Every so often, I'll take a quiz on Beliefnet.com that I like. Cheesy enough, it's called the "Belief-O-Matic". It asks 20 questions, and asks you to rate your answer "low", "medium", or "high". At the end, it tells you which religion most closely matches the answers you gave. While I obviously don't take these quizzes as the definitive guide to my faith, taking it from time to time does give me a starting place, at times, to gauge how my beliefs have shifted over time. Almost every time I've taken the quiz, the highest results have been Unitarian-Universalism and Mahayana Buddhism, with Liberal Christianity and Neo-Paganism being close behind. This time, however, Neo-Paganism was lower, after Taoism, New Age, and Theravada Buddhism. Liberal Christianity was even lower, after Jainism, New Thought, and Reformed Judaism.
The interesting this about this, is that I did used to be involved in Unitarian-Universalism, and while I very much agree with their philosophy and outlook on spirituality, I found their brick-and-mortar church services a bit disconnected, drawing from Christianity one week, Buddhism the next, etc., whereas Christian churches, even liberal ones, have Christianity as their basic starting point, as I am accustomed to. I currently attend a United Church of Christ church, which for the most part has the same outlook and religious/political perspectives as UU, only with a Christian focus. The running joke is that UCC stands for "Unitarians Considering Christ". And I know very little about Taoism and Jainism, so I will have to look more into that to see how it fits in. Perhaps that will be the stimulation I need to get back into some spiritual growth.
Showing posts with label quiz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quiz. Show all posts
Friday, August 2, 2013
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
What Kind of Christian Are You?- Beliefnet.com
What Kind of Christian Are You?- Beliefnet.com
I took this quiz on Beliefnet. I don't know who Brian McLaren is, but in short, it says I'm a liberal Christian. Some of the questions on it have gotten me to thinking a little. What does it mean to be "Christian"? I believe in Jesus' teachings on helping the poor, "suffer not the little children", etc.... the social tendencies to welcome the outcasts that he exhibited. Love God (however you define God) and love your neighbor(including, for me, our non-human neighbors). I don't believe in literal virgin birth, death, resurrection. I believe possibly that he was able to understand more and perhaps become a Christ figure via progressive rebirths, similar to the belief that Siddhartha was able to attain Buddhahood thanks to multiple rebirths that finally led to the life in which he understood Enlightenment. I don't believe in a literal heaven or hell..... well, heaven as a possibility, hell definitely no. But I also believe in reincarnation as a possibility. And lately, Buddhism is starting to appeal more to me. So why not become Buddhist? This is something I've been thinking about a bit lately, as I'm reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Zen Living, and desperately attempting to utilize my Zen practices to balance the most stressful semester of school I've had yet - I didn't do very well on a recent major paper in class, and I'm (temporarily) up to 8 foster kids in my internship.
One thing about Gnosticism is that it is kind of a blend of both. It is Gnostic, Buddhist, Pagan, whatever else, yet it is also above all of that. Being a Gnostic means the practitioner seeks the esoteric similarities within all religions of study, seeking the Divine Spark, the Divine Inspiration, that is the source of it all. Some Pagans(and indeed, a lot of Gnostics), view divinity like a diamond. With the Wiccan "All Gods are One God" view, the belief is that whether you are praying to Zeus, Hades, Apollo, whoever, you are simply praying to different aspects of the same Being. Gnostics seek to find that Being, the big jewel that all the facets make up. That's why you find many Gnostics who, although they consider themselves Christian and pray to Jesus, also pray to Isis, Horus, and other deities(usually of middle-Eastern or Egyptian pantheons). That's something I still struggle with, myself. Before embracing Gnosticism, when I was Pagan, I was a polytheist, and followed a number of deities, primarily from the Celtic pantheon. While I did eventually come back to Christianity as a Gnostic, and recommit myself to Jesus (albeit a different interpretation of him), and even attend a Christian church, what of those other deities? I fully believe that I connected with them. My first experience with Brighid was a very powerful experience, part of why I still feel connected with her and follow her in her Saint form. I don't believe that my experiences as a Pagan were any less real than my experiences as a Gnostic have been, just because my faith has evolved. What I struggle with, even now, is how to integrate the two to make my spirituality as holistic as fits my generally eclectic personality and approach to everything, including spirituality. Maybe it is okay to pray to Jesus, and Manannan, and Brighid, and Isis. I'm hoping the next book on my reading list, Christopaganism, will give me some ideas and insights.
You are A Brian McLaren Christian
Brian McLaren Christian
A.k.a. a Rob Bell, Phyllis Tickle, N.T. Wright, Tim Keller, Eugene Peterson Christian. You subscribe to Sojourners or Relevant...or, more likely, Rolling Stone, Paste and The Atlantic. (And maybe even Geez!) Your Christian history is rooted in St. Francis, who leads (through Gandhi) to Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. You emphasize social justice as an element of God's kingdom. You might be "emergent" or "progressive," but you're probably post-evangelical.
Want more? Watch videos with Brian McLaren. See Rob Bell on the resurrection. Read Phyllis Tickle's Lent blog. Read our interview with N.T. Wright.
I took this quiz on Beliefnet. I don't know who Brian McLaren is, but in short, it says I'm a liberal Christian. Some of the questions on it have gotten me to thinking a little. What does it mean to be "Christian"? I believe in Jesus' teachings on helping the poor, "suffer not the little children", etc.... the social tendencies to welcome the outcasts that he exhibited. Love God (however you define God) and love your neighbor(including, for me, our non-human neighbors). I don't believe in literal virgin birth, death, resurrection. I believe possibly that he was able to understand more and perhaps become a Christ figure via progressive rebirths, similar to the belief that Siddhartha was able to attain Buddhahood thanks to multiple rebirths that finally led to the life in which he understood Enlightenment. I don't believe in a literal heaven or hell..... well, heaven as a possibility, hell definitely no. But I also believe in reincarnation as a possibility. And lately, Buddhism is starting to appeal more to me. So why not become Buddhist? This is something I've been thinking about a bit lately, as I'm reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Zen Living, and desperately attempting to utilize my Zen practices to balance the most stressful semester of school I've had yet - I didn't do very well on a recent major paper in class, and I'm (temporarily) up to 8 foster kids in my internship.
One thing about Gnosticism is that it is kind of a blend of both. It is Gnostic, Buddhist, Pagan, whatever else, yet it is also above all of that. Being a Gnostic means the practitioner seeks the esoteric similarities within all religions of study, seeking the Divine Spark, the Divine Inspiration, that is the source of it all. Some Pagans(and indeed, a lot of Gnostics), view divinity like a diamond. With the Wiccan "All Gods are One God" view, the belief is that whether you are praying to Zeus, Hades, Apollo, whoever, you are simply praying to different aspects of the same Being. Gnostics seek to find that Being, the big jewel that all the facets make up. That's why you find many Gnostics who, although they consider themselves Christian and pray to Jesus, also pray to Isis, Horus, and other deities(usually of middle-Eastern or Egyptian pantheons). That's something I still struggle with, myself. Before embracing Gnosticism, when I was Pagan, I was a polytheist, and followed a number of deities, primarily from the Celtic pantheon. While I did eventually come back to Christianity as a Gnostic, and recommit myself to Jesus (albeit a different interpretation of him), and even attend a Christian church, what of those other deities? I fully believe that I connected with them. My first experience with Brighid was a very powerful experience, part of why I still feel connected with her and follow her in her Saint form. I don't believe that my experiences as a Pagan were any less real than my experiences as a Gnostic have been, just because my faith has evolved. What I struggle with, even now, is how to integrate the two to make my spirituality as holistic as fits my generally eclectic personality and approach to everything, including spirituality. Maybe it is okay to pray to Jesus, and Manannan, and Brighid, and Isis. I'm hoping the next book on my reading list, Christopaganism, will give me some ideas and insights.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Belief-O-Matic
One of the things that kind of jump started my religious seeking, was the Belief-O-Matic(cheesy, I know) quiz on Beliefnet.com. Granted, it's kind of silly to base your religious beliefs on an internet quiz. But, the results I got at the time piqued my curiosity, listing some faiths I had never seen or heard of before. So, while I obviously never based my beliefs on the quiz, it did kind of give me direction in my search.
Sometimes, every few months,or when I get bored, I'll take it again. Just to see if my results have changed, and kind of assess where I am at the moment. Interestingly(or not) enough, the top 3 almost always end up being Unitarian Universalism, Neo-Pagan, and Liberal Quakers. In fact, my most recent taking, about 5 minutes ago, lists the following results:
I also find it interesting that Mahayana Buddhism is usually so high up the list, as I have been occasionally looking into Zen Buddhism as a practice as well. I haven't had the chance to delve into it deeply yet, currently focusing more on my core Gnosticism and Druidry, although admittedly Gnosticism and Buddhism do seem to have a good bit of things in common in modern times, at least where it concerns reincarnation, meditation, etc. In fact, many Gnostics seem to have a lot of Buddhist influence in their personal spiritual paths. Hopefully I'll be getting to one of my Buddhist thought books soon.
This, as you can see, is one of my less intellectually stimulating entries. I guess not all of them can be as deep and scholarly as my first few! I will probably(hopefully) do one of my more detailed entries on either a Gnostic concept or a Druidic concept on Friday, my next day off of work. Lesser-detailed entries like these are mainly to keep myself spiritually stimulated and keep myself in the habit of spiritual blogging, so that I don't get lazy again. I close with a passage from another Gnostic Gospel, The Thunder, Perfect Mind :
Sometimes, every few months,or when I get bored, I'll take it again. Just to see if my results have changed, and kind of assess where I am at the moment. Interestingly(or not) enough, the top 3 almost always end up being Unitarian Universalism, Neo-Pagan, and Liberal Quakers. In fact, my most recent taking, about 5 minutes ago, lists the following results:
| 1. | Unitarian Universalism (99%) |
| 2. | Neo-Pagan (99%) |
| 3. | Liberal Quakers (92%) |
| 4. | Mahayana Buddhism (91%) |
| 5. | New Age (88%) |
| 6. | Reform Judaism (82%) |
| 7. | Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (77%) |
| 8. | Hinduism (76%) |
| 9. | Jainism (75%) |
| 10. | Sikhism (74%) |
| 11. | Theravada Buddhism (73%) |
| 12. | Baha'i Faith (70%) |
| 13. | New Thought (60%) |
| 14. | Secular Humanism (57%) |
| 15. | Orthodox Judaism (53%) |
| 16. | Taoism (52%) |
| 17. | Scientology (51%) |
| 18. | Islam (46%) |
| 19. | Orthodox Quaker (43%) |
| 20. | Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (34%) |
| 21. | Nontheist (32%) |
| 22. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (25%) |
| 23. | Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (25%) |
| 24. | Seventh Day Adventist (24%) |
| 25. | Eastern Orthodox (20%) |
| 26. | Roman Catholic (20%) |
| 27. | Jehovah's Witness (17%) |
I also find it interesting that Mahayana Buddhism is usually so high up the list, as I have been occasionally looking into Zen Buddhism as a practice as well. I haven't had the chance to delve into it deeply yet, currently focusing more on my core Gnosticism and Druidry, although admittedly Gnosticism and Buddhism do seem to have a good bit of things in common in modern times, at least where it concerns reincarnation, meditation, etc. In fact, many Gnostics seem to have a lot of Buddhist influence in their personal spiritual paths. Hopefully I'll be getting to one of my Buddhist thought books soon.
This, as you can see, is one of my less intellectually stimulating entries. I guess not all of them can be as deep and scholarly as my first few! I will probably(hopefully) do one of my more detailed entries on either a Gnostic concept or a Druidic concept on Friday, my next day off of work. Lesser-detailed entries like these are mainly to keep myself spiritually stimulated and keep myself in the habit of spiritual blogging, so that I don't get lazy again. I close with a passage from another Gnostic Gospel, The Thunder, Perfect Mind :
For I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am shame and boldness.
I am shameless; I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and peace.
Give heed to me.
I am the one who is disgraced and the great one.
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