<p>Just curious, how many of you guys are religious?</p>
<p>I consider myself Christian, but I am considering converting to Catholicism.</p>
<p>But of course, there are always going to be inevitable conflicts with academia/cultures/science. However, I have dealt with problems my entire life and I don't think it will affect me.</p>
<p>Define "religious"?</p>
<p>I'm christian, but my views are a tad unorthodox. I do believe in God and Christ, nevertheless. And evolution. I don't usually go to church, but I say a short prayer before I go to sleep. i don't regularly read the Bible or anything. I also don't agree with some of the stuff in it. I try to keep my faith and also stay as open minded as possible.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I consider myself Christian, but I am considering converting to Catholicism.
[/quote]
Catholicism is a type of Christianity.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Define "religious"?
[/quote]
A religious person is anyone who believes that supernatural things exist.</p>
<p>"A religious person is anyone who believes that supernatural things exist."</p>
<p>Uh, so if someone believed in, I don't know, ghosts, would that make them religious?</p>
<p>I asked the OP to define "religious" because, well, clearly, different people mean different things by the word.</p>
<p>Muslim.....sunni</p>
<p>I consider myslef agnostic leaning towards atheism, but most people in my family are semi-religious. My aunt is a non-religious Indonesian Muslim, my mom is a Filipina Catholic, my dad is a former American cult member (Scientology, eww), my paternal grandmother is a Southern Methodist.</p>
<p>No, I'm not very religious. I was raised Southern Baptist and it just put me off organized religion. I also believe the theory of evolution, and many Christian denominations (and probably other mainstream religions) would probably ostracize me for it. I know most Christian denom.'s would. I sort of think there could be a higher power, but it's more of the Deist philosophy: If God exists, he just set everything in motion and doesn't really have alot to do with daily life. I'm not really concerned with religion, to be honest. I call myself agnostic for simplicity's sake.</p>
<p>PS yeahallie, I'm glad you said your dad was a FORMER scientologist, because, as much as I try to respect other people's beliefs... those people are just kinda nutty.</p>
<p>^^THANK YOU!!! We get about 3 things in the mail from their "church" every day. You seem to have questioned mainstream religion for exactly the same reasons as me. One time at church, the pastor was basically bashing science, and he used the word "evolutionized." Seriously, if you are going to denounce something, use the right word.</p>
<p>I was raised AROUND Southern Baptists so that put me off religion entirely. :P But I was also raised psuedo-Jewish which means I was raised to be open to the idea that it's possible that everything we were taught was wrong. Now I would consider myself a weak atheist/ agnostic</p>
<p>And I don't know about Scientology... it's nutty but have you read the Bible lately? I don't know which one is more believable.</p>
<p>I'm Jewish and agnostic. I guess Judaism isn't so much a religious thing for me as it is a cultural thing, but I definitely consider myself Jewish despite my beliefs about God. Mostly I don't really trust organized religion....more horrific things have been done in the name of God than anyone else.</p>
<p>Christian I'm not very religious I guess cause beliefs seem to matter more to me than how you believe it.</p>
<p>SilverClover: Ooo, Southern Baptists can be scary sometimes, but some are normal (at least my Baptists friends are)...No, I haven't read the Bible lately :D. Yes both are kind of hard to believe (for me at least, I can't speak for everyone), but Scientology was founded by a science fiction writer. That raises a red flag for me.</p>
<p>What do you guys think of the Westboro Baptist Church (the definition of radical religion)? They scare me...a LOT.</p>
<p>very agnostic</p>
<p>Just a Follower of Christ. Not perfect at all, but trying. I do not like to use denominations because essentially we all believe in the same thing we just worship differently. And I'm sorry to judge, but Scientology? Aliens? Come on people, events in the Bible actually took place. Or maybe Tom Cruise just makes them look crazy</p>
<p>westboro baptist church is a cult, not a religion</p>
<p>I am a Christian, BTW, and believe firmly in the basic roots of christianity</p>
<p>Christian.
And yeah... I've found it interesting how academia interfaces with religion... always an interesting interaction!</p>
<p>As far as Scientology is concerned, it's interesting. Have you guys ever seen the videos on YouTube of interviews with Scientologists (or the South Park episode...which is also on YouTube)? If there are any scientologists here, I'd be interested in their takes on all of this.</p>
<p>^^I LOVE that episode of South Park. I know a lot of people hate that show, but I find it quite witty. My dad has a lot of Scientology literature (I later through it away, and he hasn't noticed it missing), and I started watching one of the videos, but it was kind of...boring. Again, I respect everyone's beliefs, but celebrity religions are extremely difficult for me to take seriously. Exception: I do not respect hatemongers' beliefs.</p>
<p>Look down at your wrist, do you see a watch. </p>
<p>Now think of a flea(bug), that flea is infinitely more complex that the watch. It is not even a comparison.</p>
<p>Now if I told you that one day walking through the jungle long before industry, that we just came upon the watch, it came out of nowhere. Would you believe me?</p>
<p>I don't think you would, so how is it possible that a flea that is infinitely more complex than the watch just appears or came from nothing.</p>
<p>If you look at how complex everything is, that in itself proves that it all had to come from something. You could say Evolution, but where did it start, it had to come from something and even the simplest of bacteria, is infinitely more complex than anything man has ever created,</p>
<p>
[quote]
What do you guys think of the Westboro Baptist Church (the definition of radical religion)? They scare me...a LOT.
[/quote]
The Landover Baptist Church is way more extreme. hahahah what an awesome church.</p>
<p>^^Hmm...I shall google that...I love reading about crazies and laughing at them. :D</p>
<p>goodusername: I just looked them up. They are the most radical church ever...lol. They need to be stopped!</p>