For NON CHRISTIANS tell me about your religion?

Question

I'm a christian and am pretty well informed about my religion. However, I don't know much about any other religion. So please enlighten me. I just want to be informed about other religions, whether they be well known or not. Even different practices would interest me. Just educate me!

Answer 1

SoloStarr, YOU are a breath of Fresh Air in here. Most Chrisitans would not even BOTHER to make the attempt to learn about other beliefs and practices. And for YOU to do so is the mark of an enlightened Christian. There aren;t many of you around so please, never change that in yourself.
I am a Wiccan, what you Christians long ago called a Witch. No, we are NOT evil peple, we DON'T fly around on brooms, we DON't eat little children, we DON'T worship the being you call the devil. There are Many types of Wiccans and there are many types of Witches so I can ONLY speak for the type oif Wiccan that I am. I am a Celtic Green Witch. I worship a Goddess and a God who have changeabvle names depending on the purpose of a particular ritual that I would be performing. There is no formal priesthood in Green Witchcraft, we're EACH our OWN priest or priestess, We have NO bible, instead swe have a Book of Shadows, whcih is a collection of rituals, meditations, healing recipes and other things that are too numerous and complicated to go over in this short of a space. Our rituals are developed through communicative meditation direrctly with Goddess or God, They actually communicate directly with us, not audibly or verbally as in people conversation but rather make their ideas simply APPEAR in our minds. this is sort of comparable to "divine revelation" among the Christians who wrote down the words of the Bible. I realize that this may sound like a lot of wasteful duplication to have God speaking to everyone and giving each of us the words to a "bible" but no two Books of Shadow are the same, Goddess and God give us each ONLY what we need as individuals to progress as spiritual beings. WE believe in re-incarnation, we ALWAYS come back as another person and not as a cat or a dog or some other thing. Each of our lives on the Earth is a lifetime lesson, we are intended to LEARN some spiritual experience and concept. when our lesson is through we die and go to Summerland to rest, review our lesson, prepare for our NEXT lesson and ALL memories of our former life are wiped away, only our spirit continues to remember it so that the next lesson can be incorporated into our overall existence. We have no Hell, no punishment for evil deeds, no rewards for good deeds in an afterlife. No devil, that's an Islamic-Judeo-Christian concept. Goddess and God have a GOOD side and a BAD side, there can not be good without bad to copmpare it to. we CAN ask Goddess or God for special favors, what you would call Spells are HOW we ask for those favors. They're essentially prayers with props, if you will. GFod and Goddess can grant our boonj or request or ignore it based on whether it will aid us in our lifes prupose and not cause any harm to anything else. Now I mentioned that there are ALL sorts of Witches and ALL kinds of Wiccans and many practice their ways differently than I do. It's sort of comparable to Methodists and Lutherans, ony we DO recognize that each other's ways are JUST a valid as our own. In fact we ALSO recognize that Islamic, Chrisitan, Jewish, Buddhist, Shinto Etc ways are just as valid as our own. Accorcingly you are unlikely to find a withc who will make the claim that "My way is the one true way". I wish ALL religions would adopt this attitude.
There is ONLY ONE universal rule or law among witches and Wiccans of all types. The is, "Do no harm". To most of us that means not only don't harm any one but also don't harm any thing. This explains why most witches tend to be very active in environmental cause and conservtaion and animals rights issues. We are ALSO involved in Family protection issues, civil rights issues, and yes (shhhhhh, don't tell anyone) even anti-abortion issues. At the same time we ARE into women's rights, Birth control rights, sexual advocacy rights and so forth.
We hold Nature to be VERY precious and go out of our way to care for nature, we acknowledge that every single living thing has an inherent right to exist for it's own sake of existence. There is an awful LOT more to it than just this litle bit but space is limited. I sincerely hope that this give you some insights as to Wicca, I'm sure that there are other religions that will prove to be very interesting as well.
I glad that you have decided to learn and study on your own for it's ONLY through open and honest qwuestions and answers that we can ALL find out about each other and learn to get along based on KNOWLEDGE that YOU, yourself seek out, rather than fight each other based on misconceptions and ignorance about each other.

Brightest Blessings to you,
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 2

Atheism:

1) It's not a religion any more than bald is a hair color. It's a lack of religion.

2) Atheism comes from "a" (not or without) and "theism" (belief in gods or deities). If someone believes that gods or deities exist, they are theist, otherwise they are Atheist. The misunderstanding that Atheists are people who hate Christianity or that believe that the Christian God doesn't exist is a stereotype spread by Christians who don't understand atheism.

3) Agnostics are also Atheists, they're just confused by the all the false stereotypes and misconceptions about the term "Atheist". (Agnostic means "without knowledge", and was coined by Thomas H. Huxley who also misunderstood what Atheism means).

4) Atheists are no less moral or compassionate than theists.

5) Atheists can be spiritual and deep, moved by sunsets, marriages, births, and deaths.

There's even more to know about Atheists and Atheism! Follow the link below, or send me an email with your specific questions.

Answer 3

I am a pagan, a witch, and rather eclectic; I have been strongly influenced by zen buddhism and some Taoists, but many other religious traditions and sources have also been of interest, and I am unusually educated about and remain respectful of them. I believe people are responsible for their choices, regardless of their belief systems. I think diversity of opinion and perspective is inevitable and enjoyable and GOOD. I think compassion, an understanding of metaphor, and a sense of humor are indicators of spiritual and psychological health and maturity.

And there are many like me, and every one is different and unique.

Answer 4

I guess the closest religion to what I believe is Taoism. It teaches that nature works the way nature works, and going with it is a lot easier than going against it, and the results will be the same anyway. It teaches to shape yourself to your situation, to be like water which can take the shape of whatever vessel it is in, and which can flow continuously.

Answer 5

I'm a Muslim, my religion is Islam. We believe in one and only one God, Allah (swt), and his last prophet, Mohammad (pbuh). We also believe that there were other messengers, including Jesus (pbuh) and angels too. We follow the words of the Quran, recite the declaration of faith, pray 5 times a day to our Lord, give charity when we can, and many Muslims visit the Mekkah, which I hope to do in the future.

Answer 6

I'm pagan with an curiosity in Celtic spirituality. My ideals are pantheistic in nature. I do not feel in a individual god or gods, however as an alternative that what we name "god" is a facet of all folks and facet of the entire global, universe, and many others. As such, I do not feel in any religions always being "correct" or "improper", however as an alternative that they're all expressions of this. I have a truly curiosity within the devout practices of the Proto-Celts who it sort of feels practiced solar and ancestor reverence.

Answer 7

i'm not any religion but i do believe in the common principles taught by lao-tsu, confucius, buddha, jesus, and mohamed. these guys were enlightened and they all taught pretty much the same thing. i want to follow their path and reach enlightenment myself. i believe in god. enlightenment would be gaining entry into heaven by purifying my soul. i believe jesus was the son of god just as much as we are all children of god. i don't smoke, i don't drink alcohol, i don't gamble, i don't eat any meat, i try very hard not to waste, i try to repent my bad thoughts immediately and i'm trying with great difficulty to be cool to people who make me upset. i believe in being a good daughter to heaven and earth, as well as to my parents. i believe in being a good parent, a good citizen, a good sister and a good friend. and i wish for world peace. i feel great and i really hope i reach my goal. my dad has passed away, he was a christian. my mom was from a shamanistic tribe in southeast asia. she had a negative experience in a catholic nunnery. she's very proud of my views, she really digs the filial piety. it would be horrible to me to do anything that would bring her shame. or to shame my father's memory. he didn't have me baptised as a child because he believed that would be a decision for me to make on my own.

Answer 8

I am a Muslim, which means I practice Islam. If you'd like to know more, try this website:

www.path-to-peace.com

Answer 9

If we hear over and over again how atheism is NOT a religion, why does it keep getting listed as religion by some followers?

Answer 10

I Believe in BOB.

Follow the ways of BOB and your life will feel complete - Jenifer 19:12 - The Book of BOB