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Deb,
Catholics are Christians, in that they believe in Christ, but because of the different demonimations, some Catholics will not say that they are Christian so as to set themselves apart from the protestant denominations, as there are some very fundamental differences in beliefs. My mother will not say she's Christian for that reason, but I will and do. It's not set in stone, more a personal choice.
I regard myself as more "spiritual" than religious. I believe that there is a highe being, though i am not sure what. I used to be a christian, but i found myself questioning so much... Not trying to start a debate, this is just what i believe in.
I follow Balinese Hindu beliefs...
Basically treating others as you'd wish to be treated, Karma is very important in our beliefs!
The Catholic religion is a Christian religion. I was raised Orthodox, my family converted to Seventh Day Adventist but I consider myself Christian rather than a specific "religion" per se. I like learning about all different cultures and religions and whatever "feels" right is what I take on board. I picked Christian in the poll.
I was born catholic (although not christened) and raised ANglican, went to a n Anglican school, and was very religious until I was about 14-15 when I started questioning the contradictions I was being taught, from there I spent a lot of time learning... I voted Paganism, because although undertaking a Druidic appreticeship (20 years) I have not completed it, so therefore not really comfortable calling myself a Druidess...there arent too many of us out there being open about it!
I was christened an Anglican and confirmed a Catholic. However I put paganism as my religion because although I am not a card carrying practising pagan I believe in nature and celebrate the seasons etc.
I was just thinking the other day how it is acceptable to say in public that you are Christian, Muslim, Hindu etc etc but people are not so accepting of paganism as a rule. I am forced to teach religion (religion is compulsory in British schools) and I am sure that if I shared my religious beliefs with the children there would be an uproar. However if I was Christian or Muslim there would not be the same reaction. We are supposed to teach the children abut various religions to encourage tolerance but I just know I would not be allowed to even mention paganism. I get enough weirdness from other members of staff when I tell them I celebrate the Solstices etc!:
I am not religious.
If I was to put myself into any category I would say that my life stance is Humanism.
:
Humanism is a comprehensive life stance that upholds human reason, ethics, and justice, and rejects supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition. It generally appeals to agnostics, apatheists, atheists, empiricists, freethinkers, Objectivists, rationalists, and scientific skeptics.
I was raised in an Athiest household but was taught about all religions as I was taught about history. My late Grandfather was a Humanist, as is my Dad.:
Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.
I am not religious; I subscribe to a Humanist / Atheist view. (Amy, that is one of the most succinct and useful definitions of the Humanist position I have read - where did you get it, as I may use it myself from now on - if that's OK).
Someone asked much, much earlier on in the thread about the difference between agnosticism and atheism, and said that they understood agnosticism to mean being without commitment to a religion but open to the existence of a higher power.
This is not quite correct - although many people follow definitions of agnosticism that deviate from the original meaning. Agnosticism literally means 'without knowledge' (from 'gnosis' - to know). It is a philosophical stance whereby the holder acknowledges that the reason for, or source of existence is unprovable. The concept was originally developed in the 19th century by TH Huxley, who defined it as being: "...wrong for a man to say he is certain of the objective truth of a proposition unless he can provide evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what agnosticism asserts and in my opinion, is all that is essential to agnosticism." Agnosticism is an intellectual concept; its core tenet is a rejection of the unprovable. It is not that an agnostic is open to the possibility of existence of a higher being, but that it cannot be proven.
Atheism, on the other hand, is either non-belief in a higher power (known as 'weak' atheism) or denial of the existence of a higher power (known as 'strong' atheism).
Not religious either, was christened as my dad is catholic and my mum a Prodestant but as I grew older got my own views etc and am now an athiest, although dp calls me pagan for all my other beliefs LOL
Suse it's from Wikipedia! It has the whole history of Humanism and some really interesting information. I will PM you the link.