I was reading through "O" magazine this week and stumbled upon an interesting website. Beliefnet.com talks about all kinds of faith and has a function called the "Belief-O-Matic" which matches up your beliefs to particular religions. I was interested to see what I would come out with. Here are my results:
| 1. | Neo-Pagan (100%) |
| 2. | Mahayana Buddhism (85%) |
| 3. | New Age (85%) |
| 4. | Unitarian Universalism (83%) |
| 5. | Liberal Quakers (73%) |
| 6. | Theravada Buddhism (71%) |
| 7. | Hinduism (70%) |
| 8. | Secular Humanism (67%) |
| 9. | Taoism (62%) |
| 10. | Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (59%) |
| 11. | Scientology (58%) |
| 12. | New Thought (56%) |
| 13. | Jainism (54%) |
| 14. | Reform Judaism (51%) |
| 15. | Sikhism (50%) |
| 16. | Orthodox Quaker (46%) |
| 17. | Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (44%) |
| 18. | Baha'i Faith (37%) |
| 19. | Nontheist (36%) |
| 20. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (27%) |
| 21. | Orthodox Judaism (27%) |
| 22. | Seventh Day Adventist (27%) |
| 23. | Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (20%) |
| 24. | Eastern Orthodox (18%) |
| 25. | Roman Catholic (18%) |
| 26. | Jehovah's Witness (18%) |
| 27. | Islam (17%) |
Wiki page (in case you're interested)
My beliefs are pretty standard and as I don't adhere to any sort of particular religion, this is a nice way to sum up things. I believe there is no heaven or hell. I believe that we should better ourselves for ourselves rather than for some mysterious higher power. I believe there is something, some force or fate, that helps guide us along on our journey as humans but not all of us are in touch with that. When people get lost or decide to do something horrible, it is because of their own mental illness or their need to put themselves first. I believe we are all connected and all a very small part of history and of the evolution of the world. Everything we do has a consequence. I believe in karma, what goes around comes around. I don't think people should be judged for who they love or what they believe as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. I also believe that electronics and the Internet have made us incredibly lazy, detached and numb.
I love LOVE this. I am going to take it and let you know what I am. I completely agree about the electronics thing-I was harvesting my tomatoes recently and as I was picking and hunched over doing so in the hot sun I said, "hmm....I wouldn't be so fat if everything I ate was grown by me and I had to WORK for it." I think so much of modernity has to do with our convenience driven society has contributed to our laziness as well. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYes, I am interested to see your results. I believe I have become too dependent on electronics as well which is why I never use my phone and do all of my money stuff and, well, everything online. I wouldn't be so fat if I got my large ass up and moved!
ReplyDeleteI accidentally closed the page but I was 100% liberal protestant but like 64% neo pagan as well. Good description of my belief system:) I am addicted to reading on my ipod right now and I hate that I am so dependent on my ipod BUT I am reading more. I guess it is a trade off in this case.
ReplyDeleteI read this article the other day by Michael Pollan (Omnivore's Dilemma) in the New Yorker about how people should not go on diets but just commit to eating only things you make from scratch. No canned soups, boxed cakes, ice cream etc. Only if you MAKE it. Seriously love his concept. For instance I make chicken nuggets but I buy bread crumbs, and to make bread crumbs I would need to make bread. Seriously it would change EVERYTHING. His thesis was that our culture would shift from obsessions with food to understanding food and we would not be fat (Okay he said obese-he was P.C.). Good stuff.
Glad you enjoyed the quiz. I thought it was all pretty interesting including the website.
ReplyDeleteLove Michael Pollan and his books. I have yet to get around to OD but it is in the works. I am one of those people that never buy sweets from the store unless it is ice cream (I can't make that right now at least) and so whenever I craved cookies or cupcakes, I always made them myself. I think not having a microwave helps a little bit in this "eat only what you can make" idea. Plus making our food takes so much longer so we appreciate it more. That is why fast food is so good and then you feel guilty after!