Religion/spirituality poll

[CarbonDate]

I'd like to get an idea of the religious diversity of the people of this board. What relgious path do you follow? I apologize in advance if I happen to exclude your faith; I'll be sure to include an "other" category, and you can write it in.

(Edited for spelling)

[samwisefoxburr]

1. Satanist

[sans qualia]

6. Seriously?

[samwisefoxburr]

8. Yeah, it's not much different from Atheism...

...and it's not underground or anything. You can pick up The Satanic Bible at any major bookstore (Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon).

[sans qualia]

10. Wow, a real live LaVeyan Satanist

I've never met one before. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm kinda surprised to see one here. I kinda thought that LaVey's brand of satanism was a bit too, um, Randian to be compatible with liberal political philosophy.

Edited to clarify that I'm not trying to imply anything about your beliefs, just saying that I had always thought Satanic political philosophy would be closer to big-L Libertarianism than anything else.

[samwisefoxburr]

14. I understand, LaVey wouldn't have been considered a liberal by any means

And I'm sure if some other liberals read the Satanic Bible, they would see that it really isn't in complete step with liberalism. It's all in the way one interprets their religion and how they apply it to their political views.:)

[imenja]

17. delete

delete

[imenja]

18. Is it not worshiping evil?

In Christianity, Satan is the embodiment of evil--a fallen angel determined to act malevolently. To me, this seems entirely different from atheism, which sees the world as essentially material, unguided by a divine or spiritual force.
Could you explain to me what you mean by Satanism?
Thanks

[sans qualia]

21. Since he doesn't seem to be answering, I'll try

As I understand it, LaVeyan Satanism is more like a philosophy than a religion. Satanists don't really believe in the literal existence of Satan; instead, they see him as an ideal and an example to be followed. They don't identify him with evil, but rather with qualities like individuality, self-reliance and egoism. As they see it, the Judeo-Christian belief that Satan is evil stems from the demand for conformity and blind faith inherent in all Abrahamic religions. Basically, Satanists believe in the importance and primacy of the self, not God.

There are other people who call themselves Satanists, though, including some who do worship Satan as an actual deific figure.

[SaintAnne]

2. Unitarian Universalist!

[mosin]

3. I was raised Christian...

but I'm a confirmed irreligious, apathetic atheist.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

4. Deist ...

;)

[LSparkle]

5. Mainline Protestant -- UCC

[Ian David]

7. Humanist

[MatrixEscape]

9. Mine is an eclectic mix

Agnoatic Zen Buddhist Mystical Negative Utilitarian.

[intheflow]

11. There is no such thing as Thaoism.

Taoism is another thing.

I chose Taoist because it's the scriptures that most speak to me. But really I'm a Deist-Taoist-Unitarian Universalist.

Taoist b/c of the sacred texts.

Deist b/c it speaks to the Constitutional Scholar/New England Puritan in me.

Unitarian Universalist b/c I'm a white American, which means a) I can't worship as a Taoist bcause that's appropriation; and b) I believe that all spiritual beliefs (including atheism!) have validity and meaning for humanity.

[intheflow]

12. My bad. Must admit that "Thaoism" must be an alternative spelling

I had never encountered after studying Taoism (Daoism) for over 10 years now.

Googled your spelling just for ha-has and got 298 hits.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Thaoism

[CarbonDate]

19. Thank you; I've corrected the spelling n/t

.

[Kiteflyer]

13. Agnostic dylexic insomanic

I lay awake at night wondering if there really is a dog.

[indigobusiness]

15. GnosticBuddhistHinduPaganTaoist...here.

Atheism is far too easy.

[starroute]

16. Follower of the via negativa

I'm never quite sure of what I believe in, but it definitely isn't *that.* (For any given value of *that.*)

[lenidog]

20. I tend to be in the same group as the founding fathers

I am a deist, I believe there is a higher power but I don't trust organized religion and especially don't trust people who say the speak in the name of that power. If I had to lean towards any religion probably paganism would be it. BTW VERY lapsed Catholic.

[Seabiscuit]

22. Other: Druid