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Has RF made you more or less religious?

Has RF made you more or less religious?

  • more religious

    Votes: 11 18.0%

  • less religious

    Votes: 9 14.8%

  • about the same/ no change

    Votes: 32 52.5%

  • Other

    Votes: 9 14.8%
  • Total voters
    61
Laika

Laika

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I was originally thinking whether to do a poll about whether being on RF has made people more atheist or theist. However, given the limitations of the terms and that a large section of religious people are not "theists", I decided to go with more or less religious instead. It does very much depend on how you define the term "religious", but feel free to interpret its meaning as you wish or expand on it if you want in a post. It could be a much more interesting way to discuss the meaning of the term.

Personally, being on RF has made me more religious. Its made me much less certain about things, more open to new ideas and willing to entertain religious beliefs I would have not have encountered or considered otherwise. Having to debate people of such a huge variety of views has made me more aware of how little I know and how much I rely on a set of assumptions about reality that I can not necessarily prove or be absolutely sure of.

How about you? Do you think you're time and experience on RF has made you more or less religious? :)
 
Rival

Rival

se Dex me saut.
Staff member
Premium Member
First less, then more. (Is it me or that sounds like a sex act?)
 
SabahTheLoner

SabahTheLoner

Master of the Art of Couch Potato Cuddles
I was already changing quite a bit religiously when I came to RF so I don't have a good answer as to wether or not RF itself was a factor. It probably did intellectually but not spiritually.
 
Politesse

Politesse

Amor Vincit Omnia
I enjoy coming to RF and learning new things, but I wouldn't credit it with making me more or less religious. That's in the gods' hands, I think.
 
C

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
I joined about 3.5 years ago. I am in my late 50s. My world view is pretty darn set. It would take something quite startling to change it, noticeably. RF doesn't seem that different from the rest of the influences on it.

One thing I have learned is how broad the range of deistic worldviews can be. As usual, I am part of a tiny little group and then find myself out on the fringes of that.
Tom
 
WalterTrull

WalterTrull

Godfella
I don't think of myself as religious. Spiritual perhaps. RF hasn't changed that. Given me some interesting context though. I used to relate to "SBNR" but changed my mind when I found out most who identified with that acronym seemed to rattle a bit.
 
YmirGF

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
I was pretty irreligious when I joined and still am, so, no change in that department. I don't envision it being possible to accept any religion at this point in time. I know too much about too many religions to be taken in by their glossy marketing brochures.
 
Twilight Hue

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
No it doesn't make me more religious.

It does broaden the scope of religion. I understand a bit more than I used to about each different one.
 
It Aint Necessarily So

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
I don't think that I couldn't be any less religious than I was when I joined RF a few months ago, and I am still there, so no change in that department.

However, I have only recently come over to RF from a competing site where I posted for 8 years. That experience made me more antitheistic. I was already leery of the church because of the marriage of Christianity to conservative politics (moral majority, family values, war on Christmas), which led to a lot of pandering, demagoguery, and eventually, presidents George Bush and Donald Trump. This was damaging a nation.

But it was on these message boards where I saw the damage being done to individual believers. By the time I got here, I was already firmly convinced that faith based thought and Christian doctrine in particular were each destructive at the level of the individual. It's destructive to the intellect, personal values, and spirituality for starters. Not in every believer, mind you, but in far too many.

Look at how the evangelicals voted in 2016. What does that tell you about the critical thinking skills and moral fiber of those willing to submit to such teaching?
 
ADigitalArtist

ADigitalArtist

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Echoing @David1967 I also picked other. I haven't become more religious but I have mellowed considerably from my 'angry atheist' days. Especially since becoming a moderator since I have to look at things more neutrally and objectively, and be mindful of other's POV even more than I had previously.
 
David1967

David1967

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
ADigitalArtist said:
Echoing @David1967 I also picked other. I haven't become more religious but I have mellowed considerably from my 'angry atheist' days. Especially since becoming a moderator since I have to look at things more neutrally and objectively, and be mindful of other's POV even more than I had previously.
Click to expand...

Very well said.;)
 
Erebus

Erebus

Well-Known Member
I would say that RF has refined my religious views rather than necessarily strengthened or weakened them. The ability to not only challenge my beliefs but also assess the pros and cons of other religions and philosophies has been invaluable. For example, I'm a lot more pragmatic about belief than I was when I first joined.
 
osgart

osgart

Nothing my eye, Something for sure
religion is my life long canker sore. I speak the language but hold no stock in it. I grew up with all that stifling Christian doctrine about hell and heaven. you might say it has stunted my intellectual growth, but I have grown as a person in other ways. RF has motivated me to find my own personal religion. religions best days are ahead, because it's past was abysmal.
 
sayak83

sayak83

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Laika said:
I was originally thinking whether to do a poll about whether being on RF has made people more atheist or theist. However, given the limitations of the terms and that a large section of religious people are not "theists", I decided to go with more or less religious instead. It does very much depend on how you define the term "religious", but feel free to interpret its meaning as you wish or expand on it if you want in a post. It could be a much more interesting way to discuss the meaning of the term.

Personally, being on RF has made me more religious. Its made me much less certain about things, more open to new ideas and willing to entertain religious beliefs I would have not have encountered or considered otherwise. Having to debate people of such a huge variety of views has made me more aware of how little I know and how much I rely on a set of assumptions about reality that I can not necessarily prove or be absolutely sure of.

How about you? Do you think you're time and experience on RF has made you more or less religious? :)
Click to expand...
No it has not. But it has greatly increased my knowledge about various less common beliefs. Also learned a lot while doing research for replies here. Far better way to spend some leisure time than Facebook or Twitter imo. :)
 
sun rise

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
I have not held an exoteric religious view but esoteric (aka SBNR). That has not changed. But I have learned a bit more about religions other than the world wide faiths.

The change has been that I more often write "most religions", "the major religions" rather than the blanket "religions".
 
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