Belief-O-Matic

Non-neopets general discussion.
Usul_Princess
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Usul_Princess »

Madge wrote:
Here's mine. I self-identify as an Atheist, with no more words or bells and whistles added to that, at least not yet.

I find it interesting I've more in common with Christian Science than with Roman Catholicism, which I was quite serious about until about 18 months ago or so (Off-topic-ish, does anyone still remember me as a Catholic? If so, um, we need to talk, OK?). But all-in-all, secular humanism is probably the closest to my feelings, so it got that right.
And the Unitarian Universalism was a bit confusing until I looked it up and it turns out they believe in pretty much everything, including nothing. Which makes it a very wide net to catch beliefs under....[/quote]


That's because First Church of FSM doesn't apply here, Madge. :D

Mine were very cut and dry, and I agree that I have no idea what/where Unitarianism came from either. I've only been told it's an extremely weak sect of Christianity, but seems to be a significant part of this test.

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Orthodox Quaker (93%)
3. Liberal Quakers (89%)
4. Unitarian Universalism (82%)
5. Seventh Day Adventist (71%)
6. Reform Judaism (70%)
7. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (68%)
8. Eastern Orthodox (62%)
9. Roman Catholic (62%)
10. Mahayana Buddhism (61%)
11. Theravada Buddhism (61%)
12. Neo-Pagan (60%)
13. Baha'i Faith (59%)
14. Sikhism (57%)
15. New Age (56%)
16. Hinduism (53%)
17. Jainism (51%)
18. Orthodox Judaism (50%)
19. Taoism (46%)
20. Islam (44%)
21. Secular Humanism (44%)
22. New Thought (40%)
23. Scientology (37%)
24. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (36%)
25. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (31%)
26. Jehovah's Witness (24%)
27. Nontheist (22%)


The top 3 are definitely me. Pretty predictable, and very surprising at how this generator seemed so accurate.

I'm more inclined to reject traditional Christian rituals, and am more accepting of other's beliefs. My main belief has always been good will, compassion, and karma regardless of what section that falls under. I never play semantics with "X" religion should feel like "this" or "that", mainly because I don't care. In fact, I get put off by people who are that ridgid, because they're looking to categorize you instead of seeing you as a real person. I slightly resent the fact that Roman Catholic is ranked so high for me. I went to a Catholic school for 3 years, which made me hate rigid tradition. It shoudn't be anywhere near Buddism. (Which is in the right place.)
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Wingsrising
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Wingsrising »

1. Neo-Pagan (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (96%)
3. Reform Judaism (95%)
4. Liberal Quakers (95%)
5. New Age (86%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (81%)
7. New Thought (81%)
8. Baha'i Faith (74%)
9. Scientology (72%)
10. Mahayana Buddhism (70%)
11. Sikhism (65%)
12. Secular Humanism (62%)
13. Orthodox Judaism (61%)
14. Taoism (57%)
15. Theravada Buddhism (56%)
16. Jainism (53%)
17. Islam (53%)
18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (51%)
19. Hinduism (48%)
20. Nontheist (42%)
21. Orthodox Quaker (42%)
22. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (28%)
23. Eastern Orthodox (28%)
24. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (28%)
25. Roman Catholic (28%)
26. Seventh Day Adventist (18%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (7%)

I find this puzzling as I have no idea where they're getting Neo-Paganism from. Because I think nature is important? My beliefs are much, much closer to being Christian than to being Neo-Pagan.

My actual current religion is UU. I think characterizing UU as a "catch-all" is unfair to the actual faith (although I do think that's the role it plays in this survey). It's certainly not a sect of Christianity (weak or otherwise) although both the Unitarian and the Universalist churches got their start as sects of Christianity, and many UUs come from a Christian tradition and still think of themselves as Christians.

I think UU-ism is sort of hard to explain unless you've tried it. :-) The best way I've heard it explained is that UU is a covenantal religion, not a creedal religion -- "deeds, not creeds. " It's not about agreeing to a specific set of things you have to believe, but about agreeing to a way of living in community -- both in your congregation and (hopefully) in the larger community.

While there's no specific set of things you're "supposed" to believe to be a UU, there certainly are beliefs that I think are inconsistent with UU-ism. The common conservative Christian belief that Jesus Christ is the only path to salvation is a belief that I would consider intrinsically incompatible with UU-ism. The idea that one's own spiritual path is the one true path would not be a UU belief.

Beliefs that women, minorities, or homosexuals are inferior or should not be granted a full role in church or community life would also be, to my mind, incompatible with UU-ism.

UU's are typically very concerned with social justice, and I think someone who didn't consider social justice an important spiritual concern would probably not find it a good fit.

In theory UU is committed to being open and accepting of all people regardless of political belief. In practice, while I'm told there are Republican UUs, I've never met one personally, and neither has anyone I've talked to with whom the subject came up. :-) The strong commitment to gay rights, women's rights, and social justice issues mean that UUs are generally quite liberal both economically and socially. The reading for the chalice lighting (the way UU services open) in my church on Sunday was from Obama's 2004 convention speech and I guarantee there was much rejoicing in UU churches all around the country this week!

In my old UU church in North Carolina there was a car I generally saw in the parking lot that had a bumper sticker, "I'm sorry I wasn't in church this week, I was busy practicing witchcraft and becoming a lesbian." If seeing that sort of bumper sticker in your church parking lot would be a problem for you, I think you'd probably not fit in well in a UU church (and there are a lot of people in the US for whom that sort of thing would be a problem.)

The Principles and Sources of Unitarian Universalism
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Hawk
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Hawk »

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (92%)
3. Liberal Quakers (80%)
4. Nontheist (69%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (68%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (66%)
7. Neo-Pagan (66%)
8. New Age (55%)
9. Taoism (49%)
10. Reform Judaism (48%)
11. Mahayana Buddhism (45%)
12. Orthodox Quaker (44%)
13. Scientology (36%)
14. Baha'i Faith (35%)
15. New Thought (33%)
16. Jainism (33%)
17. Sikhism (32%)
18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (27%)
19. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (22%)
20. Seventh Day Adventist (20%)
21. Hinduism (20%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (19%)
23. Islam (19%)
24. Orthodox Judaism (19%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (15%)
26. Roman Catholic (15%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (13%)

I'm currently a UU as well (yay)! although since I've gone to college I've been less able to go to church.
Farseek
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Farseek »

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (92%)
3. Nontheist (78%)
4. Liberal Quakers (75%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (71%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (62%)
7. Neo-Pagan (61%)
8. New Age (51%)
9. Taoism (49%)
10. Reform Judaism (46%)
11. Mahayana Buddhism (42%)
12. Orthodox Quaker (42%)
13. Baha'i Faith (38%)
14. Scientology (35%)
15. New Thought (33%)
16. Jainism (32%)
17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (28%)
18. Sikhism (28%)
19. Islam (25%)
20. Orthodox Judaism (25%)
21. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (23%)
22. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (19%)
23. Seventh Day Adventist (17%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (15%)
25. Roman Catholic (15%)
26. Hinduism (14%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (8%)

I consider myself an atheist but after reading up on Secular Humanism, it is closer to my actual beliefs.
Not surprised that Roman Catholic is so far down. My views on contemporary issues conflict with thiers.
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Aqua
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Aqua »

1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Secular Humanism (97%)
3. Liberal Quakers (82%)
4. Theravada Buddhism (78%)
5. Nontheist (76%)
6. Neo-Pagan (75%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (69%)
8. New Age (65%)
9. Taoism (58%)
10. Reform Judaism (54%)
11. Mahayana Buddhism (51%)
12. Orthodox Quaker (45%)
13. Scientology (41%)
14. New Thought (37%)
15. Jainism (36%)
16. Sikhism (36%)
17. Baha'i Faith (31%)
18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (31%)
19. Orthodox Judaism (24%)
20. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (23%)
21. Islam (22%)
22. Seventh Day Adventist (21%)
23. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (20%)
24. Hinduism (20%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (11%)
26. Roman Catholic (11%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (6%)

Funny thing is that I'm "officially" a Catholic but it's almost at the bottom of the list, probably because I'm not fully sure I believe everything related to it and went with "not sure". I think I more believe that there could be a higher force/power, but we may not really know what it is, if it's actually there. I still say a prayer every night out of habit though. :x
WisteriaLynx
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by WisteriaLynx »

1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Secular Humanism (96%)
3. Liberal Quakers (82%)
4. Theravada Buddhism (75%)
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (74%)
6. Neo-Pagan (72%)
7. Nontheist (70%)
8. Scientology (68%)
9. New Age (64%)
10. New Thought (64%)
11. Reform Judaism (60%)
12. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (56%)
13. Mahayana Buddhism (56%)
14. Taoism (54%)
15. Orthodox Quaker (48%)
16. Baha'i Faith (32%)
17. Sikhism (29%)
18. Hinduism (29%)
19. Jainism (27%)
20. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (24%)
21. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (22%)
22. Islam (20%)
23. Orthodox Judaism (20%)
24. Seventh Day Adventist (19%)
25. Jehovah's Witness (12%)
26. Eastern Orthodox (3%)
27. Roman Catholic (3%)


... frighteningly correct. xD I'm a UU, too, and of the "I take what I believe from all religions, moral views, etc and discard what I think doesn't apply" variety, which basically turns out to be all the spiritual aspects of it... and lots of the black-and-white morality... and okay, a lot of it. I also identify as a humanist, and everything from 7 up is the set of religions I gave a try before deciding UU fit best. I like that I'm not required to believe in any one thing, since as far as I can tell, I believe in a lot of things (some of which might even contradict each other) and disbelieve at least as many. I think my only absolute belief is... I don't have one. xD

(I miss church... I'm also a bit occupied with this whole college thing.)
EofS
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by EofS »

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (94%)
3. Liberal Quakers (78%)
4. Nontheist (75%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (72%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (66%)
7. Neo-Pagan (63%)
8. Taoism (54%)
9. New Age (53%)
10. Reform Judaism (53%)
11. Mahayana Buddhism (45%)
12. Orthodox Quaker (42%)
13. Scientology (41%)
14. New Thought (38%)
15. Baha'i Faith (36%)
16. Sikhism (35%)
17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (33%)
18. Jainism (32%)
19. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (24%)
20. Islam (24%)
21. Orthodox Judaism (24%)
22. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (22%)
23. Seventh Day Adventist (19%)
24. Hinduism (18%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (14%)
26. Roman Catholic (14%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (8%)


Which all seems about right. I consider myself a secular humanist (before I came across that concept the label I used was 'radical atheist' to try to distinguish that it was a specific decision rather than mere lack of belief, and when I was younger I suppose antitheist would be the best term). UU's teachings of acceptance and inclusiveness are appealing to me, and in the grand scheme of religious thought I think Quakers would match me better than most. Even though I don't like porridge!. Rather like the Buddhism I am attracted to the social beliefs, I just lack the spiritual side. And mainline to liberal Protestants - well at the end of the day though I wasn't raised Christian, I was raised in a liberal Christian society with laws and ethics based around Christian thought.

Was I the only atheist who got annoyed at being group in with people who aren't sure or don't care? Would it have been so hard to have "no God" "not sure" don't care" as different options - because they're really different viewpoints!
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Rainbow Daydreamer
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Rainbow Daydreamer »

EofS wrote: Was I the only atheist who got annoyed at being group in with people who aren't sure or don't care? Would it have been so hard to have "no God" "not sure" don't care" as different options - because they're really different viewpoints!

As a "spiritual Something Or Other", this is one of the first sites I've come across that doesn't shove me in with you lot, so I guess it's swings and roundabouts. (No offence meant.)
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Sparrow
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Sparrow »

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (95%)
3. Theravada Buddhism (93%)
4. Liberal Quakers (88%)
5. Neo-Pagan (74%)
6. Taoism (72%)
7. Nontheist (69%)
8. Mahayana Buddhism (66%)
9. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (66%)
10. Orthodox Quaker (60%)
11. New Age (58%)
12. Jainism (56%)
13. Sikhism (52%)
14. Baha'i Faith (50%)
15. Reform Judaism (47%)
16. Hinduism (43%)
17. New Thought (36%)
18. Scientology (35%)
19. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (31%)
20. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (31%)
21. Seventh Day Adventist (31%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (25%)
23. Eastern Orthodox (21%)
24. Islam (21%)
25. Orthodox Judaism (21%)
26. Roman Catholic (21%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (15%)

Most interesting; I'll have to show this to one of my friends, who considers himself a Christian, albeit one who believes in God but not in the more arcane Bible teachings. As for me, I always considered myself an atheist/possibly agnostic, so I'm surprised how low Nontheist appeared on my list. Taoism and Buddhism seem right; when I was younger I read many books on the Tao and concepts of karma, and took from those teachings various life lessons that I still follow, even if I don't ascribe to the religion as a whole. Also, I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise, but seeing Reform Judaism come in at 47% seemed a bit strange to me. I never went to synagogue or church of any kind, but my father is Jewish (non-practicing) and I always seemed to identify with Judaism as a cultural identity, if not as a religion.
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Jessi »

EofS wrote:Was I the only atheist who got annoyed at being group in with people who aren't sure or don't care? Would it have been so hard to have "no God" "not sure" don't care" as different options - because they're really different viewpoints!
No, E, that really irritated me, too. I felt rather annoyed being lumped with people who don't CARE about religion rather than someonewho just doesn't believe in god. It was very off putting.
lavender
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by lavender »

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Orthodox Quaker (87%)
3. Liberal Quakers (79%)
4. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (78%)
5. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (73%)
6. Unitarian Universalism (73%)
7. Reform Judaism (68%)
8. Secular Humanism (60%)
9. Eastern Orthodox (59%)
10. Roman Catholic (59%)

I would describe myself as a liberal Christian, so these results aren't that surprising.
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Foghawk »

Mine were mostly pretty uninteresting - my top three were Secular Humanism (100%), Unitarian Universalism (93%), and Nontheist (90%). The rest really didn't match at all. I would have switched the first and third - just because I like rights and think needlessly harmful/stupid things should be stopped doesn't mean I'm spiritual in any way; while I have nothing against religion itself and in some ways admire people who are willing to place their trust in and/or devote time and effort to theirs, I dislike organizations in general and in my personal beliefs I'm pretty aggressively atheist and areligious.
On forms, however, I'm a Reform Karaite - that being a Jewish sect that believes that the Torah was what God intended to say to his people... at the time it was written; Karaites are free to believe in any type of God, including a nonexistent one, and any way to follow his agreement with the Jews, including just knowing what it is. We do, however, all get the holidays off. (Reform Judaism was ranked at 7, with 60%). UU reminded me of this without the traditional stamp...

I also managed to get zero on one (Jehovah's Witnesses - heh, no surprise there).
Was I the only atheist who got annoyed at being group in with people who aren't sure or don't care? Would it have been so hard to have "no God" "not sure" don't care" as different options - because they're really different viewpoints!
I actually flinched.
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Huggles
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Huggles »

I've taken this a few times, and it's nearly always the same and fairly accurate. I identify myself as an atheist, and pretty much have been since I was a child. Although, I don't think I would have dared tell anyone when I was a child. I usually don't bring it up today unless someone asks directly because I don't want to go through all the trouble of explaining that I don't eat babies and/or worship Satan. I say there are no gods or god, or if there are the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Invisible Pink Unicorn are just as good or better than rest. But no, they really don't exist either, sadly. :(

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (92%)
3. Nontheist (81%)
4. Liberal Quakers (72%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (65%)
6. Neo-Pagan (61%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (57%)
8. New Age (44%)
9. Taoism (42%)
10. Reform Judaism (39%)
roger9614462
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by roger9614462 »

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (91%)
3. Nontheist (82%)
4. Theravada Buddhism (79%)
5. Liberal Quakers (75%)
6. Neo-Pagan (63%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (59%)
8. New Age (45%)
9. Mahayana Buddhism (45%)
10. Taoism (45%)

I'm not surprised, I consider myself an atheist since I'm like... 12 I think.
Aurinona
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Re: Belief-O-Matic

Post by Aurinona »

1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Secular Humanism (97%)
3. Neo-Pagan (89%)
4. Liberal Quakers (88%)
5. New Age (85%)
6. Theravada Buddhism (79%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (78%)
8. Mahayana Buddhism (70%)
9. Taoism (69%)
10. Nontheist (65%)
11. Reform Judaism (62%)
12. Scientology (56%)
13. New Thought (52%)
14. Orthodox Quaker (51%)
15. Jainism (49%)
16. Baha'i Faith (49%)
17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (48%)
18. Sikhism (45%)
19. Hinduism (33%)
20. Orthodox Judaism (29%)
21. Islam (27%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (26%)
23. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (23%)
24. Seventh Day Adventist (22%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (16%)
26. Roman Catholic (16%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (9%)

I've taken this one a few times- a couple of years ago, it gave me Mahayana Buddhism at the top. I am quite amused at how far Roman Catholic has fallen in the rankings in the intervening time, I was only at 35% even when I was semi-practicing. This is probably why I didn't really want to be Confirmed in middle school, and kind of regret giving in to peer/familial pressure and not telling them where they could shove it... Amazing how using the phrase "If you're not spiritually mature enough" in place of "if you don't want to do this" can push an insecure kid into going along with things. Who wants to be "immature" and "not ready"? (Sorry, still a little bitter about that.)

I think I'm one of those "don't care" people that you atheists are complaining about getting lumped in with- I mostly identify as an Apatheist/Agnostic. If there is a higher power, it's not showing itself to me and I doubt it really cares if piddly little humans believe in it or not, so in the meantime I'll just go on my merry way and not worry about it. I had a big argument with my mother last week about "divine intervention" and how people define miracles (Why is anything improbable and good "a miracle" and improbable BAD events are "God didn't do it, shit happens"?) At the same time, I guess I have some spiritual tendencies that say that even if there is no God it's still possible to consider things sacred, or that maybe life itself IS The Divine, which may be what pushed my quiz results out of Secular Humanism and into UU.
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