metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
I was originally Lutheran.
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What religions have you belonged to in your life?
- Thread starter Sand Dancer
- Start date
From what I understand some Lutheran religions are closer to Catholic than others are.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
Yes, but mine was a very fundamentalist Lutheran church, which I left in my mid-20's for its anti-science, anti-Catholic teachings, and racist actions that the pastor refused to speak out against.
Exaltist Ethan
Bridging the Gap Between Believers and Skeptics
I never converted to it but the first religion I was influenced by was Confucianism. To this day I still consider Confucius to be a very wise and sagacious teacher. Fell into agnosticism as a teenager. Studied NRMs on Wikipedia as an adult and discovered the Unitarian Universalists and Baha'is. I firmly found out that while I can join the UUs and "practice" that religion - whatever that happens to mean - UUs really don't like me being as critical of UUism as much as I am critical of other religions. I was a zealous believer of the Baha'i Faith for a week until I snapped back into reality. There's probably still evidence that I'm both a Unitarian and a Baha'i even though I don't really "practice" either religion.
On onto what I actually am... My syntheism, or the belief that humanity is creating God, lead me to develop the concept of Exaltism, which is essentially an adherence to raising the honor in entities, or from my religious standpoint, going from general pantheism to an Omnitheist standpoint. Another way to think of it is, nature is one God, slowly becoming an infinite number of Gods as entities themselves become Omniversal. Since most religions have their own version of exaltation and Exaltist teachings, I have thus decided that I need to clear the air on what kind of Exaltism I practice. I practice Omnist Exaltism, or, the belief that exaltation will happen in such a way that all Gods, and all entities, will persist and exist one day. In fact, I believe that each entity, no matter how ephemeral, is becoming Omniversal, or God-like. I live my life based on that fact and practice my Omnist Exaltism as if that reality will exist one day.
I practice Omnist Exaltism by espousing it on this forum, Religious Forums. Since I've discovered my true religious calling I almost always present an argument from that view point, and found that people in general have a difficult time arguing against it. Most likely because they've never heard arguments come up from anyone like this before. I have to admit, when it comes to tradition or progress I almost always choose progress first, but my arguments can become so unique that sometimes I'm unsure of what I'm trying to say myself. There's very few omnists on this forum (shout out to @sun rise ) but to combine omnism with general exaltism means that I believe most of what is divine is forthcoming, and doesn't even exist yet. Because of this I have to carefully position my arguments towards the idea that the future is more divine than the past, which is entirely antithetical of most religious arguments.
While I created Exaltism myself and practice that word daily, there's been other developments from likeminded individuals that describe a similar process. Terasem, Turing Church, Evolutionism, and Astronism are just to name a few. Syntheism itself comes from an early 1990's book called Parable of the Sower, a dystopian science fiction novel and the theology of Syntheism comes from Earthseed. Earthseed is perhaps the easiest religion to understand, it simply states that "God is change." The Syntheists took that idea in the 21st century and adopted it to their own theology, then I took the Syntheist argument and adopted that to my own idea of Exaltism. However, all of it boils down to Earthseed. In fact, Terasem is another word for Earthseed. What Exaltism simply believes is that Gods are being created because of change. And this process is called the Pantheosis.
That is simply what I believe. There isn't much ethics or rituals involved in this. I don't have to pray a certain way, eat a special diet, or do anything that would make me less of who I am now to appease a God. I have a deep theology that believes life is about transitioning from The Omniverse to Omnitheism. And if you have read this entire essay you should understand the difference between the two. I have grown a lot since I was a teenager, and I'm still growing spiritually even though I don't identify with any mainstream religion. My Omnist Exaltism is practiced throughout this forum when I simply give my two cents on a certain subject or topic to discuss. And that's how I want to be. I don't want to change because someone tells me I'm living life wrong or something.
I want to be me.
On onto what I actually am... My syntheism, or the belief that humanity is creating God, lead me to develop the concept of Exaltism, which is essentially an adherence to raising the honor in entities, or from my religious standpoint, going from general pantheism to an Omnitheist standpoint. Another way to think of it is, nature is one God, slowly becoming an infinite number of Gods as entities themselves become Omniversal. Since most religions have their own version of exaltation and Exaltist teachings, I have thus decided that I need to clear the air on what kind of Exaltism I practice. I practice Omnist Exaltism, or, the belief that exaltation will happen in such a way that all Gods, and all entities, will persist and exist one day. In fact, I believe that each entity, no matter how ephemeral, is becoming Omniversal, or God-like. I live my life based on that fact and practice my Omnist Exaltism as if that reality will exist one day.
I practice Omnist Exaltism by espousing it on this forum, Religious Forums. Since I've discovered my true religious calling I almost always present an argument from that view point, and found that people in general have a difficult time arguing against it. Most likely because they've never heard arguments come up from anyone like this before. I have to admit, when it comes to tradition or progress I almost always choose progress first, but my arguments can become so unique that sometimes I'm unsure of what I'm trying to say myself. There's very few omnists on this forum (shout out to @sun rise ) but to combine omnism with general exaltism means that I believe most of what is divine is forthcoming, and doesn't even exist yet. Because of this I have to carefully position my arguments towards the idea that the future is more divine than the past, which is entirely antithetical of most religious arguments.
While I created Exaltism myself and practice that word daily, there's been other developments from likeminded individuals that describe a similar process. Terasem, Turing Church, Evolutionism, and Astronism are just to name a few. Syntheism itself comes from an early 1990's book called Parable of the Sower, a dystopian science fiction novel and the theology of Syntheism comes from Earthseed. Earthseed is perhaps the easiest religion to understand, it simply states that "God is change." The Syntheists took that idea in the 21st century and adopted it to their own theology, then I took the Syntheist argument and adopted that to my own idea of Exaltism. However, all of it boils down to Earthseed. In fact, Terasem is another word for Earthseed. What Exaltism simply believes is that Gods are being created because of change. And this process is called the Pantheosis.
That is simply what I believe. There isn't much ethics or rituals involved in this. I don't have to pray a certain way, eat a special diet, or do anything that would make me less of who I am now to appease a God. I have a deep theology that believes life is about transitioning from The Omniverse to Omnitheism. And if you have read this entire essay you should understand the difference between the two. I have grown a lot since I was a teenager, and I'm still growing spiritually even though I don't identify with any mainstream religion. My Omnist Exaltism is practiced throughout this forum when I simply give my two cents on a certain subject or topic to discuss. And that's how I want to be. I don't want to change because someone tells me I'm living life wrong or something.
I want to be me.
firedragon
Veteran Member
It's not every day one meets a person like you. Did you study any of these philosophies or religions deep?
AdamjEdgar
Active Member
Born a catholic...of sorts, taught that I evolved from monkeys, the earth was millions of years old, Jesus was born in a stable...all the usual conflicting stuff, then my parents became Seventh Day Adventist when I was about 11 or 12.
With that followed a change to vegetarian diet, no alcohol, no swearing, Christian music and a much happier more tolerant home life to be honest. Our entire lifestyle changed dramatically.
People often think of SDA as a cult, however it absolutely is not a cult or even cultish anymore than living in a capalistc western country is under repressive authoritative regeme control.
During COVID, I have taken the opportunity to study deeply into biblical history and it has become very obvious to me that the historicity of the Bible as the most ancient of all religions is without any doubt accurate.
I think most individuals who fail to maintain their religious beliefs in Christianity do so because of a poor understanding of not only the epistemology of life, but also a poor grounding in the Bible in the first place.
The Bible isn't just a book, it's a very deep personal experience that assures us salvation beyond this life. That salvation is NOT based on self elevation, it is based on giving up the desires of self and simply following the gospel...it requires nothing else but to love the Lord they God and they neighbour as thyself.
I am not very good at either of the above, however that is the point, Jesus cloak of righteousness fortunately is near so that in the day my name comes up, I may go boldly before the throne of God, a worthless sinner, and he judged righteous in His name.
I found a renewed strength in my faith in the Bible from listening to an atheist (Dr Bart Erhman)...he is a world expert on the historicity of Jesus and the world's. I was intrigued that an atheist could in fact support the idea Jesus really existed. Whislt Bart Denys Jesus is God, it added a dimension to my religious studies that has convinced me that there is only one possible pathway to life after death...Christianity.
So, I hold to that promise every eye shall see him and he will come again in exactly the same way he went up into heaven, he will redeem us unto himself... I believe this because in all honesty, I'm a terrible Christian, however I know in my heart it's the only theology with an historically proven ancient belief that explains why I am here, where I came from, and what comes next. When I look at other explanations of our existence I see many problems...they do not adequately explain our existence or future.
With that followed a change to vegetarian diet, no alcohol, no swearing, Christian music and a much happier more tolerant home life to be honest. Our entire lifestyle changed dramatically.
People often think of SDA as a cult, however it absolutely is not a cult or even cultish anymore than living in a capalistc western country is under repressive authoritative regeme control.
During COVID, I have taken the opportunity to study deeply into biblical history and it has become very obvious to me that the historicity of the Bible as the most ancient of all religions is without any doubt accurate.
I think most individuals who fail to maintain their religious beliefs in Christianity do so because of a poor understanding of not only the epistemology of life, but also a poor grounding in the Bible in the first place.
The Bible isn't just a book, it's a very deep personal experience that assures us salvation beyond this life. That salvation is NOT based on self elevation, it is based on giving up the desires of self and simply following the gospel...it requires nothing else but to love the Lord they God and they neighbour as thyself.
I am not very good at either of the above, however that is the point, Jesus cloak of righteousness fortunately is near so that in the day my name comes up, I may go boldly before the throne of God, a worthless sinner, and he judged righteous in His name.
I found a renewed strength in my faith in the Bible from listening to an atheist (Dr Bart Erhman)...he is a world expert on the historicity of Jesus and the world's. I was intrigued that an atheist could in fact support the idea Jesus really existed. Whislt Bart Denys Jesus is God, it added a dimension to my religious studies that has convinced me that there is only one possible pathway to life after death...Christianity.
So, I hold to that promise every eye shall see him and he will come again in exactly the same way he went up into heaven, he will redeem us unto himself... I believe this because in all honesty, I'm a terrible Christian, however I know in my heart it's the only theology with an historically proven ancient belief that explains why I am here, where I came from, and what comes next. When I look at other explanations of our existence I see many problems...they do not adequately explain our existence or future.
Sand Dancer
Currently catless
I did actually. At least I would like to think so. I love learning about them, and when I decide on something, I really dive in. Unfortunately, after the excitement wore off and reality set in, I just wasn't all in, so I looked into the next one. I just so wanted one to just be "the right one" that I went splashing through the sea of spiritualities to find my perfect match. Good thing I didn't do that with romantic partners. lol
I was baptised into the world of the Church of England but was never pressed on whether I adhered to it.
When I went to Sunday school we were spoiled by making anything from toffee apples to canoes,the leader would then tell stories from the Bible like “the parable of the talents”,not a bad story imo but I pretty much just identify as human now,warts and all.
RestlessSoul
Well-Known Member
Baptised and confirmed in the One True Catholic and Apostolic Church. Dropped out as a teenager.
I remember being staggered to discover that Graham Greene, my favourite writer at the time, converted to Catholicism in adulthood. Could not for the life of me work out why anyone would do that, become a Catholic by choice - when I was trying so hard not to be one. Now, I think I understand a little better. Last night I watched a movie about Siegfried Sassoon, a writer I only discovered in my middle age. Interestingly, Sassoon also converted to Catholicism, late in life; somehow - I can’t explain how - his conversion made sense to me. He was a man who could seemingly blend in anywhere, but belonged nowhere. Holy Mother Church seems always to have room for misfits, it’s where the mad and the damned come to be redeemed. And I certainly needed some redemption when my life hit the skids.
Like another of the literary heroes of my youth, Jack Kerouac, I am drawn to Buddhism without either wanting or being able to completely abandon Catholicism. I’d miss the statues of the Virgin Mary, all the Saints, and my friends the sinners. I feel blessed to have been given a religion to reject, and a God to return to.
I’m currently reading the Meditations of 17th Century Anglican parson Thomas Traherne, and re-reading the Bhagavad Gita. I agree really with England’s great visionary William Blake, that All Religions Are One. All feels about right, for now.
I remember being staggered to discover that Graham Greene, my favourite writer at the time, converted to Catholicism in adulthood. Could not for the life of me work out why anyone would do that, become a Catholic by choice - when I was trying so hard not to be one. Now, I think I understand a little better. Last night I watched a movie about Siegfried Sassoon, a writer I only discovered in my middle age. Interestingly, Sassoon also converted to Catholicism, late in life; somehow - I can’t explain how - his conversion made sense to me. He was a man who could seemingly blend in anywhere, but belonged nowhere. Holy Mother Church seems always to have room for misfits, it’s where the mad and the damned come to be redeemed. And I certainly needed some redemption when my life hit the skids.
Like another of the literary heroes of my youth, Jack Kerouac, I am drawn to Buddhism without either wanting or being able to completely abandon Catholicism. I’d miss the statues of the Virgin Mary, all the Saints, and my friends the sinners. I feel blessed to have been given a religion to reject, and a God to return to.
I’m currently reading the Meditations of 17th Century Anglican parson Thomas Traherne, and re-reading the Bhagavad Gita. I agree really with England’s great visionary William Blake, that All Religions Are One. All feels about right, for now.
Sand Dancer
Currently catless
Which synod?
firedragon
Veteran Member
Augustus
…
I was not raised in a religious family and have never been religious.
I did go to a nominally Christian school for the first 3 years of my education, although only because the other nearby school was pretty rough. The religious part was a daily assembly where we sang songs about Jesus being kind, and a vicar told us to be nice to everyone and grateful for what we have. Can't remember being taught a single thing that a secular humanist would have found objectionable (excepting the framing being religious rather than philosophical). We also went to church a few times a year.
This led me to ask my mum about Jesus being real, but she said "some people believe Jesus is god and some just think he was a kind man". I went with the latter.
I did go to a nominally Christian school for the first 3 years of my education, although only because the other nearby school was pretty rough. The religious part was a daily assembly where we sang songs about Jesus being kind, and a vicar told us to be nice to everyone and grateful for what we have. Can't remember being taught a single thing that a secular humanist would have found objectionable (excepting the framing being religious rather than philosophical). We also went to church a few times a year.
This led me to ask my mum about Jesus being real, but she said "some people believe Jesus is god and some just think he was a kind man". I went with the latter.
I guess I was counted among the (very numerous indeed) non-practicing Catholics at an early age. It is something of a Brazilian tradition to presume everyone Christian unless they insist otherwise, and furthermore to assume everyone Catholic unless the circunstances justify other assumptions. Belief isn't really a part of it, although superficial commitments to the appearance of belief are. There is even a certain reluctance to talk or learn about Christian groups that are not perceived as mainstream.
Myself, I felt certain that the Bible was a fables book of sorts. It had assorted messages, which were not always clear, and its characters were never meant to be taken literally. But far as I remember I was always agnostic and most of all atheistic.
I had the sense back then that Christianity in Brazil wasn't so much about spreading values (there isn't much in the way of a consensus of what would be Christian values here) as it is about spreading a language. That sense remains with me, although I have since learned that there are also cryptolanguages and counterlanguages involved - which is to say, there is quite a bit of intentional equivocation, secrecy and ambiguity in the whole package.
But focusing on my personal journey, I just wasn't ever theistic material. That is not who I am, never was, never will be. I was born atheistic and I will die atheistic. It just happens that I exist in a social environment that isn't particularly interested in acknowledging that atheism exists, nor in understanding what it is.
None of that stopped my legal so-called guardians from putting me into Catholic school and even specifically in classes of preparation for Eucharist taking. It just wasn't ever discussed; instead, it was something that I would do, apparently much as I am supposed to wear clothes. It felt weird, but I was raised in a rather weird way generally.
It took a very long time, quite a few years after I actually had Catholic Communion as a matter of fact, before I finally developed an interest in religions and beliefs. I got interested in Taoism initially, but it was hard to go forward with little beyond encyclopedia articles. Meanwhile, the so-called guardians took a strong turn towards Kardecist Spiritism and demanded rather strenuously that I ought to do the same. It was, frankly, rather abusive and disrespectful of them. There was never true healing from that.
Curiously enough, that abuse led to my first taste of religious community, albeit in a way that I would not advise and they never intended. Having convinced themselves of the truth of Kardecisim, the female who supposedly raised me insisted first that I watched some speeches by what turned out to be a SAW Gnostic occultism group, then that I stopped doing so. I think that she expected the contents to drift into support of Kardecism at some point, which it did not and would not.
I was eventually thrown away from their ceiling (and good riddance too; there was nothing there that I could possibly miss) for daring to try to have a mind of my own. A few years later I got interested in Buddhism and eventually went to practices and teachings in various groups and cities. That led to a better understanding first of Christianity, then of religion more generally. It was my Buddhist teachers that taught me what Gospels were - which should give you some idea of what Christianity truly is in Brazil.
So I guess I literally belonged to my raisers understanding of what Roman Catholicism was, then Kardecism. When I began to feel freedom to express my actual beliefs and choices, those were at first received, superficial Gnostic occultism, then Buddhism and later a pinch of Dharma more generally. I considered the Bahai Faith for a short time, but it is just way too Abrahamic and too monotheistic to ever work for me.
Myself, I felt certain that the Bible was a fables book of sorts. It had assorted messages, which were not always clear, and its characters were never meant to be taken literally. But far as I remember I was always agnostic and most of all atheistic.
I had the sense back then that Christianity in Brazil wasn't so much about spreading values (there isn't much in the way of a consensus of what would be Christian values here) as it is about spreading a language. That sense remains with me, although I have since learned that there are also cryptolanguages and counterlanguages involved - which is to say, there is quite a bit of intentional equivocation, secrecy and ambiguity in the whole package.
But focusing on my personal journey, I just wasn't ever theistic material. That is not who I am, never was, never will be. I was born atheistic and I will die atheistic. It just happens that I exist in a social environment that isn't particularly interested in acknowledging that atheism exists, nor in understanding what it is.
None of that stopped my legal so-called guardians from putting me into Catholic school and even specifically in classes of preparation for Eucharist taking. It just wasn't ever discussed; instead, it was something that I would do, apparently much as I am supposed to wear clothes. It felt weird, but I was raised in a rather weird way generally.
It took a very long time, quite a few years after I actually had Catholic Communion as a matter of fact, before I finally developed an interest in religions and beliefs. I got interested in Taoism initially, but it was hard to go forward with little beyond encyclopedia articles. Meanwhile, the so-called guardians took a strong turn towards Kardecist Spiritism and demanded rather strenuously that I ought to do the same. It was, frankly, rather abusive and disrespectful of them. There was never true healing from that.
Curiously enough, that abuse led to my first taste of religious community, albeit in a way that I would not advise and they never intended. Having convinced themselves of the truth of Kardecisim, the female who supposedly raised me insisted first that I watched some speeches by what turned out to be a SAW Gnostic occultism group, then that I stopped doing so. I think that she expected the contents to drift into support of Kardecism at some point, which it did not and would not.
I was eventually thrown away from their ceiling (and good riddance too; there was nothing there that I could possibly miss) for daring to try to have a mind of my own. A few years later I got interested in Buddhism and eventually went to practices and teachings in various groups and cities. That led to a better understanding first of Christianity, then of religion more generally. It was my Buddhist teachers that taught me what Gospels were - which should give you some idea of what Christianity truly is in Brazil.
So I guess I literally belonged to my raisers understanding of what Roman Catholicism was, then Kardecism. When I began to feel freedom to express my actual beliefs and choices, those were at first received, superficial Gnostic occultism, then Buddhism and later a pinch of Dharma more generally. I considered the Bahai Faith for a short time, but it is just way too Abrahamic and too monotheistic to ever work for me.
I have a question concerning SDA religion and the Gospel. Do you celebrate Good Friday, or Easter Sunday? The reason for the question years ago I had a friend belonging to this religion and she explained to me that her religion did not acknowledge anything beyond the life of Jesus, after what we call Holy Thursday.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
LCA, but the pastor was very much old school, and talked to him about this the ToE and said it was not possible to believe in the Bible if one accepted it.
Even though the LCA merged to form the ELCA, it broke off from it. I don't know if it has any other affiliation.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Thanks for sharing.
Ironically, my mother put me and my sister in a Catholic high school even though we were not Catholic and I knew nothing about religion or God, since I was not raised in any religion or believing in God. In the school, I had to try to fit in and go along with the Catholic rituals. It was quite the experience and as I recall it was quite frightening, since I had no idea what was going on! I did not remain in that school for very long. The next year my mother put me back in public school, a school which was predominately Jewish children. All my best friends were Jewish but we never talked about religion.
Sand Dancer
Currently catless
I didn't know that. I like the ELCA.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
I can understand why, and in some respects at least I am more compatible in certain areas with the ELCA than my own Catholicism.
AdamjEdgar
Active Member
Would you be able to elaborate on exactly what your friend stated?
Sda don't worship the days as such, however, the last supper and resurrection are vital components of our salvation. Sda absolutely recognise these events. Our communion service held every 13 weeks is an example of just how important these are.
I think most sda will agree the modern use of Easter is a pagan driven festival. For me personally, the mere fact the world has these events on their calender at least can be used by God as a reminder of Him. I'm certain, in that times of great need, some turn to God because of these events...they are a witness to Him.