Survey: spirituality

[Joe Smith]

This forum is a great uniter of people who share a belief in the 2nd amendment. Generally gun owners tend to fall into a spectrum of politics and beliefs, however I have been pleased and shocked to see many different opinions here and elsewhere. I personally am a Libertarian and enjoy not being labeled as either “Right wing” or “Radical leftist” or any of those other terms. I am firm in what i believe in, just have never been big on labels.

One things that I always considered linked with politics is religion. After looking at it I am now not so sure. It has, however been on my mind quiet a bit lately as I have been soul searching and reading as much as I can on the subject after my recent conversion. I have become increasingly curious about the demographics and the nature of the people on this forum, enough that I would like to conduct a voluntary survey on the matter. Please note the response of "None of your damn business" is valid and I have no problem with that. All I ask is that if you are willing to share, please do so respectfully.

My goal is to get a sufficient sample in order to see the current trends. This survey is done for my own personal curiosity and will be compiled into a spreadsheet when finished. I will gladly release the information and provide any details here for everyone to read. Please note that this is intended to be an informal survey of respondents, and while I will make every effort to conduct the research properly, I am not a scientist and therefore cannot consider this peer reviewed in any sense.

I would like to thank everyone in advance for responding to this survey.

All I ask is if you chose to participate all responses will be kept strictly confidential. The two ways you can respond are:



1. Post your response in this thread. Note, it will not be private.

2. Send a private message to my account with the subject “Survey”






Categories will be added as needed, however this should cover the majority of major belief systems.

Current religion: ______

Previous religion (if any) _____

Any other thoughts or beliefs:

(My example: Current religion Atheism / Atheist. Previous religion Christianity / Presbyterian.)





Christianity

a. Catholic
b. Presbyterian
c. Lutheran
d. Baptist
e. Methodist
f. Episcopal
g. non-denomination
h. orthodox

Judaism

a. orthodox
b. conservative
c. reformed

Islam

a. sunni
b. shiite
c. wahhabi

Atheism

a. agnostic
b. atheist
c. rationalist
d. humanist

Other major religions

a. hindu
b. Buddhist
c. jedi knight
d. other

[novice]

what a can of worms! generally i prefer the squishy old liberal non-sectarian model to the current invasion of conservative evangelical religion into politics. it's dangerous to mix up religion with the state. if you can say the law should based on conservative christian values now, who's to say it can't be based on conservative islamic ones at some other time, when christians are really in the minority and oppressed?

if the law and the constitution are based on enduring reason, as was originally intended (allowing that reasonable men differ), it allows the greatest latitude of freedom for the greatest number. in deed, we've seen a massive expansion of liberties to disenfranchised classes since the beginning, to blacks and women, for example.

religion should be a private matter, not a matter of public affairs. the freedom to worship as one pleases without state sanction or encroachment is about as fundamental as it gets.

[jsb889]

Current religion: Buddhist (sort of)
Previous religion (if any): Christianity

Any other thoughts or beliefs:

I say Buddhist because it is what I have been researching and have the most views with. Buddhist believe there is no soul or god, while I believe there may be both, but can't say for sure yet. Aside from those two things, I follow everything else in Buddhism. The switch is a pretty strange story that would probably be pretty long to explain, so I'll refrain from posting lol.

Theres going to be a mix of religion and politics. No way around it. Not a whole TON, but a little bit. A few laws that get passed (mainly controversial ones, IMHO) are supported and flamed because of religious beliefs. My .02 cents

[Joe Smith]

Thank you for the replies (here and otherwise) so far. Just to clarify, I don't mena to open up a can of worms as this is not meant to be a discussion of religion or beliefe, simply a survey of those present here on the forums.

If anyone wants to have a discussion or debate on the topic, I have no problem with that in the least. It will, however have to take place with an exchange of PM's or in a seperate thread.

[bubba23]

Current Religion: agnostic
Previous Religion: Presbyterian (sort of)
Future Religion: unknown
Political Affiliation: NONE
Funeral Preference: cremation
Preferred mode of death: euthanasia
Value of my opinions: priceless

[Zef_66]

Present Religion: Methodist
Previous Religion: Always been Methodist
Political Affiliation: None - just choose the best candidate based on who fits closest to my values. Usually that tends to be Republican.

Other Comments: Recently my wife and I have been going to a non-denominational service and find we like it very much. I am still a member at the Methodist church, but the distance since we have moved makes it hard to attend every Sunday. None the less, I am still Christian. I am starting to feel that different denominations within a given religion as more political than anything.

[righteousbarbarian]

Current Religion: inter-denominational Christian

Previous Religion: Roman Catholic (sort of)

Other thoughts: I'm a strange mix between evangelical and sacremental Christian. I am aware of truths and flaws in all sorts of denominations, so I have trouble committing to one. If there was an Evangelical Episcopal church that would probably be ideal, but for now I worship with Baptists and Roman Catholics.

[Mtbkski]

Current: Christian
Still the same.

Best quote I ever heard on religion was from my Aunt.

"Do I belive in god? Well the way I see it is this. If I live a christian life, and by the rules of god. I sure ain't hurting anyone in this world. And then, when I die. If there isn't a God. Who did I hurt. No one.
But if I live my life outside of what a Christian is suppose to do. And when I die there turns out to be a God. It's to late to do something about it then."

God is like a handgun. It is better to have it and not need it. Than to need it and not have it.


Mtbkski
Randy

[gnbrotz]

Current religion: non-denominational Christian

Previous religion: Christian/raised in Assemblies of God church

Any other thoughts or beliefs: I do not attend church. I definitely believe in the need to be born again/"saved" to enter heaven, but am very turned off to 'organized religion' due a very bad experience with a former pastor. I haven't given up on God, but I have given up on 'religion'. I also believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that it's words are true, not parables to give is moral guidance, and should be interpreted literally, not molded to fit our society's changing morals - i.e. Homosexual clergy=blasphemy.

[Joe Smith]

Off topic a bit, but now that people are adding their final wishes I would like to throw mine out as well.

I like how in the old days if someone died the family would take care of everything. Dig a hole on the property, get the preacher, and put them under. If I get the chance I want my family to dig my hole BY HAND, say goodbye, and cover me up. Then throw up the stage for the live band and have a party!