Religion

[Schis]

Im not really religious at all, I was baptised as a kid (I think Im Anglican or Church of England???) and just thought Id post an interesting fact I found in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend Magazine. 390,000 people in the Uk stated their religion was Jedi in a national census.

Im not against religion , I think people should be entitiled to their own opinions/ideologies/beliefs and just thought Id place this interesting fact here (as it relates to religion). However, if necessary you can completely ignore this....

[~*~Neisha~*~]

I didn't ignore it! lol i find that pretty interesting

Did the census get any "trek" related religions? lol if there's Star Wars nerds forming religions hten the rtrekkies must have something up their sleeve Its crazy how obsessed people are with this sci fi stuff! Its like they wish they could like be IN the worlds that they create its crazy! I wanna go to a Star Trek convention one day just to see what goes on lol I don't see what all the fuss is about really

[Deleted]

I always thought the Jedi thing was more of a long standing joke that's been so adopted by the masses that somehow everyone does it. I suppose there would be a few hardcore, escapist fans out there. But there can't be that many surely?
Then again, I never got into Star Wars so I've rarely had contact with even mildly rabid fans.

A guy I knew actually wrote "reconciliationism" as his religion/belief of choice when there was that big census a few years back.

[~*~Neisha~*~]

Hehe I would have put my religion to be a "religionist" Or maybe I could be like an anti-litterist

[Elaria071]

Hellooo again from the dark glooms of my evil computer that won't work unless I bribe it with... errr... something...

I thought I already had responded to this post, but it would seem that I haven't.

I love what someone said about there bein a difference between "religion" (never liked that word, sounds nasty) and "faith"....

I am Christian. I am no saint in white garb, ill be the first to admit that. I respect ppl for their beliefs/faiths even if I dont share them. I mean, my best friend is a wiccan. I would never bash someone over the head with a bible (i've had that done to ME too many times) and so all I generally ask people is that they respect me and my faith, just like I do them.

For me, I've had alot of stuff happen in my life that made me wonder if there was God. Even though I grew up in a Christian family, I came to a point where I didn't want to believe it just because I was told it "was true".

Ok, I think this is turnin into an essay (somethin I was seekin to avoid)

But yes, I guess in a nutshell, thats what I believe and why.

Cheers and Cherries,
Elaria071

[merryll]

It's funny isn't it, so many people have said they grew up a certain religion, it being forced on them but don't really agree with it anymore. I think that maybe if our parents let us decide for ourselves, we might not disagree so much, for example, my cousins mum was just like, yeah, come to church if you want, and sent her to a state, school, and i have no choice in whether I go to church, and she is far more religious than me, and I know she actually believes.

Also, Elaria071 said about respecting people for their faith, I go to a school with people of many different religions, and find the other religions interesting, and would love to know more about them, I cannot imagion saying anything negative to them about their religion, or visa versa, but I know that it happens, and, I really have no idea where i'm going with this, cause I got distracted by the cricket...

So yes...

Take care
Merryll

[MajiKat]

Merryll, we need more people like you in the world, people who are tolerant of others religions and beliefs. when ever i tell people i am a witch, i can almost see the cogs turning in their brain as they dig up anything they have ever heard about witchcraft (most of it incorrect!). not everyone reacts this way, but alot of people do. so now, i do not say anything unless i am asked. it saves alot of time and anguish (my anguish - there are only so many times i can say something before i get upset and annoyed).

i congratulate you and anyone else here who can be tolerant and accept that different people choose different paths. thank you.

[Dark One]

Witchcraft should be treated and respected like any other religion

[Kaylan-R]

merryll said:

Also, Elaria071 said about respecting people for their faith, I go to a school with people of many different religions, and find the other religions interesting, and would love to know more about them, I cannot imagion saying anything negative to them about their religion, or visa versa, but I know that it happens, and, I really have no idea where i'm going with this, cause I got distracted by the cricket...

So yes...

Take care
Merryll

I agree with Merryll. In my school there aren't really 'religious cults /groups or gangs' as such. There's just a bunch of goths and 'normal' people.
But there as sooo many 'normal' people who judge us(goths) and I hate it!!
Also, as Elaria071 said, I respect other peoples religions and I respect them also because most of them(in my classes) respect me. Others (mostly veggies) don't understand and point and jeer and say; 'ooohhh....she's goth. She worships the devil and all that crap!'.
But another thing, there is steroetyping too in my school. A lot of it. The fact is, I don't worship the devil! I don't even believe in the devil, or god or anything else!
Anyway, I'm also distracted by my kitty who is crawling up my leg! So I'll leave it there.
But what do you think about steroetyping?

kay

[~*~Neisha~*~]

What exactly is involved with being a "witch"? I had a friend in primary school who was a Pagaen and her mum was into Wicca but I never really understood it.

[Rushton]

This is a very interesting thread
Most of all reading the primarily Christian POV's expressed.
Good on you all for having such a strong faith.

shadowoutcast said:

The verse in question (Exodus 34:14) is infact form the Old Testament, so that includes God from the Jewish point of view. The reason is that God is a jealous god, and rightfully so.

I do feel compelled to point out though as a token Jew that this statement is slightly erroneous. The Torah and the Old Testament are very different documents, and the Jewish POV on this is quite different depending on what branch of the faith you belong to - just the same as in Christianity as you have Catholic and Protestant and many other permutations.

PS. Merry Chrismukkah ;D

[maverick]

wow this thread really is interesting. it's great to see just how much variety there is here!

myself, well i grew up in a roman catholic household (ie. my father is roman catholic) so i was baptised into that denomination. however, my mother is anglican and i go to a presbyterian methodist school. i know it's all christianity but it does get quite confusing at times.

also, because i've grown up in such a rigid environment i really haven't accepted any of it. it's like it's been shoved down my throat since i was born and so i guess that's why i've chosen not to have any definitive beliefs right now. but in that respect i don't try to force my views onto anyone else because then that would be doing exactly what my parents have done to me wouldn't it?

anyway, that's me in a nutshell. lol
Maverick

[shadowoutcast]

Rigel, yes that is true. The Old testiment of the Christain Bible is from the a mixture of the Greek and Hebrew originals and copies yet it is still strongly related to the Jewish peoples history story

[Rushton]

Theology debate!!! Woohooo!!! - seriously though we won't get into one of those

Its really interesting though when you do compare the Old Testament to the Torah, they really are quite different. Although if you look at a bible that is assocaited with the protestants (the King James Version) you often get what are called the 'apocrypha' (One example is the book of Tobit - I love that one) These are old old Jewish tales that were in the original Greek translation but were later dropped from the canon.

For those interested when I refer to the 'Torah' I mean the written testament the 'Tanakh' (roughly the first 5 books of the old testament) as well as the oral commentary the 'Talmud'.

But pretty much the concept of G-d is the same as with the christians

[Kaylan-R]

maverick said:

also, because i've grown up in such a rigid environment i really haven't accepted any of it. it's like it's been shoved down my throat since i was born and so i guess that's why i've chosen not to have any definitive beliefs right now. but in that respect i don't try to force my views onto anyone else because then that would be doing exactly what my parents have done to me wouldn't it?

anyway, that's me in a nutshell. lol
Maverick

That is muchly what i think. I've done the whole communion, and all those other things and I'm still going to continue on doing it. I don't believe in God, but I believe that because I was brought up into a irish catholic family I shouldn't not do those things because that would be totally going against my family and their beliefs.
My mother is Protestant and if any of you have ever read the book 'Angela's Ashes' by Frank McCourt then you would be familiar with the discrimination beltween Catholics and Protestants. And its wierd becuase that's what my family is, my mothers' family is Protestant and my fathers' family is Catholic. It's all strange to me!
But even though I don't follow my parent's religion, i'm not exactly going against them am I? I mean, I have five bibles in my room for Luds sake!



kay

[MajiKat]

jgduffin said:

Witchcraft should be treated and respected like any other religion

unfortunately, its not yet at that stage. witchcraft is still not recognised as a religion, and there is debate within craft circles that possibly it should not be, becuase of the general structure and system of belief (it is not really organised - there are rules and common beliefs etc, but no real structured "this is how things must be done and this is how we will worship" etc going on).

its tricky, but it annoys the hell out of me when people just switch off or try to tell me i don't have a religion because i am a witch.

and Neisha, in response to your question, witchcraft is about creating balance and harmony in your life, about being connected to all things around you and respecting all life, freedom and personal choice. its about nature and life and our place on this planet. its about being conscious of your actions and decisions. i think one of the main things that drew me to the craft is the lack of judgment on one's choices. it is accepted that what you do comes back to you threefold (so three times worse or better). for more info, read my earlier posts - that will explain more to you

Kay, the whole stereotyping thing drives me insane!! i have never had a bad experience with friends in regards to my being a witch, but when i told my family....oooo boy! my dad is not religious (he thinks it is the cause of the worlds problems) but he is extremely superstitious. so we had many arguments simply becuase he had his ideas about witchcraft and would not listen to me. my mother was brought up in the church of England, and although she is not religious, she was concerned (again, she had no idea and had been influenced by all the bad press witchcraft has seen). she asked me not to tell my grandparents (none of them go to church or anything, but they still think that belief in God is the only true form of belief...its odd). so we had many fights, and in the end i could not talk to them about it anymore and gave them a book to read that explained the Craft and dispelled all the myths. mum read it and explained it all to my dad, who chilled out a bit. if i were to label my dad, i'd say he is a pagan. he is a farmer ;D he works with the Goddess everyday and see Her at work constantly. he lives by the sun and the moon, he plants crops by the moon! he can read the weather. he spends more time with plants and animals than humans. he is connected to the earth. he is a witch. but i don't tell him that!

so yeah, i have been through it. my brother doesn't care, but my sister freaked out! she too needs to listen to what i tell her about the craft and not believe what she sees on TV! TV and film have got it all wrong! the only film i have seen about witchcraft that gets it almost right was Practical Magic.

but i have been through the stereotyping thing in relation to other things. the way i dress. my nose piercing. my tattoos. i do not suffer it living where i am at the moment (hippies are common place) but at first, people from my home town were a bit weird about it. even though no one said anything to me personally, i know when i am being stared at!

so the only thing you can do is be strong in your beliefs about yourself and ignore it. stereotyping, i think, comes from a lack of understanding, and, most importantly, from fear.

[Kaylan-R]

wow!

that certainly summed up my fear!

kay

[~*~Neisha~*~]

Oh ok. But wat i was wondering about was how witches use their craft, like, do u personally use any "powers" or anything? My mum has a friend who sez her mum could move objects and stuff coz she was a practising witch. I heard this from the friend, so Im not sure I believe her.

[merryll]

Mysteri Katelope, thank you, i didn't know much (or anything) about witchcraft, but I think that it sounds like it makes sense, and I totally agree that it is not what you here about.

I agree even stronger with

stereotyping, i think, comes from a lack of understanding, and, most importantly, from fear.

I hate not knowing stuff about other ppls religions and cultures, i once accidentally insulted my Buddist friend, I don't even know what I said, but I noticed immediately that she was acting, coldly, towards me, I still don't know what I did, but hate the unknown factor.

I was having a conversation with some of my school friends about similar things, and i was shocked when one girl said she wouldn't be allowed to find out about other religions, even within Christianity. I knew that she came from a strong Catholic background, but she said that her parents would even let her attend say a Baptist or Anglican service. She said that she didn't agree with some aspects of the Catholic beliefs, and would like to change, but wouldn't even be given a chance to find out about other religions. I hate that. While my mother would be, er, lets say, very disappionted (aka not talk to me for some time) if I changed from Catholic myself, I attended my friends baptism into the Catholic church and other religions services.

OH, and once again Mysteri Katelope just because I can't imgine not respecting someone for their faith, does not mean I'm perfect. I would not do it deliberately, but i think that until I understood about their religion I would struggle to understand (er, thats what i just said) what is being disrespectful, so therefore, I think that I am not the most sensative person in tis way...

OH God, I make no sense at all, sorry for making you read this mindless babble, I'll finish up to relieve you of more...

Take care
Merryll

[Gahltha~]

Hello All,

I grew up in a household that didn't force any kind of religion. My mum kinda believe in something i don't really know. Look i'm one of the most tolerant people you could meet, I'm interested in the history and 'stories' behind all religions because it's IS apart of todays society. Anyone who doesn't take note of this is frankly an idiot. But i have read things such as the bible, but what i can't understand is how people believe a lot fo the stuff the religion is based upon. I know most people say stuff like you have to have faith and such....but some of the stuff requires total blind faith, which is stupid. You could call me a person who, well is a science kind of person. I would like to know exactly what you believe, perhaps not the stories told but what it is you believe in.

Also what is evolutionist or whatever that was?


Gahltha ~ Watcher of Days

[shadowoutcast]

gahltha said:

... I know most people say stuff like you have to have faith and such....but some of the stuff requires total blind faith, which is stupid. You could call me a person who, well is a science kind of person. I would like to know exactly what you believe, perhaps not the stories told but what it is you believe in.

Also what is evolutionist or whatever that was?

I disagree with you there, having blind faith is not stupid its trust. Kinda like closing your eyes and having someone catch you, if you trust the person you have 'blind' faith that they will catch you. Faith is not just something you have from believing it's learning experience.

Science kind on person are you? Well I am to. I love science, Astronomy is my favourite topic in science. Evolutionist thinking is a form of sicentific reasoning for the begining of life and defining it's occurence now, which is firstly based of Darwinisum (did a Google search for ether).

The other side of my thinking is a Christain Faith where I believe in the Father, Son and the Holy Sprit or Trinitarian God (three parts of the one God) I also have faith in the death and resurection of Jesus, in that is spoken in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Proclamed through the Aposels Creed.

oh and I'm not into 'mindless' Religon, for even God is not into that. ;D

anymore info just ask and I'll try and anwser

[Gahltha~]

I agree that Faith is trust, but to blindly follow something that you really have no idea about is stupid, mindless religion as Darth said. This is the point i'm trying to make.

Maybe it's just me but i don't know believe or have 'faith' in things such as resurection of Jesus, and how 'God' created the earth and stuff like that. Most of the things written in the Bible actually. I don't mean to offend anybody, i just wanted my view to be out.

I'm fairly much into science, yes. Astronomy is one of my favourite topics aswell, next to Physics.

One question, do you believe that God created the heaven and earth and such, or the theory that were are just one step along the chain of evolution? (This question goes to you all)

Thanks,

Gahltha ~ Watcher of Days

[Kaylan-R]

gahltha said:

One question, do you believe that God created the heaven and earth and such, or the theory that were are just one step along the chain of evolution? (This question goes to you all)

Thanks,

Gahltha ~ Watcher of Days

Okay, I don't believe in god, heaven or hell so my judgement is no.
I'm not a scientologist, though some people call me one because i don't believe in god. I don't think a 'big bang' created the world. I don't think one man or (if there is a god) whoever that is created the world in seven days. To me, to have such power would be so.......increadible, and to use that power to create the world, to create people and animals would seem.......argh, i can't find the word......wrong?
To me, to have such power, such overrulling power and knowledge would be so.....frustrating. What do u do with it?
If god is a man, how did he feel?
Why would he create a world, and create me, knowing that i wouldn't believe in him. So I don't believe in him, because how could he be so? How could he exist?

I can't find the words to say what I'm trying to say. I'm sorry.
I kind of went off the wuestion lol



kay

[Gahltha~]

You point does make sense. I guess i could be called a scientologist too! A tolerant one compared to most though I don't really believe int he 'big bang' either i actually don't have a theory on creation

If, and i stress IF, God did do all those things, it couldn't be a man, it would be some kind of centient (spell) being. BUt for reasons to create this, and only this world and to put life such as we have, i really can't comprehend. The only one reason i can think of is an experiment, some sick twisted one at that. Might have had good intentions going into it but yeah.....I'm far more likely to believe other religions theories than the Christain way.

Gahltha ~ Watcher of Days

[Min]

I don't think it's that dismal...if some infinitely-wise being did create us though, why on earth would s/he/it/they want us to worship it? Doesn't that defy one of the first things to be overcome by infinite wisdom - selfishness, or self-indulgence?
Perhaps the being was like an artist - created us to be beautiful. Perhaps it's a scientist - to prove that s/he/it/they had the technology. In that case, of course we see nothing of s/he/it/them because a scientist doesn't interfere with their experiments.

There's one universal thing that remains though - if you create something, don't you stick around to keep and eye on it? If there is a being or group of beings that made us, why don't they stick around to check out the artwork/how the experiment's going? And if s/he/it/they is/are - what do they think of the state of the world? Are they proud, or ashamed, and are they going to do anything about it? Are they responsible for our actions - being they are the reason we exist?

Too many questions