Summary of your religious beliefs

[Torie]

I am a fan of the late Christopher Hitchens. 

[pbrower2a]

We can all change, can we not?

I am drifting Episcopalian. I recognize that the greatest responsibility in life is the struggle between Good and Evil, and one must admit that the Episcopal Church did that very well in World War II. The Episcopal Church seems to respect rationality and reject heresy well. There's plenty of heresy out there, including the Wealth Cult. Episcopalians pay attention to the Bible but they can include people who might be pariahs elsewhere. OK, a neo-Nazi or a gay-basher would be unwelcome, but those have much to repent.    

I learn something significant. At Pentecost I recognized that the miracle was that Jesus' reputation went to distant places with different tongues and of course different cultures, a sign of the universality of Jesus' ministry. That is nearly the opposite of Pentecostal practice.

I hate to associate evil with one character unless at a safe distance. It is easy to mock evil leaders in North Korea, Iran, or Afghanistan... and in earlier days Satan Hussein in Iraq and Idi Amurderin' in Uganda. The trial of Donald Trump leaves little question that America is not safe from political evil.

I recognize the fault of atheism and agnosticism in the struggle against evil: that they effectively reduce people to single-fighters against Big, Bad Evil. Evil can find sophisticated marketers; it is often well-financed with copious resources. It can make destructive deeds seem fun. One cannot fight it alone.

Religion:
Returning to Christianity from agnosticism/atheism

Denomination: (if applicable) Episcopalian

Why do you follow this religion (or lack thereof)?

We need God more than He needs us. As I age I increasingly confront my own mortality. Hell, if it exists, scares me a lot.

God: Do you believe in God? Is there more than one God? Is this God all-knowing and all-powerful? Does God interfere in your daily life? Does God talk to you?

I guess so. There can only be one. The Universe makes sense, and it seems to operate under laws that can be human discoveries but not human creations.

Afterlife: What happens after we die? Heaven/hell? Reincarnation? Nothing whatsoever? If there are multiple versions of the afterlife (for example, heaven and hell), who goes where and what determines that?

I want to believe that there is some eternal life at the least for evening out what one did and what was done to one in This World. Egregious sinners will have a rough time of things at the least in recognizing what they did and finding ways to expiate their souls. Eternal damnation for finite sins?

Failing to believe in God, believing in the wrong entities, or believing in Him the wrong way will be solved in something resembling a seminar at a resort. We will be freed of our sins (vices) and flaws that are not themselves sinful (such as autism, congenital diseases).

We may all have God wrong. Who are we to say what He is?

Prayer: Do you pray? How often do you pray? Do you do it in a certain way? Do you pray to God (or gods) or to something else? Do you say your prayers out loud or in your head?

The Lord's Prayer encompasses enough. "Deliver us from evil" includes the menace of impaired drivers on the road.

Worship: Do you go to church/mosque/synagogue/anything else? How often?

Church -- most Sundays.

Ghosts, spirits, angels, and demons: Do they exist? Are they present here? Have you ever seen one? Are certain people condemned to roam the earth?

I confess to enjoying Ghosts. Ghosts are excellent literary devices in contrast to zombies. Angels? They make less sense than ghosts. Demons? Whether the Devil is a supernatural entity, a perverted superego, or a personal scare (as in "cocaine was my demon") matters little.

One True Path: Is your religion the only way? Do people of other faiths have equally valid beliefs or not? Are your religion's followers saved while the others are condemned for all eternity?


I can't be 100% sure that my current path is the right way.

Spiritual objects: Do certain things in the earth (for example, crystals or plants) have spiritual properties?

Nope.

Religious law: Do you follow religious law or morality codes? For example, fasting or abstinence until marriage? Is not doing so a sin?

Mine discourages adultery... and in the church that I have been attending I find deprecation of pornography.

Spreading the word: Should it be a mission by people of your religion to spread it to as many people as possible?


In that literal sense we are evangelical. We seek no converts from mainline Protestantism and we don't disparage Catholicism or Orthodoxy. I don't know about the other Abrahamic religions. We are firmly monotheistic and trinitarian. We also take the Bible seriously, and we follow Jesus' teachings.