Personal Religious Practices

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Mine is a bit complicated, although to be fair, probably no complicated than anyone else's here. I was raised in a quasi-religious household- my family pretty much started going to church because they had us, essentially. When I was in the sixth grade, my father retired from Active service and decided to become a Pastor (a completely natural job progression). Most of my junior-high and high-school existence was being the "pastor's son" which meant either I was supposed to be a hellion or a pious little twit. Since we lived in a community at that time of about 2,000, I was no or less forced to be the little goody-good, which was especially aggravating because I really, really fucking hated high school.

Anyway, by the time I graduated and was able to live on my own, I by and large stop going to church. I still have "faith" that there is something larger than all of us, try not to be a dick, etc. etc. From my experience growing up in a Pastor's house however, I see organized religion in the majority as nothing more than a glorified business of asspatting and providing succor to those who want to believe groveling in a building one hour a week will make you a better person instead of actually fucking doing something to be a better person.

So, I dunno. I'm a Christian by title, but if there is one group that irritates more than any other, it's other Christians. Breaking bread with atheists, listening to Black Sabbath, talking about the cosmos and wondering about everything hiding under the sea makes me feel more spiritually at peace, but as soon as some pinhead starts reciting choice lines from the Book of Mark, I feel like crawling under a rock. It's all just very confusing.

 

[c-no]

I pray at the porcelain altar

The porcelain altar is one we will always pray to (especially if our bowels hurries us) unless we are in an area where they don't have them.

 

[LM 697]

Jesus said he loves me I know that it's true
I can show I love him by all that I do
If I gladly listen and do what he says
I will know what it means to obey
I will know what it means to obey

Jesus said he loves you I know that it's true
(You can show you love him by all that you do)
If you gladly listen and do what he says
You will know what it means to obey
You will know what it means to obey

 

[Some JERK]

I believe that neither the laws of god, nor the laws of man will protect you from the laws of physics.

For example: If you get caught going 110MPH through rural Mississippi and you get pulled over, don't express concern that by writing you a ticket, "Officer Donut-Chin" might be late to the gay niggo dick sucking party down at the station. Because even though both god and the law say he's not allowed to do it, he's still going to beat the shit out of you.

So I guess that makes me an atheist, or whatever...

 

[Tragi-Chan]

I'm an atheist. I started out Christian (Anglican, specifically). There wasn't any major crisis of faith or anything, I just found myself believing less and less until, some time around the age of 20, I realised that I pretty much only believed in God as a metaphor for the workings of the universe.

While I disagree with many aspects of organised religion, I'm not one of those "religion=EVIL" atheists, I tend to take the view that a good person is a good person, whether they call their motivation "God," "morality," "evolutionary imperative" or whatever. I think in Britain there's a very laissez-faire attitude to religion generally, so there's not much practical difference here between a religious person, an agnostic or an atheist. I've only been preached to twice, and ironically one of those was when I was nominally a Christian.

 

[FifthColumn]

I am a practicing Catholic, as odd as that may sound..

 

[Pikonic]

I am a practicing Catholic, as odd as that may sound..

Me too.
I grew up in a very Italian and Polish neighborhood, it was actually odd to me when I grew up and moved somewhere else that I became a religious minority.

 

[NavierStoked]

I was Catholic then I became Mormon (LDS) and now I don't really do anything at all.

 

[StallChaser]

Agnostic atheist here. More agnostic than atheist, in that it annoys me a lot when people pretend to be absolutely certain over their religion when there's no evidence. Not so much if they have a belief but are able to admit it's just their own belief*, which may or may not be true, and therefore shouldn't be forced on others.

*This includes atheism.

 

[Mourning Dove]

Agnostic leaning towards atheist. I prefer science over religion. I don't go to church, pray, or anything. But I do respect others beliefs, unless you're part of Scientology or the Westboro Baptist Church, or you're just an asshole about your religion.

 

[Fishkill]

Catholic

 

[The Hunter]

Catholic. I grew up atheist until I realized how stupid and gay it was.

 

[Globe]

Atheist. Confirmed and raised Baptist. Stopped going to church regularly when I was about 13, stopped believing Christianity had any legit claim to god around 16, stopped believing in god altogether around 18.

 

[Golly]

For the sake of simplicity, I say I'm Agnostic or Unitarian Universalist.

I grew up Unitarian Universalist and still sing at my local church from time to time. UUism is difficult to explain, but for the sake of simplicity, it's more of a philosophy that welcomes all different spiritual beliefs. The services are lead by a minister. There's no strict programming or rules for music, like in Catholic masses, and if Jesus is talked about (we discuss a lot of different religions), it's as a man and not as the Son of God. It's also about how everything is connected spiritually, etc. I'm not really doing it justice. I do celebrate Christmas and Easter, though, because they're still fun holidays.

My spiritual beliefs are vague. I like to believe that there is a force out there that is greater than us, but I can't be sure (hence the agnostic title). Sometimes I pray, but it's more "intense hope" than "formal prayer". That said, I believe that if there is such a force, it almost can't be one of the ones endorsed by a religion, simply due to the fact that the universe is so very vast with so very many different possibilities. The chances of one of the agreed conceptions of God that we have on earth being correct, even in the slightest, seem to be extremely slim. Apparently this is closer to Ignosticism, which is kind of a branch of Agnosticism that says we have to define God before we can state whether we believe in it or not.

 

[Goddessoftheshire]

I'm a fallen Catholic haven't taking the Eucharist in ages, and I will not support a church that would rather discriminate against me for being Gay while allowing perverted priests that hurt children to go unpunished. I really hold a great deal of distrust towards all religion especially the Abrahamic faiths, but I do believe there is something more to existence that we don't know about or understand. I do follow some things because of my Roman Catholic upbringing one example I cross myself when a hearse in a funeral motorcade passes by.

 

[KatsuKitty]

I actually have a unique belief system which, to my knowledge, does not have a name. My belief is that there is ultimately one answer for the nature of reality and that answer must be discovered via knowledge, scientific discovery, and the application of rational principles. For millenia, many systems and arguments have been devised to explain the true nature of the universe, but only careful application of the scientific method has yielded all that is unequivocally true. If there is a being or collection of beings of higher significance, we must discover them via this process, which has arguably been man's most productive development.

I conclude that our current understanding of the universe does not fit cleanly within any existing religious or irreligious tradition, including atheism. Atheism doesn't fit the bill because one cannot believe, for certain, that a power beyond our understanding of the universe does not exist. (Conversely, we can not yet be sure one does exist.) Agnosticism doesn't fit the bill because I believe the question is inherently answerable like anything else. Science has not conclusively disproved the existence of a deity, however, it has conclusively disproved and discredited various traditions including Young Earth Creationism.

So to explain that which is currently unexplainable, I champion everyone to be men of theory and not men of belief. A theory requires carefully constructed principles and known presuppositions and is vastly superior to a mere belief, which is grounded in little fact and primarily based on feeling, tradition, or other non-rigorous criteria. Therefore, my theory is that there is no deity, however, quantum mechanics may offer definitive explanations for this in every way that non-scientific religious texts have failed us for centuries.

 

[Marvin]

My spiritual beliefs are vague. I like to believe that there is a force out there that is greater than us, but I can't be sure (hence the agnostic title). Sometimes I pray, but it's more "intense hope" than "formal prayer". That said, I believe that if there is such a force, it almost can't be one of the ones endorsed by a religion, simply due to the fact that the universe is so very vast with so very many different possibilities. The chances of one of the agreed conceptions of God that we have on earth being correct, even in the slightest, seem to be extremely slim. Apparently this is closer to Ignosticism, which is kind of a branch of Agnosticism that says we have to define God before we can state whether we believe in it or not.

http://www.fredvanlente.com/cthulhutract/pages/

(All joking aside, any sort of god that might exist could genuinely be something like this.)

I actually have a unique belief system which, to my knowledge, does not have a name. My belief is that there is ultimately one answer for the nature of reality and that answer must be discovered via knowledge, scientific discovery, and the application of rational principles. For millenia, many systems and arguments have been devised to explain the true nature of the universe, but only careful application of the scientific method has yielded all that is unequivocally true. If there is a being or collection of beings of higher significance, we must discover them via this process, which has arguably been man's most productive development.

I conclude that our current understanding of the universe does not fit cleanly within any existing religious or irreligious tradition, including atheism. Atheism doesn't fit the bill because one cannot believe, for certain, that a power beyond our understanding of the universe does not exist. (Conversely, we can not yet be sure one does exist.) Agnosticism doesn't fit the bill because I believe the question is inherently answerable like anything else. Science has not conclusively disproved the existence of a deity, however, it has conclusively disproved and discredited various traditions including Young Earth Creationism.

So to explain that which is currently unexplainable, I champion everyone to be men of theory and not men of belief. A theory requires carefully constructed principles and known presuppositions and is vastly superior to a mere belief, which is grounded in little fact and primarily based on feeling, tradition, or other non-rigorous criteria. Therefore, my theory is that there is no deity, however, quantum mechanics may offer definitive explanations for this in every way that non-scientific religious texts have failed us for centuries.

Just factually, it's impossible to 100% know the nature of the universe because your existence is defined in universal terms. Even if you are very confident you've gotten down to the smallest building blocks of reality, you can't know what's outside of your perceived reality. So kinda like the matrix, for example.

Also, what you describe sounds like agnosticism to me.

 

[Holdek]

All comes down to purpose. Depending on what you want, caffeine is absolutely good for the mind. It's really great for computer programming.

I don't know about alcohol and the mind. I guess sometimes I want to silence my mind, and just fucking do something. Y'know? It's depressing to spend your time obsessing over every little detail. Obsessing until you're frozen with inaction. Alcohol helps me make decisions. So I guess would say that alcohol is more good for the soul than the mind.

I dunno, but drinking red wine is good for the heart. And studies have shown caffeine to be a source of antioxidants and may also inhibit Parkinson's disease.

I guess the idea is don't go overboard with either.

I actually have a unique belief system which, to my knowledge, does not have a name. My belief is that there is ultimately one answer for the nature of reality and that answer must be discovered via knowledge, scientific discovery, and the application of rational principles. For millenia, many systems and arguments have been devised to explain the true nature of the universe, but only careful application of the scientific method has yielded all that is unequivocally true. If there is a being or collection of beings of higher significance, we must discover them via this process, which has arguably been man's most productive development.

I conclude that our current understanding of the universe does not fit cleanly within any existing religious or irreligious tradition, including atheism. Atheism doesn't fit the bill because one cannot believe, for certain, that a power beyond our understanding of the universe does not exist. (Conversely, we can not yet be sure one does exist.) Agnosticism doesn't fit the bill because I believe the question is inherently answerable like anything else. Science has not conclusively disproved the existence of a deity, however, it has conclusively disproved and discredited various traditions including Young Earth Creationism.

So to explain that which is currently unexplainable, I champion everyone to be men of theory and not men of belief. A theory requires carefully constructed principles and known presuppositions and is vastly superior to a mere belief, which is grounded in little fact and primarily based on feeling, tradition, or other non-rigorous criteria. Therefore, my theory is that there is no deity, however, quantum mechanics may offer definitive explanations for this in every way that non-scientific religious texts have failed us for centuries.

Atheism is just a lack of belief in god, not necessarily a disbelief in god. (Yeah I know people claim there's "weak atheism" and "strong atheism" but that becomes a distinction without a difference. Imagine saying, "I'm a non-believer in the tooth fairy, not a disbeliever in the tooth fairy.") Agnosticism just means that you think there's a substantial chance god exists but aren't really sure if it does. Science will never disprove god because people have a large amount of latitude to define god since it's a supernatural idea. For example science will never disprove the existence of an afterlife because scientists don't try to find out where souls go after death because science hasn't detected any such souls in the first place. So someone can just say, "I have faith and God works in mysterious ways," and it's impossible to have a scientific answer to something like that because it's a statement that doesn't even make an attempt to support itself empirically.

 

[NavierStoked]

This is what I believe:

 

[DC 740]

Raised Mormon, officially resigned (not a "jack Mormon" or excommunicated, left on my own will or as the church likes to say, free agency) at age 18. I don't know how I feel about -ism's and -iest's, honestly don't want to be associated with them anymore. I believe that there is a big, expansive universe out there that we cannot even begin to comprehend as we've only recently found that out. I believe the time I have alive is only a mere fraction of a fraction of a fraction we'll all experience as a whole, so I'm going to treat myself and my fellow man as best as possible with some empathy and compassion.

So I dunno what the fuck.