Poll: How do you identify?

chickpea912 · November 2013

I hope no feathers will be ruffled (I know topics like these can sometimes touch sore spots), but given the time of year, I was curious - how do you identify religiously (if at all)? Feel free to comment below if you want to expand on your choice.

curlylocks3 · November 2013

I'm Catholic....which I somehow feel is different from being Methodist (like my brother now is) or Presbyterian (like my dad was raised).

chickpea912 · November 2013

@curlylocks3 It totally is! I didn't want to make the poll choices twelve feet long, so I didn't break out the denominations, although I know they are very different and distinct from each other.

chickpea912 · November 2013

I'm Jewish - affiliate with a Conservative synagogue (where I am the Associate Education Director). Religion has always intrigued me, and this time of year, it feels a little more present (and sometimes exclusive), so I was curious if I was alone in it.

Thanks for playing!

curlylocks3 · November 2013

chickpea912 said:

@curlylocks3 It totally is! I didn't want to make the poll choices twelve feet long, so I didn't break out the denominations, although I know they are very different and distinct from each other.

No worries- that would take forever! I just wanted to specify

Pepper6 · November 2013

I believe in God, but I dislike organized religion.

supgabs · November 2013

I was raised Lutheran. However I don't support organized religion and the older I've gotten the less "religious" I have become. I believe that if there is a higher power then s/he will love you as long as you do your best to be a good person.

flojo973 · November 2013

I'm Catholic, which I agree with @curlylocks3 is different than the other Christian denominations. But half of my family is Jewish and a lot of my good friends are Jewish, so I feel a certain connection to that too. Not necessarily the religious beliefs, but the traditions and customs. I find it all so interesting.

flerlgirl · November 2013

I was raised and still am Southern Baptist.

Not to be confused with the Westboro people. They's crazy.

Pintobean39 · November 2013

I'm batholic. My mom was baptist and my dad was catholic. I was baptized baptist but also went to the Catholic Church.

I've raised my boys baptist and they were baptized baptist. I've also sent them to catholic schools their whole life. My youngest now questions any organized religion. He's made me question it myself. I raises them to believe in God and no religion is above any other.

So now my son is fascinated with Judaism, which is to me basically the Old Testament. So we try. To celebrate Hanukkah, we have a Menorah that we keep on the table that we light every night.

I guess we are Heinz 57 when it comes to religion. We welcome any religion and love to learn about different cultures. We just believe there is a God that we pray to.

k2k2tog · November 2013

I'm a member of the Christian Reformed Church of North America which is Calvinist and predominantly Dutch.

LilyGracesMommy · November 2013

SS : I was raised Jewish/conservative (my dad is a cantor) my husbands family is catholic ( but not practicing) I want my kids to have the moral basis religion provides but have issues on choosing. Obviously my parents want us to raise our children Jewish. I would love this except our temple is not very okay with mixed marriage and my husband does not feel comfortable there ( nor do I blame him). We celebrate the Jewish holidays with my family and go to temple on the high holidays. My kids go to preschool at a Jewish day care as well. We do celebrate Christmas and Easter as well with DHs family ( more the being together as a family than about Jesus)
So I've proclaimed us as "cashews"
(Combo catholic/Jew)

Pintobean39 · November 2013

flerlgirl said:
I was raised and still am Southern Baptist.

Not to be confused with the Westboro people. They's crazy.

I totally understand I was raised southern baptist there is a huge difference in baptist ... We went to a missionary baptist church before.

erind228 · November 2013

I'm catholic.

lest12 · November 2013

Catholic.

Valie18 · November 2013

I'm Catholic.

LVCK · November 2013

Episcopalian

LindsayDesigner · November 2013

LDS/Mormon

chickpea912 · November 2013

LilyGracesMommy said:

SS : I was raised Jewish/conservative (my dad is a cantor) my husbands family is catholic ( but not practicing) I want my kids to have the moral basis religion provides but have issues on choosing. Obviously my parents want us to raise our children Jewish. I would love this except our temple is not very okay with mixed marriage and my husband does not feel comfortable there ( nor do I blame him). We celebrate the Jewish holidays with my family and go to temple on the high holidays. My kids go to preschool at a Jewish day care as well. We do celebrate Christmas and Easter as well with DHs family ( more the being together as a family than about Jesus) So I've proclaimed us as "cashews" (Combo catholic/Jew)

So interesting! Where did you grow up and where are you now? The Conservative movement has come a far way in being accepting, although it is still tough. I know that many find Reform and Reconstructionist congregations to be more open to interfaith families. I don't know how much choice you have in where you live now - me, I live in the DC area, and there are so many congregations to choose from.

Yasm33na · November 2013

My mothers family is Protestant (grandparents are ministers). My dad's family are Sunni Muslims (dad helped build and runs a mosque) and I was brought up... Um. Confused lol. Always pulled one way or the other... After I got married, (husbands family is Muslim too but more... Shall we say, lax?) hubbs and I decided not to concentrate so much on religion itself and just try to figure things out on our own. Religious beliefs have caused so many problems within our families that it just doesn't seem to be worth the trouble... We don't disbelieve in a God, but we also don't put too much stock in one either.... Just trying the best we can to be good people...

zg49 · November 2013

DH and I are Catholic, however, we haven't practiced in a few years. It's been a struggle with some drastic changes at the church we were raised in so we've been conflicted on where to go and what to do.

MrsCase1 · November 2013

Non-denominational Christian.

nunzchucks · November 2013

Same here, @MrsCase

christinemurray91 · November 2013

Atheist

Raised Christian (non-denom), but it just wasn't right for me.

chaysefaith · November 2013

I was raised in a non-denom Christian church. Went to a Presbyterian school K-8th grade.

I no longer participate in any form of organized religion. There was nothing that happened in the church to turn me off, but when my dad died when I was 16 the pastor said "religion is for people who have no faith" and it shook me to the core.

I've considered going back to church a few times, but it's always been more for the connections with other people than for the teaching.

MrsB1029 · November 2013

Oh, I love this post. DH and I have an interfaith marriage. We identify as Jews and Non-Denominational Christians. We believe in full body submersion baptism. We read both the Torah, and Bible. We do all high Jew Holidays, and all Christian holidays. We attend a reformed temple on high holidays and church every Sunday. My favorite is probably Passover because of the symbolism in both religions.

sjn00 · November 2013

My family is "Christian" though no one goes to church, we feel it is not "gods house" it is man made and we can follow the bible and its teachings at home without the influence of others.

Husband is Catholic, though when we got married I was not Catholic and now they dont recognize our marriage because it wasn't done in a Catholic setting, and he lost his communion rights. (Really?! God is okay with this?) our kids will probably be raised from the bible at home, the way I was brought up. Husband and I are both really hurt that his religion did that to him.

AndreaC428 · November 2013

Non-denominational Christian -
Love learning more about everyone's backgrounds faith-wise!

MollySm · November 2013

I chose Atheist. I don't necessarily believe in God, but I don't believe that something overarching doesn't exist either. I am only certain of the fact that I have no idea. I believe in being kind, charitable, helpful, etc., and I hope to raise my children with the same beliefs. I dislike the divisiveness of organized religions, but I also find religion and culture to be an interesting topic.

mommyof2boys922 · November 2013

Non-denominational christian

hjl050308 · November 2013

I'm Catholic.

mrsgyaray · November 2013

I believe that there is a higher. I call him God/Jesus. Some others may call him Buddha , Allah, or Krishna. I think it's all the same, and that you find your own way to express your gratitude for the life that you have.

Mrs_D_in_KY · November 2013

Pentecostal

KingLED · November 2013

Atheist. I was raised to think for myself and somehow never came around to believing in fairly tales.

Soon2b214 · November 2013

Pepper6 said:

I believe in God, but I dislike organized religion.

Ditto

melaneejo · November 2013

LDS/Mormon

AllyTales · November 2013

christinemurray91 said:

Atheist

Raised Christian (non-denom), but it just wasn't right for me.

Similar

Was raised Christian (Nazarene church) and eventually made my own choice when I was allowed. I'm an atheist.

tbmadeamistake · November 2013

Technically I'm Anglican. I was Christianed in the Church of England before we moved to the States and we went to a Protestant church over here for a year or two when I was little Honestly all I remember from that was watching a movie where Jesus got mad and threw a chicken (yup, I know). Religion did not factor into my life in a big way. I went to a Catholic college and studied the Bible and Early Church, found it interesting in a history sort of way. I currently work for an Israeli company so I see a lot of the Jewish holidays and get to learn about them (the company doesn't force anything, but my Israeli coworkers are awesome and very willing to teach).

My husband is a fallen Catholic, but his parents said yes when I asked if they wanted our kids baptized. We chose a Unitarian church to baptize C, as they were the most open minded and welcoming parish I could find.

I think at this point, I'm more spiritual than religious. I believe in a higher power, I'm just not sure what it is. My children will be free to explore whatever religions they want to, and I intend on taking them to different services as they grow older (Catholic with their grandparents, Unitarian in town, perhaps Temple if I can find one I like). I'm all about learning and exploring.

catsinawindow · November 2013

I'm an "other". We go to a Unitarian Universalist church.

Mrs MacRo · November 2013

I put Atheist. I'm technically an Anglican too, in that I was christened through the Church of England. However I am in no way religious. Neither is DH. He was never christened because his mum had a fight with the priest before the ceremony (which is just so classic her......) and we were married by a celebrant outside of a church. We haven't had DS christened either because I guess I think it would be hypocritical? Dunno...