There were requests on the How Religious Are We post for a breakdown of what TYPE of religion everyone is. And I think that’s a fun idea and I think we should do it.
Here is the trouble: I don’t know all the types. So before I make the poll, I need to know what to put ON the poll. I’m not sure how well this will work: for example, there are huge swaths of denominations that fall under “Christian”—do we need a separate poll option for every single one? Certainly the denominations vary considerably, to the point where some denominations would consider themselves significantly different than others (thus the existence of denominations). But do we need to list every single denomination, or could we clump them a bit with adjectives such as conservative and liberal? …I kind of think we need every denomination, don’t you, considering how very very relative such terms are? But multiply all the different religions times all the denominations within that religion and WHEW! We are looking at a long poll, aren’t we! Well, that’s fine. It’s not like we pay by the inch.
And what about people who consider themselves a particular religion but don’t affiliate themselves with a particular denomination? I suppose we’d need a Miscellaneous category for each religion?
If you’re religious but are not aligned with anything (religion OR denomination) that has a name, you can suggest a poll option you think would cover it well. It’s going to be a challenge, though, because so many possibilities would ALSO apply to all the other categories: “spiritual,” for example. Maybe something like “Unaffiliated Religious”?
(If you’re not religious, don’t worry: maybe we can do a non-religious poll later on, because there were requests for that as well.)
Well, I’m not at all sure this is going to work, but let’s try it anyway and see what we get. In the comments section below, tell me what you’d vote for if you saw it. (You may certainly be anonymous if you prefer.) If you’re somewhat flexible, say so (“I could vote for either Methodist or Christian, though I’d prefer to vote for Methodist”)—and it would be a good idea to say it in a way that explains how it works (“I’m a Christian, but more specifically I’d align myself with the Christian denomination known as Methodist”), to help me figure out which things are similar-but-different and which things are subsets of other things.
But remember that it would be useless to have a poll where every single person is the only person voting for their own exact, specific option: we are looking for CLUMP terms to fit a LARGER group, rather than, say, each person’s own name. It would be nice to end up with a format like this for the poll:
Christian: Baptist
Christian: Christian Reformed Church
Christian: Methodist
Jewish: Orthodox
Jewish: Reconstructionist
Jewish: Reform
And so on. I’m not going to make an option for “Christian: Liberal Politically but Conservative Biblically” or “Christian: But I Don’t Actually Believe in God, I Just Think the Christian Religion Offers a Good Model for Living Morally.” We’re looking for how we’d tell it to a census-taker, not how we’d explain it to a spouse candidate.
In fact, would it work to have the answers in exactly that format? ________: _________. Main religion first, followed by section? I’ll bet that WOULD work!
All right, are we ready to try this? Leave your poll-option choice below—and feel free to come back later and change it, if someone else mentions a choice you like even better.
I’m amused by the fact that I am, personally, one of your examples. (“I’m a Christian, but more specifically I’d align myself with the Christian denomination known as Methodist”)
I’d also happily align myself with a larger category like “Christian: non-evangelical Protestant”, as I would like to separated from those Protestants who believe it’s a vital part of their faith to convert others, but am fine with being grouped with other denominations like Lutherans and Presbyterians.
Oooo. I like Christian: non-evangelical Protestant. I vote for that.
Jewish: Reform
Well I think I would vote for some general Christian category. I grew up Catholic and Lutheran (always told others my religion was Catherine) but wouldn’t specifically call myself either one anymore.
BUT according to the Belief-O-Matic quiz, my actual beliefs more closely align with those of Liberal Quakers
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx
Ooh, what a fascinating quiz! I got Catholic, which is a relief, because I don’t know what I would have done if it had told me something different.
when i went to Quaker school and considered myself largely Quaker that quiz always ranked me 1. Unitarian Universalist and 2. Quaker. Now that I am an active UU, the results are exactly flipped. I also always enjoy how it tells me what I definitely am NOT (any religion that doesnt like the gays and thinks anyone who has an abortion is a murderer is basically going to fall waaay down on my list).
I got UU, no surprise here. I guess my strongest belief is in The Golden Rule.
I would agree with everything G said, although I might also allign myself with Christian: Culturally, but if that was not an option I would go with non-evangelical (I would technically consider myself Lutheran, but the only time I ever go to church is with my MIL to Methodist, for Easter). LDS needs to be on the list, and Catholic. Wiccan? My mom is, but I don’t know if people still identify as that.
I used to identify as Roman Catholic, and I guess now I’d be Lapsed Catholic? Totally Pissed Off Catholic? Morally Indignant Catholic? Repulsed By The Human Church Catholic? Tired Of Sexism And Homophobia And Expensive Shoes While People Starve Catholic? Something like that.
Hey! We belong to the same religion! Meetings to be held at bars in various locations on random days.
I am also a member of this religion! But, seriously, I heard once that “Lapsed Catholic” would rank among the most-populated denominations, so maybe a “Lapsed Catholic” or “Cafeteria Catholic” would be a good addition.
Ah, you’re all awesome, making me laugh during my lunch hour. I’d totally call myself a cafeteria Catholic.
There seem to be a lot of us. This may actually have to be a category.
R. Catholic: Still In It
R. Catholic: Lapsed
Still In It: (subtext: I see the church as more than the sum of the human failings in our leadership, and/or the new Pope brought me back)
Lapsed (subtext: see Brigid’s post above)
OT: I have a daughter named Katie Mae. your username made me do a double-take. not many Katie Maes!
as you were.
We could go to church together!
i love you.
I am Catholic and I think the Christian: Catholic option, if there was one, is what I would choose in the poll. But I would be tempted to come back to the comments and give a long explanation about which parts of Catholic teaching are important to me and which parts I find myself with a difference of opinion!
It’s almost irresistible, isn’t it? It’s like telling birth stories. I just CAN’T not-tell mine, if the subject comes up!
I am technically a Roman Catholic but would be fine with the category Christian: Catholic
But I am with Kelsey on this- I feel the need to EXPLAIN myself!! Even though on the original poll I chose “medium-high”. There is so much variation, even among various parishes with the “roman catholic” designation. Some are super strict and right to the ‘letter of the law’. While others, like the one we currently call our “parish” is much more open and welcoming. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a catholic parish but the overall community feels lighter than others that I’ve experienced.
I know there is no way to poll this per se but I’d be interested to know if there is a correlation between the ease with which each person selected their “level” and the ease with which each person selects their “type”. Such a fascinating topic all around :)
I’m also a cafeteria Catholic.
interestingly, a friend of mine once said, “If you say you’re Catholic, people assume you don’t believe absolutely everything the church teaches. If you say you’re a specific Protestant denomination, people assume you DO believe everything your church teaches.” And I agree with her 100%. I am not entirely sure why, except that being Catholic is SO much more than just church, it’s almost an ethnicity. People who support gay rights and use birth control and think divorce is okay will still call themselves Catholic because it is so much a part of their identity. I don’t mean to diminish how much other denominations become part of a person’s identity, and that is clearly what I’m doing and I’m not explaining it well at all so I will just shut up now.
I would vote for this: “Christian: Quaker” or this “Christian: Quaker (Conservative)” or this “Christian: peace church” (which would let you lump together all Quakers, Mennonites, Brethren).
I’m Quaker, too, although these days several Quakers would not necessarily call themselves Christian. Maybe
Peace Church: Quaker
Peace Church: Mennonite
Peace Church: Brethren
?
really? why? Just curious here, I thought Quakers were Christians (the basis of their Peace loving being Jesus’ example?). So I’d love to know what the difference in labeling is… (pretty please)
From your examples I’d go with Christian: Baptist, if you want to be specific. I usually just put evangelical Christian on forms that ask for my religion though so I’d be fine with that.
Christian: Orthodox for me, please.
Christian: Mormon/LDS over here!
Off topic, but I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe your blog when I recommend it to my sister-in-law, and I just figured it out. You’re an anthropologist. The way you write about daylight saving time, PTA personality conflicts, baby naming- it’s all some good, meaty, messy anthropology. With a side of compassion.
Ok back to religion.
Oooooooooo, ANTHROPOLOGIST! I LIKE that!
Christian: Mormon/LDS here in VA too!
Me too!
I personally think Christian: Catholic and Christian: Protestant are sufficient. In fact, I would prefer to vote for either “Protestant” or plain “Christian” than Evangelical, which the church I belong to technically is, because that seems to be one of those terms seen as extremely pejorative these days (as evidenced already in the comments by people making sure others don’t think they’re one of THOSE). I am not a Bible-beater, or a gay-basher, or even a tea-partier. I do not go out and try to convert others to my faith.
I liked a comment on the ‘how religious are we’ post that said something about how those at the centers of their various religions have more in common than those at the center have with those on the fringes. I wouldn’t compare the evangelicals who scream the loudest, most inflammatory things and therefore bring media attention on themselves with groups who actually kill people in the name of their religion, but I very, very much think they need to learn some compassion, get over themselves, and go away. At least so they stop ruining the image of all evangelicals.
That said, if you broke out the survey into all (most?) of the various protestant denominations, I would select evangelical, because, well, what else can I pick? That’s what I am, even if I don’t agree with every denominational tenet or think the public perception is accurate.
If you were going to do Christian: Catholic and Christian: Protestant, you would also need Christian: Orthodox.
There are two often-used ways to break down American Protestants–(1) by similarities of belief in the present day or (2) along historical/denominational lines. The first way makes for categories like Mainline, Evangelical, Fundamentalist (often pejorative), Charismatic. The second makes for categories like Episcopalian/Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed/Calvinist/Presbyterian, Anabaptist/Baptist, Methodist/Wesleyan tradition, Quaker, UU, Assemblies of God/Pentecostal, LDS (Quaker, UU, and LDS may not fall into “Protestant” really, but historically speaking they have their roots in Protestantism). People who are “Mainline” in the first scheme are usually more likely to identify by the denominations/historical traditions in the second scheme, whereas those who are “Evangelical” are more likely to identify just as Christian or “born-again Christian” or “bible-believer” or “follower of Jesus”–though there are certainly exceptions.
I would consider myself “Christian – Catholic.” While there are different types of Catholics (I’m thinking of Latin Rite and Eastern Rite, with all of the further differentiations here), I think it would be fine to classify all of us as “Catholic,” since it’s more of a difference in how we practice our faith than what we believe.
If you made a limited poll, I would just pick Christian, but if I could have my druthers, as my mom used to say, I would like to pick Progressive Christian or Post-Modern Christian (even though those have baggage of their own).
Specifically, I’d be Christian: Episcopalian but like noted above I’d be fine with Protestant: non- evangelical along with the Presbyterians/Lutherans/Methodists/congregationalists. I think that the Protestant branches that are more evangelical/ born-again style could also be lumped together (Baptist, Assembly of God, Pentecostal, Non-denominational) based on my memories of growing up in that style of church. But it’s very possible I’m wrong and some evangelical Christians would want to be more subgroups! My goodness, this could turn into a very long poll. Or maybe there’s a space for more liturgical protestants (Episcos, Lutherans) vs. less liturgical.
Anyway, this is one of those comments sections that I am going to find RIVETING.
Yes, one of my churches was also “Non-Denominational”
Christian: Non-denominational. That’s what my church actually is, non-denominational. Might be a good addition to your poll as it covers a lot of smaller groups.
I was going to suggest non-denominational also. It covers a lot of people I know personally.
Another vote for Christian: non-denominational
I’d be good with Christian: Lutheran.
I struggle with Christian: Lutheran because there are so many divisions within that. I was raised ELCA and the first time I went to a WELS church and learned about closed communion and voting men I really lost it.
Laura, you too? :) I’d happily go for Christian: LDS as well. (So nice when the baby decides to fall asleep without being rocked… though rocking is nice in an entirely different way…)
I was raised Catholic, then converted to Lutheran, though I don’t identify with either any longer. I’m wondering if “searching” should be a category?
Oh, I like that a lot!
Christian: Presbyterian
I think Christian: Evangelical covers a lot of the non-denominational Bible churches.
Sorry, but really disagree.
I grew up at a “Christian: Evangelical” church
Switched to a “Christian: Non-denomination” church
not the same in the least
I have associated with several different religions or spiritualities over the years. I would be sure to include at the very least, Pagan. Some might want that broken down further if called upon to comment.
I’d vote for Christian: Protestant, but I’d prefer Christian: Non-denominational. I agree it comfortably covers most smaller “no-name” Christian groups.
Also Christian: Mormon/LDS
Hm… None of the above? Raised Christian: Baptist but I haven’t identified as such in 20 years.
Forgive me if this has been said (no time to read comments right now): Can you add one factor to each section, such as:
Christian: Baptist (participating)
Christian: Baptist (non-participating)
That might help define people who have that basis but don’t attend/participate.
I saw this after I answered. I like this option. Christian: Lutheran (non-participating)
I like the idea of having this option as well. Maybe to make the poll more approachable length-wise, have it as an option at the end, after you’ve listed all the types of religion? (Hopefully the poll software could easily combine those two criteria, so your eventual chart would be able to sum up groups like practicing Catholics and non-practicing Catholics separately).
As for me, I’d be good with just Pagan. I’d be OK with Pagan: Wiccan as well, but have a moderate preference for the former.
I say this very delicately, but I think LDS should be in a category of its own, not under the Christian label. It is an interesting thing, but obviously hard to talk about without hurting feelings kind of thing, but most mainstream Christians don’t consider Mormonism a branch of the Christian tree, though LDS members believe that they are part of the Christian tradition.
I think this’ll be okay: if that branch considers themselves Christian, then that’s what they should be under. I don’t think we’ll even have to take into account what religions/denominations think of each other, since we’re only asking how people would categorize their own religious affiliation.
Oh.. I’m the first person to list something other than Christian.
Hinduism. I’m not a practicing hindu (do not attend church, nor do I know all the stories or specifics about each deity… there are sooo many). But I do believe in the hindus form of reincarnation and karma (rather than buddhism). There are many sects of hinduism and they differ greatly, especially when you consider traditional hinduism in India vs. western hinduism. So as far as Hinduism: ______. I’m not entirely sure what to say for the second portion. Maybe someone else can help me out?
How about Cultural Catholic? Was Catholic, but now less religon-y but miss the cultural traditions and community of Catholicism. Don’t miss the homophobia and sexism, though.
Yes! Cultural Catholic! I think this fits me better than cafeteria Catholic. I’m trying to find a way to fit my beliefs within Catholicism (and work towards reforming some of the major issues) but I could never abandon my faith. My family on my dad’s side is Italian, my mom’s side is Irish-German, and I consider Catholicism part of my heritage.
Christian: LDS
Jewish: Reform!
Muslim: Progressive (I prefer the term progressive, though the mainstream in my faith would use the word liberal.)
Christian: Baptist ..and I guess non-participating because the kid goes to wednesday night church but I have yet been unable to get us to regularly attend sunday church…
Unitarian Universalist for me.
Pagan should most certainly be an option, though I am not certain I would break it down beyond that. I mean there are certainly breakdowns of the different flavors of Paganism, but most all the Pagans I know (including myself) are generally content with identifying ourselves as the larger generic term (Pagan) for such situations as these (as opposed to Wiccan, Druidic, Shaministic, Hermetic, Asatru, etc).
I would identify as Christian: Methodist but would also be willing to identify as Christian: Protestant, non-evangelical.
Some others that I think would be helpful to put on the list: Christian: Catholic; Christian: LDS; UU Affiliated; Pagan. I also LOVE the above mention of “searching.” Obviously, too, Agnostic and Atheist.
I think we should refrain from applying any labels that imply political affiliation. I firmly believe in the separation of church and state. I know many times views are shaped by their religious affiliation, but I think you then get into a lot of stereotypes of what is or isn’t a conservative or liberal and I think those have become too twisted in their meanings.
At first I thought I’d say Christian: Roman Catholic but now I think I’d add Defensive. :)
I am Brigid’s type of Catholic. Raised, but lapsed and somewhat horrified.
At our UU church, we do something like this every year. The minister reads the titles of various “clumps” and each person who identifies with that clump stands up. You can stand up as many times as you feel included, but “Secular Humanist” always gets the most people standing.
As a fellow UU, I’d be curious what the other clumps are? And what this would be a part of?
I know that when my UU congregation started searching for a settled minister, we did a survey of the population like this, to help guide the search committee in narrowing down some of the applicants. This was after we had had a more Christian leaning interim minister (who has since gone on to become a minister with the United Church), which put a fair number of people off services for a while. Plus, I think this kind of information is useful for a minister who is looking to speak to a varied audience.
Oh, and what the other clumps besides secular humanist question? We’ve got Christians, Jews, Atheists, pantheists, Buddhists, Wiccan/earth based. I have to say, it’s the only place you can attend a Passover Seder where lasagna is served. LOL
I’d probably go with “Christian: But I Don’t Actually Believe in God, I Just Think the Christian Religion Offers a Good Model for Living Morally” or something in that vein.
“I don’t really know what I personally believe but I’m cool with whatever you believe as long as you don’t force it down my throat”?
“I’m dubious about the whole thing but since I live in a Christian nation , it’s important to have a baseline understanding for cultural reasons”?
I should probably just wait for the non-religious post to come around, but I’m genuinely curious. If there’s a church we would consider joining, can we non-affiliated types cast a vote in this poll? I have seriously considered becoming a friend (Quaker) when I have children because I think some religious background can be helpful and character building. It’s not for purely spiritual reasons, but it is the one sect I could see myself affiliating with in the future.
If I need to wait patiently for the next poll, just tell me to run along :) Interactive polls though! So tempting to take part!
*adding “What religion most APPEALS to you?” poll idea to list*
Officially Christian: Lutheran; Currently Spiritual and Searching
I have no idea what I am. I am not baptized, was brought to some kind of protestant church when I was a young child (not even sure which one) and then never brought to church again. I celebrate all of the Christian holidays, but more as a cultural thing because I come from a long line of Christian protestants dating back to just after the Mayflower. I think I believe in God, but I don’t think I believe Jesus rose from the dead, so I don’t think I am Christian. I have no category. Maybe someone could tell me? I’d love to find a church I could go to that doesn’t talk about Jesus, but talks about how to be a good person etc.
Hello fellow Heather :) Do we share a brain as well as a name? Your description is so spot on. I too went to church off and on in early childhood, and then just wasn’t brought anymore (though we continued to celebrate Christmas and Easter). I struggled through much of my formative years with my lack of belief in the son of God/resurrection portion of Christianity. I have a very loose belief in a higher power and typically prefer not to share how I feel with others. I stated earlier in the thread that I was considering taking any future children to Quaker meeting house, if only to introduce them to the concept/morals and to give them something to fall back on if grilled by classmates about their religion. I have yet to decide if this is truly necessary for spiritual development, but the appeal of finding a church that fits is undeniable and so far this has been the best “sounding” option to me personally. Maybe liberal Quakerism would be your cup of tea? Since you asked, I thought I’d throw that out there.
My parents took my sister and me to Meeting when we were kids, after we started coming home from school crying about being struck down by lightning because we didn’t go to church (it was a very religious area). While I understand the impulse by my parents and you, I think they may have been better to a) talk to the school about bullying and religious/non-religious tolerance and/or b) have lots of conversations with us about how to respond to these kinds of threats. There was nothing WRONG with going to Meeting, per se, but I do feel like it gave in to the bullies a little bit. Does that make sense? For what it’s worth, my parents ended up going on to become very involved in the Meeting (what is sometimes jokingly referred to as a professional Quaker) and I do not subscribe to any religion.
Ha! It does sound like we have a lot in common!! I think I need to take that quiz to see what religion most fits my beliefs and I will definitely look into Quakers. It makes me think of the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon (great books!). My kids ask a lot of questions and because my answer has always been that “God made it that way” or “people/animals go to Heaven when they die” (because it is so much easier just to give them an answer and offer them comfort rather then tell them I am not sure) they have absolute faith in God. I feel like it would be good to bring them to some kind of church because I wasn’t brought and have always felt sort of lost and uncomfortable when it comes to this topic.
Sarah, I appreciate the perspective from someone who’s been there. I have to agree that it does feel wrong to join a church purely as a preventative measure (be it preventing bullying or as a guarantee against your doubts) but my hope is that we could find a church to attend on holidays or for special services that would be enjoyable for us and comforting/formative for our kids. As to bullies, I think the education of others is always the best response to small-minded threats (my sister and I got them throughout childhood too). Heather R, I dunno about you but I’ve always felt the need to find a name for how I feel because it wasn’t readily offered to me by my parents. I’m reminded of “Are you there God, it’s me Margaret” by Judy Blume, where the pre-teen heroine is coming to terms with womanhood and having to “choose” a faith. Perhaps it will take attending some liberal churches to realize I don’t need the group aspect after all, but up to this point I haven’t been satisfied with believing what I believe in my head. I can relate 100% to feeling lost and uncomfortable without a set faith :( For what it’s worth, I took that quiz and rather than getting Quaker as I expected I got Unitarian Universalist, lol. Which is about as close to “believe what’s in your head” as you can get, but with congregations!
I just took the quiz and it said my beliefs match Reformed Judaism (I am not surprised). I think possibly Unitarian is best for me too since I can’t see myself becoming Jewish. I think of Judaism as more than a religion. I may be wrong, but it feels like one really needs to be born into Judaism (or marry into it). It feels like more of a heritage/ethnicity than other religions. Am I wrong to think this?
Oh! I just looked and my beliefs were 99% aligned with Liberal Quakers and 99% with Unitarian Universalist. So, those would be good matches for me too.
Christian: Lazy Catholic?? Or what Artemesia said. Or just catholic.
Unitarian Universalist. (FYI: I wouldn’t put Christian in front of that.)
Christian: Disciple of Christ – it’s basically Christian: Protestant with a twist. We’re “open and affirming” meaning we accept all folks including (but not limited to) gays, transgender, etc. This, of course, stretches to other groups as well to include races, gender, etc. and so forth. Basically we believe nothing can or should separate anyone from God’s love. A little different.
Catholic Christian. Practicing. Orthodox.
Wow. The intricacies are giving me a headache. Or perhaps it’s just that it’s Friday. I imagine the flowchart/data entry for all of these different categories and sub-categories and accurately classifying them to show relevant data would be a programmer’s wet dream.
And with that, I think it becomes obvious that I will wait for the non-religious poll. Although I probably would have identified as various subsets of Christianity throughout my earlier life.
Hello Swistle!
Christian : Seventh Day Adventist
:0)
I am a Seventh Day Adventist also.
Happy Sabbath!
Christian: Mormon/LDS
This might be a multiple poll kind of question. I envision the first poll being fairly broad. Under choose your religion, you would get the options – None, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, East Asian, etc. Then you could do a break down from there. You could decide if it was worth it to further specify as needed. If only a few people chose East Asian, would you want to bother breaking it down into Taoism vs. Shinto-ism vs. whatever else I’m leaving out.
Further polls could be more specific. In addition to the ones you listed in your post, I’d add:
Christian: Catholic
Christian: LDS
Muslim: Sunni
Muslim: Shi’a
The comments in the previous religion post are incredibly uplifting. I’m amazed by the amount of civil discourse on subject that can be so divisive.
One reason I’m asking for people to say what they identify themselves as is that there’s no practical way to include every world religion/denomination on this poll, so I’m likely just going to include the ones people mention.
Non-religious: Atheist
Christian: Mainline Protestant
(Which is to say: liberal/not evangelical)
I suppose I could also do Christian: United Methodist but really I feel more tied to “gay-friendly church” than any one denomination.
For the Christian category, I think you would need at least Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox. Those certainly are the main significant historical divisions – pre-schism, post-schism but pre-Reformation, and post-Reformation.
Jewish: reform
I think that the following would cover all Jews, or you could just make it easier and have Jewish without any subcategories.
Jewish: Reform
Jewish: Conservative
Jewish: Orthodox
Jewish: Other
Christian – Protestant
I go to a Presbyterian Church, but I don’t consider myself Presbyterian. I love Jesus, and worship God and love the people of my church. But, all the rigamarole of denominations gets to me sometimes.
Hm, I don’t know if anyones said yet – Christian: Presbyterian should be on the list
Jewish: Reform, as well.
UU, and even though it has historical Christian/Protestant roots, I don’t think it’d be accurate currently to characterize it that way. I’m curious to know what faith, if any, people grew up in, if they are something different now (most UUs I know were raised in something else). I was raised Catholic. Incidentally, I live in a region where it’s fairly ordinary to hear people differentiate “Christian” from “Catholic.” It’s marginalization, it’s mean, it’s just plain incorrect, and even though I’m no longer a member of that particular minority, I still find it extremely upsetting.
I agree. Swistle – That could be another poll! How many people were raised one religion (or no religion) and then later switched as time went on!
Oh! This is an interesting insight! I always use separate Christian/Catholic labels because that’s what Catholics have done in my experience, and I followed their lead. That is, they refer to themselves as “Catholics,” not “Christians,” and they called their school “Catholic school,” not “Christian school.” I thought that’s what Catholics wanted to be called, even though I understood Catholics were definitely Christians.
In fact, now that I think of it further, I would hesitate to refer to them as Christians (except in a “Christian: Catholic” way for a poll), because I’d feel like THAT was the insult: calling them by the larger category, as if pointedly ignoring their distinct and chosen preference for a more specific one. Like calling someone “Mr.” even though I know he has a doctorate: he still IS a Mr., but it’s more polite/respectful to use the more specific term “Dr.”
The people I’m talking about–and I’m related to some of them by marriage, which is probably why it makes me so upset–aren’t being considerate. For them the distinction is something like “Our club consists of nice normal people who will be going to heaven. You guys are weirdos, and not like us, AND you’re going to Hell, plus your Pope wears a funny hat.”
Ah. So it’s not that they’re using the more-specific word “Catholic,” it’s that they’re saying, “Catholic, NOT Christian.”
Just saying “Catholic” is perfectly respectful–and, yes, what Catholics tend to call themselves–as long as you don’t say things like “Are you Christian OR Catholic?” or otherwise imply that Catholics aren’t included in the larger category “Christian.” I think this is mostly an issue in the Southern U.S. where it is still sometimes believed and preached (though less so than in the past) that Catholics aren’t Christians at all, but adherents of an idolatrous false religion allied to the Antichrist, so if you are from somewhere else you may never have encountered it.
I would say I’m Catholic if someone asked me, but I consider myself to be a Christian too, of course. I have found in my limited experience (I was raised in northern NJ, where we were mostly Catholic and Jewish but moved to the much less Catholic AND Jewish midwest when I was a young adult) that sometimes if people are saying the Catholic church is not Christian, it is leveled as an insult.
I was raised in a Christian non-denominational church, but when I got married became a member of my husband’s church, which is Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). I would choose a non-denominational category over a “Christian: Lutheran” category because the Missouri Synod is significantly more theologically conservative than the ELCA, which, in my experience, is what most people think of when they think of Lutherans. So, if there is a “Christian: LCMS” option, I’d choose that, but I’m fine picking “Christian: non-denominational” if you’re trying to narrow the categories.
Mormon/LDS over here. I appreciate Swistle’s suggestion that we let each religion define themselves, rather than how others’ would define us. FWIW, we are Christian in the sense that we believe and follow Christ, but we also get that other Christian churches don’t usually categorize us as Christian because we don’t subscribe to the Nicene Creed.
In a poll, I would like Christian: LDS/Mormon or plain LDS/Mormon.
I agree with Christian: Quaker or Christian:Peace Church.
Lutheran ELCA. But we have only baptized one of our children in the church (the others are screwed) and tend to sleep in on Sundays. I am someone who experienced a crisis of faith and have come to the conclusion that religion causes more world problems than solves them, so … Anyway. Thinking of joing the Lutherans again only to avoid the recruitment of the evangelicals in the neighborhood who are viewing my children as new member material.
*Joining. Stupid phone
Pagan – Wiccan (with a coven)
Pagan – Wiccan (without a coven)
Pagan – Druid
Pagan – Asartu
Pagan – Celtic influenced
Pagan – Dianic
Pagan – Pastafarian
Pagan – solitary doing as mix of what seems to work for me
or just skip it and say Pagan – Nature based and Pagan – involving pre christian mythos and Pagan – other
Not that there won’t be people saying they are all of the above or part of this and let me explain about part of that.
Religious journeys are very personal things, even within the framework of an established doctrine guided by a larger governing body. It doesn’t matter if you are Buddhist or Baptist or Jewish or Pastafarian, odds are the vast majority of us will need to hedge our labels because there is almost always something we struggle with or doesn’t quite fit us within the greater doctrine of our faith. Some willing accept whatever in it’s entirety the interpretation their group has of the collective received wisdom of the elders, but most of us have a part that say “wait. what? I don’t know about that bit. Something about that bit seems off and doesn’t work for me in the way the interpretation says it should.”
Unitarian Universalist, and I agree with those who wouldn’t classify it as Christian. For the curious fellow UU, I’m actually 3rd generation UU which is not very typical.
I would probably only vote for Christian:Non-denominational or Christian:Protestant. Other options would probably confuse me.
At various points in my life, I would have selected
Agnostic
Atheist
Baha’i
Christian: Protestant, non-evangelical
Christian: Protestant, non-practicing
Muslim : sunni
I think Michelle’s 4 different categories of Judaism should cover it: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and other. I mean, naturally there are many many subgroups, like you said, but I think that’s probably clear enough for the majority of people who would call themselves Jewish. But I don’t think just one catch-all option of “Jewish” is enough. I mean, if there was a more specific option, I’d go for Modern Orthodox, but just Orthodox works fine too.
Christian: Protestant would work for me. I could get more specific and name my denom if need be, but there are multiple choices and I’m not sure that would get you what you are going for here.
Christian: LDS (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)/Mormon =)
If you research on google Christianity and it’s denominations, you will find these are the major denominations under which fall all the ones you mentioned on your post:
“Christianity is composed of, but not limited to, five major branches of Churches: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant (Some groupings include Anglicans amongst Protestants).” ( Wikipedia article).
Personally, I fall under Eastern Orthodox and would have a difficult time participating in the survey unless you divide it the way the world in general views and defines the Christian denominations.
It’s food for thought!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_denomination and here’s the article on Wikipedia.
Christian: Evangelical Baptist
As a lifelong Catholic, I personally would not be offended in any way with the term Christian. I think it gets broken down because the catholic religion is pretty different when it comes to things like sacraments, saints and Mary (as in, Jesus’ mom). I sometimes even get the feeling that some other denominations of Christianity think differently about catholics but this is just my experience and not meant to be a generalization. In terms of Catholic school, a very specific “flavor” of Christianity is being taught so maybe that is why the distinction is made. Someone could be ok with their child attending a Christian school but might shy away from a more specific affiliation. I have never thought much about this until now but if you said- what religion are you? I would say- Catholic. But if you asked- are you a Christian, I would say- yes.
I would vote for Christian: Episcopalian, though at various times I have also been Christian: Presbyterian and Christian: United Church of Christ/Congregationalist.
It’s funny/strange how the word “Christian” has, to many people, come to mean “fundamentalist/evangelical Christian” instead of a catch-all term for anyone who believes in Jesus as the Christ — that is, all Catholics and Protestants, of any stripe. I definitely consider myself a Christian but find myself rushing to add, “But super liberal and welcoming of everyone, and not like THAT.”
I am a (lazy, rarely church attending) UCC member, and I think I would go for Christian: Mainstream Protestant. The UCC is more liberal than most Protestant denominations, but we are Trinitarians and do infant baptism, plus the congregational organization means that the liberalism is a tendency rather than a requirement.
Crap. Mainline Protestant (although the my typo has an element of truth to it)
Also Christian: Episcopalian but would vote for Christian: Protestant or Christian: liturgical or Christian: non-evangelical.
Christian : Non-demoninational
Erg, sorry, I didn’t read the comments, so apologies if this is late/irrelevant/redundant.
At first, I thought my response to this question would be simple because I so easily chose “strongly religious” before. But wait. I grew up Baptist, built my adult faith at a Presbyterian church, and now attend a nondenominational one (a fact that still blows my mind because I like my labels and compartments, thank you!). So, I think I would choose Christian: Presbyterian because my theology is mooostly Presbyterian. But, wow, this is tricky business.
I’d go with Christian: Catholic for myself, but am also comfortable with either label. Or equally uncomfortable with them??
I am also loving both your posts and the comments/discussion— and love the ideas of ‘what religion appeals most to you’ AND ‘what were you raised and are you still in’ questions…
Christian: Roman Catholic, Still in It and still loving it, still aware of its flaws.