I liked it because I agreed with the philosophy and outlook of the church. It was a place that made room for people like me, who consider themselves to be 'spiritual' on some level but don't have the traditional beliefs that fit in the moulds of other organised religions. I went for while, but eventually got too busy to go every weekend and it just kinda tapered off. It was fine, though. I was seeking something when I went to the church and had gotten what I needed/wanted out of the experience. It was never my intention to attend every Sunday for the rest of my life.
Anyhow, it did start me thinking about religion in New Zealand, and Wellington in particular. What are the predominant religious groups here? According to Statistics New Zealand, more than half the population affiliate with a Christian religion, of which Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian are the largest denominations. The largest non-Christian religions are Buddhist, Hindu, Islam/Muslim, and Spiritualism and New Age religions.
While websurfing this topic, I came across something very funny which you might like to try yourself, particularly if you are wondering about how your beliefs fit with others. It's called the
Belief-o-Matic. It's an online quiz that analyses your belief structure and outlook.
Here were my results:
1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (94%)
3. Theravada Buddhism (85%)
4. Mahayana Buddhism (84%)
5. Neo-Pagan (79%)
6. New Age (78%)
7. Secular Humanism (77%)
8. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (72%)
9. Taoism (71%)
10. New Thought (68%)
11. Scientology (66%)
12. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (58%)
13. Jainism (58%)
14. Bahá'í Faith (56%)
15. Reform Judaism (55%)
16. Hinduism (55%)
17. Orthodox Quaker (52%)
18. Nontheist (45%)
19. Sikhism (36%)
20. Orthodox Judaism (29%)
21. Seventh Day Adventist (24%)
22. Islam (22%)
23. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (20%)
24. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (17%)
25. Jehovah's Witness (12%)
26. Eastern Orthodox (10%)
27. Roman Catholic (10%)
These numbers were really interesting (well, at least to me). Unitarian was at the very top with 100%. Seems I was on the right trail there, eh? I'll confess I didn't even who the Liberal Quakers (at #2) were! In recent years, I've been increasingly interested in learning more about the various Buddhist belief systems, and the quiz seems to have reinforced that. At the bottom was Roman Catholic, which historically was the religion of my Mom's side of the family which had strong Sicilian-Italian roots.
6 comments:
There is something funny about you being 12% Jehovah's Witness!
We have this great UU church that is right around the corner from us. The Church is this old Methodist church that is about 100 year old. We tend to go for a month and then not go for a few months.
To me, it seems that sometimes, their minds are so open that their brains are going to fall out!
Yeah, when I tell people about UU church, I always feel compelled to add a disclaimer about what to expect...
When I was telling one friend (who shall remain anonymous)about their 'acceptance of just about everything' he just looked at me perplexed and said that if they don't believe strongly in anything particular, how could you call it a religion? I guess in the strictest sense, they're not.
LOL on the Jehovah's Witness, I did not even notice it. Good eyes. Perhaps I better take the quiz again and see if I can get that off there...
While we are mentioning the bottom of your list, I see you are 17% Mormon LDS...I am reading that book called, "Under the Banner of Heaven" by the guy that wrote that book about Mt. Everest. I never knew much about Mormons other than they used to be polygamists. There is so very much more!!!
Hey, your top 4 are exactly the same as the ones I got back when I took this thing! I am actually a #3 (sounds like a diner order) but beliefnet thought otherwise.
I have a friend who is a Quaker. From what I can tell, it's a very cool and open-minded religion that has very little to do with Christianity despite is Christian roots - much like Unitarianism. Their main belief is just this: there is that of God in everyone. All their other beliefs follow from this one, and they mostly have to do with treating people with respect and compassion. Most famously, they believe in pacifism, decision-making by consensus.
Where does Episcopalian (Church of England) come in the rankings? After all, if not for Henry V111, this area could combine with Catholics.
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