Which religions do you like?

[StellaBlue]

...

Meaning, what, if any religions, are you interested in, inspired by, want to know more about?

For instance, I come from a nominally Christian background, but find it largely silly, irrational, and pointless. However, I like many aspects of Buddhism and am drawn to Zen and Buddhist imagery, while not 'believing' in reincarnation or karma.

I also like the imagery or Shinto, but that is entangled with my fascination with Japanese culture in general.

I also like certain aspects of ancient-Mexican-meets-Roman-Catholic culture, such as the Virgen de Guadalupe (as a renovated Aztec goddess), Dia de los Muertos, and the almost yin-yang concept of coexisting, interdependent dualities present in Mexican culture and religion.

Also, I am drawn to the very pragmatic and comparatively reasonable spiritual practices of some Native American tribes re: the Great Spirit, the taking of animals as food, the interdependency of all life, etc.

I would define myself as a post-Catholic weak atheist materialist with a reverence and awe for the universe, a la Carl Sagan.

SO, despite the subject, this is a serious question.

[frogmarch]

1. Enjoyed your post

As an atheist, I'm not inspired by any religions, but I do like learning about them. I'm especially interested in primitive belief systems.

Have you heard of the series of books, The Masks of God, by Joseph Campbell? I've just ordered from Amazon the first in the series: The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology.

http://www.shared-visions.com/explore/culture/joseph.htm

(from the website)

The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology

Parts include:

Toward a Natural History of the Gods and Heroes
The Psychology of Myth
The Mythology of Primitive Planters
The Mythology of Primitive Hunters
The Archaeology of Myth
The Functioning of Myth

If I like the book, I may order the other books in the series. I also have my eye on some books pertaining to ancient Egyptian mythology.

[Az]

2. There are many interesting ones out there

Though many of them sit on the edge between being a philosophy and a religion.

Buddhism to me has always seem far to concerned with ridding itself of negative traits of the world. I find far more in common with Taoism which seems able to accept the world for what it is.

UU churchs are a blast. Though whether they are a religion or not is still dependent on who you ask. With no dogma, belief, or doctrine its a bit tricky to catagorize.

I have been trying to learn more about some of the Hindu tenats of late. Like the ancient Roman gods I find there is a lot of insite carried in the stories and ideas behind the multi facets of the Hindu representitives.

[frogmarch]

3. Yes, UU "churches"

are a blast. One of my sons is UU, and I've attended some of the meetings. The coffee was great, and so were the discussions.

Here are some of my favorite UU funnies:

Arguing with a Unitarian Universalist is like mud wrestling a pig. Pretty soon you realize the pig likes it.

If you walk into a UU church and see a woman kneeling with her head bowed, it means that she is tying her shoelace.

If an airplane were about to crash, some of the passengers would cry, some would pray, but a Unitarian minister would try to organize a committee on air safety.

A visitor was asked afterward how she had liked the Unitarian church. "That was the strangest church I ever went to," she said. "The only time I heard the name Jesus Christ was when the janitor fell down the stairs."

What is the meaning of Easter for UUs?

Easter is when Jesus comes out of his tomb, and if he sees his shadow he goes back in and we get six more weeks of winter.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

12. I'll second that

UU churches have some of the coolest people, and the "services" are very enlightening. I wish I had more time to visit my local UU church.

Another church that accepted me as an atheist was an Episcopal congregation. I haven't been in many years, but it was refreshing to have a group of people that were that tolerant. They even let me participate in the Eucharist.

BTW, thanks for the hilarious UU Funnies! :applause:

[Az]

13. If you liked those jokes

I have an old friend that wrote a couple of books. Collections of UU jokes. They are called The Church Where People Laugh.

http://www.tomfolio.com/bookdetailssu.asp?b=222&m=518

[EvolveOrConvolve]

14. That's very cool

And it's very cool that UUer's can so easily laugh at themselves. The fundies take themselves so seriously, it must be a constant effort to not go insane (like the Trading Spouses lady).

I've added the book to my future reading list. Thanks!

[enlightenment]

4. Because I have a horrible cold and as a result am too lazy to

go out and find the information myself -- do you happen to know, offhand, if UU and the "Unity Church" are the same critter?

My granma was Unity, and had the most bizarre (but interesting) belief system I have ever heard anyone elucidate; a combination of everything from RC to Tao, and all in-between. It would take me days to explain it, assuming I could, and details are not really relevant to my question in any case (so I won't try!)

[Az]

5. Good grief no

A Unity church person walking into a UU church would be shocked. The service we had at our UU church this weekend would have sent them into appaplexy. It was a service dedicated to understanding and appreciating atheists and agnostics.

Unity churchs borrow from other traditions. But they are still god centric and see Jesus as a saviour.

Unitariain Universalism while descended from two schools of thought in the Christian doctrine has long since left dogma behind. UUs are not told what to believe. They bring with them whatever they have. The congregations are made up of everything from rogue atheists to fallen Catholics. As far as I can tell the UU Church has the same cross section of beliefs as the Democratic party. And why more Dems aren't UU's I don't really understand.

[enlightenment]

8. Okay, than I suspect granny wasn't really

a Unity person, then -- because she certainly wasn't god-centric and didn't think JC was anything but an interesting character with a pretty healthy personal philosophy.

I think she may have started out with Unity, but evolved. Given that she was born in MS in 1899 and raised in whatever the local Baptist sect was down there -- she came a long way in 84 years. Certainly set me up as a sceptic!

Thanks for the information, AZ.

[frogmarch]

6. Not the same

Sorry about your cold, enlightenment. Hope you feel better soon!

The Unity Church is not the same thing as UU...but because almost anything goes at UU "churches," Unity members would be welcome.

Here's a page about Unity:

http://www.unity.org/5principles.html

(More info at the Tips! links in the left sidebar.

~~~~

Here's a link outlining basic tenets of UU:

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8041_1.html

[enlightenment]

10. Thank you for the kind thoughts, frogmarch.

I am the world's biggest whiner when it comes to colds. Thanks also for the links; I will definitely go read up as soon as I can tolerate more than a paragraph or two through the icky, nasty, stupid headache.
whine: whine:

I think granny would have enjoyed UU -- who knows, maybe she did (I certainly am not completely privy to what she did with her time)!

on edit: can't see, can't spell - whine.

[Taxloss]

7. Quakerism.

During the collapse of my faith in Christianity, Quakerism was the only denomination that appealed. I was close to conversion when I suddenly lost faith altogether.

[toddaa]

9. I'm a Daoist

Specifically, I'm a secular Daoist follower of Zhuangzi, who perfectly captured how I always looked at the world even before I discovered his wonderful stories.

[Az]

11. Similar to how I consider myself a taoist

You say tomato...etc.

It's not that I follow the teachings of Lao Tsu. It's that I found sufficient similiarity in my thinking to the Tao Te Ching that I consider us on a similar path.

[toddaa]

15. That's really the essence of Daoism

(Forgive me for my Pinyin spelling, it's what I'm used to)

For me, the Dao is the opposite of God. If you go looking for it, you'll never find it.

[Az]

16. Glad you caught that

:D

[StellaBlue]

21. here is an interesting bit of info on Taoism:

from wikipedia
(snip)

"Taoism as a tradition has, along with its traditional counterpart Confucianism, shaped Chinese culture for more than 2,000 years. Taoism places emphasis upon spontaneity, and teaches that natural kinds follow ways appropriate to themselves. It emphasises looking at the world from the point of view of the individual, asking more what is good for oneself than what is good for society. Taoists are sceptical and sarcastic about what they consider to be artificial values such as benevolence, morality, and proper behaviour, because these are seen as oversimplifications of what humans would do themselves; being a natural kind. Also, Zhuangzi argues that the proponents of benevolence and morality are usually found at the gates of feudal lords who have stolen their kingdoms. Taoists emphasise societies that do not intrude into the natural workings of human relationships. Taoist writers, such as Zhuangzi, argue that Confucian belief in hierarchical social structures, courtly music, and ceremonies is not a way to reform or improve the world. They view the world from the point of view of the individual rather than what some leader values, and believe that the state should not become overly involved in the details of human lives. This belief caused some to live alone in the mountains or as simple peasants in small autarchic villages, and others to walk two paths at the same time."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism

Sounds good to me - though not a religion. Less a religion than Buddhism, and even that is a close call. I am sure that folk Chinese have injected supernatural and ritualistic elements, though, no? As with Buddhism... ? But it seems that Taoism, being by nature less complicated and intellectual than Buddhiam, is less likely to 'grow' over time, to accrue scriptures and strictures, to be ritualized. This, for me, is a good place to go for people like myself who are interested in Buddhism from a purely individual/personal standpoint, but dislike the cultural layers and the inherent contradictions in that philosophy.

Taoism seems natural. Which, I guess, is its point.

[StellaBlue]

22. And, does this pertain to us (on DU)?

"Walking two paths at the same time means to live in the one world (i.e., the material world, in a particular country or community), while maintaining a practice (usually spriritual, but not necessarily) that is entirely different. It is a technique first espoused by Taoists that has also been employed in many contexts by other people—though usually more informally. This approach specifically deals with the problems of living in oppressive societies.

"When people live in authoritarian countries, for example, they cannot express themselves and behave in a way that would be most consistent with their personal beliefs and values. Instead, they are forced to "toe the party line" whether they like to or not. The consequences of not following the official doctrines could be severe. They can range from losing a job to being executed. Taoists recognized the power of the state to force people to live against their conscience and have come up with a concept of walking two paths at the same time. The idea behind this technique is that one shows oneself to others as practicing what the laws and policies of the state while maintaining one's conviction that the important values in life are otherwise. At the same time, the practitioners seek to free themselves from the need to live in disagreement with their conscience and follow their true nature whenever possible."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk_two_paths_at_the_same_time

[toddaa]

23. It pertains to anyone living under the authority of another

DU has a power structure that limits free speech, free thought, and free association. Think about it. The admins have stated that if Cindy Sheehan decides to run against a Democratic party candidate, they will lock any post in support of Cindy.

Anarchists recognize Daoism as the first formal system of thought advocating anarchism. It rejects all forms of authoritarian thinking, not because they are unjust, but because they are counterproductive. When you create laws, you do it to eliminate crime. But the very act of creating a law, creates its negative crime. With laws, you must have crime. Yin/yang. Laws and crime are one in the same according to the <i>Daodejing</i>.

[ozone_man]

24. Yes it does pertain.

I suppose most of us walk "two paths" in that sense. Certainly, having to live under this oppressive neocon state encourages growth in other paths to maintain sanity. Probably Taoism would be the most interesting of the Eastern religions for me.

UU would be my choice as a derivative of Christianity, though I think most don't consider themselves Christian.

But my favorites are Pantheist religions like the Native Americans had and it's modern day adaptations. Many like Einstein were Pantheists, believing in the God of Spinoza, or God is nature. Dawkins seems to think he unecessarily confused the two without meaning that he believed in a deity or first cause, but more to describe that feeling of awe of nature and the cosmos. So, this is the nearest to a religion that I could say that I have. No God or first cause, just nature and cosmos, and we need nature to survive.

I think Carl Sagan was an atheist, but with pantheist tendencies like describing the cosmos as "billions and billions of stars". So, I am probably a Sagan type atheist. In response to BigJawn's sig line, I just bought Demon Haunted World, but haven't started it.

So, our evolution necessitates that we move toward a deep ecology, back to Earth or nature based thinking, and for some who think in religous terms, perhaps even adopt a nature based religion. What goes around comes around. Earth is it.

[Az]

25. It's generally believed

That Einstein made reference to the god of Spinoza in order to avoid directly stating his atheism in public at an inopportune moment. Saddly even the genius of Einstein is not immune to the oppressive nature of a god soaked society. Thus he chose the dogdge maneuvor. Years later he came out very strongly stating his lack of a personal god. An admiration for the workings of the universe may be present in all of us but it does not seem that Albert was a barer of any notions of sentient cause for creation.

[ozone_man]

26. That sounds about right.

I knew of his remarks about not believing in a personal god, but that does not preclude the possibility of some sort of supernatural being (an underachiever perhaps :)). I think one has to decode his remark about Spinoza's god as you suggest. It was not a safe time to confess lack of beliefs all together. Given the times, I would decode "Spinoza's god" as meaning he had a profound "admiration for the workings of the universe" as you put it.

But if I were to be religious, I would say it would derive spirituality from an admiration and respect for nature and the cosmos. As it is, I'd say it's not a spirituality that I feel, but a state of consciousness, feelings of awe and wonder at being part of nature.

[PassingFair]

17. I've never met a Sikh...

I didn't like!

Their's is a young religion and worships no supreme being. It's as "wack" as all other religions regarding dogma and its possessiveness of women.

[PassingFair]

18. FSM n/t

[NMMNG]

19. I find Buddhism somewhat appealing

I've been studying it off and on for close to two years now. I don't believe in reincarnation or any of the supernatural ideas (like the "hungry ghosts") but I like many of the philisophical stances.

[funflower]

20. I like the Quakers; they focus on inner and outer peace, not theology.

UU's are nice but don't seem to even constitute a religion, as they apparently have no beliefs at all (I still like them, though). I also like the way-liberal Christians, such as the United Church of Christ people, who seem to me to focus on applying the best of Jesus' teachings to their own lives without worrying about all of the "magic" parts of the Jesus legend or the rest of the Bible.

Some types of Buddhism also appeal to me, but I'm sufficiently ignorant about Buddhism that I can't really judge whether it's something I'd ever want to "practice."

[Book Lover]

27. None

I don't even like the idea of religion; why should I like any of them?

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