What Is Your Religion or Worldview?

[sayak83]

I'm not sure if anything can be done, at least by anyone but me.

As I've said previously in different threads here, I feel that self-identifying with a religion but not participating in rituals and practices or not worshiping their deities as other followers/devotees do, even though I share the same worldview, would be an affront to them.

Then again, it very well could be my experiences with more dogmatic religions that led me to this mindset.

I personally do not think that participation in ritual and cultural practices is a necessity for being a Hindu. They are widely varied and region-specific anyways..and over time new ones may grow that are more at home in Western cultures. If a specific theological/philosophical worldview and modes of living within the Hindu thought appeals to you so that you feel fulfilled in adopting it to your life situation, then you are living within Hinduism.
My sense has been that people who feel ideas in Hinduism appealing feel a lack of clarity and confidence regarding how to extract the things they want from the extreme complexity of this tradition and use it in their day-to-day lives. If this is something you (and others) have a difficulty with, then maybe we can help out a bit in a seperate discussion thread.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I apologize in advance if your religion isn't listed, as the software limits polls to ten choices. I did my best to name the most widely practiced.

If your religion, belief system, or worldview is not listed, feel free to select 'other' and post below. Also, there are many religions or traditions that fall under the the umbrella term in the poll, so feel free to be as specific as you like.

Also, this poll will not close, so if your beliefs evolve and you wish to change your affiliation, you are free to do so.

We have so many different believes in the Universalist Church I'm learning. The best to wrap it all up is from a prayer-type statement "arranged by L. Griswold Williams."

The quest of truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve human need,
To the end that all souls shall grow into harmony with the Divine-
Thus do we covenant with each other and with God.

Personally, quest for truth means freedom to be. I'm not against religious structure; though, after experience, it doesn't match my worship style.

We do a lot of service, if not based on service, to defend other people's rights, take care of members and community health inside and outside the church. Support each other by accepting all people on the common foundation above however they reframe the words to match their own beliefs.

We're strung together by two different christian-activist who protested against protestant beliefs of damnation and no universal salvation. I wasn't raised religious; so, those two things doesn't affect me. It does to others, and I see that, I just wish I can help somehow. Baby steps.

 

[Dawnofhope]

I'm a Baha'i. We see all the main faiths such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christainity and Islam as originating from a common source.

 

[Marcion]

Why would you want to? Lots of Hindu leaders and swamis can't even call themselves Hindu, or Sanatanis. It's shame, I tell ya! Centuries of ridicule have has a lasting effect.

Nah, the Hindu mold as a "religion" is a Western-cum-Islamic invention and did not originate in India itself.

 

[Vinayaka]

Nah, the Hindu mold as a "religion" is a Western-cum-Islamic invention and did not originate in India itself.

To me, origin doesn't matter, although there are several theories about it besides the commonly spouted one. I used to have a link to a paper on just that, but I don't know if I can find it again.

Today the reality is that Sanatana Dharma is called Hinduism by the vast majority of adherents and outsiders alike, so just for simpler understanding, I prefer to use it.

 

[Marcion]

To me, origin doesn't matter, although there are several theories about it besides the commonly spouted one. I used to have a link to a paper on just that, but I don't know if I can find it again.

Today the reality is that Sanatana Dharma is called Hinduism by the vast majority of adherents and outsiders alike, so just for simpler understanding, I prefer to use it.

Some years ago I purchased a collection of essays on this subject called 'Defining Hinduism, A Reader' in which several people give very different viewpoints on the question whether you can define what is Hinduism and if yes, how it could be defined.

I do not self-identify as a Hindu eventhough many of my core beliefs would be considered Hindu by many. I feel closer in my practices to meditating Tantra-Yogi's, (other) meditating Buddhists, Sufi's and mystic Christians than to the majority of Hindus. I see religion as a quite crude way to categorise people, one that can even be harmful in the way in which it does or may turn people against each other.

 

[Marcion]

And to be frank, I have a certain distaste for people who huddle together in what they see as their walled in "religion" and consider others as "outsiders". I prefer people who dislike such walls.
Where dharma is practised or upheld does not depend on any so-called religious walls or boundaries.

 

[Fool]

I follow the path of unconditional love, grace.

 

[Patriottechsan]

I'm new here. So please pardon any mistakes I make during my learning curve. I am a Christian but not because I grew up in a "Christian" family & went to church all the time & was baptized in the faith.

See my actual home life was exactly opposite of the "picture" portrayed at church! My parents got divorced when I was going on becoming 3 and my brother 1. I never knew them together.

Just to show you the lack of proper priorities. I was born in a car because my Dad was working his way home making sales calls. He got home & I was coming out while in the car on way to hospital. 2 yrs later my Dad wouldn't park near hospital due to costing .25 cents. So parked 2 blocks away while my Mom is in labor making her walk to hospital to give birth to my brother to save 25 cents.

That was always my Dads priority. They got divorced soon after that. My Mom remarried but he was former Marine drill instructor & very abusive to us all & tried to shoot & kill me & despite all this Mom stayed with him. But we still kept going to church like good little "Christians"!

I went to college at Texas Tech & my brother to UT. My brother started drugs in 6th grade. I never did, not even alcohol including college. I stayed virgin in college too. I had a Baptist minister in College really hurt me. I quit the church but still never went wild. I won't go into all the other stuff.

What I did do was what Simon Greenleaf, Lee Strobel & Josh McDowell did. I studied the various religions.

First I decided to check Christianity despite my bias against it due to my personal experience. But logically it made sense. It was the ONLY religion that the founder claimed to be God Himself. All others claimed to be a spokesperson for God. Anyone can claim that. But if someone claims to be God & there is proof. Then it saves time checking out the rest because they can't be true. So it boils down to is Jesus who He claims to be. If so He can't lie & He is the ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN.

So I did what those others did before I was aware of them or they had written their books. Much to my surprise. I found Jesus & Christianity was true! So what I discovered was my personal experience wasn't Jesus or Gods fault. He doesn't make robots but gives free will choice. My family had chosen wrong & had given exactly the wrong image of God thee Father & Jesus. I read a book called The Father Heart of God by Floyd McClung. It so changed things. He wrote the book after having an exchange with a young man. It went like this. After Floyd had preached about God thee Father. The young boy told him. If God is anything like my father I want nothing to do with him. Man did I relate to that.. Floyd realized for the first time making that comparison was bad for many people & he'd never realized it before because he had a great relationship with his Dad. He wrote the book to help people distinguish between God thee Father & earthly fallible sinful fathers.

Then I did research too on many objections etc atheists skeptics had. I researched the answers others had. What I found the answers were better & the others were too ruled by bias not academic honesty.

Finally Christianity could be personally mine academically & by faith. I didn't have to surrender my academic mind. It's been so freeing.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I'm new here. So please pardon any mistakes I make during my learning curve. I am a Christian but not because I grew up in a "Christian" family & went to church all the time & was baptized in the faith.

See my actual home life was exactly opposite of the "picture" portrayed at church! My parents got divorced when I was going on becoming 3 and my brother 1. I never knew them together.

Just to show you the lack of proper priorities. I was born in a car because my Dad was working his way home making sales calls. He got home & I was coming out while in the car on way to hospital. 2 yrs later my Dad wouldn't park near hospital due to costing .25 cents. So parked 2 blocks away while my Mom is in labor making her walk to hospital to give birth to my brother to save 25 cents.

That was always my Dads priority. They got divorced soon after that. My Mom remarried but he was former Marine drill instructor & very abusive to us all & tried to shoot & kill me & despite all this Mom stayed with him. But we still kept going to church like good little "Christians"!

I went to college at Texas Tech & my brother to UT. My brother started drugs in 6th grade. I never did, not even alcohol including college. I stayed virgin in college too. I had a Baptist minister in College really hurt me. I quit the church but still never went wild. I won't go into all the other stuff.

What I did do was what Simon Greenleaf, Lee Strobel & Josh McDowell did. I studied the various religions.

First I decided to check Christianity despite my bias against it due to my personal experience. But logically it made sense. It was the ONLY religion that the founder claimed to be God Himself. All others claimed to be a spokesperson for God. Anyone can claim that. But if someone claims to be God & there is proof. Then it saves time checking out the rest because they can't be true. So it boils down to is Jesus who He claims to be. If so He can't lie & He is the ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN.

So I did what those others did before I was aware of them or they had written their books. Much to my surprise. I found Jesus & Christianity was true! So what I discovered was my personal experience wasn't Jesus or Gods fault. He doesn't make robots but gives free will choice. My family had chosen wrong & had given exactly the wrong image of God thee Father & Jesus. I read a book called The Father Heart of God by Floyd McClung. It so changed things. He wrote the book after having an exchange with a young man. It went like this. After Floyd had preached about God thee Father. The young boy told him. If God is anything like my father I want nothing to do with him. Man did I relate to that.. Floyd realized for the first time making that comparison was bad for many people & he'd never realized it before because he had a great relationship with his Dad. He wrote the book to help people distinguish between God thee Father & earthly fallible sinful fathers.

Then I did research too on many objections etc atheists skeptics had. I researched the answers others had. What I found the answers were better & the others were too ruled by bias not academic honesty.

Finally Christianity could be personally mine academically & by faith. I didn't have to surrender my academic mind. It's been so freeing.

Greetings and salutations. That's quite a story!

Welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy your time here.

 

[Patriottechsan]

BTW I also by using critical analysis realized that evolution despite what they teach & say. Evolution is very faith & supernatural based. I'll go to another forum to discuss that.

 

[Flame]

I swing between Agnostic and Apatheism with deep, deep shades of Absurdist philosophy.

 

[wandering peacefully]

I had to choose other. I cannot say for certain that my worldview cannot be considered a religion which wasn't included in the atheistic portion of the choices.

I am an unbeliever in all of the so far presented religious practices and their stories and gods as being literally divine instead of good teaching myths for people's living over 5,000 ybp.

I worship nature in all of it's forms. I love nature just as I love my human family. It keeps me alive and I spend a good deal of time trying to understand it and all of its connections globe wide.

I would most likely die if there were no nature.

So I suppose some could view that as having a god concept except it is real and involves all of my real life.

The other view is about humanism. I guess I would sort of wish for that as a worldwide religion. So you could maybe say I am praying to humanity to become humanists. Not really realistic, but a sort of religious practice.

And I like the teachings of Buddha about discovering ourselves through our minds.

That's about it I guess. If a name ever comes up as a choice for my worldview /religion, I'll change my vote to that.

 

[Rival]

Judaism, I guess. Same beliefs, different customs.

 

[Quagmire]

I clicked on the last choice. I'm a devoted follower of Please Specify.

 

[Rival]

I clicked on the last choice. I'm a devoted follower of Please Specify.

I'm way more devoted to his low-brow pun cousin, Come Again?

 

[Patriottechsan]

As a follow up on my personal research that I explained earlier. I feel I should explain partially why I ruled out other religions except Christianity.

Every other one that I researched basically believed in a works type theology. Most seemed to indicate we just had to be on the positive side when we die.

What confused me was what they didn't tell me. One was when did that earning clock start. ( birth, when became follower & if that how do they account for actions prior to becoming a follower, was it when become adult whatever age that may be. Things like that were never explained. I felt like if I was to become a follower I'd like to have a way to keep track as it were.

Plus I never heard them tell me a % of good vs bad I had to be at when I died. Was it 51% vs 49%, 60% vs 40%, just what was it. Then I needed to know how the " scale" was measured by different sins per se. Murder vs adultery etc. Plus how many goods it took to offset the bass etc. I never could find it. That made me uncomfortable. I'm betting on a system that the founders of a religion didn't leave behind a full description & understanding. Plus many have changed what's right & wrong over time. That's inconsistent & unreliable for an ETERNAL decision. ETERNITY IS TOO LONG TO BE WRONG!

I find another religion that says if you die for it it helps but doesn't guarantee heaven. It says in the end their God still determines & their book(s) their god never claims to love people.

When compared to Christ & Christianity. It was different in so many ways & esp if one could believe Jesus was who He claimed to be & the Bible is inerrant. That took lots of research & esp coming from my very hypocritical childhood experiences. Yet I went into it with as open mind as possible. Got my answers that satisfied me intellectually & it elimated my above questions as I described while in college.

Nothing since then has shaken that faith or relationship not religion I now have.

Best Wishes. It can be time consuming & exhausting. Well worth looking into all arguments pro & con & all answers & rebuttal answers. But ETERNITY is worth more than time invested for finding truth. Certainly for me in my case. The answer was surprising to me too.

 

[Workman]

I was a brought up in a catholic family..And now I shall not follow any religions..rather!. I have become my own temple and for this reason I take anywhere with me and always..INNER SELF(my OWN religion). I have stolen some good news from different sorts of religions and have stored it in the depths within my temple(self)..The which’s has worked out its conspiracy of God! From God has gifted me the tounge to a language I can now speak of understanding..and I have come to understand this world is deceived and controlled by its sound and of what it carries in it(Vibrations).I have now (NEW)knew whom has birthed out an OLD personality!..I am a selfish selfless person whom indeed is the all by myself...I am kept away from ’The Living’..And from it has created by itself a True Life in my own self in understanding! I have realised now of something!..’Darkness’ is the source of where we have come out from..but it’s the brightness in light we cannot define in..there are too many lights that are becoming dimmer by its own shadows..and from whom of its brightnesses of in lighting it..I shall leave its peice(Peace) be with they. Therefore is my WILL for My God, becoming of first b4 anything/one else...and for Christ in saying this! Sinning will be my WALK through Gods eye..in against its owned of the devils work!..from I now come to an understanding of its darknesses in the world..for I Am 2 as my shadow WILL take from death and claim of whom hiding in ‘IT’.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Voted 'other' as Greek Paganism does not fall under any of the religious groupings mentioned.

 

[Gandalf]

I am an syncretic deist so essentially my theological position is quite naturalistic and I do not believe in any separation of matter with concepts like spiritual worlds. I simply posit forth what I can validate and what is unknown but systematized is what is called God or the work thereof.

I am perhaps the most purest monotheist and literally only posit forth a singular god and nothing else. Indeed one cannot understand God in context of form as the actions of the Demiurge are fundamentally different than the aspects given to the Monad but that is all there is to it. I do not believe in a morally good god or a god that loves or cares about us, God is God and his will is his will. I leave that unchallenged and do not bicker about it.

I believe in very few fundamental religious aspects:

Worship is offered for God.
Prayer is for man's soul.
Both are needed to understand both.

Anything good or bad that comes out of that is a result of human creation and desire.

My Syncretism comes in the fact I have read so much religious texts I simply appropriate what I find desirable about certain religions. Sometimes its something small and sometimes it is something major.