Religion?

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What is your religion, if you have one? I'm a Mormon.

I originally also had the poll options of Eastern Orthodox, Wiccan, and Conservative Jew, and Pagan used to be "Pagan - Other", but I had to cut options in order to submit.

I am an atheist. Religious ideas baffle me and the holy book I have read were not as great as people said they were.

Atheist is not a religion, the term you are looking for is secular or non-religious.

I'm a Christian, even though I dislike my own religion. I'm just afraid of burning in hell, if there is one. That's really the only reason I'm even slightly religious at all. I've tried to shake the faith before and was an atheist/agnostic for a few months once.

Well "non-religious" is not a religion either.

I consider atheism a religion. Why?
They gave themselves a funny name
they congregate to talk about how cool science is
they have banners talking of how stupid other religions are
they try and shove their beliefs down anyone who thinks differently

While not all are like this theres just as many like this in relation to none as there are regular religious people like this in correspondence to more extreme ones.

<<<Atheist

What if you're wrong and Islam is the correct religion and you end up burning in hell anyway? You do not have less chance of going to hell than an atheist, either, as there are infinitely many conceivable religions.

Don't forget that they also have patron saints - Richard Dawkins and Charles Darwin. And George Carlin is (or was) their equivalent to a televangelist.

I myself am Roman Catholic. I stand by the Church and my beliefs no matter how many people try to tell me it's wrong, or that all the members of the Clergy and the Vatican are "horrible monsters", or that I'm a sheep for having the same beliefs as my parents, when everyone who decries religion themselves is a sheep for believing everything their science teachers and "cool friends" tell them.

No, the Atheism isn't a religion isn't because it's the lack of religion, because it isn't the lack of religion. Atheism isn't a religion because it's not what you are referring to. Atheism is simply not believing in a god, many buddhists are technically atheist.

I wouldn't call Richard Dawkins or Charles Darwin patron saints of atheism. Especially since Charles Darwin didn't really talk much about religion or god, but about science. Plus with Richard Dawkins, atheists are not only able to disagree with him, but are encouraged if they honestly disagree with him, and yes, atheists do disagree with Richard Dawkins.

Plus it's George Carlin, you're just jealous he was an atheist.

I'm very seriously interested in checking out a Universalist Unitarian Church.

George Carlin... a tevangelist? How does that work?

I don't have a religion.

I no longer have a religion. Although when I was asked for my religion at the reception of a Catholic hospital, I told them "Jedi" I figured if I needed a religion in oder to receive medical treatment, I might as well pick a fun one.


I've grown up as a New Apostolic Christian btw. They were a bit of a fundamentalist sect back then, and members were supposed to separate themselves from all "worldly influences". For me, that meant growing up without a TV, and as a result without any normal, mainstream role models that aided other kids in their development and might have helped me to hone my social skills. I also wasn't allowed to read comic books or go to the movies, and my parents had a look at every book that I brought home from the library before I was allowed to read it.

This made things a lot more difficult for me than they already were for a young aspie. At school, everyone picked on me for being a "Jesus freak". I had no idea what other kids talked about when they discussed movies like Star Wars or their favorite TV shows, which only added to my social isolation. To make things worse, New Apostolics believed that both non-religious people and Christians of other denominations were misguided by Satan and that social contact with them should be kept to a minimum, lest us true believers would be pulled over to the dark side

On top of that, it was an apocalyptic religion. New Apostolics believed that Jesus would return within their lifetime and give the start signal for World War III. I remember that when I played outside as a kid and heard a fighter jet overhead, I always thought "oh no, now they're going to drop the bombs. The rapture has probably already happened and you've been left behind". I'll never understand what drives people to instill such irrational fears in a child. I also remember that as a teenager, I had to go from door to door with older members of the church community and bother unsuspecting people with pamphlets and requests for a chat about religion It was horribly awkward for me, and I was deadly afraid that one of my classmates might open the door.

I managed to deconvert at age 16, much to the chagrin of my hyper-religious family. (One of the reasons that I no longer want any contact with them is that they were trying to proselytize me at every opportunity, especially when I was temporarily unable to leave my apartment and needed their assistance. I guess they figured a completely broken person would be more weak-willed and receptive. They probably thought that my health condition was the result of me turning my back on their god).
Anyway, I had enough religion as a kid to last for a lifetime. Nothing against moderate religion; if it gives people inner peace and provides them with a social community, who am I to say that's a bad thing. But I think that religious fundamentalism is something that no child should ever be subjected to. Especially not children on the autism spectrum who already have enough problems to fit into mainstream society.