What Formed Your Beliefs? Experiment'ish

This thread is designed to test a theory of mine. In order to participate, feel free to reply, u2u me, or email me.

I'm going to ask a variety of questions about varying areas of our lives. Feel free to pick and choose what you respond to. All that I ask is that you be as honest as possible.

The objective, is to determine how one determines belief, and what impact their beliefs have on their lives. We can theorize about this on another thread. I am simply asking for participation. At the end, I will present the data, and the conclusions I have reached.

Oh, and as a courtesy, try not to criticize people for their beliefs. So, in the religion section, if someone says they pray to a purple monkey named Zorra that craps magic pickles, don't ridicule them. I want to try and keep this as pure as possible. It is hard enough to open up, and speak truthfully, so let's not make this harder.

The more detail you provide, the better.

I will look at the data on October 1st 2008, and prepare my presentation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[FAITH]

What is your religion?
(As in, what do you believe about spirituality, life/death, morals, higher power, What teachings do you follow, etc)

How did you develop these beliefs?
(Grew up with them, had a a religious experience where I saw Jesus, couldn't accept the impossible tales so I turned to science, etc)

How have they impacted your life?
(Greatly, they touch every aspect of my life, I keep my church and my life in two separate areas of life, I have no religious background)

How much do your spiritual beliefs impact your decisions?

What do you think of people with differing opinions?
(Going to hell, they have time to evolve, etc etc."

Have you ever questioned your Faith, if so, tell the story of how and why

Have you ever had a different belief, if so, tell the story of how and why it changed

What do you think of life after death?

Where do morals come from?
(The bible, the conscience, common sense, etc)

If there is something that could make you change you belief, what is it?

If you would never change you belief, explain why.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[POLITICS]

What is your political affiliation?

How did you develop this opinion?

What is the role of government in our lives?

What made you determine this?

What is wrong with the government?

How did you come to this conclusion?

What do you think of people with wildly different views?

Why do you think this way?

Do you get angry around people who are very opposite to you in opinion?(shout at the tv call names, etc)

Why is this?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FAMILY/RELATIONSHIPS]

How do you view family?
(Important, not so much, everything, people you happen to be born related to, easy to manipulate, etc)

Where did you get this concept from, how did you develop this opinion?

Are you in a relationship now?

If so, describe how you feel it is going, if not, how do you feel about being single?

Do you get along in crowds?

Why?

Can you speak publicly?

Why, or why not?

Describe a friendly relationship, and/or a romantic relationship that went sour.

Why did this happen?

What portion of this was because of you?

How do you view a child's role in a family?

What made you determine this?

When you fight, do you beat up on yourself?

Do you hold grudges?

Why, or why not?

Is there something you can do now to improve your relationships

If so, why haven't you done it?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ECONOMY]

What is your financial status?

What do you do for income?

Are you happy with it?

What do you think of money, good/bad?

How did you develop this opinion?

What do you think of people who have a lot of money?

How did you develop this opinion?

Did you have a similar situation when you grew up?

Do you believe money can make you happy?

Must work hard to get ahead?

What makes you believe this?

Do you do what you want as a career?

What do you feel about this?

If you dislike your job, why stick with it?

What makes you feel this way?

What do you think of people who do whatever they can for the boss?

What can you do to get more out of the situation?




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ANIMALS]

What is your opinion of animals?

How did you develop this attitude?

Did/do you have any pets?

What is your experience with this?

What do you think of using animals for food?

How did you come to this conclusion?

What do you think of making products from animals?

How did you come to this conclusion?

Did you ever have a bad experience with an animal?

How has this impacted your life?

What do you think of hunting?

How did you come to this conclusion?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[MISC. Just give your thoughts]

Fate? Why?

Life/death? Why?

Peace on earth? Why?

Supernatural events? Why?

Magic? Why?

Aliens? Why?

Soul Mates?

Can one person make a difference in the world?

Why?

What is your opinion of yourself?

Why do you believe this?

Are you happy with what you've done in life?

Why?

What could you do to improve it?

Why haven't you?

How do you deal in traffic when people drive badly?

Why?



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After 10/1/08 I will begin to compile the data I have received via reply, u2u, and email. Depending on how much I get will determine when I reply. It should be sometime within a week of that.

Thanks for your time!

[FAITH]
What is your religion?

Christian, but not typical. In fact, I really did not get my beliefs from the bible or Christianity. I had an odd vision and then was feed information with synchronicity. I just recognized what I learned in the teachings of Jesus. I do not believe in an eternal hell, but I do believe you can go to hell as a way of learning. Overall I follow the teachings of Jesus and his philosophy. I recognize god inside me, and how my consciousness is merely an extension of god. The return of Christ is in the consciousness.

How did you develop these beliefs?

Logic and philosophy. I was raised christian but didn't really believe. Because we were taught to worship image and it was right because the bible said it was right. It wasn't until I understood the philosophy separately that it made sense to me.

How have they impacted your life?

Not really to be honest. Life changed my life overtime, and my experiences in life have changed me, but that is also what lead me to understanding.

How much do your spiritual beliefs impact your decisions?

Well I came to my beliefs logically, so I guess I'd say 100%. But again, it's just not because some preacher told me to. I don't hate gay people, don't think they are going to hell etc.

What do you think of people with differing opinions?

People mostly just disagree with images. I find the same philosophies world wide. I don't think the image is important at all. What is important is understanding and following the philosophies/path. It is those who argue and fight over image who war with each other. Each side also plays the bad guy for the other side and a bad game of duality.

Have you ever questioned your Faith, if so, tell the story of how and why

Questions are how I got my faith. Seek and ye shall find. The only way to seek is to ask questions.

Have you ever had a different belief, if so, tell the story of how and why it changed

See above.

What do you think of life after death?

Consciousness is eternal. Death is not real, and by extension neither is life.

If there is something that could make you change you belief, what is it?

Sure, what I don't know. It would take logic and understanding. For example, you could outright prove the entire story of jesus is a lie and it wouldn't bother me. Because I know the philosophy is true.

Originally posted by TheGreySwordsman

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[POLITICS]

What is your political affiliation?

I believe in the constitution. So libertarian/conservative.

How did you develop this opinion?

Life experience. I've been homeless and I've been well off. I've been on both sides of many things and it gave me a unique perspective of how things work.

What is the role of government in our lives?

It should be the limited things in the constitution with the general welfare clause no longer being used as a loophole and the 10th amendment being respected.

What made you determine this?

The concept of liberty and what it means to be a free man.

What is wrong with the government?

In a nutshell, they do not serve the people and they do not care or follow the constitution.

How did you come to this conclusion?

When you take the government the republicans want, and combine with the government democrats want, and fail to remove any of the programs from either side, you get a 100% communist/fascist government. This is only possible because they don't follow the constitution, which was meant to be a limited government, not a government where the people have limited listed rights.

What do you think of people with wildly different views?

Sheep. They agree with things because they only think about if they were in charge and that point of view. They rarely look at things from multiple points of views to make an informed decision. And of course they are spoon feed things by the media.

Why do you think this way?

7 years of arguing with them. However I seen alot of change in people in the past 2 years.

Do you get angry around people who are very opposite to you in opinion?(shout at the tv call names, etc)

Not really angry. But I find ignorance annoying, and it disgusts me that people don't pay more attention to what is going on.

Thank you both for your replies. Interesting! I look forward to the rest to see what conclusions I may reach.

[FAITH]

What is your religion?
Faith in God, None in the church.
How did you develop these beliefs?
My mother was a major influence.

How have they impacted your life?
I try to treat everyone with respect, try not to be judgmental, and try to keep an open mind.

How much do your spiritual beliefs impact your decisions?
I try to not hurt anyone with decisions I make, because I think it’s bad karma.

What do you think of people with differing opinions?
I’ll listen to them, respect the opinion for what it is, and make up my own mind.

Have you ever questioned your Faith, if so, tell the story of how and why
I think that everyone questions their faith. Had a son born, raided, and died with severe CP. Makes you wonder why God would do something that bad to innocent children.

Have you ever had a different belief, if so, tell the story of how and why it changed
Not really.

What do you think of life after death?
If the preachers are right and your pets don’t go to heaven, what’s the point?

Where do morals come from?
Again, my mother was a big influence there.

If there is something that could make you change you belief, what is it?
God appearing in front of me and telling me I’m wrong.

If you would never change you belief, explain why.

[POLITICS]

What is your political affiliation?
I don’t look at Dem or Republican. I try to listen anf find out which candidate shares the same beliefs, moral practices, and ethics that I do. (Sometimes that’s hard to figure out through all the rhetoric.)

How did you develop this opinion?
Listening, observing.


What is the role of government in our lives?
At this point in time, overkill on the rules and regulations for everyday life. Not enough regulation, in other aspects.

What made you determine this?
Again, listening, observing, andhaving to deal with it.

What is wrong with the government?
Politicians are not in touch with the people that they govern.

How did you come to this conclusion?
Watched a lot of C-span. 

What do you think of people with wildly different views?
I’ll listen to their views, and make up my own mind.

Why do you think this way?
No sense in not listening. You might learn something new, that changes your opinion.

Do you get angry around people who are very opposite to you in opinion No.
Why is this? No sense in that. They have their opinion, I have mine.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FAMILY/RELATIONSHIPS]

How do you view family?
Immediate family is very important.

Where did you get this concept from, how did you develop this opinion?
Growing up in a relatively tight-knit family.

Are you in a relationship now?
Yes

If so, describe how you feel it is going, if not, how do you feel about being single?
Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

Do you get along in crowds?
Yes.

Why?
Crowds don’t bother me.


Can you speak publicly?
Yes.

Why, or why not?
I’m a Scorpio. We don’t mind spotlights.

Describe a friendly relationship, and/or a romantic relationship that went sour.
I loved her. She didn’t love me, because I didn’t smack her when we had arguments.

Why did this happen?
some people think that getting the snot beat out of them in relationships is normal I guess.

What portion of this was because of you?
I guess a lot, as I don’t agree with violence against women.

How do you view a child's role in a family?
Let them know you love them, you’re there for them, and you support them.

What made you determine this?
raising mine.

When you fight, do you beat up on yourself?
Not really. You have to do what you have to do.

Do you hold grudges?
Sometimes. Mostly forgive, but never forget.

Why, or why not?
Again, I’m a Scorpio. I don’t think I have a choice.

Is there something you can do now to improve your relationships
Not really.

If so, why haven't you done it?
I can’t be somebody that I’m not.

[ECONOMY]

What is your financial status?
Not good right now.

What do you do for income?
System’s analyst.


Are you happy with it?
My job, I love..

What do you think of money, good/bad?
Good, but not the driving force of my life.

How did you develop this opinion?
I’ve seen too many well-off people who weren’t that happy, but they kept chasing that dollar, because they felt it made them happy.

What do you think of people who have a lot of money?
Some are good, some are edited(something else).

How did you develop this opinion?
Had a rich man try to buy me, to keep me from marrying his daughter.

Did you have a similar situation when you grew up?
No.

Do you believe money can make you happy?
No.

Must work hard to get ahead?
Yes.

What makes you believe this?
I’m still working hard, and never seeming to get ahead.

Do you do what you want as a career?
Yes and no.

What do you feel about this?
I’m okay with it.

If you dislike your job, why stick with it?
because unless you’re really lucky and talented, music doesn’t pay well.

What makes you feel this way?
Being in bar bands for 10 years.

What do you think of people who do whatever they can for the boss?
Isn’t that what employes are supposed to do when they have a job?



What can you do to get more out of the situation?
I guess in my case, I could kiss some political butt, contribute sums of money to local political folks, and stop speaking my mind.


[ANIMALS]

What is your opinion of animals?
I prefer animals to most people I know.

How did you develop this attitude?
Animals have no bad or good traits. They are what they are, and innocent of anything that could be considered to be bad ethics, bad morals, etc.

Did/do you have any pets?
Yes.

What is your experience with this?
I lived on a farm. Lots of cattle dogs, cats, etc.

What do you think of using animals for food?
Cows/pigs/chickens – yes. Dogs/cats - no

How did you come to this conclusion?
Cows are made to be steaks. Dogs are not.

What do you think of making products from animals?
No problem with that.

How did you come to this conclusion?
I like having a saddle under me when I ride a horse.

Did you ever have a bad experience with an animal?
I’ve had a couple of bad expericnces with animals. In retrospect, it’s usually from something stupid that I did.

How has this impacted your life?
It hasn’t.

What do you think of hunting?
I’ll hunt for food, not for sport.

How did you come to this conclusion?
Just a personal preference.

[MISC. Just give your thoughts]

Fate?
I think some things are bound to happen, no matter what.

Life/death?
Not afraid of death. I think that it’s something not worth dwelling on.

Peace on earth?
Would love to see it, but don’t expect to. Mankind is too bloodthirsty, too greedy, too self-destructive.

Supernatural events? Firm Believer. Personal experiences.

Magic? That one is iffy. If it’s tied into supernatural, then yes.

Aliens? Yes, again, personal experiences.

Soul Mates? No. You either love somebody or you don’t.

Can one person make a difference in the world? Everyone makes a little bit od difference in the world, good or bad.

Why? What would going through life without some small impact somewhere be worth?

What is your opinion of yourself?
Not a bad person, not as good as I could be I guess.

Why do you believe this?
Personal opinion.

Are you happy with what you've done in life?
Pretty much

Why?
It’s what it is. I hopefully learned from my mistakes.

What could you do to improve it?
If I could, I’d like to go back in time, and teach myself a couple of things before the younger me went off half-cocked.

Why haven't you?
I don’t have John Titor’s time machine.
 


How do you deal in traffic when people drive badly?
I just try to avoid getting killed.

Why?
Because I’m a defensive driver.

Just who are you and why should strangers open up to you? Are you qualified to judge us by our beliefs, and how did you come to your own beliefs? I think it only fair you post your own answers to your own questions so we wont be at a disadvantage.

[FAITH]

What is your religion?
None

How did you develop these beliefs?
Again, common sense. I grew up exposed to science and found that whenever I asked a question about life or the world around me, science had my answers. I had no need to look to religion to explain what I already understood through tangible experience. I studied Abrahamic and Eastern religions through high school and found their ideas to be much too far fetched to be useful to me in life.

How have they impacted your life?
I would not have surrounded myself with the intelligent and informed people that I always have. I can't imagine doing life over with my eyes closed to reality.

How much do your spiritual beliefs impact your decisions?
N/A

What do you think of people with differing opinions?
I think they're holding back society. Even now they're poisoning our education system, trying to remove tried and tested science, replacing it with mythological characters and children's stories. I have a hard time respecting these types of people.

Have you ever questioned your Faith, if so, tell the story of how and why
Never a doubt.

Have you ever had a different belief, if so, tell the story of how and why it changed
I explored many other beliefs but my core beliefs never changed.

What do you think of life after death?
It's a way of comforting people approaching an uncertain experience. We have no reason to believe there's anything at all after death and I agree with this.

Where do morals come from?
Common sense and your conscious. I don't need a silly book to tell me it's bad to rape and kill people. People knew that was bad long before and of course it still is.

If there is something that could make you change you belief, what is it?
Notta

If you would never change you belief, explain why.
Religion is a man made creation, I see no reason for it to be necessary to believe in things that clearly do not exist in real life.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[POLITICS]

What is your political affiliation?
Liberal

How did you develop this opinion?
I look around where I live in Canada and see how well our system works in comparison to other kinds of government.

What is the role of government in our lives?
Provide essential services to the population and work to increase the value of what is considered essential.

What made you determine this?
Study

What is wrong with the government?
Sometimes acts on it's own, outside the will of the people

How did you come to this conclusion?
Looking around

What do you think of people with wildly different views?
No one agrees in politics

Why do you think this way?
I'm the Moth Man

Do you get angry around people who are very opposite to you in opinion?(shout at the tv call names, etc)
Of course! That's why politics is fun

Why is this?
There's shouting and one side cries at the end. Reminds me of my childhood!

reply to post by TH3ON3


I'm not qualified to judge anyone. I'm just running an experiment to see what if any patterns emerge. If my suspicions are correct, I may be able to provide some insight, and help people get a different view of things. As for my beliefs, I didn't want to taint the thread with my personal influence in that way. I'm trying not to include myself in it at all, and remain detached But if you go to my profile, and read my threads, you are certain to find at least half of the answers that I asked.

Originally posted by TheGreySwordsman
[FAITH]

What is your religion?

Agnostic

How did you develop these beliefs?

First I was christian because I grew up in it (indoctrination) and eventually, months ago, I had a realisation that any of my spiritual experiences were subjective and explainable in terms of psychology.

How have they impacted your life?

I'm not certain as to the extent, but I have always kept the company of christians so that will have impacted my values.

How much do your spiritual beliefs impact your decisions?

My decisions are circumstantial.

What do you think of people with differing opinions?

I don't really care unless they try to impose them on me.

Have you ever questioned your Faith, if so, tell the story of how and why

As I said, I had a 'get real' moment as suddenly said that I could not believe anymore beyond reasonable doubt. That's what this thread was about.

Have you ever had a different belief, if so, tell the story of how and why it changed

See above.

What do you think of life after death?

Dunno. Doubt it, but dunno.

Where do morals come from?

I'd say a combination of deep set 'co-operation' values that humanity has had since the [url=http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread390234/pg1%27]beginning of civilisations and the understanding of the consequences of stepping out of line (breaking the law etc.).

If there is something that could make you change you belief, what is it?

Well I'm sure there are lots of things that could happen to me, but the thing I've been inviting is that God (if he exists) is make himself known to me beyond a shadow of a doubt, like appearing to me as he supposedly did with Adam in the Garden.

If you would never change you belief, explain why.

N/A

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FAMILY/RELATIONSHIPS]

How do you view family?

Very loose relationship. The family has always been very impersonal and fragmented. My friends I hold close, my family I hold distantly.

Where did you get this concept from, how did you develop this opinion?

Fruit doesn't fall far from the tree I guess.

Are you in a relationship now?

No.

Do you get along in crowds?

Really depends on the circumstances.

Can you speak publicly?

Yes.

Why, or why not?

Dunno, just can.

Describe a friendly relationship, and/or a romantic relationship that went sour.

I had a mate, Robert, who distanced himself after I went through some internal identity issues.

Why did this happen?

Well, In the crisis I turned to friends who were stable and He didn't much like that.

What portion of this was because of you?

Well I didn't see his own insecurity and preferred isolation.

Nothing else I felt was significant to say.

[edit on 9/13/2008 by Good Wolf]

Everyone, thank you for your contributions.

Also, a request, if you respond please use as much detail as you feel comfortable sharing. For example:

What is your political affiliation?
Democrat

How did you develop this opinion?
Cause they're right

Incredibly concise answers like this make it difficult to draw conclusions from. Think of me as a shrink(I am not) Give detailed answers please, the more well thought out input, the more useful the information is.

Thank you all again so much for your participation. I have not read any responses yet, I'm trying to prevent myself from developing an interpretation before the experiment is concluded.