judaism, God is not depicted but they believe their savior, God incarnate, will come one day to deliver them. They don't give God a face because what could we possibly conceive that would be an adequate physical descriptor for such a force?

 

Christians believe that Jesus WAS that savior, and is the only concrete depiction of God because, well He was also a man. (And that's about as interventionist as it can get but the emphasis is that His actions on Earth ended with the resurrection and the rest is up to us.) Otherwise, God only plays a part in the lives of Christians in the form of the Holy Spirit, the ever present, loving, but not physical, energy of the universe.

 

When Christians pray in request, they are typically praying to the Holy Spirit. Hence when we genuflect ourselves, we put our hand to our head, heart, and then both shoulders. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." One God, three forms.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Steel Accord

[Anneal 2,197]

Whaaaaat....

 

I'm a Protestant Christian... How can there be two options for one or the other???

 

I really don't think the OP has a solid enough grasp on religion to grasp what he/she is really asking...

 

I have to be forced to select Christian in the polls...

 

BUT I AM A PROTESTANT Christian.

 

Arrghhhh...

 

~ Miles

 

Christianity isn't just Protestant, Catholic, and East Orthodox, so I'm a bit surprised that there's Methodist as a separate category while it's still Protestant. Not to mention the other divisions of Christianity: Prebysterian, Anglican, Reformed (Calvinist), Evangelical, Anglican, and Lutheran (there's a lot more, but that's what came at the top of my head). The only separate categories should be Jehovah's Witness...

 

And I'm surprised there's no LDS (Latter Day Saint) choice yet. It's a fairly significant minority-religion in the U.S Southwest, with most followers in Utah and Nevada.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Sealand

[Miles 2,512]

Christianity isn't just Protestant, Catholic, and East Orthodox, so I'm a bit surprised that there's Methodist as a separate category while it's still Protestant. Not to mention the other divisions of Christianity: Prebysterian, Anglican, Reformed (Calvinist), Evangelical, Anglican, and Lutheran (there's a lot more, but that's what came at the top of my head). The only separate categories should be Jehovah's Witness...

 

And I'm surprised there's no LDS (Latter Day Saint) choice yet. It's a fairly significant minority-religion in the U.S Southwest, with most followers in Utah and Nevada.

 

Lol.

 

---

 

See, I'm a United Methodist Church member.

 

But, you have done the opposite of what should be expected.

 

Look:

 

Methodist... Presbyterian... Nazareth... (Though any of these I'd be fine with qualifying as...) Etc.

 

The point I made against the OP wasn't about specific dominion of Christianity, but rather, that Protestant Christianity holds so many dominions that it should hold its own category, with specific dominions underneath.  

 

Catholics aren't the same way.  You can just say "I'm Catholic" and it is obvious - well, with the singular exception of "I'm Roman Catholic."

 

But for us Protestants, we gotta be more specific.

 

---

 

Nonetheless, albeit that I am a "confirmed member" of my UMC...

 

I would rather think of myself as a Trinitarian Universalist Christian.

 

~ Miles

[Sunwalker 981]

I knew this would happen.  I never said you have to choose science or religion. You know, I'm really tired of people making comments about my non religious orientation but that doesn't mean I should criticize the people that do.

I can really sympathise with you here, even though my religious position is different than yours.

 

It is those annoying militant atheists who gave other atheists a bad fame, then the latter might end up having their intentions misinterpreted. One of my atheist friends doesn't call himself an atheist because of that, he prefer to call him "non religious" or "secular".

 

Anyways, I do my best to not judge people based on preconceived notions, I am friendly towards everyone I meet for the first time. I do have friends who are atheists, and we get along well

[Lithophila 291]

So many catholics

 

Thats pretty nice ^^

 

I am not one yet. But i've considered it. Either way, its interesting hearing every pony's views ^^

[Birdwing 87]

I am an atheist. Agnostic atheist to be precise, as I am a scientist and am aware that absolute rejection of the hypothesis of a god also demands proof. I was raised a fundamentalist pentecostal Christian, but a literal interpretation of the bible is not in concordance with what I can see in the world with my own eyes, so the first step in my deconversion was to abandon the literalist aspects of christianity. However, abandoning biblical literalism is a pandora's box. If the bible is not literal, but rather, open to personal interpretation, then the bible cannot be the inerrant word of god. And if the bible is not the inerrant word of god, why should I believe any of it? 

 

Throughout history, there have been thousands of deities. How one can be certain their god is the one true god when they have never learned about the many, many other gods is beyond me. Contradictions and historical inaccuracies aside, the moral content of the bible is also highly questionable. Genocide, murder, sex slavery. Even if I assume the Christian heaven and hell are real, I would rather burn than worship the christian god (or any of the abrahamic gods for that matter). 

 

My beef lies not in people's personal spirituality, but in the imposition of religious belief on government and education. I am happy for those who find genuine peace in religion. But I am unhappy with those who fail to understand that it is also possible to find immense peace and meaning in the rejection of religion, and those who cry persecution at every attempt to encourage objectivity in the spheres of public life. 

[Shou 100]

Wow I can not believe how much my views changed over time. I am now would describe myself as a skeptic more than anything else these days.

[alpinefroggy 451]

You are cherry picking and being disgusting and rude, you wouldn't watch an hour long atheistic explanation video so don't share that stuff until you would, and its highly unbearable considering theres a high chance its pseudo-scientific to even have the motive to watch it, and just because a couple of supposed scientists, or bad scientists, say thats fine doesn't mean anything its argument from authority. Argument form authority means, trust him, he is a scientist! He is the authority on the topic! But there are other scientists who disagree, if they were veen honest scientists they would handle constructive criticism instead of plainly and rudely ignoring it as you do.

 

 

Especially with the usage of Kent Hovind.  One of the absolutely most idiotic and batpoop crazy creationists out there.  If you attack evolution as not true then you are demonstrably wrong and dont understand evolution and evidence.

[Vennax 58]

I've always had a tough time in believing in religion. I found the stories told to me about Jesus in school  that were apparently true very hard to believe, even as a wee lad I never really thought they were true. Too hard to believe Jesus can create Fish and bread at will.

[Vulcan 3,254]

I'm a roman catholic, more specifically , a sub sector of Roman catholicism called the Neo catechuminate

 

My family's quite devout , how devout? well every holy week we attend mass a total of about 15 hours in the course of 3 days o_o

 

Not that I'm devout myself, I believe in jesus and in his teachings but I'm not fond of my church's method of delivering the lord's word. It's boring, repetitive, and in the end of the day, I just feel tired o_o.

 

They also focus on suffering as the path to faith, which I think is crazy o-o.  

[glitterbomb 162]

I used to be an athiest, but since I quit drinking and drugs I started believing in a power greater than myself. Have no idea what it is though, so I call myself agnostic.

[Vox 870]

I've grown up in a Catholic household but lost my faith a few years back. I have several ideological and moral disagreements with the Church and its direction. I don't believe in Papal infallibility as i see it as a means of the Church empowering itself in an age where its word and dogma come into question more frequently. I don't believe in Original Sin, the Vows of Chastity and restriction of marriage to the Clergy, the Church's views on homosexuality, purgatory, and salvation and damnation. I don't believe in any particular God, whatever happens after death, if any kind of judgement shouldn't be held up to the same insane standards Christianity is. So i guess i'd be considered an atheist.

Edited May 20, 2016 by Vox

[Xylosian 140]

Agnostic, I don't know if we are made by a supernatural force or we just came into existence because of evolution. Either way I doesn't matter to me, I would rather waste my time working and getting paid then spending time in a church listening to someone preach nonsense.

[Moon Sugar 532]

I guess I'd consider myself spiritual or agnostic. I'm not very religious though, or was raised as such.

I like to think everything has a spirit or a soul, but that it's more complicated than anything written down.

[Twiggy 2,966]

I honor the gods of the Northmen. Not really religious though. It's more of a cultural thing. I wear a mjolnir pendant and getting something more permanent right now actually.

 

 

Took it 5 minutes ago during our smoke break. Looks weird because of the angle, but it's good.