Which of these religions is the “weirdest”?
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  Which of these religions is the “weirdest”?
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Poll
Question: Which of these belief systems is the “weirdest”?
#1
Mormonism
 
#2
Scientology
 
#3
Nation of Islam
 
#4
Raelism
 
#5
Adventism
 
#6
Jehovahs Witnesses
 
#7
Falun Gong
 
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Total Voters: 42

Author Topic: Which of these religions is the “weirdest”?  (Read 3737 times)
Samof94
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« on: October 15, 2022, 05:47:44 AM »

Which of these religions is the “weirdest” to you??? They involve believes like Xenu, segregation in heaven, gold plates, or that God lives inside a black man.
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Nathan
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« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2022, 07:55:31 AM »

I vote Nation of Islam because in addition to its bizarre teachings it also has very strange origins. Its founder, Wallace Fard Muhammad, is one of the most enigmatic figures in American history; absolutely nothing is known for certain about him before or after his work setting up the NOI in Depression-era Detroit, and what's speculated or known inconclusively has a ton of inconsistencies.
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2022, 11:44:18 AM »

The one that doesn't celebrate birthdays.
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discovolante
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« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2022, 11:58:31 AM »

Write-in: Global Community Communications Alliance, also centered around a very unlikely would-be prophet (a failed musician and charismatic Catholic activist from Pittsburgh who moved to Arizona and started an esoteric ufologist hippie compound-cum-record-label)
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Samof94
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« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2022, 02:21:49 PM »

JWs think they is pagan.
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Statilius the Epicurean
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« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2022, 05:35:22 PM »

Scientology literally tortures its own leaders, so
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« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2022, 08:22:55 PM »

Mormonism is not "weird". It does make the most sense to me.

But it is a GOP club and I have no interest in it. It is way to political.
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discovolante
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« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2022, 08:59:03 PM »

Mormonism is not "weird". It does make the most sense to me.

But it is a GOP club and I have no interest in it. It is way to political.

Ex-Mormonism is far more of an ethnoreligion than Mormonism could ever hope to be.
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« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2022, 08:55:27 AM »

I vote Nation of Islam because in addition to its bizarre teachings it also has very strange origins. Its founder, Wallace Fard Muhammad, is one of the most enigmatic figures in American history; absolutely nothing is known for certain about him before or after his work setting up the NOI in Depression-era Detroit, and what's speculated or known inconclusively has a ton of inconsistencies.
Indeed, the Nation of Islam combined racial pseudoscience with liberation theology to engender a flamboyant religious alternative for black Americans who viewed Christianity itself as emblematic of racial oppression. While the original movement no longer holds societal relevance, an off-shoot sect, the Five-Percenters, gained notoriety among NYC-area African-Americans during the immediate post-Civil Rights Era. The Five-Percenters go a step further than the Nation of Islam, preaching the Afro-Asiatic man and woman are the Divine and Earth incarnate, respectively. In addition, followers believe 85% of the population lacks this knowledge of self, 10% knows however hides it, and it is incumbent on the 5% to preach these perceived truths.

Most notably, the Five-Percent Nation, or the Nation of Gods And Earths, wielded a primal influence on hip-hop music as a genre; Rap legends Rakim, Common, Talib Kweli, Black Thought, AZ, and a supermajority of Wu-Tang Clan members all profess adherence to its core tenets.  Wu-Tang leader and renowned record producer RZA claims "About 80% of hip-hop comes from the Five Percent ... In a lot of ways hip-hop is the Five-Percent". Even non-believers such as regular G.O.A.T. nominee Nas frequently shout out Five-Percent beliefs. For example, he boasts "Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian: half-man, half-amazin" on It Ain't Hard To Tell, the final track off his debut album (and acclaimed magnum opus) Illmatic.

This association was not exclusive to boom-bappers during the genre's formative era;  Joey Bada$$, a contemporary Brooklyn-native rapper who remains steadfast to traditionalist production, writes "I drop knowledge like a Five-Percenter"  in 95 til Infinity. Furthermore, the colloquial "word" among youth to indicate agreement or assent, derives from the Five-Percent Nation teaching of "Word is Bond". Overall, it is impossible to write about the origins of hip-hop, and consequently a wide berth of modern American popular culture, without recounting the Nation of Gods and Earths' influence on its development.
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« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2022, 11:01:09 AM »
« Edited: October 17, 2022, 11:32:31 PM by Ed Miliband Revenge Tour »

The above post reminds me of a certain type of Christian hardcore subculture that is nowhere near on the level of anything in the poll but I'm sure most people here would still find quite weird. It doesn't really exist in a "pure" form anymore but its influence is still identifiable amongst some people like one of my pastors' husband and multiple people I met at Furnace Fest.

(Not me because I'm not straight edge.)
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« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2022, 03:10:16 PM »

The above post reminds me of a certain type of Christian hardcore subculture that is nowhere near on the level of anything in the poll but I'm sure most people here would still find quite weird. It doesn't really exist in a "pure" form anymore but it's influence is still identifiable amongst some people like one of my pastors' husband and multiple people I met at Furnace Fest.

(Not me because I'm not straight edge.)

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BRTD
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« Reply #11 on: October 16, 2022, 03:38:40 PM »

The above post reminds me of a certain type of Christian hardcore subculture that is nowhere near on the level of anything in the poll but I'm sure most people here would still find quite weird. It doesn't really exist in a "pure" form anymore but it's influence is still identifiable amongst some people like one of my pastors' husband and multiple people I met at Furnace Fest.

(Not me because I'm not straight edge.)


Except many of the bands from that scene were heavily influential and popular even amongst non-Christian audiences. Look at Underoath back in their heyday for example.
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Nathan
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« Reply #12 on: October 17, 2022, 11:33:32 PM »

The above post reminds me of a certain type of Christian hardcore subculture that is nowhere near on the level of anything in the poll but I'm sure most people here would still find quite weird. It doesn't really exist in a "pure" form anymore but its influence is still identifiable amongst some people like one of my pastors' husband and multiple people I met at Furnace Fest.

(Not me because I'm not straight edge.)

Can you elaborate on the tenets and continuing influence of this subculture? I'm actually intrigued.
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BRTD
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« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2022, 12:05:56 AM »

The above post reminds me of a certain type of Christian hardcore subculture that is nowhere near on the level of anything in the poll but I'm sure most people here would still find quite weird. It doesn't really exist in a "pure" form anymore but its influence is still identifiable amongst some people like one of my pastors' husband and multiple people I met at Furnace Fest.

(Not me because I'm not straight edge.)

Can you elaborate on the tenets and continuing influence of this subculture? I'm actually intrigued.

The best description I can describe is a milder and (perhaps quite ironically) less socially conservative form of Hardline (which is very weird and on par with the stuff talked about here) with a syncretic mix with Christianity, but in a way rejecting denominations (kind of the rule in Christian hardcore as a whole honestly), not really caring at all about theology but replacing the theological debated topics with topics of debate within the hardcore scene, not necessarily being vegan but "eco-conscious" (in a way that doesn't come across as weird because even mainstream liberals are like that today, that wasn't so much the case in the 90s and early 00s though), and almost always straight edge and syncretic with Christianity, and not in a way that Mormons or fundamentalist Baptists shun alcohol but rather more like using straight edge to justify Christianity rather than the other way around. This all (aside from perhaps the opposition to abortion in a "consistent life ethic" manner) had a secular counterpart of course, and in fact one could argue that it was really just the spiritual successor to "Krishnacore" which yes is a real thing which is even older than Christian hardcore, it was started amongst some NYHC bands like Shelter in the 80s and spread, and as someone pointed out in a Facebook discussion while the thought of it might sound very bizarre to younger hardcore kids today, the explanation is actually pretty obvious: Krishna was an actual religion with tenets of veganism and essentially straight edge built in so it wasn't difficult to add a dogmatic spiritual justifications for those things over what was popular in the hardcore scene, now that straight edge and veganism are much less common in it, it feels a lot more out of place. Also what many would find strange about this is that some "adherents" promoted a rather charismatic twist on Christianity (common lyric: some variation of "No one will leave this room sick!") and in some ways it sort of felt like Appalachian Pentecostalism except amongst urban people who liked going to basement shows and dingy dive bar ones (but not drinking at them!) And of course standard hardcore ethics still applied, so things like rejecting major label music, corporate owned venues and certain genres of music considered "negative influences" (like black metal or hardcore gangsta rap.)

So what happened? Well basically the same factors I described here, in time most people became at least one of not straight edge, vegan/vegetarian or Christian anymore, happened to a lot of bands, see Unbroken whose name supposedly described their commitment to straight edge but only one member is straight edge today, too many people to name for the vegan/vegetarian stuff and see Underoath as the most obvious and famous example of a band that isn't Christian anymore (albeit one that was never in this style), this led to the culture sort of dissolving, but if you meet someone who is both Christian and straight edge, they'll kind of give vibes and strains of this thought, also identifiable by someone wearing a shirt of certain now quite obscure 90s bands like xDisciplex or early Facedown Records releases. And my pastor's husband still usually wears his hat with the big "X" on it (somewhat ironically though he used to work as a bouncer at a now closed legendary punk venue here, but I guess that's not hypocritical if one is not militant straight edge, a now essentially entirely defunct movement.)
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2022, 04:49:51 PM »

Mormonism is not "weird". It does make the most sense to me.

But it is a GOP club and I have no interest in it. It is way to political.

Ex-Mormonism is far more of an ethnoreligion than Mormonism could ever hope to be.

If the 2nd post is serious, could you elaborate on it? Are you saying that ex-mormonism is more unifying/homogenizing than Mormonism itself?
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #15 on: October 18, 2022, 08:50:03 PM »

Mormonism is not "weird". It does make the most sense to me.

But it is a GOP club and I have no interest in it. It is way to political.

Ex-Mormonism is far more of an ethnoreligion than Mormonism could ever hope to be.

If the 2nd post is serious, could you elaborate on it? Are you saying that ex-mormonism is more unifying/homogenizing than Mormonism itself?

Well a lot of that lot tend to be white, LGBT [increasingly]  extremely young, college educated, and upper-class, and many of them are bent on getting drunk or drinking coffee just 'cuz....

Really, it seems almost as if breaking the Word of Wisdom and other Standards some days with them, just to prove non-Mormonism.
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Nathan
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« Reply #16 on: October 18, 2022, 10:25:46 PM »

Mormonism is not "weird". It does make the most sense to me.

But it is a GOP club and I have no interest in it. It is way to political.

Ex-Mormonism is far more of an ethnoreligion than Mormonism could ever hope to be.

If the 2nd post is serious, could you elaborate on it? Are you saying that ex-mormonism is more unifying/homogenizing than Mormonism itself?

Well a lot of that lot tend to be white, LGBT [increasingly]  extremely young, college educated, and upper-class, and many of them are bent on getting drunk or drinking coffee just 'cuz....

Really, it seems almost as if breaking the Word of Wisdom and other Standards some days with them, just to prove non-Mormonism.

I can't speak to ex-Mormons but I have friends in the exvangelical crowd of whom I've noticed something similar. It's basically a subculture in and of itself, although I wouldn't say it's more of one than practicing Evangelicalism is.
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discovolante
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« Reply #17 on: October 19, 2022, 12:24:14 AM »

Mormonism is not "weird". It does make the most sense to me.

But it is a GOP club and I have no interest in it. It is way to political.

Ex-Mormonism is far more of an ethnoreligion than Mormonism could ever hope to be.

If the 2nd post is serious, could you elaborate on it? Are you saying that ex-mormonism is more unifying/homogenizing than Mormonism itself?

It's a tongue-in-cheek quip painting with a broad brush, but the fact that we can even point to the stereotype of the queer kid from a genteel Mormon family who breaks with the church and moves to Salt Lake City to become a bobo while still carrying many quirks and cultural signifiers of having been raised in the church, and that "ex-Mormon" online communities are so widespread, is telling here, especially in light of non-Mormon America's love for performatively dunking on Mormonism and anyone associated with it and the backlash that engenders.
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Diabolical Materialism
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« Reply #18 on: October 19, 2022, 11:02:36 AM »

If we're going based on beliefs alone, the Raëlists or Nation of Islam take it hands down. The Dr. Yakub stuff is hilarious and serves as a source of inspiration and courage in my personal life.

However in practices it's gotta be the Scientologists. Bizarre how they've been able to continue doing it for so long.
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discovolante
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« Reply #19 on: October 19, 2022, 06:02:43 PM »

The Dr. Yakub stuff is hilarious and serves as a source of inspiration and courage in my personal life.

The Nuwaubian Nation would like a word with you.
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Diabolical Materialism
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« Reply #20 on: October 19, 2022, 06:32:32 PM »

The Dr. Yakub stuff is hilarious and serves as a source of inspiration and courage in my personal life.

The Nuwaubian Nation would like a word with you.
If the Nuwaubian Nation tries to front I will hit the lab and cook up a new, more terrible version of white people (the Irish).
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PSOL
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« Reply #21 on: October 20, 2022, 02:29:58 PM »

Scientology once you get rid of the parables is all about worshipping the leader as a god and sucking up to him.

Given räelism is entirely based on ripped off material from a science fiction novel, I’ll have to go with Falun Gong, which is legitimately insane at every angle
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LabourJersey
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« Reply #22 on: October 20, 2022, 09:19:08 PM »

Mormonism is not "weird". It does make the most sense to me.

But it is a GOP club and I have no interest in it. It is way to political.

Ex-Mormonism is far more of an ethnoreligion than Mormonism could ever hope to be.

If the 2nd post is serious, could you elaborate on it? Are you saying that ex-mormonism is more unifying/homogenizing than Mormonism itself?

Well a lot of that lot tend to be white, LGBT [increasingly]  extremely young, college educated, and upper-class, and many of them are bent on getting drunk or drinking coffee just 'cuz....

Really, it seems almost as if breaking the Word of Wisdom and other Standards some days with them, just to prove non-Mormonism.

I can't speak to ex-Mormons but I have friends in the exvangelical crowd of whom I've noticed something similar. It's basically a subculture in and of itself, although I wouldn't say it's more of one than practicing Evangelicalism is.

Interesting. Based on my (more limited) experience with exvangelicals I think this is true. But I get the impression there's a divide between the exvangelicals who have essentially abandoned religion (or institutional religion at least) and those who have passionately joined a mainstream, affirming denomination (there's quite of few of these people at my Anglo-Catholic Episcopalian church)
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nicholas.slaydon
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« Reply #23 on: October 23, 2022, 11:20:36 PM »

Scientology is not a religion, so I guess I would have to go with Mormonism.
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Samof94
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« Reply #24 on: October 26, 2022, 05:47:34 AM »

If we're going based on beliefs alone, the Raëlists or Nation of Islam take it hands down. The Dr. Yakub stuff is hilarious and serves as a source of inspiration and courage in my personal life.

However in practices it's gotta be the Scientologists. Bizarre how they've been able to continue doing it for so long.
A big headed scientist using eugenics on a Greek Island thousands of years ago makes no sense. It also is nothing like what most Muslims believe.
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