What is your religious or unreligious view?

[deadmando9]

Used to be a Christian, now I follow Messianic Judaism. IMHO, Christians tend to ignore the old testament which deprives them of a strong foundation and alot of wisdom contained in the old testament.

[DragonSlayer]

I dislike religious characters in TV shows they're all the same you will burn for eternity in hell for your sins and thou shalt not do this, that and the other thing and so on.

This character is the most annoying of them all especially with her condescending attitude repeatedly referring to one character as child instead of calling said character by her name.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Winn_Adami

That character can be described in 4 words, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I disliked the whole religious thing in Deep Space Nine and would have preferred if it had been less obvious in the show, religion whether it's in fiction or real life seems designed to hold people back, in an episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine a guy appeared from over 200 years in the past and tried to re-instigate a caste system, Bajoran society was socially stratified by religious edict that dictated that a person's place in society was determined by their caste.

Religion only serves one purpose to divide people and pit them against each other.

Same goes for religious types in real life, you've got priests acting like moral guardians telling people you must not have babies outside of marriage etc, hypocrites the lot of them doing what they tell others not to do while multiplying more times than a calculator and disregarding the rules that they demand everyone else must obey.

[Heckler]

Originally Posted by .snake.

I guess it depends on language and culture, but I don't see the term "Paganism" as being derogatory in English, and I personally have no problem identifying with it. But yes, "traditional faith", with ancestral worship and shamanism is what it is.

Definitely.
It's more of a cultural than a face-value racial thing but Black Indigenous African traditionalists don't like being compared to European and Western terms due to colonialism.
They mainly take offense due to the comparison made by Christians and Muslims calling it occult practice, African voodoo, devil worship or superstition whereas it's a legit religion with its own adaptation of the universal "good vs bad" here. African Shamans (or Sangomas as we call them) go through initiation and personal sacrifice comparable to nuns and priests. It's not all rituals and spells though. A great deal of Ngoma is Homeopathy and botanical medicine based. In some cases even emergency surgery or child delivery. You'll also find some who are actual qualified doctors with private practices, so as you would imagine they don't take kindly being compared to mere spiritualism or an alternative lifestyle. Another reason for the offence taken is of course the comparison to phony practitioners/ con artists from Northern and Central Africa who specialize in lotteries and erections. There is also the "black/dark magic" equivalent here which is frowned upon and criminalized as it involves human sacrifice, mutilation, cannibalism and illegal substances.

They do respect Pagan values as you know it though. There are many parallels. Sangomas typically stress that spiritual practices are tied to specific lands, ancestors, and cultural histories so it's appropriate for those of European decent, just as African traditions serve their communities, advocating for authenticity and respect for one’s heritage and nature. It's not a Real God vs Fake God/ Heresy thing, but more to the tune of "your ancestral composition is incompatible with mine so I might not be able to help you spiritually/psychologically. Doesn't make either of us fraudulent"

[Greenapple968]

If I'm not mistaken, Shirley Manson initially voted for "No religion, atheism, agnosticism" but changed to "Christianity".

Is it possible to change your option in a poll after already voting? I thought that once you vote there's no going back. Not that I need to change my vote; I'm happy with the option that I went with.

[JsotoTRSaga]

I believe in God

[perryloo]

Originally Posted by JsotoTRSaga

I believe in God

All religions were brought in because ancient man believed they had a soul and most people nowadays do believe that, they think there must be something after death, so religion started up all around the world.

It was all types of religion that started, as what man feared the most was death. They thought there must be something more to it than just oblivion.

Interestingly it has been said that your loved ones just after death will visit you and give you a sign that there is life after death. This happened to me with both my parents, as they told me before they died what signs to look out for. Both came through and did give me these signs, so I do believe there is life after death

[Egeon]

Originally Posted by perryloo

All religions were brought in because ancient man believed they had a soul and most people nowadays do believe that, they think there must be something after death, so religion started up all around the world.

It was all types of religion that started, as what man feared the most was death. They thought there must be something more to it than just oblivion.

Interestingly it has been said that your loved ones just after death will visit you and give you a sign that there is life after death. This happened to me with both my parents, as they told me before they died what signs to look out for. Both came through and did give me these signs, so I do believe there is life after death

Wait! Now I want to know which signs.
Because my father passed away last january and after a month the TV suddenly broke, then after another month the water heater suddenly broke.
Are these signs from my father, in your opinion?

[Mr Od]

Originally Posted by .snake.

How about you Mr. Od?

I am non-religious but I have never been an atheist. I have always had a pan[en]theistic conception of God as the source of the universe and of all beings, thus very different from the Christian conception of God as a human-like being, the latter being a childish conception which blives even in many atheists who legitimately criticise it (as also emerges in many of the comments in this thread).

Over the years, I have studied various Eastern religions, Jewish esotericism-mysticism (Kabbalah), and have also become passionate about Neopaganism, but in more recent years I have been feeling a strong attraction towards Islam, whose theological vision is very nigh to my own conception of the Utmost God: God is the absolute, transcendent Oneness, but at the same time is "closer to us than our jugular vein"; God is "the first and the last, the highest and the nearest"; God is absolutely not human-like and does not take any incarnated form whatsoever.

What attracts me to Islam are also the fact that it is a direct relationship with the Utmost God, making any institutional intermediation (churches, priests) between God and the believer unnecessary, and the simplicity of the worship, which can also be performed in private.

I have not reverted to Islam yet, though, and therefore I do not think that I can clepe myself a Muslim, but if and when I will revert I will do it at a mosque in Milan which follows the Sufi tradition of René Guénon.

Furthermore, I believe that the hypocrisy of Christianity and its churches and human representatives is the root of many if not all of the problems of the Western civilisation, and according to Islamic teachings at the end of times the prophet Isa (Jesus, who in Islam is one of the messengers of God, not God himself) will return to "break the cross and kill the pigs" (i.e. wreck the false religion of Christianity and its fraudulent representatives).

This forum has many Muslim users who are always eager to bespeak Islam; I am surprised that they have not yet taken part in this survey and discussion.

Originally Posted by deadmando9

Used to be a Christian, now I follow Messianic Judaism. IMHO, Christians tend to ignore the old testament which deprives them of a strong foundation and alot of wisdom contained in the old testament.

Are you an ethnic Jew? Isn't Messianic Judaism for ethnic Jews only?

Originally Posted by Greenapple968

If I'm not mistaken, Shirley Manson initially voted for "No religion, atheism, agnosticism" but changed to "Christianity".

Is it possible to change your option in a poll after already voting? I thought that once you vote there's no going back. Not that I need to change my vote; I'm happy with the option that I went with.

It is not possible to change your vote after voting. Shirley_Mason initially did not vote; she has not changed her vote.

[Greenapple968]

Originally Posted by Mr Od

It is not possible to change your vote after voting. Shirley_Mason initially did not vote; she has not changed her vote.

I was mistaken then. For some reason I incorrectly thought that she voted for an option that she didn't vote for.

[Shirley_Manson]

Ahaha, sorry for the confusion. I'm coming out as a Christian!