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What is your religious affiliation?


  

153 members have voted

  1. 1. What is your religious affiliation?

    • Hindu
      9
    • Christian
      29
    • Buddhist
      7
    • Jewish
      2
    • Muslim/Islamic
      22
    • Sikh
      4
    • Atheist
      37
    • Agnostic
      30
    • Other
      7
    • Apatheist
      6


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I don't know what to reply really. I was brought up as a Muslim, but I know longer really believe in the stories told in the Koran or anything... As for the whole "what happens after death?" issue, I'm torn between the heaven and hell concept and that of eternal darkness - of not being, no consciousness whatsoever. Do I classify as an agnostic? Or an atheist? I mean I've never tried to "search for god" or whatever; I don't see the need for a spiritual being watching over you.

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'Atheist' implies that you know there is no god. 'Agnostic' implies that you think it's not entirely unlikely there is a god.

What about people who think it's pretty damn unlikely but are aware that the concept of a god (as projected by religious people) essentially plants it into all the loopholes - apparently unseeable, unknowable, unprovable, uncommunicative, not even on this planet or necessarily in this universe... etcetera?

I usually select atheist on these things because I feel like agnostic is an unfairly positive representation of extreme scepticism, but I do always think that there ought to be another category in there somewhere.

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Born into an Islamic household and subsequently raised with the basic teachings. Parents were never really strict on me religiously, however, I now consider myself an ardent and devout Muslim.

The more I grow older and delve deeper into my faith and other religions the more I am convinced that what I am following is indeed the truth. That's how religion/faith should be in my opinion; allowing the individual to explore and be convinced of the truth themselves, without referring to the bias that infiltrates our televisions and media.

I love the way you write. I agree with you about how religion and faith should be. :blowkiss::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

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I guess sometimes it's not so easy to categorize yourself as one religion or another, or even as an atheist or an agnostic.

I am born in a fairly buddhist country, Taiwan. Going to the temple is quite a big thing and tomb sweeping is always accompanied with burning paper money for the dead and praying with a lit 香 (fellow chinese speakers rescue me! My english seems to have escaped me) I rarely pray or practice when I am in Shanghai though, as there is not much of a religious atmosphere, and my ancestors are not here so there is not much need for it anyways.

I would say that I am a Buddhist, though there is so much more to the religion that is yet to be explored, and there are so many versions of Buddhism around the world as well.

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I do believe in God but I don't practice a religion as my mother came from a muslim family, my father from a christian and they are both athiests now. I do pray before exams though.

My situation is kind of like yours. I'm a deist , my mom comes from a Muslim family but not really religious, my dad is an Ashkenazi but assimilated into a Muslim country

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I've been born and brought up as a Sikh. Growing up in Australia, my parents weren't extremely religious, but we have always had a strong connection to Sikh/ Punjabi culture. With the exception of my dad, my family hasn't cut their hair, doesn't eat beef/ pork and we speak Punjabi at home.Yeah I don't pray every single day or go to the Gurudwara very often, but I still have a sense of 'God's presence' I guess...I don't know really how to put it into words. But, whenever I'm happy or before a test or when I'm facing a problem, I always end up remembering God. It makes me feel that I'm not alone...I always have some kind of support

I'm perhaps the one person amongst my friends who follows a religion and I'm proud of it. I like having a set of principles that I have chosen to believe in that give me a sense of morals... and like Hus said, probably it gives me a chance to 'explore the truth of the world' :)

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I was christened Anglican but my parents were never religious at all. So now, I'm an atheist. Not very interesting I guess.

It's annoying how Atheists nowadays seem to be labelled as not being tolerant of any religion. Personally, I think that as long as you live a good life, it shouldn't matter which religion you follow, if you do at at all.

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'Atheist' implies that you know there is no god. 'Agnostic' implies that you think it's not entirely unlikely there is a god.

What about people who think it's pretty damn unlikely but are aware that the concept of a god (as projected by religious people) essentially plants it into all the loopholes - apparently unseeable, unknowable, unprovable, uncommunicative, not even on this planet or necessarily in this universe... etcetera?

I usually select atheist on these things because I feel like agnostic is an unfairly positive representation of extreme scepticism, but I do always think that there ought to be another category in there somewhere.

In fact, the correct term for most people who have selected agnostic/atheist here is agnostic atheist. Agnostic simply refers to the certainty of your position, with agnostic indicating uncertainty, or the view that you can't know whether you're right or wrong. You can also be a gnostic atheist, which refers to certainty about God's non-existence.

Likewise, gnostic and agnostic views on religious views apply likewise, although most religions "require" that you label yourself as gnostic.

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So, I am one of the 0.1 (or 0.4 I cant remember)% of the world that is a Jain.

 

I follow Jainism (I am not an extreme Jain, if you start looking it up and wonder how I even live) but there is no option for it :(

 

Jainism in short is similar to Buddhism, in that there is no physical 'God' but a state of enlightenment etc etc.

 

Sorry, not a very descriptive explanation.

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'Atheist' implies that you know there is no god. '

 

Does it?  I'm no linguist, but from what I recall the prefix "a" means "not" in Greek, ie, "not a theist", ie, "I don't believe in God", not "I believe in no God".  Someone who claims to know absolutely that there is no God would be more likely to be a buddhist, given that mainstream buddhist dogma denies the existence of a deity.  That's different from just claiming that God's existence is highly unlikely/not supported by evidence.

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