Vodoun, Voodoo Christians, Satanists, and Quakers [and others~]

Hey everyone! I'm seeking for some personal experiences and opinions, and basically whatever else you can give me! My novel is exploring different religions. I myself am a Christian but I loveee religion in general so I completely enjoy talking about different religions (even the lack of one).

My main character is a Vodoun mixed in with a bit of Christianity because of the European influence on West African culture soon relocated to Haiti. If anyone here is a Vodoun, can you please tell me about some personal religious experiences. Not too personal, but just so I can grasp someone's own experience instead of reading about it online and through scholarly books.

Also any Voodooists around? What makes you tick? What stereotypes do you hate? What do you think the world needs to know about you?

Christians- There are many types of Christians. What makes a true Christian to you? Please go in depth because I can already think of an "act like Jesus" answer. What is the Old Testament to you?

Satanists- I've read a bit of your text and what I've read has been interesting. What stereotypes do you hate the most? What would you like the world to know about you? And do you really worship the devil? (from what I've said, it says no)

Quakers- Yes, I know you are Christians lol. :) But I want to get more involved with a Quaker character of mine. Quakers were the first people in Haiti to own slaves, yet in America they were adamant helpers in the Underground Railroad. Quakers have taken many "liberal" stances on many hot topics, including women in ministry which plagues the Christian world. What makes you different from other denominations (personally)? What does being a Quaker mean to you?

Others- Wiccan, Jewish, Islamic, Atheists, Agnostics, Polytheists, Buddhists, Hindus, Others give me some testimonies here. What stereotypes do you hate? Who do you worship (for those that this question applies to)? What do you think the world should know about you?

QUESTIONS FOR EVERYONE:
1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you?
2. Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes?
3. What sort of stereotypes?
4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith?
5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion?
6. How would you like to be portrayed in a book (considering your faith)?
7. Do you uphold "morales" and if so, which ones?
8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith?
9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting?
10. Do you believe in an afterlife?
11. Are you superstitious?
12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits?
13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc.
14. Anything else?

:) Feel free to skip questions that don't apply or you don't want to answer. It's all cool. Thank you!

Regarding Christianity:

What makes a true Christian? Well, the word "true" really bothers me in this context. I think of Christianity as the realization that you're human, and so, you're not fit to stand in the presence of God, but this fellow Jesus bought you a ticket in and all you have to do to claim it is to admit it came from him. Some would call that a "grace-based" perspective. Others would call it "four spiritual laws." Still others will call it a gross oversimplification.

1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you? Yes. Atheists mostly.

2. Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes? Yes. By atheists, mostly.

3. What sort of stereotypes? Unintelligent. Illogical. Deluded. Mentally ill.

4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith? That there are thousands of variations of it, most of which are completely non-newsworthy.

5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion? Just kind of worked out that way, after a journey that went from Catholic to UU to agnostic to Southern Baptist to non-denominational and visited a lot of side-roads along the way. I think also, the recognition that science is a tool helped a lot.

6. How would you like to be portrayed in a book (considering your faith)? I don't need to be in a book. A great portrayal might be one in which I'm just a person, without religion coming into it,

7. Do you uphold "morales" and if so, which ones? I try to boost morales when people are down, but I also believe in morality in the sense of, ways of determining right conduct from wrong conduct. Generally, closed-mindedness and judging on the basis of stereotypes fall into the "wrong conduct" category, regardless of who's doing it. I think walking a mile in the other guy's shoes is part of "right conduct" or, as a favorite author put it, to judge a thing rightly one must get some distance from it, after first having loved it.

8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith? With my eyes, or on television.

9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting? The purpose of most discussion, even if it isn't argument or debate, is to get others to think like you - or at least, to make them capable of seeing your side. That's not incompatible with coexisting, with or without the big 'C'

10. Do you believe in an afterlife? In the sense of life after life, yes.

11. Are you superstitious? Semantics. "Superstition is a belief in a non-physical (i.e., supernatural) causality." I believe we are limited creatures, and there are some things (= causalities) we'll never be able to see or understand, even as science marches on, because they are just bigger or smaller or orthogonal to us in ways we're not capable of processing. They might very well be part of "nature" though - it's pretty arrogant, and even stupid as exemplified by the story of the Bugblatter Beast of Traal, to believe that if you can't see it, it can't see you.

12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits? I believe there's sentient stuff about, that I don't fully understand.

13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc. Leading the witness. This is really the same question as #12, but asked in a more offensive way :)

14. Anything else? Just the universe and everything in it - and everything outside of that.

Santeria is a religion that appropriates the catholic imagery onto the west african deities.

Satanists come in two forms: pagans who actively worship demonic presences (extremely rare, most pagans are about nature spirits, feminine power or personal empowerment) and Satanists in the lavey tradition which has NOTHING to do with "satan".

QUESTIONS FOR EVERYONE: 1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you?
People tell me i'm going to hell. A woman I used to work with couldn't believe that I had a woman reverend. She said it made me less of a man.

2. Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes?
Cruel? Not really. We get called hippies but we kinda are.

3. What sort of stereotypes?
See 3

4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith?
Nothing, except that we love them and will help them if they need it (even if they aren't members)

5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion?
It makes sense to me. I found the religion long after I formed my own spiritual identity. I got lucky in that I matched a religion.

6. How would you like to be portrayed in a book (considering your faith)?
As smart, funny, passionately liberal do gooders.

7. Do you uphold "morales" and if so, which ones?
we have seven principles. The hardest to live up to is "the inherent worth and dignity of every person."

8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith?
Favorably. Everybody has their own path.

9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting?
Coexist. My religion doesn't believe in conversion.

10. Do you believe in an afterlife?
No.

11. Are you superstitious?
No.

12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits?
no.

13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc.
No.

14. Anything else? :) Feel free to skip questions

Hope I helped. I'm a unitarian universalist.

Vodou is a syncretic religion that came about as a way to continue to practice African religion under the blanket of Catholicism. Sort of. The idea is that you honour the Loa who are sort of intermediaries between Bondye (Bon Dieu) and humanity as Bondye is more of a deist sort of god; he's the creator but he is removed from humanity and there's no contact with him. I am not a practitioner but I know people who are. Their greatest pet peeve is that Vodou is a form of magic (particularly a negative magic). Magic is an element but it is a religion, and people forget that.

Vodou also differs from place to place; New Orleans Vodou is practised a bit differently to Haitian Vodou. A Mambo will tell you your Met Tet, master of your head, who is the Loa you have the biggest connection to. There's also something I don't quite understand myself which has to do with "temperature": some Loa are "hot" and some are "cold", and there are places in the home and types of offering which fall into these categories also. Hot Loa should have shrines in a hot place and be offered hot offerings.

That's about the extent of my knowledge of Vodou, so hopefully that's of some help if a practitioner doesn't pop in.

Okay! Answers from me. I am a Heathen and I worship the Norse gods.


1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you?
I don't really splash it around, so not really. Plus when you say you worship Thor people usually say "awesome!". Thor has that effect on people ;-) even some of the most staunch atheists think it's pretty badass. I have had some Christians be offensively dismissive or just plain confused, though. I mean, that happened on this very forum! It's usually more funny than anything else, but sometimes someone will just be dismissive in a way that really is unkind, and you think, man, where's the empathy?


2. Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes?
Stereotypes with Pagans tend to fall into two categories: flakes and Satan-worshippers. I am neither, but I haven't had much experience with people assuming I am either, so it hasn't really been an issue. Again, I'm usually quite reserved about discussing my beliefs IRL, as it were.


3. What sort of stereotypes?
Err, see above and below.


4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith?
We're not all racists, skinheads, or criminals.
Some people think you need to be of Germanic ancestry to be a Heathen and others do not. Personally I believe you do not, though I think if you have Germanic ancestry you might be more likely to be drawn to this faith.
Norse Myths are not the same as Marvel's Thor. There are important differences.
We are not all members of the Society for Creative Anachronism. We do not wear period dress all the time.
We are not all 6 foot men with beards. For example, I am a woman. I am of average height and I do not have a beard.


5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion?
Heathenry specifically? I was an eclectic Neo-Pagan researching different pantheons and I ended up getting drawn down the road towards Heathenry without really realising it. Paganism generally? I've always been into the occult, ever since I was a small child, and in my early teens I heard people talking about witchcraft as an actual thing, not just a fantasy, so of course I was fascinated and picked up a book called "Witchcraft for beginners" or something that turned out to be an absolutely AWFUL book about Neo-Pagan witchcraft. I didn't know it was awful at the time of course because it was all new to me, so I devoured it and went looking for more. I had been looking for a religion for a while at that point so I was stoked to find one.


6. How would you like to be portrayed in a book (considering your faith)?
Hmm, let's see. I think I would appreciate it if it was understood that polytheists are just as dedicated to their gods, as serious about forming relationships with them, as close with them, as monotheists are with their god. Of course we have more of them, which means more relationships to maintain, and of course we're closer to some than to others, but yeah. Heathenry is also a religion very much about living life, and living honourably, and about friends and family. It's like Serotonin said: we are all people, and that's the important thing. It's nicer to see people portrayed as people who happen to be religious, rather than religious people.


7. Do you uphold "morales" and if so, which ones?
Hmm. Okay, well, in Heathenry there are a variety of virtues that are considered noble. Many of these are gleaned from texts such as the Havamal. The ones I think are most pertinent include wit, moderation, hospitality, self-reliance, personal strength, foresight, friendship, honour, fidelity, responsibility and courage - though people take from the texts what they will. Generosity in particular is a virtue stressed in the poem for the rune Gebo. These things are considered more "laudable" than "required".


8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith?
Mostly with vague interest. I find some religions more interesting than others, of course, but I like the idea of a multifaith society, with people following different gods in different ways. As long as there is respect for one another, I don't have a problem with it at all. Some people are a bit blinkered, of course, but that happens in any faith I think.


9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting?
I find proselytising rather abhorrent. There are of course some beliefs I think are pretty awful, but I'm generally cool with something so long as it's not hurting anyone. Stuff like cultural misappropriation is just... no. You know? There's a point where co-existing allows harm to come to people or cultures or religions, which I don't think is okay. But when it comes to people of other religions, I'm all for co-existence. As I've said I do like the idea of a multi-fatih society.


10. Do you believe in an afterlife?
I do. There's a thread about death around here somewhere which details what I believe on the subject a little more.


11. Are you superstitious?
That sort of depends on how you're defining the term. I do practise magic which would qualify according to some. I touch wood and throw salt over my shoulder if I spill it, that's about it.


12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits?
I believe angels are the servants of YHWH and not relevant to myself. I don't believe in demons. I believe in ghosts and a variety of spirits.


13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc.
I don't understand why faeries are "fantasy stuff" and angels and ghosts are not. I do believe in faeries and that is why I have a horseshoe above my door. At any rate I have "Elves, Wights and Trolls" on my bookshelf and I haven't read it yet.

By "fantasy" I mean in the general term of the general population. I did not mean to offend anyone, I suppose I should have put "fantasy" in parentheses since I am a believer in fairies/etc. I separated the angels/demons/ghosts/spirits because they are found in more religious texts whereas the latter I've found only in fantasy novels and whatnot. This is just my experience. I apologize for offending anyone. :)

Also, thank you all for your wonderful responses, I am definitely reading up on them. <3

I'm a (LeVayan) Satanist.

Satanists- I've read a bit of your text and what I've read has been interesting. What stereotypes do you hate the most? What would you like the world to know about you? And do you really worship the devil? (from what I've said, it says no)

Maybe I'm just a hipster but I don't think Satanism really needs anything cleared up about it. I think the stereotypes are hilarious and joke about them all the time. I tell people the truth if they want to know, but if they want to keep thinking I drink blood and eat raw baby flesh when they find out how I identify, well, their ignorance is their problem. Besides, that's kind of awesome.
Do I worship the devil? The short answer is 'no'. The long answer is, the Devil is a character created by those who want to oppress. He is all of human nature rolled up into one ugly package and labelled 'evil'. Human nature is a concept central to Satanism, and the devil is used because it's already a familiar character, to illustrate things about it. However, he is just that: a character. There is nothing there to worship.

QUESTIONS FOR EVERYONE:
1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you?
I'm sure somewhere, at some time, it's happened. I mean, I identify pretty openly. But... nothing terrible's happened.

2. Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes?
Worshipping the Devil is pretty much the extent of it, and like i said, I tend to have fun with it.

3. What sort of stereotypes?
I... just explained this. See 2.

4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith?
I don't think there is anything, because I don't think it needs to be well-known or accepted. Those already attracted to the idea will naturally find it.

5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion?
I call myself a Satanist because I have tested the ideas put forth by the Church of Satan and found them worthy of my adoption. I was raised an Atheist and still am, experience has only strengthened my non-belief. I was a painfully modest and humble kid with nothing to call self-esteem, and really just a huge pushover. I was able to turn that around after reading some of the online excerpts from the Satanic Bible. I think I'm pretty great, now. :)

6. How would you like to be portrayed in a book (considering your faith)?
When I think, 'Satanist', I don't think of some guy in a black hooded robe at a darkened altar. I think of a successful business man who holds a job he enjoys and hobbies that let him exercise his abilities, and give him the opportunity to improve at something. All his time is well-spent, whether it's working, or relaxing.
If this was a book character, he'd be pretty boring. Sorry.

7. Do you uphold "morales" and if so, which ones?
I'm a little confused by this question, and it seems everyone's answered it kind of differently...
The way I see it, things are wrong when things are off balance. Lex Talionis, 'do unto others as they do unto you', upholds balance. I don't think the law is as literal as a lot of people think, and sometimes there's no way to balance things right away, or even ever... that's what ritual is for.
I've found that the Satanic Rules of the Earth are mostly just common sense things that people seem to easily forget, myself included on one or two of them, unfortunately. (So I just kick myself then try again...)

8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith?
Not gonna lie, if people tell me that they're religious, I think less of them.

9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting?
I'll admit, I'm pretty bad at the whole 'don't offer your opinions unless you are asked' part, but I try my best. I do have a habit of quizzing people on things until they get into some kind of logic loop, and I challenge them to find a way out.
I do think the widespread belief in God/ess(s/es) is something humanity could do without.

10. Do you believe in an afterlife?
Nope. Honestly, I think I'd be kind of pissed off if there turned out to be one. It would make life seem kind of sucky, length-wise, at least.

11. Are you superstitious?
Nope.

12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits?
Nope and nope.

13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc.
Nooope.

14. Anything else?
Wow, none of this even touched on the whole suitheistic side of Satanism. Pretty much the whole gist is that all gods are the creation of men, so if we create our gods, why not create a god that is entirely specific to yourself? In that, you are the god. Since, really, how am I not? I am in control of my own destiny, and reality shapes itself around my mindset.

Well I left the Christian Church because I saw many hypocrisies (mostly in the Old Testament.) and when shut down I went to find answers on my own. Like you've already said a true christian to me is one who actually follows the teachings of Jesus and his words. I still believe in God wholly because I've had experiences, but I've actually found that my knowledge-seeking has brought me to a wonderful group of like-minded people who ask the same questions in the betterment of humanity.

1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you?
Yes, most Christians. Though I tell them we're essentially the same and that I believe God came to us in ways that we could understand him (in all corners of the world) through all different prophets and I don't believe he holds one of us higher than the other. That's created some backlash.

2. Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes?
Yes. It's sad.


3. What sort of stereotypes?
I've been called a satanist, blasphemous, Jewish (lol not really a stereotype), got confused with atheists, and such. It makes it hard to talk to some people of Christian faith.


4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith?
I am not religious. I am spiritual. I do not believe in a hell, because that was made up by the church hundreds of years later to scare people back in the church. I know that Jesus was just a man, which is a scary notion at first, but makes us realize we can reach that potential as well. We are one even if you label me differently. My goal in life is to follow MLK's, Ghandi's, and Jesus' teachings in promoting peace and love for all.


5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion?
Again the hypocrisy's in the church and not just the christian church but all churches. I don't believe in turning blind eyes or common sense from fact even if my faith dictates differently. The bible has great guidelines, but so many things from it applied today would be considered immoral. I think there needs to be a balance of faith and reason for us as a species to evolve.


6. How would you like to be portrayed in a book (considering your faith)?
I want to be known as just a simple peacemaker and a lover of humanity.


7. Do you uphold "morales" and if so, which ones?
Love all man- Hate's too strong of an emotion to hang onto.
Turn your cheek- Stop the negativity where it starts.
Do not take anything at face value- I won't believe anything unless I experience or have researched it thoroughly.
Regret nothing- I never want to live with a decision I'll regret. I don't know for sure if there's life after this, but that doesn't matter. You need to make this one count.


8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith?
Lost. When I was Christian I had that nagging feeling of doubt that told me something was wrong. And I prayed. And this was the answer God gave me, not the church. Ever since I left, I've never felt better, and I doubt no more. My focus is clear. There's learning but no more searching. I feel like this goal makes me complete. It pains me to see those that struggle and fight with their brothers just because they call God a different name. I have no problem if that's what people want to do. It's always a choice, but I hope that religion keeps us from harmony of humanity.


9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting?
I tell people, but I don't force it. People will ask when they're ready, and people love to talk about their beliefs. But they'll think what they'll think. No need for animosity.



10. Do you believe in an afterlife?
I have faith in an afterlife. Life recycles itself. I believe in the same sense we do too. How? I can't tell you. I haven't died yet.


11. Are you superstitious?
Nope.



12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits?
Not in the traditional sense. Angels yes. Demons? Maybe. Again hell was never mentioned til hundreds of years later. Hard to speculate.


13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc.
I believe in the possibility. After all it hasn't been disproven or proven. As we evolve we'll see.

I'm not sure that the labels people put onto religion mean a great deal to believers - I've recently been doing a lot of work about the concept of Lived Religion, which is a fairly thing in Sociology but which I reckon believers in any faith have always known - it basically boils down to the idea that you find the practices which resonate with your own beliefs and you construct your spirituality around them; and that is true even if you attach yourself to an organised group - so to select a random example you might find a Catholic who feels a personal connection with God when 'gardening, and so develops their gardening into a spiritual practice regardless of any 'official; church stance on how and where God should be sought, or what are and are not appropriate expressions of spirituality.

I call myself a Witch, under the pagan umbrella and the forms in which I personally recognise god link most closely to the Celtic and Hindu pantheons. I like the term 'Witch' because of its association with wisdom, and for me the spiritual path is to a great extent about seeking wisdom in all its many and varied forms.

As for the QUESTIONS FOR EVERYONE here goes:
1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you?
Depends how you define 'looking down' I suppose; I have had people complain about the fact I exist and do my job which I guess would qualify and in my previous place of work a Christian group prayed regularly for me to go away and teach somewhere else.

2. Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes?
I think anyone who is prepared to be open about religion in this day and age risks being stereotyped - as an idiot who can't think for themselves if nothing else. I haven't been for a few years but at Witchfest International there used to be evangelists who would picket the queue of people waiting to get in telling us we were on our way to hell, you know the kind of thing. But my experience of pagans en masse has always been that they take great pleasure in defying the stereotypes - one year the organisers were taking hot drinks out to them because it was chilly, another time there was a woman in the queue who took a leaflet from every campaigner and gave them her own in return, I saw people offer them tickets so that they could come and see the reality of what they were protesting about...the problem is that once people fix something in their minds its very hard to change it. Personally I enjoyed the ones who who thought that not being a Christian meant that you had never read the Bible, which is of course untrue. I've not only read it, but studied the history of it as well and I like to think that I taught them something about their own faith even if they were not prepared to try and understand mine.

3. What sort of stereotypes?
Satanism (which is crazy because Satan is a Christian concept essentially). Putting curses on people. Brainwashing small children. The usual really!

4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith?
Generally it is not paganism which has a problem with other religions - I know people who call themselve Buddhist Pagans, Christian Pagans and so on (although I have never met a Muslim Pagan I suppose I wouldn't rule it out) it is other religions which have a problem with paganism.

5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion?
I didn't choose it exactly. I just discovered that there was a name for people who think and believe as I do.

6. How would you like to be portrayed in a book (considering your faith)?
Just a normal three-dimensional person - any book which treats faith and the spirit as a serious dimension to human existence is swimming against the tide as it is so I wouldn't make it harder by being easily offended!

7. Do you uphold "morales" and if so, which ones?
Bide the witches law ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust.
Eight words the witches rede fulfil - An it harm none do as ye will
And ever mind the rule of three -what ye send out comes back to thee
Follow this with mind and heart and merry ye meet and merry part

8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith?
As people. Some I like, some I don't. Pretty much how everyone views the rest of the human race, I would hope.

9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting?
Trying to convert people would go against pretty much everything I believe about the essential nature and value of religion. I'm always happy to explain things from my perspective for people who ask, but that is a different thing.

10. Do you believe in an afterlife?
Erm...yes. Well, I hope so. I think that reincarnation makes sense, and I do beleive that spirits continue to exist in some way or another but this is one of those areas where you just have to feel that you have found the truth and I haven't yet. So yes, but I don't know what it is like.

11. Are you superstitious?
Again it would depend what you mean. I think that there are forces in the world which we don't really understand certainly, but I don't think wearing a particular colour or avoiding walking in a particular spot is likely to have any great effect on them and what they do.

12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits?
Maybe and yes.

13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc.
I would certainly like to think that the archetypes of fantasy have a real existence somewhere, even if not here exactly. That's kind of what my novel is about actually.

14. Anything else?
Blimey, textbooks worth! I could talk about religion for days - worlds most fascinating subject I think! About my personal beliefs nothing immediately springs to mind, but I'll let you know!

QUESTIONS FOR EVERYONE:

Here's my basic orientation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism

For the past few years I've been more or less building my own spiritual practice, drawing inspiration from a wide variety of religious traditions with an eye towards empirical science.

1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you?

I don't know if "look down on" is the right term, but I've definitely been treated as radioactive by more traditionally Christian and Muslim people that I've known. Also, more hardline atheists tend to see me as a "fence sitter" or someone who's just trying to capitulate to people of faith. Nobody really hates me, but everyone is irritated by me because I ask too many questions.

Also, I find many religious people object to my adopting of some religious practices without swallowing the whole "kit and kaboodle."

2. Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes?

I think whenever you mention that you're a religious innovator you sort of get written off as a "flaky New Age type" when I really don't have much in common with that crowd. No crystals, chakras, or totem animals here. Just whatever prayer or meditation traditions seem to have some value (according to neurology/psychology research) and fit in line with my moral principles.

3. What sort of stereotypes?

Above.

4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith?

Human language and conceptualizations are essentially fallible and limited. Even if God (whatever that word means) were to give us THE TRUTH in writing, we probably wouldn't be able to comprehend it accurately.

5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion?

It's been a long process. I was raised Lutheran, but my extended family is Catholic. I went hardline atheist as a teenager, had a passing flirtation with Celtic Reconstructionism, was very into Zen Buddhism for several years, moved to India and had some interesting run-ins with Hinduism, and have spent the past few years studying (but not following) Islam and Orthodox Judaism. I'm very interested in mysticism, because it seems to me that mystic groups across many different traditions come away from their experiences with similar, if not the same, conclusions.

So I guess you could say I'm trying to found my own secular mysticism, free of the dogma of any one scriptural and cultural background.

6. How would you like to be portrayed in a book (considering your faith)?

As someone who is very driven, enjoys challenging the ideas of others, and is primarily concerned with our common humanity instead of our cultural tendencies and bigotries.

7. Do you uphold "morals" and if so, which ones?

Who doesn't? My morality boils down to four basic principles, which I find present in most religions but are very often ignored because of scriptural dogmas.

Consent > Coercion: A just society and a just individual considers the feelings and wishes of all others involved, and seeks their consent in making decisions instead of trying to coerce them into compliance. It's true that not every decision can be made with perfect consensus among everyone, but it should be an idea that you strive for in everything you do.

Understanding > Ignorance: When we have a conflict with others, we should strive to understand the motives of their beliefs and their needs, instead of simply declaring them our adversaries and trying to undermine or overpower them. If both sides invest time in trying to understand the other, it's far more likely that some common ground will be reached before a conflict turns into hostility and violence.

Forgiveness > Vengeance: Humans love reciprocity, and we all have the instinct to get our "payback" when someone wrongs us. Yet even religious that advocate "eye for an eye" often promote stories of those who forgive others in a positive light. Vengeance just leads to more injury, which leads to more vengeance, and a never-ending cycle. Our ideal should be to treat others BETTER than we wish to be treated.

Conservation > Consumption: Waste not want not. If we minimize and simplify our lives, we require less resources and less labor to sustain ourselves. This means that we won't need to enslave others to serve our needs (or, in more modern times, exploit labor in poor countries). We should always challenge ourselves to do more with less, and to analyze every aspect of our lives to look for ways that we can take up less space, resources, and energy from others.

8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith?

That's pretty much everyone, so I can't be too critical.

9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting?

I have thoughts of putting together some cohesive documents and going evangelizing, but mostly because I'd like to get others involved in the conversation. I think that our world needs a set of ground rules that everyone can agree on to prevent us from destroying each other and ourselves. Human values that are somewhat universal, instead of tied to our specific culture. So I guess I'd like to evangelize on that.

10. Do you believe in an afterlife?

Depends on what you mean by that. I have my theories based vaguely on the Law of Conservation of Energy/Matter, but it's not a huge concern for me. I'm mostly concerned with this life, since it's the one I can change. Nobody knows what happens when we die, but we'll all find out!

11. Are you superstitious?

Not particularly. Though I do believe some phenomena aren't really explainable by our senses.

12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits?

I think these are constructs made up to explain something like what I mentioned in #11.

13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc.

I find it funny that fairies are "fantasy stuff" but "angels/demons" (most depictions of which are based on Greek and Roman mythological images) are not.

14. Anything else?

What an existential question! Is there anything else?

Reading everyone's responses are fascinating. I really like that people of all persuasions, backgrounds, beliefs, and ideology can share what they believe and why. I believe there was only one response to the questions targeted at Christians, so I thought I could provide my view.

1. What makes a true Christian to you?
Christianity is an extremely broad religion with countless denominations, sects, etc., whose beliefs are varied from similar to vastly different. And even within a single denomination or church, there is a wide variety of individual views and beliefs. However, and I am generalizing, I think if we boiled all it down to the "essence" of Christianity or the foundation on which most of the different viewpoints are built, we would find that:

A Christian is an individual who believes in a monotheistic, all-powerful, perfectly merciful and perfectly just Creator God, who has three distinct entities: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; that the ills/evils/sufferings of this world originate from sin, which separates humanity from God and ultimately results in death; and that to bridge the gulf caused by sin, Jesus Christ (the incarnate God the Son) entered into the world as a man in order to "redeem" the world through the sacrifice of His life. As a result, a Christian is a person who has made the personal decision to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ (the incarnate God the Son) and the writings found within the Bible.

From that basis come the majority of Christian beliefs. Granted, there are many differences. Personally, I believe that a "true" Christian (though I dislike that term) is what I described above and who holds the writings of the Bible to be his/her supreme authority in spiritual matters (basically, theology). There are many who would probably disagree, saying that the Bible is an antiquated book or merely a collection of old stories irrelevant to today. But that is the beauty of the freedom of conscious: we have the freedom to believe or not believe as dictated by our individual conscience.

2. What is the Old Testament to you?
I, personally, believe that both the Old and New Testament comprise the Holy Bible and all of it was written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Basically, I believe that the Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of God's will, a Christian's final authority on spiritual matters. A good portion of the New Testament directly or indirectly quotes the Old Testament; therefore, to understand the context of the New Testament, I must accept the Old Testament. Both testaments are halves of a whole. The Holy Scriptures were written to record important events, disclose important teachings, and to provide examples (good and bad). They are the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of God's acts in history. As for the Old Testament specifically, there are many who feel it is outdated or filled with contradictions (and I respect their opinions); however, I have found in my own studies that when the Bible is taken as a whole, it forms an over-arching picture that answers my questions and fulfills my needs, and Old Testament passages and/or accounts that once seemed difficult to understand or contradictory can be seen in proper context.

QUESTIONS FOR EVERYONE:

1. Has your faith ever made someone look down on you? Have you been the victim to cruel stereotypes?
Unfortunately, yes. When I was growing up, I just considered myself "Christian" in the very broad sense of the word, but after graduating high school, I began to look into various religions as well as various denominations within Christianity. After an in-depth study of the Bible, I found a Christian church that most closely adheres what I found the Bible to teach and, to me, that church is the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Since making that decision in 2002, I have had many... even among my closest family and friends... who have been rather... mean. One of my grandmothers, for example, thinks I belong to a cult and for many years sent books written by "mainstream" Protestant pastors that "explained" how "evil" the Adventist Church is. (Sadly, they got the majority of our beliefs wrong, and what they got right they had to admit was clearly Biblical.) Because what I believe is, in some aspects, drastically different from popular Christianity or "mainstream" Protestantism, most of the attacks I have experienced came from fellow Christians.

3. What sort of stereotypes?
The biggest and most hurtful stereotype is being labeled a part of an "evil cult" and being told that I would burn forever and ever in hell. Some of the more amusing ones are when people confuse Seventh-day Adventists with Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. Because we observe the Biblical Sabbath and encourage following the dietary laws of the Old Testament (though about half of the Adventists in the world are lacto-ovo vegetarians. I, myself, am vegan for personal, not religious, reasons.), I have been called a Jew or asked if I was Jewish. That actually came in handy when I studied abroad in Russia the first time. Two of my roommates were Jewish, and we got along great. We hung out together on Sabbaths, and it was nice not to be the only person avoiding the unidentifiable meat at dinner "just in case".

4. What does the world need to know / get straight about your faith?
The biggest one is that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not a cult. It is a legitimate Protestant Christian church that grew out of an inter-denominational movement in the mid-1800s. We love our Lord and we care very deeply about the well-being of our fellow men and women. We have a worldwide presence and operate hundreds of schools, clinics, hospitals all over the world. Our disaster relief and development agency ADRA is a prominent aid relief in many parts of the world, and in addition to responding to disasters, we have long-term community services that provide clean water and other necessities, work skills, etc. to help end the vicious cycle of poverty and abuse. According to some recent reports, we are the fastest growing Christian church in North America, and the worldwide church is growing by approximately 1 million every year. So... something about what we believe is resonating with many people all over the world. We are also strong proponents for freedom of conscious (sometimes called religious liberty), or the right for all people to believe or not believe as their conscience dictates.

5. Why do you have this faith or choose this religion?
My current faith is the result of a spiritual journey that began when I was a child. Throughout my childhood and teen years, my family and I were "church hoppers". Many of my most important questions could not be answered in a satisfactory manner by the churches I visited or the hypocrisy I witnessed did not mesh with what I read in the Bible. So I searched on my own, my journey being enriched through deep study of the Bible and history. I have decided to believe in a loving, merciful God and follow His precepts in my life, and this led me to the faith I now hold. With every year, my faith grows and deepens. It gives to me peace in a world of chaos, contentment even when everything goes wrong, joy when there seems to be only sorrow, confidence in face of adversary because I do not believe I ever stand alone, and a blessed hope that can barely be expressed in words.

7. Do you uphold "morales" and if so, which ones?
Yes. I believe that the Ten Commandments demonstrate the the very character of God and, because of my love for Him, I choose to uphold the morals it teaches. (If interested, Exodus 20:1-17.)The first four commandments are a guide for my relationship with my God (worship only the Creator, not to worship idols, respect the name and character of God, keep His Sabbath day holy) and the last six are a guide for my relationships with people: honor my parents and to refrain causing harm (murder, stealing, adultery, bearing false witness, coveting what belongs to others). In the New Testament, Jesus summarized these commandments when He said to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves (both are direct quotes from the Old Testament). He farther added that it is not enough to merely refrain from the action, but that it is a matter of controlling our thoughts. That would mean that, even if I never actually murdered my friend, if I harbored hate and malicious thoughts towards my friend, then in the eyes of the Lord, it is the same as if I had murdered him/her. The same with adultery, coveting, etc. Basically, control our thoughts and our words and actions will follow. I like how it is written in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

8. How do you view people who are not of the same faith?
With respect.

9. Do you try and get others to think like you or are you more for Coexisting?
Neither and both. It's complicated. I believe that it is the duty of a follower of the Lord to share with those who are interested (the Great Commission is to go into all the world. Matthew 28:18-20), but I also respect those who are not interested or who decide to believe something else. I have many friends who are of other faiths, and some I considered my closest friends. After all, it is an individual choice that is made through freewill.

10. Do you believe in an afterlife?
Yes. I explained in more detail then probably anyone is interested in in a different post on this forum.

11. Are you superstitious?
No.

12. Do you believe in angels/demons and do you believe in ghosts/spirits?
Angels and demons, yes. (I believe that both are beings created by God, and that demons are merely "fallen" angels who sided with Lucifer/Satan, also an angel, in his rebellion against God.) Ghosts/spirits, no. I explain why in the post on my views of the afterlife.

13. Do you believe in fantasy stuff, like fairies, etc.
No. Hm... Well, I do think that it is possible that the concept of "dragons", which is prevalent throughout the ancient world, originates from dinosaurs. I also do not believe that the earth is the only world that God created with intelligent life; however, we are under a type of quarantine due to sin and, therefore, cut off from the rest of creation untainted by sin.

14. Anything else?
Nope. =)