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1. What faith were you born into or raised with (if any)?
None. I was raised by a lover of mythology, and two militant atheist/agnostics. ("I know it's all bullsh*t, and you don't know what your talking about!")
2. Were you devout as a child/adolescent?
Nope, not a bit of it. I wasn't even baptized until my folks decided that I would do better in a parochial school, as the public schools where I grew up were a little iffy.
3. If you are not currently practicing your childhood faith, what led you away from it?
Since I didn't have one then, I suppose I am still 'practicing' it now. I went through one very brief period where I tried to be Christian, as I was in a Christian high school, but that failed pretty quickly. (after all, in a family of atheists, how else does one rebel?) I have had a long and tempestuous relationship with Wicca/Paganism, and we ultimately decided it was best if we stayed close friends....
4. How many religious denominations, traditions, and/or groups have you belonged to?
Well, 2, 3 or none depending on how you look at it. There is trying to convince myself I bought the Lutheran spiel for a few months, my few years of a nearly, but not quite, literalist Paganism, and the rest of my life, which has been some flavor of atheism, agnosticism, rationalism, and maybe a tiny hint of deism once or twice. Add it up however you like!
5. How would you describe your religion now?
Well, I suppose I have covered that, but really, I don't have any, nor do I want one. I think religion and its myths and allegories are terrific tools for thought, meditation, teaching, and connecting. I do not, however, hold any of them as literal. I no more think there is a divine Jesus than I think that the sun is the wheel of Apollo's chariot. They are both really nice stories though!
6. How long have you been practicing that religion?
I think I really, finally, officially came out as an atheist in the last five years or so. But even my Wicca-ish leanings have been largely symbolic/allegorical in character for at least ten, maybe fifteen years, perhaps?
7. Do you pray? If so, how?
No. I meditate, and I sometimes take time to consciously redirect my mental energies, steer myself away from negative thought patterns/habits, and so on. I suppose one could liken that to prayer, via a sort of 'power of positive thinking' analogy. But I don't in any sense think there is anyone/thing out there listening, not do I feel the need to ask favors of an imaginary friend.
8. Do you practice magic? If so, do you distinguish it from prayer?
See above. Some people might call actively focusing their attitudes/thinking a form of magic. I do think that we are tremendously powerful in terms of the realities we bring about by our thoughts, acts, expectations, etc. There is nothing mystical about it, but we are the drivers, we choose the roads. Someone once put is this way: we steer our ships on currents we ourselves create.
9. Do you work with divinatory oracles like Tarot, astrology, the Runes, etc?
I love Tarot, and have a tremendous interest in Kabbalah. Tarot, for me, is like any mythic system; it can, at times, be useful to think of things within a structured language of symbol - but it has no power in and of itself. If there is anything to divination, it lies on our own ability to perceive the patterns we create by our actions, and the see the likelihoods they set into motion. As far as Kabbalah, my interest is much like it is in Tarot, with an added dimension of a rabid interest in medieval religion and mysticism.
10. Describe your personal concept of God/dess/Higher Power/etc.
Me. Every human being is his or her own god, there is no other, there is nothing outside the world to be feared, implored, or served. the highest good to serve is not some external entity, but the worldly good, he well-being of every human, of every sentient being, of all living things.
11. How does your religion/spirituality explain the concept of/presence of evil?
Depends on what you are referring to. Bad shit happens; lightning strikes, diseases mutate based on environmental factors, earthquakes result from tectonic stresses, etc. Nothing evil there. Humans can be altruistic, generous, loving, caring, decent, noble, kind. We can also be selfish, greedy, vain, cruel, and destructive. I don't excuse it, but I understand it as part of the human condition. I, personally, tend to think that religion exacerbates the negative tendencies, at least as much (if not more) as it augments the good ones. It's not the only thing that does so, but it's a biggie in my book. In terms of evil as an abstract concept, it's a descriptor of the antithesis or lack of what we consider good. Dark is simply the state of lacking light, evil is simply one way (and a somewhat poor one) of referring to the absence of good. But neither 'good' nor 'evil' are particularly precise or effective terms.
12. Is music and/or dance important to your path? Why or why not?
Music is tremendously important to me in general, as are many forms of art. Dance less so, but I enjoy it. Much of my favorite types of art and music are religious in nature, even. Part of my 'path? Well, that starts getting into some pretty big assumptions about the meaning of 'path' that I don't really want to spend time on here.
13. What is your concept of the afterlife?
Being remembered by those who survive you, ideally for having made a positive impact on the world, even if only a small portion of it.
14. Do you believe in ghosts, spirits, Faeries, devas, and/or other beings beyond ordinary perception?
I have seen plenty of things I can't explain, I know that. While I don't really believe in an afterlife for example, in some cases, ghosts seem to be the only explanation for some occurrences. I suspect, though, that however such things come about, it's simply a matter of us not being able to understand the mechanics of it yet. After all, at one point, a cell phone, an antibiotic, or the internet would have been utterly inexplicable, and could only have been understood as mystical. That doesn't take one whit of the wonder, majesty or numinousness out of the world, though. If anything, it's far more wondrous to ponder the intricacy of evolution, say, over simply assuming that because I can't quite wrap my head around it, it must have been "bibbity-bobbity-boo."
15. If you have children, are you raising them in your religion/spirituality? Why or why not?
I am raising my kid to think, to love and respect the world around him, to ask questions, to explore, to love to learn, to question claims that seem illogical, and to value facts as facts, and lovely stories as lovely stories.
None. I was raised by a lover of mythology, and two militant atheist/agnostics. ("I know it's all bullsh*t, and you don't know what your talking about!")
2. Were you devout as a child/adolescent?
Nope, not a bit of it. I wasn't even baptized until my folks decided that I would do better in a parochial school, as the public schools where I grew up were a little iffy.
3. If you are not currently practicing your childhood faith, what led you away from it?
Since I didn't have one then, I suppose I am still 'practicing' it now. I went through one very brief period where I tried to be Christian, as I was in a Christian high school, but that failed pretty quickly. (after all, in a family of atheists, how else does one rebel?) I have had a long and tempestuous relationship with Wicca/Paganism, and we ultimately decided it was best if we stayed close friends....
4. How many religious denominations, traditions, and/or groups have you belonged to?
Well, 2, 3 or none depending on how you look at it. There is trying to convince myself I bought the Lutheran spiel for a few months, my few years of a nearly, but not quite, literalist Paganism, and the rest of my life, which has been some flavor of atheism, agnosticism, rationalism, and maybe a tiny hint of deism once or twice. Add it up however you like!
5. How would you describe your religion now?
Well, I suppose I have covered that, but really, I don't have any, nor do I want one. I think religion and its myths and allegories are terrific tools for thought, meditation, teaching, and connecting. I do not, however, hold any of them as literal. I no more think there is a divine Jesus than I think that the sun is the wheel of Apollo's chariot. They are both really nice stories though!
6. How long have you been practicing that religion?
I think I really, finally, officially came out as an atheist in the last five years or so. But even my Wicca-ish leanings have been largely symbolic/allegorical in character for at least ten, maybe fifteen years, perhaps?
7. Do you pray? If so, how?
No. I meditate, and I sometimes take time to consciously redirect my mental energies, steer myself away from negative thought patterns/habits, and so on. I suppose one could liken that to prayer, via a sort of 'power of positive thinking' analogy. But I don't in any sense think there is anyone/thing out there listening, not do I feel the need to ask favors of an imaginary friend.
8. Do you practice magic? If so, do you distinguish it from prayer?
See above. Some people might call actively focusing their attitudes/thinking a form of magic. I do think that we are tremendously powerful in terms of the realities we bring about by our thoughts, acts, expectations, etc. There is nothing mystical about it, but we are the drivers, we choose the roads. Someone once put is this way: we steer our ships on currents we ourselves create.
9. Do you work with divinatory oracles like Tarot, astrology, the Runes, etc?
I love Tarot, and have a tremendous interest in Kabbalah. Tarot, for me, is like any mythic system; it can, at times, be useful to think of things within a structured language of symbol - but it has no power in and of itself. If there is anything to divination, it lies on our own ability to perceive the patterns we create by our actions, and the see the likelihoods they set into motion. As far as Kabbalah, my interest is much like it is in Tarot, with an added dimension of a rabid interest in medieval religion and mysticism.
10. Describe your personal concept of God/dess/Higher Power/etc.
Me. Every human being is his or her own god, there is no other, there is nothing outside the world to be feared, implored, or served. the highest good to serve is not some external entity, but the worldly good, he well-being of every human, of every sentient being, of all living things.
11. How does your religion/spirituality explain the concept of/presence of evil?
Depends on what you are referring to. Bad shit happens; lightning strikes, diseases mutate based on environmental factors, earthquakes result from tectonic stresses, etc. Nothing evil there. Humans can be altruistic, generous, loving, caring, decent, noble, kind. We can also be selfish, greedy, vain, cruel, and destructive. I don't excuse it, but I understand it as part of the human condition. I, personally, tend to think that religion exacerbates the negative tendencies, at least as much (if not more) as it augments the good ones. It's not the only thing that does so, but it's a biggie in my book. In terms of evil as an abstract concept, it's a descriptor of the antithesis or lack of what we consider good. Dark is simply the state of lacking light, evil is simply one way (and a somewhat poor one) of referring to the absence of good. But neither 'good' nor 'evil' are particularly precise or effective terms.
12. Is music and/or dance important to your path? Why or why not?
Music is tremendously important to me in general, as are many forms of art. Dance less so, but I enjoy it. Much of my favorite types of art and music are religious in nature, even. Part of my 'path? Well, that starts getting into some pretty big assumptions about the meaning of 'path' that I don't really want to spend time on here.
13. What is your concept of the afterlife?
Being remembered by those who survive you, ideally for having made a positive impact on the world, even if only a small portion of it.
14. Do you believe in ghosts, spirits, Faeries, devas, and/or other beings beyond ordinary perception?
I have seen plenty of things I can't explain, I know that. While I don't really believe in an afterlife for example, in some cases, ghosts seem to be the only explanation for some occurrences. I suspect, though, that however such things come about, it's simply a matter of us not being able to understand the mechanics of it yet. After all, at one point, a cell phone, an antibiotic, or the internet would have been utterly inexplicable, and could only have been understood as mystical. That doesn't take one whit of the wonder, majesty or numinousness out of the world, though. If anything, it's far more wondrous to ponder the intricacy of evolution, say, over simply assuming that because I can't quite wrap my head around it, it must have been "bibbity-bobbity-boo."
15. If you have children, are you raising them in your religion/spirituality? Why or why not?
I am raising my kid to think, to love and respect the world around him, to ask questions, to explore, to love to learn, to question claims that seem illogical, and to value facts as facts, and lovely stories as lovely stories.
