How religious are you?

Original post by marymoon

Mar 30, 2005 03:55 PM

Do you got o services every week?
Just on major holidays?
Do you observe shabbat?

I'm sort of increasingly religious as far as it comes to services. I've been defintie;y going to mass on holidays and trying to go on sundays. I am trying to get FH to come with me to Jewish services, but for some reason he's not that interested, and I don't feel comfortable going alone.

I don't consider myself very religious though. I don't follow most of the rules, and I disagree with the catholic church on a lot of its teachings and approaches.

Ok, to clarify..I'm catholic, but I am ALWAYS reading about judaism, and took classes in college and I really like going to services..and although I'm not actually jewish, I consider myself to be at least partially jewish, if that's possible, in that I try to study the teachings and keep the holidays and go to services on occasion. Neither of us have EVER observed shabbat though, and I'm not sure if we ever will.

Also, i think part of what burned FH out with going to services was that we'd spend a good part of our weekend going to services since we go to church and temple

marymoon Posted: Mar 30, 2005 07:43 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by lilmrs

How religious am I?
Well what should I used to determine that? How many times I go to church?
How many times I pray?
How much money I donate to my house of worship?
I cant answer this without now what to base it on.

I guess you can base it on whatever you want. Whatever you consider to be an important factor. it was an open ended question

JimmysBride Posted: Mar 30, 2005 07:50 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by lilmrs

How religious am I?
Well what should I used to determine that? How many times I go to church?
How many times I pray?
How much money I donate to my house of worship?
I cant answer this without now what to base it on.

I agree that the term 'religious' probably means different things to different people.

I guess I could say I consider myself religious in that my faith is pretty strong. To me that's being religious. However, someone might call me not religious at all because I have very strong issues with the Catholic church and I don't attend mass weekly and I don't believe or follow everything it teaches. But I think there are plenty of people out there who talk and act very 'religious' but their faith is lacking or their intentions are way off.

When I was younger I used to also be very involved in Church things and the choir and stuff. I guess many people would have considered me more religious back then.

Moehick Posted: Mar 30, 2005 07:55 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Religious enough to know I'm not going to h e l l !!

lilmrs Posted: Mar 30, 2005 07:56 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by marymoon

Posted by lilmrs

How religious am I?
Well what should I used to determine that? How many times I go to church?
How many times I pray?
How much money I donate to my house of worship?
I cant answer this without now what to base it on.

I guess you can base it on whatever you want. Whatever you consider to be an important factor. it was an open ended question

yes, yes it was an open question...sorry for asking for further clarification on what exactly it meant to you so I could relate my answer to that.
I believe I am quite religious in my beliefs, however, I don't believe that people can be of two of faiths AND claim to be religious.
You're either one, the other or neither.

lilmrs Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:00 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by Moehick

Religious enough to know I'm not going to h e l l !!

heidla Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:03 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by lilmrs

I don't believe that people can be of two of faiths AND claim to be religious.
You're either one, the other or neither.

So, judging by this statement a child raised in a home that is, let's say, Catholic and Jewish could not possibly be religious?

lilmrs Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:05 PM

Re: How religious are you?

I dont *think* I believe many children are 'religious' at all regardless. I know that sounds wrong, but I don't know if many children have the capacity to worship and understand enough (and having enough somethign to alway be religious on their own without their parents pushing it on them) for me to clasify them as religious, at least in my book.

heidla Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:15 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by lilmrs

I dont *think* I believe many children are 'religious' at all regardless. I know that sounds wrong, but I don't know if many children have the capacity to worship and understand enough (and having enough somethign to alway be religious on their own without their parents pushing it on them) for me to clasify them as religious, at least in my book.

Yes, but at some point the child will become an adult and have a base of not one but two religions. Are you saying that there is no way that someone who was raised in a multi-religious home could be called religious? Or must they choose one or the other when they are older?

February05 Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:15 PM

Re: How religious are you?

i was actually thinking about this today....

i have a strong sense of 'faith'.. but i dont know if i consider myself very religious.

i cross myself and say a prayer (for the people involved) Everytime an ambulance or fire truck pass by me, and everytime i pass a cemetary (4 times a day w/ my commute alone, so thats a decent amount of praying )

i *talk* to god, or maybe its just talking to myself, but i feel like there is someone watching over me and helping me to make the right decision. i believe that prayers help, if even just for therapeutic purposes.

i go to church here and there... i dont go on the holidays just for the sake of it or out of tradition, but at the same time, i couldnt imagine Not having been married in the Church. theres alot of things in my religion that i disagree with, but to me religion is man made, and im not going to detest my faith whenever someone in my religion does something wrong.

So i guess i consider myself as very Moral and having a strong sense of faith,,, but not 'religious' in the conventional way.

matron Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:15 PM

Re: How religious are you?

i smell controversy brewing....

marymoon Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:17 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by lilmrs

Posted by marymoon

Posted by lilmrs

How religious am I?
Well what should I used to determine that? How many times I go to church?
How many times I pray?
How much money I donate to my house of worship?
I cant answer this without now what to base it on.

I guess you can base it on whatever you want. Whatever you consider to be an important factor. it was an open ended question

yes, yes it was an open question...sorry for asking for further clarification on what exactly it meant to you so I could relate my answer to that.
I believe I am quite religious in my beliefs, however, I don't believe that people can be of two of faiths AND claim to be religious.
You're either one, the other or neither.

Are you of two faiths? I don't understand how that comment relates to the rest.

I don't know if you mean just in children or in adults, but I'm pretty active in catholicism and judaism. it works just fine for me. I agree that for children it can be confusing

In refrence to the other post, I understand why you would say that, but I see children who have enormous faith, and it's truly inspiring, so I believe children can be religious..it may not be the same as an adult, but it's there.

lilmrs Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:18 PM

Re: How religious are you?

I think it would depend on which two religions...that might not make too much sense but I think if we are talking about two religions with differnt views of who or what is god or the ultimate being or whatever then I think there is too much of a conflict to be religious.
Let me add again *I think*

matron Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:18 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by matron

i smell controversy brewing....

ETA: I grew up going to church every Sunday without fail. My dad was going to be a priest until he met my mom. I continued to go to church through much of college, believe it or not, but have not really attended services much thereafter. I usually go to church like 5-10 yr outside of holidays, usually when my parents come up from FL to visit and I pretend that it's just our usual Sunday ritual to make them happy. I do consider myself spiritual, however, I disagree with much of what the Catholic church is doing these days.

marymoon Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:21 PM

Re: How religious are you?

neenie, I feel the same way.

Also, I disgaree with alot fo stuff the church says, and I believe the churhc as a body is manmade and fallible, but what it teaches is valuable, and I believe it's an enriching experience to go to mass (and to jewish services as well), but I don't go every week. I'm not stric strict, but I am definitely a believer.

I'm also a believer that all religions contain validity and truth, and so long as it's a religion of love and peace, then it doens't matter what religion you choose. it's what's works for you. I'm also sort of a pantheist. I believe god is multifaceted. God is the ONE god of judaism, and also the trinity of christianity, god is also the many many gods of all religions..god has many faces, many manifestations, many ways of relating to people, and this evolves over space and time. Religion is man made, but god is god, no matter what.

marymoon Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:24 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by lilmrs

I think it would depend on which two religions...that might not make too much sense but I think if we are talking about two religions with differnt views of who or what is god or the ultimate being or whatever then I think there is too much of a conflict to be religious.
Let me add again *I think*

I just don't understand why you threw that in..when asiking if you're religious...if you're not of 2 faiths, I'm confused why you would bring that up.

Some people see it in black and white, you're one thing or another..but to me god is god, and for example, 'the big three' judaism, chirstianity and islam, have so much similarity and came from the same roots..so it's really not that different.

For example, Christians and Muslims at one point in history were all jews...some of the jewish traditions stayed while others fell by the wayside...I'm a christian reclaiming what i feel is my jewish heritage. To look at it another way, we are supposed to emulate jesus, and jesus was jewish.

lilmrs Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:30 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by marymoon

Posted by lilmrs

I think it would depend on which two religions...that might not make too much sense but I think if we are talking about two religions with differnt views of who or what is god or the ultimate being or whatever then I think there is too much of a conflict to be religious.
Let me add again *I think*

I just don't understand why you threw that in..when asiking if you're religious...if you're not of 2 faiths, I'm confused why you would bring that up.

Some people see it in black and white, you're one thing or another..but to me god is god, and for example, 'the big three' judaism, chirstianity and islam, have so much similarity and came from the same roots..so it's really not that different.

For example, Christians and Muslims at one point in history were all jews...some of the jewish traditions stayed while others fell by the wayside...I'm a christian reclaiming what i feel is my jewish heritage. To look at it another way, we are supposed to emulate jesus, and jesus was jewish.

I threw that in because it crossed my mind, that's why, it's just that simple.

I think of the word religious as being scrupulous and/or conscientious in that religion and I just don't believe you can be that way with the teachings of different religions.

I don't think I associate being religious SOLELY with the belief of God.

Goldi1021 Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:44 PM

Re: How religious are you?

I think people confuse 'religious' and 'observant'. I do not consider myself religious, but I do consider myself observant in the Jewish faith. I also think that I will become increasingly observant as my family begins. I think children who grow up with some form of religion in their lives, tend to fare better than those who don't. IMO, religion provides a basic framework and structure to living a good life. Children need structure.

swags1016 Posted: Mar 30, 2005 08:52 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Posted by lilmrs

Posted by marymoon

Posted by lilmrs

I think it would depend on which two religions...that might not make too much sense but I think if we are talking about two religions with differnt views of who or what is god or the ultimate being or whatever then I think there is too much of a conflict to be religious.
Let me add again *I think*

I just don't understand why you threw that in..when asiking if you're religious...if you're not of 2 faiths, I'm confused why you would bring that up.

Some people see it in black and white, you're one thing or another..but to me god is god, and for example, 'the big three' judaism, chirstianity and islam, have so much similarity and came from the same roots..so it's really not that different.

For example, Christians and Muslims at one point in history were all jews...some of the jewish traditions stayed while others fell by the wayside...I'm a christian reclaiming what i feel is my jewish heritage. To look at it another way, we are supposed to emulate jesus, and jesus was jewish.

I threw that in because it crossed my mind, that's why, it's just that simple.

I think of the word religious as being scrupulous and/or conscientious in that religion and I just don't believe you can be that way with the teachings of different religions.

I don't think I associate being religious SOLELY with the belief of God.

As someone who is the product of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father I do not understand how you can say they are similar. They are not one believes in the mesiah and one doesn't. One believes that the other killed their savior. I don't get it! How can you be active in both and not see the contradiction???

For me personally I do not want my child to have the same confusion, so for that reason we have chosen to raise our child in the epispicalian church. I go to service every week and I am going to be going to classes to learn more.

Goldi1021 Posted: Mar 30, 2005 09:00 PM

Re: How religious are you?

Actually Jews believe in a Messiah but that their messiah hasn't come yet. Though the Lubavitchers feel that Rebbe Menachem Schneerson is the embodiment of the Messiah and will come. Trust me, I work in Crown Heights and they are waiting for him.