The Obvious Question

[Captain Stellette]

I may call it Christmas and Easter, but it's actually Capitalism and Chocolate.

Quoted for TRUTH!

And, just for the record, I'm proud to say I've scathingly been called a "humanist" on the intarweb so it MUST be true.

[Shoeman]

I may call it Christmas and Easter, but it's actually Capitalism and Chocolate.

Quoted for TRUTH!

And, just for the record, I'm proud to say I've scathingly been called a "humanist" on the intarweb so it MUST be true.

What does that mean? "Humanist?"

[Captain Stellette]

I may call it Christmas and Easter, but it's actually Capitalism and Chocolate.

Quoted for TRUTH!

And, just for the record, I'm proud to say I've scathingly been called a "humanist" on the intarweb so it MUST be true.

What does that mean? "Humanist?"

In a short and concise explanation from dictionary.com:

'of or pertaining to a philosophy asserting human dignity and man's capacity for fulfillment through reason and scientific method and often rejecting religion; "the humanist belief in continuous emergent evolution"- Wendell Thomas'

It's mostly used as an insult by those who don't realize it's not an insult at all.

[wokka]

Raised Christian, Turned Athiest, now Buddhist.

[Shoeman]

Raised Christian, Turned Athiest, now Buddhist.

Buddhism is cool. I like Zen personally. Ideas like, The Beginner's mind.

[SWONDPOOPING]

I was raised christian but by the time I was old enough to decide what made the most sense to me, I was drawn to Buddhism.

Hard to find others to discuss that with, but Pastafarianism will be easy to bring up at parties without that wierd silence.

RAmen

[ManicStar]

I was raised christian but by the time I was old enough to decide what made the most sense to me, I was drawn to Buddhism.

Me too-- altho I also had a brief foray into Wicca. One of those neo-Pagan Buddhist types

So what flavour of Buddhism got your attention?? mine was Zen, followed by Tibetan.

[Shoeman]

I thought Tibetan was Zen? Gahh religioustolerance.org has to finish their section on Buddhism.

Oh duh, Wikipedia.

Anyway, well I think a lot of us have had brief forays into Wicca. I think its greatest strength is not being centralized and strict in doctrine. I mean the only universally followed rules in Wicca are in the Wiccan Rede aren't they?

[iamnotanoctopus]

I was raised christian... blaarg, is all I have to say about that.

I would now consider myself an agnostic neo-pagan humanist of some kind... I think. I don't fully believe anything, although there are a great number of things I certainly couldn't buy into barring a lobotomy.

[ManicStar]

I thought Tibetan was Zen? Gahh religioustolerance.org has to finish their section on Buddhism.

Oh duh, Wikipedia.

Anyway, well I think a lot of us have had brief forays into Wicca. I think its greatest strength is not being centralized and strict in doctrine. I mean the only universally followed rules in Wicca are in the Wiccan Rede aren't they?

Tibetan & Zen are both Mahayana anyways.

The rede is one of the most common sense rules i've ever heard.

[lei]

oooh, there is a fun quiz!

(deleted 'cause i don't like pissing off mods.)

here's my top results. they provide explanations but i still don't know how #7 got in there (i only snorted, never mainlined.) and obviously they didn't include FSMism. otherwise it's pretty right on i guess:

1. Neo-Pagan (100%)
2. Mahayana Buddhism (94%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (94%)
4. New Age (91%)
5. Liberal Quakers (88%)
6. Theravada Buddhism (84%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (80%)
8. Taoism (75%)
9. Hinduism (70%)

try to teach that mess in a biology class!

[Cannon_Fodder]

Just gonna pop into this thread to say that I was raised Christian. The fact that people took these things seriously never really sank in until I was about 6 or 7 years old. That's when I stopped going to Church. I was then agnostic (and happy while doing it) for several years, until, of course, I found the FSM.

-(Rev. Brackets)

[Tickle]

Just gonna pop into this thread to say that I was raised Christian. The fact that people took these things seriously never really sank in until I was about 6 or 7 years old. That's when I stopped going to Church. I was then agnostic (and happy while doing it) for several years, until, of course, I found the FSM.

That's the same as my story except I was 8. The members of the Church encouraged people to 'consider the lilies of the field, which neither reap nor spin' and complete submission to the will of the diety. I however, value achievement in earning, personal autonomy and responsibility.

the results of my belief-o-matic were:

1. Flying Spaghetti Monsterism (10000000%)
2. Secular Humanism (100%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (99%)...

...interesting...

[Alpaca]

My parents have never particularly cared about what I thought religiously. (They do, however, think the FSM is great.) However, the crowd of Jesus-freaks that manages to perpetually follow me around, trying to convert me more than compensates.

[Capellini]

Oh please GODS don't spread the Belief-o-matic around!

As host of the Paganism boards at B'net, I can't tell you how many people we get, EVERY MONTH, who have decided that they're Pagan because of the quiz (which is JUST FOR FUN, and NOT an accurate judge of religious belief). Its just a few more than the amount of people we get who say they're NOT devil worshipping baby killers, and don't know why the Belief-o-matic said they were.