What is your religion?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Not even that.
The membership of an organized religion is, first and foremost, a community. Doctrinal issues are not really supposed to be of relevance to the common membership.[/quote]

That might be true historically, might even be true in most countries outside the US still, but it's really not the case in the US so much anymore since conversion and church-splitting are so commonplace now.

[minionofmidas]

Not even that.
The membership of an organized religion is, first and foremost, a community. Doctrinal issues are not really supposed to be of relevance to the common membership.

That might be true historically, might even be true in most countries outside the US still, but it's really not the case in the US so much anymore since conversion and church-splitting are so commonplace now.
[/quote]That is, of course, because the different Protestant denominations are so similar in de facto practice that people frequently just join the one that's near by that's got nice people in it. So it's a self-selected community... a very weak prop for the real thing that religion used to be for, but still quite unable to hide its origins.

[Landslide Lyndon]

(Lapsed) Christian Orthodox.

[Ebowed]

I don't have one.  I picked atheist in the poll.

[© tweed]

I voted 'agnostic', would self-identify as 'negative atheist': I operate without God but don't assert that God does not exist.  I also have an existential side that I flip on and off at-will, when I get bored.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Not even that.
The membership of an organized religion is, first and foremost, a community. Doctrinal issues are not really supposed to be of relevance to the common membership.

That might be true historically, might even be true in most countries outside the US still, but it's really not the case in the US so much anymore since conversion and church-splitting are so commonplace now.

That is, of course, because the different Protestant denominations are so similar in de facto practice that people frequently just join the one that's near by that's got nice people in it. So it's a self-selected community... a very weak prop for the real thing that religion used to be for, but still quite unable to hide its origins.

I suppose that is true if you split up the Protestant denominations a bit, I was going to say mainline/evangelical but it's actually closer to liberal/moderate/conservative/fundamentalist. But yeah quite true and something that most Protestant churches have even recognized since most don't even require you be a member of that specific denomination if they have one to be a formal member of the church, assuming they even keep a formal membership at all. Mine doesn't.

[Alcon]

nor is agnosticism mutually exclusive from atheism

But they are mutually exclusive categories.  Atheism requires a positive assertion, whereas agnosticism requires that no positive assertions are made, or that such assertions cannot possibly be made because they are unknowable.  

No, this is a common misconception.  "Atheism" means "without theism."  It does not mean a positive assertion of God's non-existence, even if it now has that connotation.  Check out dictionaries, Wikipedia, whatever.  The re-definition of "atheism" so it's mutually exclusive with agnosticism, is a modern corruption of the definition.

Self-identifying as an "agnostic Roman Catholic," etc., to me is a little incoherent.  It's like saying, "there's no way ofnknowing beyond a reasonable doubt that this religion is true, but I'm going to act like I believe it is and follow sourceless commandments, just because I was raised acting like that (or whatever.)"  That doesn't make you a Roman Catholic.  It makes you an agnostic (i.e., atheist) who does everything Roman Catholics do.

Now that redifinition of "Roman Catholic" certainly is a modern, and quite despicable, corruption of the definition. A Roman Catholic is a member of a parish of the Catholic Church that follows the Roman rite. Enda story.

It's not the end of the story until I agree with your argument

I don't know what religions would openly say "it's fine to be a member of our religion even if you don't believe in God or any of our metaphysical claims."  This may be an important cultural identification to you--whatever--but it's not what the dictionary says the word "religion" entails.  No matter what religious folk tolerate in their community, how many Catholics would define the Catholic religion as not entailing any metaphysical beliefs?

Yours isn't an insane definition of "religion" I guess, but when I ask someone what religion they are, I'm not asking what Jesus-themed social club they go to on Sundays.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

If someone IS going to a Catholic church regularly, I don't think it's too ridiculous for them to claim to be Catholic. It is kind of ridiculous and inane to expect someone to agree with 100% of their church's teachings. Do you think my parents specifically believe in Lutheran theology over all other Protestant theologies? Or could even identify the differences for that matter? But if you want to argue that makes them not Lutheran, well then there just aren't very many Lutherans at all, or members of any specific Protestant denomination really.

However I do agree that it is very stupid to for someone to identify as Catholic when they have absolutely no connection to the church or theology whatsoever beyond being raised in it. No question there.

[Keystone Phil]

However I do agree that it is very stupid to for someone to identify as Catholic when they have absolutely no connection to the church or theology whatsoever beyond being raised in it. No question there.

This is the normal response.

[Democratic Hawk]

Christian - Protestant

[TomC]

None of your business

[tpfkaw]

Atheist, but not of the Hitler, Stalin, or irritating types.

[The Mikado]

OK, what's with this ridiculous idea that Hitler was an atheist?

[Torie]

Near atheist.