Religion
Religion why is yours right? And what if you’re wrong?
It’s a simple question but one that many avoid answering.
I myself was brought up and Christened into the Church of England I even used to go to Sunday school as a young boy. I don’t any more nor do I have any religious beliefs.
This article is not Anti-Religion in any way and I respect everyone’s right to believe or not to believe. This article is just out to help us all understand each other a little better by posing a few questions
Why are You Religious?
So let’s start at the beginning why if you are religious do you follow the religion that you follow? And if you aren’t religious why aren’t you?
Born into Religion
Most people, (Not All) will follow the religion of their parents in their early life anyway, many now move away from any religious beliefs in early adulthood.
Chose Religion
As an Adult most people already know what if any belief system they want to follow, however a small amount find religion later in life.
Going with the Flow
A lot of people even after deciding in their own mind that they aren’t religious, will still go along with the crowd out of fear of falling out with Parents, Family or Friends.
Did you used to be Religious but aren’t any more?
Have you ever been religious but decided to turn away from religion? And what made you make this change?
What if you’re Religion is the Wrong one?
So you’ve followed a religion all your life and at the end of it all you find out you were wrong and either there’s nothing after death (In which case it wouldn’t really matter), Or someone else’s Religion was right and you’re on your way to a not very nice place for eternity.
Here are some Answers to why people are or aren’t religious.
YOU can add your own comments at the bottom of this article.
I’m spiritual and I’m an Omnist. My background is both Native American and European. Omnism allows flexibility in my beliefs.
Andrew Davison, Wigan UK
I’m not religious because I don’t believe that there is something there. I’ve studied physics and the beginning of the universe and although it’s not comprehensive what they have found, it’s more believable than it just appeared. Religion throws up many more questions than it answers. If there was a god why is there cancer? Why is there famine? For a god that is forgiving he is very cruel. There is no explainable reasons for this that can be answered by religion but science has answers
Richard Marshall, Windsor, Ontario Canada
I don’t follow a religion….I just ended up at a Baptist church. I`m spiritual and I believe Jesus is my saviour
Richard Marshall, Merkel Texas, USA
That’s a tough one. I grew up in the Catholic Church, went to a Catholic school for 3 years (including church every Friday) and Church every Sunday. I wouldn’t say I’m religious, but I do believe in God. I quit going to Catholic Church based on questions that I had that no one could give me solid answers to. In the past 3 years I have started going to church again, but it does not have a particular religion.
Chris O’Regan, London United Kingdom
I’m not religious as I find the concept of an all knowing, all seeing, omnipresent, invisible being that can communicate to all sentient beings in this and all other universes at the same time telepathically and exists beyond time and space to be utterly ridiculous. I also believe that any religious text is little more than a book of fables.
Jay Mulvey, Castleford UK
I am Catholic my dad’s Catholic and so was his dad and so on. I believe in God and don’t think it hurts to have a faith it helps me.
Helped me through some tough times like when my granddad died help me to have faith he was going to a better place.
Helps me to have faith that when I die or any of my loved ones die that it just isn’t the end that if they lead a good life they will go to a better place.
Both my daughters are Catholics I teach them but when they grow up they can make there own decisions on the path they can lead.
I’m not a bible basher and won’t force my beliefs on others.
As for the bible I believe all they are mostly are stories. Lessons on how to lead a good life.
I’m no perfect Catholic I had sex before marriage, had 2 kids and still not married now so I have my fair share of sins but I believe in God in my own ways.
Andrew Fox, USA
I reckon upbringing has a lot to do with it. Most religious folk I know who currently practice were born into it, while most non-religious people I know either grew up with little to no religious influence or had very negative experiences with organized religion from an early age.
My parents are non-practicing Catholics and I’m grateful for the fact that they never forced their beliefs on me, despite the influence of my *very* religious grandmothers on both sides of the family.
I think I believed in God as kind of a de facto standard until I was 11 or 12,, and then graduated to atheism after actually sitting down and reading the Bible cover to cover and seeing some of the very negative effects of organized religion in my community.
Non Religion on the Rise
In the 2011 Census, 14.1 million people, about a quarter of the entire population (25%) of England and Wales, said they had no religion, a rise of 6.4 million since 2001. In Scotland, more than one third of the population (37%) stated that they had no religion. The British Humanist Association (BHA) had encouraged people to tick the “No religion” box and said the fall was “astounding”. It has calculated that Religious people could be in a minority by 2018
So Many Religions
Below is a List, (Probably not Complete feel free to add more in comments) of the Many Religions on this small blue orb we call home.
Abrahamic religions
A group of monotheistic traditions sometimes grouped with one another for comparative purposes, because all refer to a patriarch named Abraham.
Bábísm
Bahá’í
Bahá’í Faith
Orthodox Bahá’í Faith
Islam
Kharijites
Nation of Islam
Shiite
Alawites
Ismailis
Jafari
Zaiddiyah
Ghulat including
Alevi / Bektashi
Ahl-e Haqq
Yazidi
Druze
Ahmadi
Sunni
Berailvi
Deobandi
Hanafi
Hanbali
Maliki
Mu’tazili
Shafi’i
Wahhabi
Sufism
Naqshbandi
Bektashi
Chishti
Mevlevi
Zikri
Judaism (see also: Jew; Hebrews)
Contemporary divisions
Karaite Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Haredi Judaism
Hassidic Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Reform Judaism
Conservative Judaism (Masorti)
Reconstructionist Judaism (arguably not a religion)
Humanistic Judaism (arguably not a religion)
Historical Sects
Hasmoneans
Essenes
Pharisees
Sadducees
Zealots
Sicarii
sects that believed Jesus was a prophet
Ebionites
Elkasites
Nazarenes
Crypto-Jews
Marranos
Conversos
Christianity (see List of Christian denominations)
Eastern Orthodoxy
Roman Catholicism
Oriental Orthodoxy (Monophysitism)
Nestorianism
Protestantism
Anabaptists
Anglicans
Baptists
Lutherans
Methodists
Pentecostals
Reformed
Calvinism
Presbyterian
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Unitarians
Waldensians
Latter-day Saints
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Community of Christ
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Seventh-day Adventist
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Messianic Judaism (not actually Judaism but rather Jewish-rite Christianity)
Samaritans
Mandaeanists
Rastafarians
Black Hebrews
Hebrew Christians
Dharmic religions
Religions with a concept of Dharma, also major religions of historical India
Hinduism (see also Contemporary Hindu movements)
Agama Hindu Dharma (Javanese Hinduism)
Shaivism
Shaktism
Smartism
Vaishnavism
Gaudiya Vaishnavism
ISKCON (Hare Krishna)
Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission
Six major schools and movements of Hindu philosophy
Samkhya
Nyaya
Vaisheshika
Purva mimamsa
Vedanta (Uttar Mimamsa)
Advaita Vedanta
Integral Yoga
Yoga
Ashtanga Yoga
Hatha yoga
Siddha Yoga
Tantric Yoga
Ayyavazhi
Shramana Religions
Buddhism (see Schools of Buddhism)
Mahayana
Nikaya schools (which have historically been called Hinayana in the West)
Theravada
Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism)
Jainism
Digambara
Shvetambara
Panth Religions
Sikhism
Kabir Panth
Dadu Panth
Other revealed religions
Believers in one God, also called classical monotheism, who follow an Indo-European culture of belief, philosophy and angelology.
Zoroastrianism
Magus (see Three Wise Men)
Gnosticism
Basilidians
Bogomils
Borborites
Cainites
Carpocratians
Cathars
Marcionism (not entirely Gnostic)
Ophites
Valentinians (see Valentinius)
Hinduism (Vaishnavism)
Indigenous religions
The orally transmitted canon of indigenous peoples, many involving some variant of animism and many defunct
African religions
Akamba mythology
Akan mythology
Ashanti mythology
Bushongo mythology
Bwiti
Dahomey mythology
Dinka mythology
Efik mythology
Egyptian mythology
Ibo mythology
Isoko mythology
Khoikhoi mythology
Lotuko mythology
Lugbara mythology
Pygmy mythology
Tumbuka mythology
Yoruba mythology
Zulu mythology
African religions in the New World
Kumina
Obeah
Santería (Lukumi)
Vodou
Candomblé
Macumba
Umbanda and Quimbanda
Xango
European religions
Anglo-Saxon mythology
Basque mythology
Druidry (Celtic Religion)
Finnish mythology
Germanic paganism
Norse mythology
Greek religion
Greek mythology
Mystery religions
Eleusinian Mysteries
Mithraism
Pythagoreanism
Roman religion
Roman mythology
Slavic mythology
Asian religions
Babylonian and Assyrian religion
Babylonian mythology
Chaldean mythology
Sumerian mythology
Bön (Indigenous Tibetan belief)
Chinese mythology
Shinto
Oomoto
Tengrism (Indigenous Mongol, Tartar & Kazakh belief)
Yezidis (Modified indigenous Kurdish belief)
Native American religions
Abenaki mythology
Aztec mythology
Blackfoot mythology
Chippewa mythology
Creek mythology
Crow mythology
Guarani mythology
Haida mythology
Ho-Chunk mythology
Huron mythology
Inuit mythology
Iroquois mythology
Kwakiutl mythology
Lakota mythology
Lenape mythology
Navaho mythology
Nootka mythology
Pawnee mythology
Salish mythology
Selk’nam religion
Seneca mythology
Tsimshian mythology
Ute mythology
Zuni mythology
Oceanic religions
Australian Aboriginal mythology
Balinese mythology
Maori mythology
Modekngei (Republic of Palau)
Nauruan indigenous religion
Polynesian mythology
Neopagan or revival religions
Modern religions seeking to recreate indigenous, usually pre-Christian, beliefs and practices
Church of All Worlds
Dievturiba
Germanic Neopaganism also called Ásatrú or Odinism
Hellenic polytheism (modern revivalist forms)
Judeo-Paganism
Maausk
Neo-druidism
Summum
Taarausk
Wicca
Alexandrian Wicca
Dianic Wicca (Feminist Wicca)
Gardnerian Wicca
Faery Wicca
Feri Tradition
Non-revealed religions
Philosophies not transmitted by a divine prophet
Carvaka
Confucianism
Deism
Fellowship of Reason
Spiritual Humanism
Mohism
Taoism
Left-Hand Path religions
Faiths teaching that the ultimate goal is separating consciousness from the universe, rather than being absorbed by it
Dragon Rouge
Satanism
LaVeyan Satanism
Church of Satan
Order of Nine Angles
Setianism also spelled Sethianism
Temple of Set
The Storm
Quimbanda
Syncretic religions
Faiths created from blending earlier religions or that consider all or some religions to be essentially the same
Arès Pilgrim Movement
Cao Dai
Falun Dafa (Falun Gong)
Huna
Konkokyo
Law of One
Manichaeism
Unitarian Universalism
Universal Life Church
Tenrikyo
Theosophy
Seicho-No-Ie
Entheogen religions
Religions based around divinely inspiring substances
Ayahuasca-based beliefs
Church of the Universe (marijuana sacrament)
Peyotism
THC Ministry
New religious movements
See List of new religious movements for a list based on other sources
See hereunder for religions founded since 1850 with small followings
Monotheistic NRMs
Direct Worship of the Actual God
Indigenous NRM’s
Burkhanism
Cargo cults
Ghost Dance
Native American Church
African Diaspora / Latin American NRM’s
Rastafari movement
Umbanda
Candomble
Kardecist Spiritism
Hindu-oriented NRM’s
Sai Baba/Sathya Sai Organisation
Hare Krishna
Transcendental Meditation
Sant Mat
Swaminarayan
Vedanta Society
Osho/Rajneeshism
Meher Baba (actually a Zoroastrian)
Oneness University
Aum Shinrikyo (Aleph)
Eckankar
NRM’s with Islamic Roots
Subud
Ahmadi
Dances of Universal Peace
Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)
Christian-oriented NRM’s
Unification Church
Jesus People
Children of God
People’s Temple
Pentecostalism
Holiness movement
Iglesia ni Cristo
Buddhist-oriented NRM’s
Soka Gakkai
Won Buddhism
Hoa Hao
Friends of the Western Buddhist Order
Chinese-oriented NRM’s
Way of Former Heaven sects, including
I-Kuan Tao (“Way of Unity”),
T’ung-shan She (“Society of Goodness”),
Tien-te Sheng-chiao (“Sacred Religion of Celestial Virtue”),
Daoyuan (“Sanctuary of the Tao”),
Tz’u-hui Tang (“Compassion Society”).
Falun Gong (“Dharma Wheel Work,” a qigong meditation group)
Japanese-oriented NRM’s
Tenrikyo
Seicho no Ie
Johrei (Johrei Movement – Sekai Kyusei Kyo Izunome Kyodan)
Reiki
Oomoto
Soka Gakkai
Aum Shinrikyo (Aleph)
Korean-oriented NRM’s
Chondogyo
Jeung San Do
Juche (The personality cult of North Korean leaders)
Unification Church
Vietnamese-oriented NRM’s
Caodaism
Hoa Hao
Malaysian-Oriented NRM’s
Sky Kingdom
Western Magical / Esoteric Groups
Kardecist Spiritism
Theosophy
Agni Yoga
Anthroposophy
Arcane School
Association for Research and Enlightenment
Church Universal and Triumphant
Golden Dawn
Gurdjieff Work
AMORC
Spiritualism
Eckankar
Thelema
Argenteum Astrum
Fraternitas Saturni
Ordo Templi Orientis
Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis
Process Church of the Final Judgement
Order of the Solar Temple
White Supremacist Religions
Church of Jesus Christ Christian
World Church of the Creator (Creativity Movement)
Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan [1]
Black Supremacist Religions
Nuwaubianism
Alien-based religions
The Aetherius Society [2]
Raelism
Scientology
Church of Scientology
Free Zone
Urantia, Book of
Universe people
Other NRM’s
Antoinism
Breatharianism (Air cult)
Brianism
Elan Vital
Faithists of Kosmon
Virus, The Church of
Tony Samara
Parody or mock religions
Groups that poke fun at other religions or religion in general
Discordianism
Church of the SubGenius (The cult of Bob Dobbs)
Church of Jesus Christ Elvis
Fictional religions turned Parody
Bokononism
Jedi census movement
Flying Spaghetti Monster (Pastafarianism)
Invisible Pink Unicorn
Kibology
Landover Baptist Church
Church of Emacs
Fictional religions
See List of fictional religions
Forms of religion or alternative beliefs
Agnosticism
Animism
Atheism
Ditheism (Dualism)
Henotheism
Monolatrism
Humanism
Secular Humanism
Kathenotheism
Maltheism
Monism
Monotheism
Panentheism
Pantheism
Cosmotheism
Polytheism
Shamanism
Suitheism
Nonsectarian and trans-sectarian religious movements and practices
Esotericism
Alchemy
Anthroposophy
Esoteric Christianity
Freemasonry
Gnosticism
Kabbalah
Occultism
Rosicrucian
Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
Confraternity of the Rose Cross
Rosicrucian Fellowship
Surat Shabda Yoga
Mysticism
Christian mysticism
Gnosticism
Hindu mysticism
Tantra
Ananda Marga Tantra-Yoga
Yoga
Bhakti
Vedanta
Kabbalah (also part of Judaism)
Kabbalah Centre
Martinism
Merkabah (also part of Judaism)
Meditation
Spirituality
Sufism
Theosophy
Magic (religion)
Astrology
Divination
Prophecy
Exorcism
Faith healing
Feng Shui
Hoodoo (Rootwork)
New Orleans Voodoo
Magick
Chaos magick
Enochian Magic
Grimoire magick
Goetic magick
Miracles
Pow-wow
Seid (shamanic magic)
Vaastu Shastra (Hinduism)
Witchcraft
Ritualism
Prayer
Sacrifice
Animal sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Worship