Other What's your religion?

Crusade memes aside, I suppose I'm just an atheist. I think I'm well over the whole "haha im fuckin edgy and smarter than everyone" phase I initially had awhile ago, though.


When it comes religion-related stuff, I usually don't get involved with anything that has to do with "proving" or "disproving God." It's pointless.


It's better to debate religion-related things that affect people in the real world. Not silly stuff like banning Christmas or "In God We Trust", but actual problems. Even if they're not problems in our cozy part of the world. Separation of church and state, for example. Not all countries have it.



Speaking of "religion-related things that affect people in the real world", most homeless shelters in the United States are the works of Christians.
 
Speaking of "religion-related things that affect people in the real world", most homeless shelters in the United States are the works of Christians.



Mhm. Christianity has done a lot of good for the world, unless you count "tha crusaids!!" which happened many centuries ago. A lot of atheists seem to say all religions are "equally bad" or "equally violent", which is silly.


I'll rant a little below.


Christianity is something I rarely bother to criticize nowadays- they're targeted by atheists more than they should be. Aside from the Vatican, I am not aware of any theocratically governed Christian countries that are still in existence. People should pay more attention to Islamism, which affects a lot of countries. (Mind, there is a difference between "Islam" and "Islamism".)


It also seems that many peoples' go-to examples of extremist groups that prove "Christianity is bad" are usually the KKK and Westboro Baptist Church. They're assholes, but they don't kill anybody (in the KKK's case, they don't anymore). When it comes to Islamist examples of extremist groups, the majority of them are armed militia/terrorist organizations that are actively spreading their dogma by the bullet. Islamism is not limited to holding little picket protests that say mean things; they really do affect the real world.


I'm aware of a few paramilitary/terrorist groups in Africa that follow Christianity (mixed with tribal beliefs), but other than that, they don't have very much influence.
 
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That's impossible... Unless you refer to "Jew" as in your ethnicity.

I refer to "Jew" ethnically and culturally. There are many non-practicing, nonreligious, atheist Jews... So Jews who still identify with Jewish culture and heritage, but do not believe in a god. 
 
My parents never pushed any but I did go to a Christian elementary school. For a while, I did believe in god but today I feel like there's really no way to tell and am therefore Agnostic. Believing in a god . I do find that religious organizations are a great way to build community and generally look favourably upon religion, even if they cling to outdated values. After all, if your organization is so old, there's bound to be plenty of controversy. 
 
My parents never pushed any but I did go to a Christian elementary school. For a while, I did believe in god but today I feel like there's really no way to tell and am therefore Agnostic. Believing in a god . I do find that religious organizations are a great way to build community and generally look favourably upon religion, even if they cling to outdated values. After all, if your organization is so old, there's bound to be plenty of controversy. 

It's just a matter of faith that God's there.  I agree, there's no way to tell.


We can't see wind, but we know it exists because we feel it.


There have been many accounts of poeple who felt the Holy Spirit in their lives in one point or another.  It's a big leap of faith.
 
Mhm. Christianity has done a lot of good for the world, unless you count "tha crusaids!!" which happened many centuries ago. A lot of atheists seem to say all religions are "equally bad" or "equally violent", which is silly.


I'll rant a little below.


Christianity is something I rarely bother to criticize nowadays- they're targeted by atheists more than they should be. Aside from the Vatican, I am not aware of any theocratically governed Christian countries that are still in existence. People should pay more attention to Islamism, which affects a lot of countries. (Mind, there is a difference between "Islam" and "Islamism".)


It also seems that many peoples' go-to examples of extremist groups that prove "Christianity is bad" are usually the KKK and Westboro Baptist Church. They're assholes, but they don't kill anybody (in the KKK's case, they don't anymore). When it comes to Islamist examples of extremist groups, the majority of them are armed militia/terrorist organizations that are actively spreading their dogma by the bullet. Islamism is not limited to holding little picket protests that say mean things; they really do affect the real world.


I'm aware of a few paramilitary/terrorist groups in Africa that follow Christianity (mixed with tribal beliefs), but other than that, they don't have very much influence.



it might be because a lot of the people arguing about this kind of thing tend to be from countries where they're affected by the bad christians vs the bad muslims. for example, if you're from america, you'll probably be aware of christianity and possible harmful affects of it more than islmamism. 


i wouldnt say something like all religions are equally bad or even wholly bad, but there are other things I can think of than the crusades that have hurt people are are still hurting people today, such as homophobia (including but not limited to conversion therapy, being disowned and kicked out before the age of 18, abuse of lgbt ppl by their christian parents for being lbgt) that people are affected by. i mean, personally, ive been taught a lot of harmful stuff by Christians as a result of growing up in a fundamentalist evangelical home, which obviously is not typical of all Christians, but there's still a good portion of people who go through bad stuff because of christianity, and you can't write it off as "oh, those guys aren't real christians." which im not saying you are, but it's something i've heard a lot. 


things like homeless shelters are very good, and i'm glad they exist, but such a large group like "christians" can't be stereotyped into all good, all bad, all helpful, or all hurtful, even when you're only talking about the affects of the religion on people's attitudes and actions


i think both the stuff happening in america and the places affected by Islamism are both "the real world" and both should be acknowledged. although, it's hard to do anything substantial about people's attitudes and actions. it might also be because it's easier for people to petition and protest for lawsand changes to get made in their own country than to try to change the government in another
 
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Apathiest would be the correct term, Agnostics are skeptical as  to whether their is a deity or not and may tend to lean towards another end of the spectrum.



I said you sounded like an ignostic, not an agnostic.

I'm an atheist Jew 



Is this a joke?

My parents never pushed any but I did go to a Christian elementary school. For a while, I did believe in god but today I feel like there's really no way to tell and am therefore Agnostic.



I went to a Catholic elementary school (which also had kindergarten) but was pulled out before I went into 3rd grade for a multitude of reasons, like it being very very biased and because the teachers there were horrible. They were either bad teachers or mean teachers (my 2nd grade teacher was sexist toward males). I was a Catholic at the time but quickly grew out of it when I got pulled out and now I'm an agnostic.

It's just a matter of faith that God's there.  I agree, there's no way to tell.


We can't see wind, but we know it exists because we feel it.


There have been many accounts of poeple who felt the Holy Spirit in their lives in one point or another.  It's a big leap of faith.



From that first line in the quote it sounds like you're an agnostic theist.


"Feeling the wind" and "Feeling God" is not a good comparison at all. We all feel the wind, and we have a way to prove the existence of the wind. However, some people claim to feel God, but we have no way to prove God is there or if they're actually feeling God.
 
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I went to a Catholic elementary school (which also had kindergarten) but was pulled out before I went into 3rd grade for a multitude of reasons, like it being very very biased and because the teachers there were horrible. They were either bad teachers or mean teachers (my 2nd grade teacher was sexist toward males). I was a Catholic at the time but quickly grew out of it when I got pulled out and now I'm an agnostic.





 



Aahhh... 


Well.. in our school we had a religion course where we learned about and we went to church once a week. I remember church being super boring. And there were lots of people who weren't Christian in the school so sometimes we'd learn about their religions too. We had a Jewish person show us Passover traditions and some Islamic girls showed us their prayers. I think I viewed it more as a storytelling class than religion. Overall though, it was a positive experience. 
 
Is this a joke?

You clearly do not have a comprehensive understanding of Jewish people and modern Jewish culture. Just because you don't understand something, that does not mean it is a joke.


There is a significant portion of Jews who are nonreligious and do not believe in a god, but still identify as Jewish. This is not a contradiction because Jewish identity encompasses not just religious, but ethnic and cultural components as well. So, an atheist Jew can celebrate a Jewish holiday, but he or she does not necessarily have to observe it from a religious standpoint. Instead, an atheist Jew can celebrate a holiday because it is part of, and honors, his or her heritage and culture.
 
You clearly do not have a comprehensive understanding of Jewish people and modern Jewish culture. Just because you don't understand something, that does not mean it is a joke.



You clearly are religious, because you jump to conclusions with no evidence backing them.

I am an agnostic; the above sentence is said in jest to make a point.


There is a significant portion of Jews who are nonreligious and do not believe in a god, but still identify as Jewish. This is not a contradiction because Jewish identity encompasses not just religious, but ethnic and cultural components as well. So, an atheist Jew can celebrate a Jewish holiday, but he or she does not necessarily have to observe it from a religious standpoint. Instead, an atheist Jew can celebrate a holiday because it is part of, and honors, his or her heritage and culture.



That's silly. Many atheists celebrate Christmas. Does this make them an Atheist Christian? No.
 
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You clearly are religious, because you jump to conclusions with no evidence backing them.

I am an agnostic; the above sentence is said in jest to make a point.





That's silly. Many atheists celebrate Christmas. Does this make them an Atheist Christian? No.

I'd say your very apparent ignorance of the subject is ample enough evidence. 


Poor example. Christmas is an incredibly commercialized holiday that is celebrated by many non-Christians. There is also no Christian ethnicity, and no common culture and heritage shared among all Christians. This is not true for Judaism, which is as much an ethnicity as it is a religion. All ethnic Jews (non-converts) share a common culture and heritage. 
 
I'd say your very apparent ignorance of the subject is ample enough evidence. 



Still making silly assumptions. Didn't I make it clear that Atheist Jew is a subjective term?

Poor example. Christmas is an incredibly commercialized holiday that is celebrated by many non-Christians. There is also no Christian ethnicity, and no common culture and heritage shared among all Christians. This is not true for Judaism, which is as much an ethnicity as it is a religion. All ethnic Jews (non-converts) share a common culture and heritage. 



There is also no Jewish ethnicity. Jews are often Hebrew, but guess what? Christians are often Americans. Hebrew is not Jewish, just as Roman or American is not Christian. 


Also, there are Cafeteria Jews just as there are Cafeteria Christians; I've even met a Cafeteria Jew. So they don't have a common culture either.
 
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


I align closely with the Protestant faith. Not completely, but closely, which is why I identify as a Protestant. 
 
Still making silly assumptions. Didn't I make it clear that Atheist Jew is a subjective term?


There is also no Jewish ethnicity. Jews are often Hebrew, but guess what? Christians are often Americans. Hebrew is not Jewish, just as Roman or American is not Christian. 


Also, there are Cafeteria Jews just as there are Cafeteria Christians; I've even met a Cafeteria Jew. So they don't have a common culture either.

I should have not implied that there is a single Jewish ethnicity- there are Jewish ethnic subdivisions. Primarily Ashkenazism, Sephardim, and Mizrahim. However, these ethnicities are specific to being Jewish. Ashkenazism is Jewish, and Jewish is Ashkenazism. Sephardim is Jewish, and Jewish is Sephardim. Mizrahim is Jewish, and Jewish is Mizrahim. So, once again, your example does not work, because these ethnic subdivisions and Judaism are one in the same. A person who is Ashekenazi, Sephardi, or Mizrahi does not have religiously practice Judaism, but they are still ethnically Jewish.  Moreover, 75% of Jews share common genetic roots in the Middle East. There have been numerous autosomal DNA studies that have found valid and significant evidence to support this. Contrarily, Christians do not have a common genetic ancestry.
 
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I'm a latter days saints member. More on the Christian side. But I only believe in god in order to ease my minds of some of my thoughts and is very critic of everything my religion could force me to do.
 

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