Reading through hundreds of posts, it is obvious that we have members associated with UM that have a wide array of thoughts, beliefs, & practices.

Because we have such a diversified group - it leads me to this question. What denomination or sect do you consider yourself apart of? Are you an Aethiest, Paganist, Christian, Catholic, Buddhist, Sunni Islam, Eastern Orthodox, satanist, church of scientology, Jehovah's witness, Jinga Honcho, Angelican Communion, Assemblies of God, Ethiopian Orthodox, Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD)*, Iglesia ni Cristo, Sikhism, Juche, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Southern Baptist Convention, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, United Methodist Church, Soka Gakkai, New Apostolic Church, etc.?

and

Why or what made you gravitate to that religion or sect?

I'm not sure this one will last as these topics get discussed in every other topic...but it might, anyways, I'll bite.

Strictly a loosely named "non-believer" here. Though I don't like being called one.

I really don't like the terms "Atheist" or "Skeptic" but unfortunately, according to today's standards, thats what I am.

I'd really prefer to have no label at all really.

FYI, as I said about an hour ago in another thread...I'm from a family thats been isolated from any sort of religious influence for almost four generations.

As such, at the age of 10...I had no idea what a Christian was, no idea what Santa was, or Hell or a sin and couldn't tell the difference between a Jew and a Muslim...as a result, I chose to educate myself and became absolutely facinated with ancient mythologies and the beginnings of religions.

Edit: the last paragraph makes me sound uneducated. Untrue, I attended primary school for a few years at the same time getting home tutored until I reached high school at which point I realized I was wasting my time and decided to leave and educate myself by attending libraries on a daily basis and absorbing everything I could...which is why I can identify countires by their shape, name every American state within a minute but don't know 2x2 or what the hell a pie is.

Pagan... though Pagan is not a religion in and of it'self.. but a word used to catagorize the multitude of religions that involce polythiests, panthionists, spiritualists, animismalists, shamans, medican men, ancestor worship, shintoism...

So.. lessee... I meshed Native American spiritualism/animinism with celtic shamanism... Mother Earth worship with matron goddess and patron god kinship....

If I get off my ass... and go to the shamanism training.. I could become a full fledge one...

SC, out of curiousity, why don't people with the above mentioned beliefs mind being called "Pagans"? Wasn't it originally a derogatory termed used by the Roman Catholics to describe those that didn't worship their god?

Actually... I have *never* met someone with a pagan belief be upset with being called a pagan. I have however had been torn to shreds by someone who kept insisting that Paganism isn't a religion... regardless the fact I kept saying that it was a word used today to describe all these different types of faiths. I swear to the gods I want to go to every dictionary publisher and beat them with my spork till they add it to the definition.

But, yes... the old time meaning of Pagan was someone who lived in the country and was not a christian, muslim or Jewish... and was once derogitory. But now, it's not. The only people who has a problem with it, are people who are on the fanatic spectrum of either Atheism, Christianity, Islam....

Funny fact... in all of my family... my jewish uncle and cousins have never had a problem with me being a pagan. The christian ones... have short of disowning me XD

Me too!!!
Starting Saturday, I hope.

Okies, just asking...never actually had any face-to-face contact with any pagans is all, thought I'd ask

Oh, almost forgot...if you are a spiritualist for example, why not just call yourself that...as opposed to pagan?

I'm a Christian... But I do support the fact that god gets just a bit too "happy" up there with the hurricanes and all...

Because it's not just spirits I believe in... X)

Oh ok. I think I'm getting it now

X) Well it's that and as I said.. I want to be an ordained ... official.. whatever.. shaman ;P

OH! Forgot the why part of the origonal question.

Because Christianity wasn't feeling right. I wasn't enjoying it.. no matter which way I tried to worship this god. What made me leave the church was the teacher saying that humans are called sheep because they need to be lead. Well.. I don't want to be lead like that...

Then I just "freeranged" for a year... and it still did not feel right. So I searched. One of my coworkers at my first job was pagan. Wiccan actually.. and he helped me out with lending me books and such. And after getting my licence I was able to go to the book store on my own and get my own books. (when I was a kid.. we had books! Not intranets! XD)

I even got history books.. books that explained things.. not just books on wicca (I never really felt connected to it, so I was never wiccan...) I found books on Shamanism and druidism.. I meditated.. I found out who I was during all of this...

I found peace with Mother Earth.. the Goddess... Bast... and recently with Dionysus. X) (What can I say.. I'm a lush)

Never had I just .. jumped into my faith without knowing. And I still study it today.

One should never stop learning about the faith the wish to hold to. Even if it meant seeing the bad with the good. I've accepted that in the past... human sacrifices happened. It happened all over.. in nearly every faith save maybe a small handful. It was.. still is in some ways... human nature to.. kill in the name of something or another.

But because of that knowledge... I've grown... and will endeavor to prove that pagans are not heathens... We do not deserve to have our gods called false... We do not deserve to be condemed to another faith's damnation.

He converted you. That's priceless!

TO answer the original post though, I guess you could call me a non-denominational Christian, though I do attend a denomination.

Regards, PA

I am ChristMusJew!

Its a new name for an age old "religion".

I am Christian, Muslim with a dash of Jewish. Basically i gather ideas, beliefs and teachings from the 3 main faiths and bag them up into something i like...Oh yeah...I Like!

I don't believe he controls the weather

Didn't read my post to well did ya.

He didn't convert me. He helped me figure things out. He didn't say "Here, you should be this.. come to a gathering..." He told me he was wiccan... I was intrested and he helped me by lending me books and answering my questions. All the while the choice was mine. I went to him, he didn't come to me ;P


If you want to stick with the converting thing and be technical... It was Christianity that converted me to being a Pagan ;P

I did read your post, SC!

So how does one become "converted"? Does it have to be someone off the street coming and telling you "believe this"? What if a friend of mine asks me about Christianity, and I speak to him of it, give him a Bible to read and let him make up his own mind? According to your definition, that is not conversion. From my perspective, it is!

Though to be fair, I gues it'd be like me giving him a Bible and then him converting to LDS for example. But I didn't bring the point up to argue SC, I just thought it amusing.

Regards, PA

Not really in the mood for this PA..

The guy didn't convert me. I don't know how much more plainer I can make it.

Honestly... shall I capitalize it? I asked, he helped... gave me a couple books. If he "converted" me I'd be wiccan now wouldn't I? But I'm not. Not even close. I went.. found my own answers after my brief encounter with the guy. After that... I shrugged off any intrest in wicca and started my own path as I am now. Without his help.

No. He. Did. Not. Convert. Me.

I'm confused, did he convert you? (JK)

My denomination: Jewish, somewhat conservative, somewhat reform.

Penecostal.

It is a church called Assembly of God

I attend Catholic Church, not because I am a firm believer in its doctrine but because it represents the oldest direct contact with early Christian history. It has, I admit, strayed from that history but it still maintains many of the rituals and concepts of the early church.

Depends who you ask...If you ask a Catholic I'm a heretic, if you ask a Christian I'm a heathen, if you ask an Atheist I'm an agnostic, if you ask a Muslim I'm an infidel, if you ask a Jew I'm a gentile, and if you ask me I'm none of the above.

I am a non-Denominational Christian. I find that every time man organizes anything (church, denominations) there is about one person in twelve that is there for the wrong reasons and tries to screw the truth up or they are there for their own personal gain. But then I guess Jesus had the same problem (Judas).

Actually I was a devout atheist into my mid twenties. It was my personal goal to destroy others faith with sound reasoning and logic. I arrived at a point in my battles with the faithful where I was unable to counter with a good argument and decided to say a personal prayer to this supposed deity at that time and asked God to prove Himself to me. And well, He met that personal challenge of mine with love and logic, and from that point on I am eternally grateful.

I am a Christian because I accept the price that Jesus Christ paid and realize that no matter how hard I try personally to be a good kind person I can never meet God’s standard of perfection!
So now I am not perfect but forgiven!
Irish

I'm pagan, specifically kemtic orthadox. Back in Egypt(Kemet) a group of people were telling me about how wwe should belive like the people of old instead of the religion that was spread by hate. After that I looked into the religon it made a lot of sense to me, and now i'm happy. Now that i moved i get called heathen now again, but a lot less then i was called infidel back in Kemet.

I am a Deist.

I was brought up Southern Baptist. But have had the pleasure of delving in many other religions. Catholic, Methodist, etc. even went through a Wiccan period. But I can honestly say I am a devout Christian now. But my specific beliefs might conflict with a lot of the mainstream religions. So I keep to myself and pray in private no matter what anyone says. Just be true to yourself and keep as pure as heart as possible and everything will work out.

Like many here I've gone through various "belief" systems, far west to far east and all in-between.

Right now all I can say is I'm "Christian" for my belief in and acceptance of Jesus, but as far as "denomination" there's not a single one out there that I agree with fully enough to identify myself with. It's possible to put the "Protestant" label on me at times depending on the subject but any narrower and it just doesn't fit me. They all say certain things that just don't ring true to me.

I am a Christian and my denomination is Damned Baptist. Because that is where my wife wants to worship. I personally have a huge problem with any organized religion. That would be the fact that it is 'organized' and therefore a money machine. But, that is the reality of the world today. I can put up with the dog and poney show as long as our pastor preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ more than the law of tithing...which he does and so I guess it's okay.

Geez SC, I only said I thought it was funny. I wasn't accusing you or anything. I'm sorry if I offended you. What do you have against it anyway?

I'm a Christian and my demonination is Baptist. Although there are a couple of things our pastor and I don't see eye to eye on, I like what he preaches and I guess that's what matters.

my ancestors were orthodox jews on my father's side. rabbis up to my great great grandfather. my father was a Doctor. I mention this because he did his residency when i was under a year old in an isolated area of Maryland. No kosher food, and neither he nor my mom really believed in anything.so they said "stick it" i studied judiasm as a teen, after checking every book in my elementary and high schools about greek, roman and norse legends. I was the rebel in my family, and had a barmitzvah, even though i barely knew what it meant. I was very impressed with buddhism. I was initiated into an occult order in my early 20's, and can go to any religious service I want and find meaning. I am seriously turned off by xianity, especially after finding out who burned the library at alexandria and why. I truly admire orthodox jews, but if not raised in Judiasm, it's pretty hard to keep up with. when I attend a jewish service, I have to inform them I am a Kohan, a descendent of Aaron and therefore technically a priest, which has made for some weird occurrences in temples.as an occultist, I stay away from xian services, in part, because I am not baptized, which, for me, as an occultist, would be an initiation I've never accepted. I feel very comfortable at buddhist churches I have visited I have also attended pagan and wiccan ceremonies. I have felt the presence of God at all churches and temples I have been to, even Xian. You may accept my "second sight" or not, but it is real. I have seen amazing things at services of all religions. add: i do attend a "church"-the metaphysical chapel, which most of you would consider "new age". they believe in spirits, communicating with the other side, and that the "dead" can be prayed for and helped into the Light. very nice people; I don't agree with all their teachings, but it is close to mine.

GIDEON MAGE:

It's interesting that you found the presence of God in each or every church you attended. On Easter a few years back, I decided to attend mast at a Catholic Church with my girlfriend. The scene was very different to what I am accustomed to. Just to shed a little light on my background, I grew up attending baptist/episcopalian churches. Needless to say, I am accustomed to being in a church where you can feel "The Spirit" overwhelm the audience/place. People speaking in tongues, constant fainting, deafening shouts to God, the whole nine yards.

Anyway, I attendent this Catholic Church expecting the Pastor to give a sermon that was somehow going to tie the scriptures of the Bible with the events coinciding in my (our) lives; touch the soul. Instead, what I got an emotionless experience filled with bible passage reading; witness a baby get baptised; had a wafer placed in my mouth; a few heavenly tunes; and away we go. Even though the experience was interesting, I did not feel the presence of the Lord nor did I feel like the place had the presence of God.

Although I respect people and their religions, I definitely know what denomination or sect I comfortably belong too!

Roman Catholic.

I didn't mean "felt". I really am "psychic", if you will, and have second sight. I will only give one experience, and you may take it as you like. I went to an easter service at a catholic church. I "turned on" my extra vision, just to look. they were having adult confirmations of recent converts. As they were given the wafer, I saw a beam of pure white light shine down on them, one by one. the origin seemed to be a stained glass window over the altar. Believe it or not, the beam didn't occur for all of them. My conclusion, and I can only guess, is that the excluded ones may have converted to catholicism only for marriage, or whatever, and weren't sincere. If there were some way to chek, I am sure my vision was correct. regardless of my personal beliefs, I must confess the light had to come from a higher power. I am certainly not a catholic, and feel uncomfortable on the occasions I have been to their church, but I saw what I saw. maybe, one more...I went to a unitarian church once. some friends of mine took me to participate in a may day celebration. we discussed it later, but all of us felt an influx of well-being at one certain point during the ceremony.

^^^Interesting. Cool story

why?

because of my training and experience.

ok.....

Makes sense to me Gideon...God loves all- i feel very strongly about that. I personally have been in a mosque twice and a church maybe 3 times in my life. I have to say when i was at the beautiful St. Marys Cathedral in Sydney i did feel amazingly at peace- its a great scene. I didnt feel the same at the mosque only because i wasnt used to their practice- taking shoes off- kneeling on ground on the carpet and praying with hundreds of others in a small space- i mean it was cool in its own right- but maybe my discomfort made me "miss out" on the Godly presence. Gods everywhere but i dont feel a man made structure is vital for a man to find God- i honestly find God in nature.

I was a Catholic once, just for the record, now I'm.... gravitating...