mega thread Everypony's Religion And Why?

[SparklingSquirrels 21,330]

That's called being agnostic. You don't necessarily believe in God but you also think there could be a God.

Well I guess that's true. I don't really want to identify myself with a certain religion/type of religious views though.

[Guest]

I'm a non-believer, aka I don't freakin' know what to believe in. However, what I do believe in are the 5 P's and the Golden Rule.

 

Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

 

One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.

 

[GhostPony750 959]

While my family don't care at all about religion, actually they hate it, I love the values christianity shares.

 

But I've been kept away from this all my life. Maybe when I'll be an adult I'll start to go to church and some stuff.

[Envy 6,139]

I'm an atheist and non-religious. I was raised to be a Christian (Methodist?) but I just never felt it, never saw any reason to actually believe in God, aside from the idea I had as a child that my parents and community must know something that I don't, and that's why they believe. I tried to believe, and even wanted to believe... But there just is absolutely nothing pointing toward the existence of such a being. This universe and world does not look or act 'created', or monitored.

[RAGESTAR 479]

So, i've seen threads concerning Atheism and Christianity and such, but i wanted to establish a survey thread concerning spiritual beliefs as a whole. So what theology do you belong to if any?

I'm a Norse pagan or Heathen. I take pride in my religion and gods, but I try my best to be respectful towards worshippers of other deities. I would like to ask you, though, to please remove "Celestianity" from the inclusion of Pagan religions, as it is not, by definition, a Pagan religion. Pagan religions are beliefs that originated from the ancient civilizations of Europe, such the as Norse, Celtic, Greek, and Roman religions. So Celestianity would not be catagorized with it.

Edited October 24, 2014 by RAGE

[Vox 870]

I'm a Norse pagan or Heathen. I take pride in my religion and gods, but I try my best to be respectful towards worshippers of other deities. I would like to ask you, though, to please remove "Celestianity" from the inclusion of Pagan religions, as it is not, by definition, a Pagan religion. Pagan religions are beliefs that originated from the ancient civilizations of Europe, such the as Norse, Celtic, Greek, and Roman religions. So Celestianity would not be catagorized with it.

Yeah, that was a error on my part, it should be in the "other" choice.

[RAGESTAR 479]

Yeah, that was a error on my part, it should be in the "other" choice.

Thank you. I just thought I'd point that out, as it honestly kinda annoyed me that it was connected with Paganism. Sorry for being a bit if an annoyance, lol.

[Gatekeeper Giggle 2,902]

Discordian and Christian!

[HopeTheWanderer 121]

I am an Eclectic Pagan, it is a mix of Hellenismos(Greek Paganism), Celticism(Welsh, Scottish and Irish Paganism) and Shamanism(Indigenous Paganism).

 

The reason for this is because of three pillars that form the center of my practice - The gods, the ancestors and the spirits, Hellenismos is the representation of the first of these pillars, mostly because I follow two Greek deities, the second is where the Celticism comes in, as the Celts really emphasized honoring the ancestors, but also because of my Welsh heritage. The third - Spirits, is represented by Shamanism which has alot to do with learning from the spiritual plain as well as the other, wiser beings we share this world with and from the Earth herself.

 

My Pagan spirituality also helped alot when went into veganism and in my cause to abolish Speciesism.

Edited October 25, 2014 by HopeTheWanderer

[Virgil 685]

To be specific I am a Baptist of Reformed Doctrine as stated in the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, in general terms I am a Christian who affirms the Nicene Creed from the 4th century.

[Electric Sheep 9]

I'm an agnostic. I don't believe in a deity, but I can't disprove that one exists.

[iDeltaVelocity 110]

Agnostic Theist. I believe in God, but I can't prove that He exists

Edited October 25, 2014 by iDeltaVelocity

[iceestarz 5,764]

Atheist.

 

I was raised into a catholic family, but once I got into high school I started to form my own opinions on religion instead of just follow along with what my parents said. That being said, I'm the only one in my family who isn't catholic, and the only one of my friends who is atheist. All my friends are either Christian or agnostic.

 

I respect their beliefs and they respect mine. Yuuuuh.

[Vox 870]

I forgot to give this input, i was raised catholic, and still respect several beliefs and practices, though i still consider myself agnostic in the end, basically open minded.

[Omega Centauri 316]

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to answer the question. I am an atheist, I was raised in a very conservative, fundamentalist christian family. There are a variety of reasons why I left my religion, but for the most part, it's not really a choice. You can't choose what you believe. You can choose to SAY you believe it, but where's the point in lying?

 

It wasn't an easy process for me, it takes balls to overcome the threat of being tortured for all of eternity, and to think about how my family will react when they inevitably find out, but eventually, I became more and more confident with my lack of belief.

 

 

To anyone who votes "agnostic", I hate to break it to you, but you're still an atheist.

 

The definition of atheism is the lack of belief in a god or gods

 

Saying you're agnostic specifies that you don't DISbelieve either, but you're still an atheist by definition.

 

 

 

This video might help

Edited October 25, 2014 by Omega Centauri

[Vox 870]

To anyone who votes "agnostic", I hate to break it to you, but you're still an atheist.

 

The definition of atheism is the lack of belief in a god or gods

 

Saying you're agnostic specifies that you don't DISbelieve either, but you're still an atheist by definition.

 

 

This video might help

To specify my beliefs even further, Agnostic Deism. 

[Omega Centauri 316]

To specify my beliefs even further, Agnostic Deism. 

I've considered Deism, but I decided that I have no evidence, and therefore no reason to believe in a higher power.

 

If there is, great, and I think deism is generally a good explanation for the way things work. i.e. Some sort of higher power set the universe in motion and then simply let it be.

[Vox 870]

I've considered Deism, but I decided that I have no evidence, and therefore no reason to believe in a higher power.

 

If there is, great, and I think deism is generally a good explanation for the way things work. i.e. Some sort of higher power set the universe in motion and then simply let it be.

Yes, i believe the level of complexity, perfection, and order of the universe, and the way it functions points to some form of higher intelligence designing and engineering the material world.

[BritishBrony2012 793]

I  worship Ponies, Superheroes and Spyro the dragon and Oerba Dia Vanille and Pegacorns.

[Invincible 2,091]

I'm atheistic. I was born Jewish, but after my religious beliefs were put to the test, and i began to question them, i made a journey to find out how to reconcile my beliefs. Researched atheism vs. theistic conflicts online, read books, even went to a 3-day seminar once. For better or worse, every answer iv'e received brought up more questions which could slake my thirst for understanding. iv'e become an atheist ever since.

[MooCowing 32]

Buddhist/Christian

 

I'm very passionate about my religion(s?). I'm not very open about it, but I will try. It has been a lifelong spiritual path that I never expect to end. The first time I ever found myself curious about religion I was already a teenager. I met a Buddhist and it just felt right, you know? I became Buddhist. The beginning is quite simple. I found what felt right and I started practicing.

 

I have always had a curiosity about the Christian bible, and with religious roots in the church I can't say I've ever denied the Lord. I converted to Christianity (specifically Baptist) a few years ago when I fell in love with a Baptist Christian man who was very devoted to his religion. It became apparent really early in our relationship that our religious differences made him uncomfortable. I decided to start going to church with him, and I never felt so much at peace as I did in the church. I wanted to learn more. Eventually I completely converted.

 

I have recently spent a lot of deep thought on myself, my place in life, and my religion. I've decided to leave the church for a while. It's not the religion I have issues with. It's the church. After we moved we had trouble finding a new church. The last church I went to I saw more judgement, more ridicule, more evil than I saw of what was being preached. Honestly, I saw very little actually being preached. The pastor made the entire hour-long sermon about himself. I was warned that this particular pastor was a narcissist but I wasn't expecting to that extreme. I gave up looking for a new church after that.

 

I recently started falling back into my Buddhist routine with meditation and yoga. I go to a yoga class every weekend held at a church and the pastor comes, too. She is an amazing woman. She is the pastor of a Methodist church, but she's very tolerant of other religions and we got in a very deep conversation about Buddhism. I think I may attend her church after she returns from her vacation.

Edited October 25, 2014 by MooCowing

[Draxon 214]

After reading the responses so far, I decided to search for a concrete definition of the term which I use to describe my theology, and from what I'm finding, there is some debate over what the term "pagan" really means.  Some people ascribe it to established, ancient, non-Christian religions, and others consider the term to also relate to nature based religions.  I belong in the latter category, and will continue to identify myself as pagan.

 

That said, I revere Mother Nature; that is, I believe in a goddess.  I also believe in reincarnation, and I do not believe in kharma.  However, evil deeds often have profoundly negative effects in real life, and I therefore strive to be a good person.  Plus, I feel good when I do good, and generally feel bad when I do bad.

 

I was raised Catholic (and my mom used to be a nun), attended church every week, and was confirmed, but started questioning my beliefs when I was in high school.  There was one particularly profound moment when I was having an argument with my friend, who was Jewish, about Jesus being the Son of God.  I kept insisting he was, and he kept insisting he wasn't, and I thought he was an absolute idiot.  Then his dad stepped in and explained to us that Christians and Jews simply believe different things.  I had always taken what I was taught as fact, and never considered it to be based on belief.  After some considering, I became agnostic (which was not easy to relate to my mom).

 

My current views were formed fairly recently, and reflect an increased amount of time spent in the wilderness, paired with a desire to explain certain mysteries of life (such as why bad things happen to good people), and a feeling that the universe is feminine in nature.  I cannot "prove" Her existence to anyone, but I'm definitely not agnostic anymore - I'm firm in my belief.

 

I feel compelled to add that I enjoy learning about theology in general, and respect the beliefs of anyone, whether they believe in the Christian model of God, or if they believe that God is a perpetually flaming, invisible gorilla in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.  To each their own.  In fact, I'm currently attending a Catholic college, and have the privilege of learning alongside Benedictine monks.  It's interesting to coexist with people who have devoted their whole lives to their faith.

[Celtore 2,770]

I was at one point a very strong catholic. Heck, for the majority of my life, I considered god an absolute fact. I prayed for sanity during the McDonald's years on my breaks and was a frequent church goer. I'm now an atheist and I'm typically pretty passive. I like talking about religion too, it's fun thinking about how the universe was created, moral philosophy and what happens at death. Just don't thump the bible too hard, I still have a bit of a...well, let's just call it a grudge.

 

As for my thoughts, I think reality as we know it is cyclical and the universe has had many big bangs. While I don't have evidence to support it, my unsupported thoughts are that every big bang is the result of a big crunch. The universe keeps forming and destroying itself. Sometimes the universe may be crawling with life. Other times, maybe not so much. After death, there will be nothing. I am satisfied with this end because I won't even notice. Anything else in the afterlife will be a bonus! To be honest though, I'm hoping to either enter a permanent lucid dream on death or become a ghost, but I don't think thats too likely.

[MontagnaMagica 307]

I don't really have a religion, but I'm not atheist. I can't prove there is a God but at the same time I can't prove there isn't a God. I really like the concept of Buddhism, so I might try to convert to that.

I've started reading into Buddhism and (as an atheist) I have to say that it's been quite interesting so far. So it turns out that Buddhism is a non-theistic religion apart from all the rest.

Buddhism really is in an interesting position today among world religions. Its followers can range from Agnostic Atheists to Gnostic Theists, and everything in between. All are compatible with Buddhist teachings. I believe there's still great potential for its spread in the West, as atheism continues to replace theism.

 

It's my belief that Buddha was a prophet. The reason he rarely (if ever) taught about God was exactly because of the state of many Hindus, whom he had come to teach (in India) had made so many rituals out of their belief system that their attention was likely more focused on the gods than on self-betterment. Buddha brought exactly the reform that was needed. You'll notice that throughout Buddhist texts, the majority of teachings focus on what you can do to make things better. And, yes, I do still believe the teachings are relevant today!

 

"He abides in ultimate reality, yet there is no relationship between it and him. He is not produced from causes, nor does he depend on conditions." -Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 12

[Heart Nouveau 17]

I am Pagan actually. And, believe it or not, I kinda bring the mane 6 and the elements of harmony into my belief system. The pentacle is sacred to me and, being there are 5 points, I like to attribute kindness, laughter, honestly, loyalty, and generosity to each one; and when all 5 are present.... Yes! The 6th element magic happens! So I think it's a nifty idea and I like to try to channel more of those elements into my life.