Better Demographic Poll on Religious Beliefs

[jumpyg1258]

When I saw the last one on here, it was pretty vague, you were either atheist or a combined christian jew.

[Politeia]

for a better, more inclusive poll. The correct spelling, BTW, is "Buddhist", from "Buddha", "one who is awake".

See my comments here:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=119349#post119349

[steph3n]

No Pastafarian? :D

[Matt_R]

Isn't the only other formal sect of Christianity beyond Catholicism and Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy? Are there really that many people that belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church on these forums?

[fletcher]

You left off Deist.

[schmeisser]

What no Druids or Wiccans?????

I'm going to start a conspiracy thread to protest and send you 6000 emails!

:p

[Shink]

Atheism for me, thanks.

[Vaughn]

I think "Christian - Other" sorta covers Deism and Unitarianism. For instance, I believe in the literal interpretation of the New Testament but not in the literal interpretation of the Old Testament much like our Deistic founders who saw great value in the Teachings of Jesus but not so much value in Leviticus...well ok no value lol

[Danny Molina]

<----Atheist heathen.

[Vaughn]

<----Atheist heathen.

Let not judge Danny.

If you judge someone then you don't have time enough to love them. Mother Teresa

[RockEnds]

I'm a Deist. I am not a Christian--other.

[Hurricane Bruiser]

What about the church of "John Galt"?

[Smiley Gladhands]

I chose Christian-Other, but I've found some value in Taoist ways of thinking as well.

Christian-Other is probably closest above answer to my belief structure though.

[winston84]

I didn't choose anything, looks like you forgot that Catholics are Christian!

[Danny Molina]

Let not judge Danny.

If you judge someone then you don't have time enough to love them. Mother Teresa

I'm judging myself. I should have put an arrow going upward like this ^

[Malakai0]

I went to catholic school for 7 years as a child and struggled with religion and beliefs of higher beings for most of the time. I loved science, and what I liked about science and the scientific method seemed to make it impossible to believe in a supernatural diety.

Later I found out what agnostic meant and have been one ever since.

Is there a god? Maybe. Does it affect my life at all? Nope, my morals are my own, learned through my parents and through reason. I stick by them quite well. I know many religious people who do things my moral code strictly forbids!

[10thAmendmentMan]

Just taking the time to point out that atheist and Buddhist aren't mutually exclusive.

[Vaughn]

I'm judging myself. I should have put an arrow going upward like this ^

Oh sry then! Yea now i caught that. I take it back then!

[Karsten]

Agnostic for me. How in the world could you claim to absoluely KNOW the mysterious truths of the universe? I don't know, admit that I don't know, and feel great about it. Plus, it makes no sense to me how you COULD possibly know, one way or another.

[inibo]

What am I supposed to pick? I have not been bar mitzvahed and I have no Jewish ancestry that I'm aware of, but I practice a form of mystical Judaism systematized by a 13th century Spanish rabbi. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Abulafia)

On the other hand, why are Gnostic, Shinto, Jain, Druze, Manichean or any other of many little know or understood, but nevertheless significant faiths not on the list?

I can't help but thinking that this sort of poll is divisive, even though I don't think was the intent of posting it.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

agnostic

[zebov]

I'm just glad that a lot of the folks on this board are educated about their and other religions. The worst thing I think is to blindly follow a religion without truly believing it. Agnostic, atheist, christian, buddhist, muslim, etc. whatever the case may be, please be educated on your faith and others. Know why you believe the religion you do, educate others on your belief, and respect their decision after being educated.

[jumpyg1258]

What am I supposed to pick? I have not been bar mitzvahed and I have no Jewish ancestry that I'm aware of, but I practice a form of mystical Judaism systematized by a 13th century Spanish rabbi. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Abulafia)

On the other hand, why are Gnostic, Shinto, Jain, Druze, Manichean or any other of many little know or understood, but nevertheless significant faiths not on the list?

I can't help but thinking that this sort of poll is divisive, even though I don't think was the intent of posting it.

I couldnt list as many as I wanted to when I originally posted this which was almost two months ago, I was limited to the max amount the board let me put up.

[Gimme Some Truth]

I believe there was/is a God/Creator/Something(tho i regularly question myself on the matter) tho I do not label myself as or follow any particular religion. Id probably say im more of a spiritualist rather than a religionist. I do not have a clue whether Jesus or Mohamed or whoever truly existed. Maybe they did , maybe they didnt. I am wary of trusting people i have never met ,so in that sense i am not gonna trust a book from thousands of years ago , that has been rewritten ,and interpreted, by people i have never met , countless times :) , tho that isnt to say im closed to the possiblity that it is true (well apart from the whole 'the planet is only 6k years old') . I have never read the bible , koran or any other religious book. I may do in the future tho ...just to see what all the fuss is about. I did the same with Lord of The Rings , and loved it :D

I agree with Thomas Jefferson when he said:

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear."

[Corydoras]

Isn't the only other formal sect of Christianity beyond Catholicism and Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy? Are there really that many people that belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church on these forums?

Some people widely considered Protestant do not consider themselves to be such. Many Pentecostals understand Protestantism to mean the Reformed tradition only and thus do not consider themselves Protestant.

There are Orthodox Christians for Ron Paul, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are some here. Some guy wrote an epistle about why Orthodox should support Ron Paul, and I posted it in the flyers section.

[Karsten]

I believe there was/is a God/Creator/Something(tho i regularly question myself on the matter) tho I do not label myself as or follow any particular religion. Id probably say im more of a spiritualist rather than a religionist. I do not have a clue whether Jesus or Mohamed or whoever truly existed. Maybe they did , maybe they didnt. I am wary of trusting people i have never met ,so in that sense i am not gonna trust a book from thousands of years ago , that has been rewritten ,and interpreted, by people i have never met , countless times :) , tho that isnt to say im closed to the possiblity that it is true (well apart from the whole 'the planet is only 6k years old') . I have never read the bible , koran or any other religious book. I may do in the future tho ...just to see what all the fuss is about. I did the same with Lord of The Rings , and loved it :D

I agree with Thomas Jefferson when he said:

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear."

You have good points. There are MANY people who are spiritual, but not religious. This poll seems to assume you belong to one particular religion, or you don't believe in anything.

[derdy]

athiest

[adpierce]

Ron Paul brings people together... as we can see

[DrNoZone]

How about adding Gnostic?

[plb]

Atheist

[tsetsefly]

atheist, I bet no other candidate has the same % of christians to atheist, they are almost even...

[sugaki]

Guys, the poll can't include every single brand of religion--it's general and hence something will always be left out.

[Fyretrohl]

LDS/Mormon

[Edward]

Might as well bump this one, too. Please take a moment to fill out a few of the polls regarding the demographics of RP grassroots supporters: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=28548&highlight=demographics
Thanks!

[american.swan]

I am a Protestant Christian, I believe God is very much on our side in getting Ron Paul elected ideologically. With that said, I am not sure the way the world is going to end according to the Bible/Satan is on our side.

[TechnoGuyRob]

42%!!!

[Edward]

Nearly 45% in this one posted in August...

What religion best describes you? (8/9/2007)
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=434231#post434231

[wisconsinite]

Much better choice of categories in this poll.

Nice to see there's a few other Buddhists supporting Ron Paul.

[Mark]

I am a Protestant Christian, I believe God is very much on our side in getting Ron Paul elected ideologically.

With that said, I am not sure the way the world is going to end according to the Bible/Satan is on our side.

I'm not sure what you mean?

Satan is DEFINITELY not "on our side"...


He's more of a Rudy Judyani or Clinton supporter..

or.. heck..

he'll take ANYONE.. rather than Ron Paul..

[Ozwest]

Athiest, carrying no excess baggage.

[Edward]

Much better choice of categories in this poll.

Nice to see there's a few other Buddhists supporting Ron Paul.(bump) Some have complained about lack of choices in the other polls.

[inibo]

Perhaps you should consider making this multiple choice. Since my personal spiritual journey has lead me through many traditions and retains aspects of each, I could check Agnostic, Catholic, Christian - Protestant, Hindu, Jewish, Pagan and one or two more you didn't include. I suppose if anyone to really get a clue about where I'm coming from, you might start here (http://www.workofthechariot.com/TextFiles/Back-TentsTemples.html), but even that doesn't cover it all.

[honkywill]

and the agnostics take the lead!

[Edward]

Perhaps you should consider making this multiple choice. Since my personal spiritual journey has lead me through many traditions and retains aspects of each, I could check Agnostic, Catholic, Christian - Protestant, Hindu, Jewish, Pagan and one or two more you didn't include.FYI, I didn't create this poll.

[AlexMerced]

I'm neither, I worry about peoples freedoms so much I forget to worry about my own spirituality

[JoeyA]

Protestant - Calvinist right here.

[jumpyg1258]

Oh my old thread has popped up again. I might as well explain again that I was limited on how many selections the poll could have since it maxes out. I suggested a while back that they should sticky these kind of polls so that there arent many of them out there. I think I saw the 4th religious based one earlier today.

I do have one thing to say though, we shouldn't really be looking at us as part of some group since we are in the fight together so who knows, maybe my poll here should get buried again.

[Edward]

Bumping for the new people.

[kaleidoscope eyes]

hmmmmm, none of these truly apply, call me a spiritual mutt.

[Edward]

Here are a list of similar RPF polls...

What Religion/Beliefs do you have? (12/19/2007)
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=60623

What religion best describes you? (8/9/2007)
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=11549&page=2

What religious beliefs best describe you? (9/22/2007)
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=19569

What label most accurately describes your belief of the etiology of our universe? (10/5/2007)
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=22949

Which [religion/age] best describes you? [CLOSED]
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=19456&highlight=Poll

[I<3Liberty]

My apologies for digging up ancient threads (I just found the RPF demographics polls and wasn't a member back in 2007.)

Before I saw the results of this poll, I always felt like the majority of libertarians are either atheist or agnostic, but I did know there's quite a few libertarian Christians (mostly protestant.)

I'm Christian Protestant - United Methodist! :)

[Barrex]

I see my fraction is behind.

We will have to do something about it...

[Matt McGuire]

Protestant - Calvinist right here.

Nice to hear! I started from an IFB church, and I've ended up closely following the Reformed tradition.

[PierzStyx]

Agnostic for me. How in the world could you claim to absoluely KNOW the mysterious truths of the universe? I don't know, admit that I don't know, and feel great about it. Plus, it makes no sense to me how you COULD possibly know, one way or another.


I didn't discover it on my own. God reveals Himself to man, and He revealed Himself to me. That is how I know. God is no dis-interested on looker.

[Sola_Fide]

I didn't discover it on my own. God reveals Himself to man, and He revealed Himself to me. That is how I know. God is no dis-interested on looker.

Burning in the bosom?

[Nobexliberty]

A swedish christian, there are not many of us.

[PaleoPaul]

Wow, so far in this poll, non-Christians outnumber Christians!

[Sola_Fide]

Wow, so far in this poll, non-Christians outnumber Christians!

Non Christians will always outnumber Christians. The elect are called "the remnant" for a reason.

[Tinnuhana]

Though beliefs conincide, I think Baptists don't consider themselves, historically, to be Protestants. Likewise, "pentecostal" denominations sprang up during a certain time frame of revivals during the latter half of the 19th century. However, groups with similar worship experiences (Methodists, Quakers, Shakers, although having some distinctive beliefs, all had reasons people called them by those names).
Many Christians, who believe that their faith involves their relationship with their Creator rather than a religion, will say they "attend" such-and such a church/denomination rather than "belong" to one.

[Matthew5]

Wow, so far in this poll, non-Christians outnumber Christians!

A change in that inequality would be helpful for the movement.

[The Free Hornet]

Atheist 70 19.02%
Agnostic 83 22.55%
Buddist 11 2.99%
Catholic 33 8.97%
Christian - Protestant 90 24.46%
Christian - Other 54 14.67%
Hindu 4 1.09%
Jewish 6 1.63%
Muslim 8 2.17%
Pagan 9 2.45%

How the hell does "agnostic" beat "atheist" without anybody on thread admitting to be one?*

Agnostics fall into one of two camps

a) doesn't know what they believe
b) doesn't know what an atheist is**


* One possibility: “If atheism is a religion then not collecting stamps is a hobby.” So why even answer this poll?
** or they have some weird-ass definition of the term

[talkingpointes]

How the hell does "agnostic" beat "atheist" without anybody on thread admitting to be one?*

Agnostics fall into one of two camps

a) doesn't know what they believe
b) doesn't know what an atheist is**


* One possibility: “If atheism is a religion then not collecting stamps is a hobby.” So why even answer this poll?
** or they have some weird-ass definition of the term

Also it's more socially acceptable, although it might open you to proselytizers.

[Matt McGuire]

I didn't discover it on my own. God reveals Himself to man, and He revealed Himself to me. That is how I know. God is no dis-interested on looker.

Very true. It would be impossible for man to discover & have faith in God on his own. God gives the gift of faith to those He chooses.

[PaulConventionWV]

Just taking the time to point out that atheist and Buddhist aren't mutually exclusive.

Which is why I've never really viewed Buddhism as a religion. It sounds more like a glorified self-help program for anxiety and depression.

[PSYOP]

Gnosticism with strong ancient Egyptian influences. So I guess I have to pick pagan.

[Seraphim]

I believe in God/Higher power. Not a chance in hell I follow any of the major religions (or cult like branches of the major ones). They are all cesspolls of corrupted filth and represent nothing of the Righteous.

Agnostic.

[PaulConventionWV]

How the hell does "agnostic" beat "atheist" without anybody on thread admitting to be one?*

Agnostics fall into one of two camps

a) doesn't know what they believe
b) doesn't know what an atheist is**


* One possibility: “If atheism is a religion then not collecting stamps is a hobby.” So why even answer this poll?
** or they have some weird-ass definition of the term

Religion has nothing to do with hobbies. We're talking about the truths of the universe here, not collecting stamps. Atheism is having a positive belief in the absence of God, whereas agnostic is admitting no knowledge one way or the other. Atheists are constantly trying to misconstrue these definitions in order to get more people on their side.

If I randomly walk up to you on the street and ask you if I have a nickel in my pocket, the correct answer would be to admit ignorance, not to say you "lack a belief" that I have a nickel in my pocket, which is another way of saying you don't believe I have a nickel in my pocket, a positive statement.

[Danan]

Wow. So not even half the people here are Christians?

[Danan]

Religion has nothing to do with hobbies. We're talking about the truths of the universe here, not collecting stamps. Atheism is having a positive belief in the absence of God, whereas agnostic is admitting no knowledge one way or the other. Atheists are constantly trying to misconstrue these definitions in order to get more people on their side.

If I randomly walk up to you on the street and ask you if I have a nickel in my pocket, the correct answer would be to admit ignorance, not to say you "lack a belief" that I have a nickel in my pocket, which is another way of saying you don't believe I have a nickel in my pocket, a positive statement.

That really depends on your epistemology and the definition of belief. You could interprete the sentence, "X believes h." in two ways: either X is experiencing the mental event of accepting h, or x has a disposition to have such a mental experience of accepting h - should he be asked.

According to the first definition you don't believe in God. At least not always - unless you constantly think about God. So the second definition is the one we should be looking at when talking about belief.

Someone who believes in God would have the disposition to answer, "Yes." to the question, "Is there a God?" But is that really dualistic problem? What's the negotiation of, "X believes in God"? That would be that X does not have the disposition to answer the question "Is there a God?" with, "Yes." But that doesn't necessarily mean that this person would answer the question "Is there no God?" with yes, it is ambigious. X could not believe that there is a god and believe that there is no god (active unbelieve), but X could also not believe that there is a god and not believe that there is no god (being agnostic to the the proposition).

At least that's one possible way of looking at it.

[Danan]

I believe in God/Higher power. Not a chance in hell I follow any of the major religions (or cult like branches of the major ones). They are all cesspolls of corrupted filth and represent nothing of the Righteous.

Agnostic.

If you believe in a higher power I wouldn't call you agnostic, but rather a deist.

[Seraphim]

Fair enough. At the end of the day I believe, but do not KNOW without a shadow of doubt.


If you believe in a higher power I wouldn't call you agnostic, but rather a deist.

[Danan]

Fair enough. At the end of the day I believe, but do not KNOW without a shadow of doubt.

I mean there are definitions of the terms where gnosticism relates to the question, "Can we ever know?" and theism to, "Do you believe?" in which case you would be an agnostic deist (assuming you don't just believe we don't know but we can't possibly know for certain if there is a god).

[Matthew5]

Just curious as to those who voted Christian "Other" and why they voted other?

[bolil]

Something is there, have not met it yet. Will let one of you know when I die.

Also, agnosticism is the free market of spiritual beliefs.

We don't know how it works, but it works. We cannot describe exactly what it is, and how it does, but it does it better than central planning.

[libertariantexas]

I'm a Christian, but as a follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, some Christians do non recognize me as such.

[robert68]

...
If I randomly walk up to you on the street and ask you if I have a nickel in my pocket, the correct answer would be to admit ignorance, not to say you "lack a belief" that I have a nickel in my pocket, which is another way of saying you don't believe I have a nickel in my pocket, a positive statement.

If you said the nickel in your pocket had the shape of a square circle, the correct answer would be "no you don't". The same goes with "God", it must first be logically possible, before it can possibly exist.