Poll: Your Opinion

[Exaltist Ethan]

I have to say, my opinions on religious matters has not changed at all, BUT, now that I have a place to understand and define my ideas better, I've grown spiritually because of it. This place kind of feels like a religious sandbox where I'm able to test new thoughts and ideas and slowly create the perfect spiritual sand castle that I've imagined in my head.

How about your opinion? Has it changed since you've come across this website? Has anyone's beliefs just resonated with you and you changed your spiritual or theological discourse because of it? Or maybe you have changed your opinion since you came here, but it wasn't because of this website?

Let us know what you think below.

 

[JustGeorge]

My beliefs haven't changed any. I have learned a lot about other people's beliefs, though, and I'm grateful for the experience.

Being here has helped me understand that I might not be as unlikable as I previously thought myself to be.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I was changing before...I'm changing still...

 

[SalixIncendium]

My worldview hasn't changed. Everything I knew when I joined this forum I still know today. The only thing that has changed is how I relate that worldview to others thanks to those I met here.

My views are a result of my experiences. After explaining those experiences to others before I found this forum, I was advised with what religion my views aligned (I identified as a pantheist at the time), but didn't know enough much about the religion I was told my views aligned with until I met with others here, who not only welcomed me, but helped me to validate my experiences and helped me to better understand them. I hope that you know who you are, as I accredit my ability to communicate my worldview to others to you.

 

[We Never Know]

I have to say, my opinions on religious matters has not changed at all, BUT, now that I have a place to understand and define my ideas better, I've grown spiritually because of it. This place kind of feels like a religious sandbox where I'm able to test new thoughts and ideas and slowly create the perfect spiritual sand castle that I've imagined in my head.

How about your opinion? Has it changed since you've come across this website? Has anyone's beliefs just resonated with you and you changed your spiritual or theological discourse because of it? Or maybe you have changed your opinion since you came here, but it wasn't because of this website?

Let us know what you think below.

Choice three..
"Partially, because of this forum"

Would be good to know if the partial change in their point of view was "away" or "toward" their relgion

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

Choice three..
"Partially, because of this forum"

Would be good to know if the partial change in their point of view was "away" or "toward" their relgion

I assume if it's toward their religion they would answer "Nope, but I understand myself better now" because if they stayed their own religion but became closer to that religion, they never really changed their opinion at all, but rather understood their own arguments better.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Choice three..
"Partially, because of this forum"

Would be good to know if the partial change in their point of view was "away" or "toward" their relgion

Maybe their beliefs are just an evolved version of their old beliefs, because of this forum.

 

[Ella S.]

Certainly. I went from a Gnostic Christian to a Secular Stoic partially due to the superior logic of the nonbelievers here. I think I would have wound up making the change eventually, anyway, but RF was a catalyst that I'm thankful for.

 

[Shaul]

Why would it change if I'm already right?

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I voted "Yes, and it was because of this forum," since being a member of this forum influenced my decision to practice Wicca. After leaving Christianity, I avoided religion for several months, but after joining RF and reading many threads and posts by @The Hammer and other pagan members, I developed an interest in Wicca and gained the confidence to start thinking about religion again, which led me to research Wicca and later polytheism. I then decided to practice Wicca, which has had a very significant impact on my life.

 

[amorphous_constellation]

As to the question about if it's from the forum, I think the option I would pick would be 'unsure,' or 'uncertain.' I think that the material that goes into changing my point of view is probably diverse, and multi-variate, where it does change. And where it does change, it often seems to change gradually. That makes it hard to track exactly where the change is coming from. But I have changed opinions about things since the internet came on, and I looked at it.

The books I've read, and other experiences I've had, have also changed my perspective. Life itself seems to make people change somewhat, as time pummels itself through them. To me it seems inevitable. Just because of time alone, I will likely change.

 

[Viker]

I was a diehard fundamentalist atheist deep into scientism when I first arrived. Now, because of this forum I worship demons!

Okay, enough smart aleck stuff.

I always grow over time. My personal religious/spiritual beliefs grow with me. They haven't changed radically since I joined. And I have spent little of the years since joining actually on the forum, I don't think it's changed my p.o.v. It has given me insight to things to grow on.

 

[Viker]

Why would it change if I'm already right?

I wake up everyday, look in the mirror and say that very same thing. Then, on my way to work, I wreck my car in the same place, the same way...
every...
single...
day.

But who can question me!?

 

[Aštra’el]

My spiritual-religious system continues to grow, as it always has. This forum for the most part is just a journal. A journal might document my spiritual-religious evolution, but it does not drive that change. I do. My thoughts, choices and experiences do.

There is a difference though… between growing stronger and taking what I’ve learned with me, as opposed to completely forsaking one system of ideas for another. I have changed, but not in that way.

My Weltanschauung has developed over many years into what it is now. I did not just select it from a catalogue of human worldviews. The ziggurat that is my religion is something that I have constructed myself, for myself, upon the ruins of something great that came before… something that itself was also built upon something even older. I did not just flatten the landscape and destroy all of who I was, upon embarking on this journey, only to begin anew.

Now… I have chosen at times to go through some extreme paradigm shifts, and I have adopted roles I was ignorant of to achieve some purpose and/ or obtain valuable insight… but it does not destroy or overwrite who I am at my core. That part of me can remain dormant for however long it needs to be, only to awaken at a later time… with all the strength, power and wisdom I obtained while living a role, eventually contributing to the 1.0.

No. I’ve always been this way. Creative. Open. Flexible. Strategic. Curious. Adventurous.

So. I may develop and evolve. I may shift my shape, morph my face and experiment with a worldview to deepen my understanding from the inside. But I do not truly change. Not ever. I am who I am, who I’ve always been, and who I will continue to be.

 

[ChristineM]

Couldn't vote, first I have no religion but my personal views have not changed though i have absorbed some knowledge.

So i could have done with the option
Nope, but I understand others better now

 

[PureX]

Yes. I am now more tolerant and accepting of those who are religious, though I am not religious, myself. I have also come to recognize how profoundly irrational and often dishonest atheism as an argument is.

 

[Starlight]

No I have not changed my beliefs

 

[Kenny]

I have to say, my opinions on religious matters has not changed at all, BUT, now that I have a place to understand and define my ideas better, I've grown spiritually because of it. This place kind of feels like a religious sandbox where I'm able to test new thoughts and ideas and slowly create the perfect spiritual sand castle that I've imagined in my head.

How about your opinion? Has it changed since you've come across this website? Has anyone's beliefs just resonated with you and you changed your spiritual or theological discourse because of it? Or maybe you have changed your opinion since you came here, but it wasn't because of this website?

Let us know what you think below.

Overall, haven't changed but @metis has made me review the death penalty - at least question my position.

It also made me change my view of Metis That scoundrel!

Happy, blessed and God-filled New Year to you, Metis, and all.

 

[Secret Chief]

Being here has helped me understand that I might not be as unlikable as I previously thought myself to be.

Tell me you jest.

 

[Secret Chief]

My changes have not come from this forum. However I enjoy the musings of various members here, for various reasons. Hence I stay. Boo. Hiss.