Which (globally) not-mainstream religion or religious philosophy do you belong to?

Question

Please provide a brief summary of your beliefs. How do you view the religious debate between theists and atheists?

Jolly Roger: If one "lumps" non-adherents together, it's pretty mainstream. I've never seen an actual breakdown into "atheist", "agnostic", "secular/humanist", etc but in total I believe it be around 1 billion worldwide.

Answer 1

Neo-Pagan. My belief is that generally we are all responsible for ourselves. Our minds are powerful and we can change who we are. If you want the world to change, all you have to do is change your perspective.

I'm non-theistic, though. So obviously I side with the atheists for the most part. I view deities more as archetypes than as supernatural forces.

I can respect theists, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't believe. The ones that return the respect get along with me pretty well. The others, well, I try not to let them get to me.

Answer 2

I am a Christian, and definitely not mainstream. I believe the Bible in total. The three eras had/has some differences in the beliefs so the Bible must be sorted out so that each era is not brought into another.

Today, we live in the age of the New Testament. The New Testament begins with the book of Acts in what is called the New Testament. Jesus was a Jew and died a Jew. No Christian existed during the lifetime of Jesus.

I believe everything in the Bible is true, therefore there is much more you must do to accept the free gift of salvation than just believing that Jesus was God's Son. If something says it saves or is for entrance into the kingdom, it is essential to enter the kingdom. So-called Christians try to get into the body, church, kingdom without going through to door, Jesus the Christ.

I am Christian but one that believes Jesus, not just believes He existed.

Answer 3

Agnostic. I don't believe it is possible for humans to understand anything beyond their limited experience. I don't know if there is a God or gods or something like that. If there is, I don't know that they're really all that concerned with humans.

But, I don't think that science has all the answers, or that scientific, factual knowledge is the only important or "true" variety. I think that spirituality is a real and important part of the human animal. I believe that it is related to the same part of the human from which our creative, artistic impulses spring. I continue to read people like Emerson, Nietzsche, Thoreau, Blake, Jung, Joseph Campbell, and others to help me try to figure it all out.

The debate between atheists and Christians (and other mainstream theists) almost always misses the point. On one side you have people who all to often confuse their religion with something that is factual and historical. And on the other side, atheists all too often are solely engaged in pointing out the fallacy of that misunderstanding.

So, the Christians don't understand that religion is made up of spiritual metaphors, and your atheists all too often deny the fact that spirituality and metaphor are of any value. One side is naive, the other only able to offer negative critiques.

Answer 4

I'm an eclectic pagan. My beliefs come largely from Wicca, but I am monotheistic, and do believe in Yeshua.

As far as the religious debate between theists and atheists goes--the debate is mostly just between the extreme atheists and the extreme Christians. I view them as both sounding very arrogant at times. Generally, the atheists are much smarter, and they definitely are FAR less dangerous to society than the militant Christians.

Answer 5

I belong to the church of the holy Granduity. We are a small religion of 4 people that believe that God created the earth many millions of years ago. The earth went through many ages of people and animals. Then Satan in a fit of jealousy for not allowed to be one of the 24 elders created his own animals we now call dinosaurs. Those animals destroyed the earth's ecosystem causing God to be angered and he sent a protostar to smash into a large planet near Earth. The planet was destroyed into the asteroid belt and protostar broke up into Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune gas giants. Mean while this caused the earth to be pelted with meteors and killed almost everything here. Then God restored the earth in six days and put man and his animals back here again. That was Adam and Eve to us now.

It is a simple belief but we are pretty dumb.

Answer 6

Hellenic Polytheist -- I view the debate between MONO-theists and A-theists as being interesting in the vehemance that both sides show.

Although, I tend to empathize more with the atheists, as Polytheistic Pagans are demonized by many Monotheists in the same way.

Answer 7

I am a pagan. I believe in the existence of many gods and goddesses, I try to find out from archeological evidence, who were the gods of my ancestors so I can honour them as I honour my ancestors.

I believe in the sanctity of life and the importance of caring for our planet. We need to stop poisoning the rivers and the air, and stop raping the earth of all her finite resources.

I believe that there are energies in many things that can be used for our benefit, such as plants and minerals and I also believe in the existence of love, despite what I sometimes see on here!

Answer 8

I am Wiccan. I believe in a Mother Goddess, I tend to side more with the atheists because they are more tolerant of my beliefs than the Christians.

sorry tawaen, I accidently hit the thumbs down when I meant to give you a Thumbs up.

Answer 9

I am Heathen.
We follow the gods of our ancestors before the conversion. We follow the values of our ancestors. We believe in home and hearth and kin. We are polytheist in that we believe our gods are seperate indiviuals. They are our Elder Kin, our literal ancestors.

Answer 10

The church of the almighty dollar. Oh wait, that is mainstream. Sorry.