Religious self-identification...

[Gleb]

Re: Religious self-identification...

I am apathetic about the existence or non-existence of deity.

I'm apparently not an orthodox Apatheist because while I don't care about anyone else's religion, I do care about how religious folk treat other people in regards to their relgion. But the focus isn't so much on what they believe as it is on how they express their beliefs. I'm an Ethical Apatheist.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/apatheism.htm

I see. Well it makes a lot of sense. No problemo. And thanks for the link.

[thalassa]

Re: Religious self-identification...

Question, how are you distinguishing atheist from non-theist?

Someone that is not a theist, but also not an atheist and doesn't self-identify as pantheist/panenthiest or deist.

I consider non-theism and apatheism to be in the same boat.

[Smokerider]

Re: Religious self-identification...

Just for fun (so don't nitpick :P)--How do you primairly identify in terms of belief in deity?

99% of the time a deity is not on my mind. So functionally I guess I'm an atheist, but if anyone asks I might say agnostic because I have some pantheistic tendencies that don't necessarily fall into a theist or atheist category. :-) But on the off-chance I find myself in a situation where a Christian is offering me free tickets to a major league baseball game then, of course I'll say I'm a Pentecostal. :-) But, for the most part I'm agnostic.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Religious self-identification...

Hard polytheist with Animism / anamatism built upon it.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Religious self-identification...

Hard-polytheist panentheist animist who recognizes that she could be deluded thus accepting that agnosticism is probably also applicable.

Or in Thal's terms... intellectually agnostic but emotionally and experientially hard-polytheist panentheist animist.

[Ophidia]

Re: Religious self-identification...

But on the off-chance I find myself in a situation where a Christian is offering me free tickets to a major league baseball game then, of course I'll say I'm a Pentecostal. :-) But, for the most part I'm agnostic.

When I was a teen, I would convert to Greek Orthodox Catholic every Sunday because a local church barbecued a whole goat after Mass.

[LuciaStar]

Re: Religious self-identification...

Henotheistic, with a dash of agnosticism and hard polytheism.

Or to better put it: I worship/revere one deity but acknowledge many exist (and are distinct from each other) but also tend to view deities as forces of what they represent at times (or explanations of natural phenomenon, etc). Yup, it's complicated.

[Medusa]

Re: Religious self-identification...

atheist. When you talk about your 'gods' I just think it's Donald or Mickey Mouse.

[Amadi]

Re: Religious self-identification...

I don't even know anymore ~.~

[Heka]

When I was a teen, I would convert to Greek Orthodox Catholic every Sunday because a local church barbecued a whole goat after Mass.

They should start that here /goatproblem

[Heka]

I don't bloody know what I am.

I identify with what Mrs Penry says about the solitary, pagan, witch.

I identify with Thal and Rae'ya with the intellectually agnostic, and like the rest they both say, but haven't gotten there myself yet.

How come 'hopeful' isn't on the list?

[thalassa]

Re: Religious self-identification...

As an FYI (incase folks are wondering) I didn't put in animism because its a world view rather than a position on theism... as is hylozoism, physicalism, dualism, materialism, etc... Just like I didn't put in witchcraft, shamanism, etc...because those are practices, rather than theistic statements.

Also, henotheism, kathenothesim, and monolarty are intellectually polytheistic but functionally monotheistic.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Religious self-identification...

As an FYI (incase folks are wondering) I didn't put in animism because its a world view rather than a position on theism... as is hylozoism, physicalism, dualism, materialism, etc... Just like I didn't put in witchcraft, shamanism, etc...because those are practices, rather than theistic statements.

Also, henotheism, kathenothesim, and monolarty are intellectually polytheistic but functionally monotheistic.

That goes into another debate. I consider Shamanism, Animism, Anamatism to be world views and ways of living but a lot of people have taken the perspective that they are also spiritual / religious practices with a supporting theology. Especially as they are being applied in many 101 books and have crossed into Neo-Wicca and Neo-Paganism and people approaching them as if they are religious / spiritual.

[nbdy]

Re: Religious self-identification...

Regarding deity, since you asked: I am an idealist, seeing all as spirit. What makes me panentheistic rather than pantheistic is that I see spirit as more than what I perceive. I am as comfortable with categories like angels and gods as I am with categories like monera or crustacean. Many expressions of the one thing that is the source of all that is, and more.

[Louisvillian]

Re: Religious self-identification...

Theologically, I'm a hard polytheist with Hermetic leanings. I think that the gods are all mostly individuals, but some of them might be conflations, and they all extend out of some bigger, flowing divinity. But the source of them might not be a god in and of itself or, if it is, might not be conscious or intelligent deity. Thus, my focus is entirely on the many gods, and spirits of the land and of the dead.

My actual practices are harder to identify. I'm eclectic in the sense that my religion combines several elements: Roman, Hellenistic, and Celtic; but I'd describe myself as kind of a reconstructionist too, in that I apply academic rigour to practising in a way that would have been recognisable to ancient polytheists. But at the same time, I haven't entirely given up my modernist, magic-practising, Frazerian fertility cult. It still plays a role in my practices, and in what gods I honour most often. I guess I might, with some apprehension, describe myself as an Eclectic (Soft) Reconstructionist in practice? And while that wasn't exactly the scope of the thread question, I can't help but delve into my practices and religion a little bit. What I believe regarding the gods is influenced by what I do regarding the gods, and vice versa.