Feel free to explain your vote and why you chose the religion you did.
Please refrain from making comments that would be considered offensive or demeaning to our brothers and sisters of these faiths, or making any other comments not in harmony with M*’s comment policies. Any such comments will be deleted without hesitation or delay.
Update: New poll added. This one should work!
I don’t have a religion I am a Born Again Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. I do attend a Pentacostal Church.
I’m not sure my vote counted. I think we’re having some technical difficulties. This poll is kind of like asking, “if you were to be blind, what would be your second favorite sense, sense of smell, hearing, tastes, etc?”
So, I don’t want to be blind, and I don’t want to lose my love for the Church, so it’s tough to answer. But if you absolutely force me to answer I would probably say “Baptist” or another conservative Christian church, even though I disagree with such churches on many, many, many issues. But I have attended a Catholic church and I have attended a liberal “mainstream” Christian church, and neither were for me. I went to a Baptist church once, and it was OK, so I guess that’s my choice.
I would consider joining a Mormon splinter group if for some (magical?) reason I could not be LDS.
I picked “Other” (Though the poll is not working on my current computer). I would be a Unitarian. A nice mixture of Christianity and liberalism. Like Geoff, I am sticking around. In general, my choice is more political than theological. Go figure.
Karen: Thank you for your profession of faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. It is nice to have you join us for this poll. 🙂
Geoff and others: Your luddite host is having issues with the WordPress polling feature. I will endeavor to have it fixed soon. In the meantime, feel free to post your answers in the form of a comment.
Ben: Interesting answer. I had not considered the other churches of the Restoration movement. Shame on me for excluding the possibility!
For no other reason other than I love the music in Catholic mass, I would choose to be Catholic. I recently attended a funeral mass and was delighted to hear the cantors and their music. Their singing brought peace and joy to my aching soul.
To be honest, if I was not LDS, I would probably not go to church.
Chris H.: My great aunt was Unitarian. I remember going on a tour of her church when I was younger. I still remember being in awe of the choir robes. I wanted my own choir robes for church.
I attended high school with Philocrites, a notable Unitarian blogger who was once LDS. Have you checked out his blog? I would imagine that you would find similar political beliefs with him. His blog is definitely worth reading, no matter your religious or political persuasion.
Tough choice. I would still be Christian, but really not interested in the Christian faiths posted above. I guess I’d be a Messianic Buddhist….
Chris H.: Speaking of not going to church, my stake has conference this weekend. For some odd reason, people think of stake conference as a church-free weekend.
I always feel empty inside when I am unable to attend church. I need that weekly spiritual re-charge. I think that is probably true of many people who attend church regularly, regardless of their religious affiliation.
Update: I removed the WP-Poll and added a polldaddy.com poll. For some reason WP-Polls is not playing nice with WP 8.2
I chose Catholic, though I almost went with Jewish.
I think that if for whatever reason I could no longer attend the LDS Church, I would like to attend a Church that has a long history and a rich tradition. I would likely be interested in becoming Catholic or Jewish for the purposes of participating in the history, symbolism and rituals associated with those faith.
This choice obviously has nothing to do with which faith I think is “true.” Instead, my choice is based on what kind of organization I would like to be a part of.
There is really no option here, it is like when the savior asked his apostle (I’m pretty sure it was peter but I have an awful memory and I’m not going to take the time to look it up) if he too would leave him and the apostle replied basically where else could it go?
Seriously it would be like asking a man in an ideal job making 200k a year and asking which $10 an hour job would you like? But if I had to choose it would be… the United Apostolic Brotherhood because if I am going to be deceived, I want to be sincerely deceived.
If I left the LDS church, I would likely start my own. That’s where the money is.
I picked “other”, for Mennonite. It would be a heritage thing, really (my ancestor wrote the 1880 catechism, for example); but also for the focus on acceptance, peace, and service.
That said, I would want to keep temples and sealing power… which is why I’m not making a switch.
Allan: I don’t disagree with your reasoning, but I think it’s healthy to examine our reasons for belonging and believing in the Church. My belief in the LDS Church is rooted in a strong testimony, but I see traits and characteristics in other faiths that I admire.
Bo: I hear you on the “profit” vs. “prophet” motivation. 😉 While I think there are some individuals who started churches to get gain, I do think there is a larger majority of individuals who started churches because of their beliefs and desire to affect positive changes in society.
Coffinberry: Very nice qualities to seek for in a religion…acceptance, peace and service.
I picked other for none.
Lutheran. I’d find a church with a good organist and choir, that performed a lot of Bach.
Somewhere in the scriptures it should say that heavenly music will cover a multitude of doctrinal and other sins.
I’d pick Eastern Orthodox.
Of-course I picked Jewish, but I would be Messianic Jewish.
I just realized I should have added a selection for The Church of the First Down and Ten. Football is just around the corner! Hallelujah!! 😉
Mark B.: I hear what you are saying! My ward building is right next door to a Lutheran church building and they have electronic bells that play hymns. Great music and really sets the tone for my family as we enter the building.
Kent: I often drive by an Eastern Orthodox church building–very ornate and beautiful structure. I like the patriarchs and the long, grey beards. Very stylish!
JA: I’ll send you a bottle of kosher wine. 🙂
I would be a Jew for Jesus, because what little I know about their beliefs, I love.
I’ve repaired organs at churches of about every sect and denomination. If I were going by organ, I would pick something a little more romantic than high German. Those Lutheran organs seem like they’re yelling in a guttural, German tone. Give me something a little more round, Austen, Skinner, etc.
Brian, I know that churches aren’t started to get gain (usually), but those TV preachers seem to do alright. Of course I’d start small, with a one room country church, and work my way up.
There is something to the experience of a man that served an LDS mission in Georgia and South Carolina.
Bo: If you start a church, can I join? I have a great idea for a church. We can preach toast. Moses made toast! Exodous 16:23 🙂
I still use “thetoastmaster” as a handle on some of the internet message boards I frequent, all of these years later.
@Allan
Wow. Was this meant to sound as smug as it does?
I would choose Quaker, not because I actually know what anything about what they believe, but because I really think I would enjoy their style of meetings.
I’d be a Nietzschean atheist. But of course knowing what I know how on earth could I pick an other faith? If my revelations within a Mormon context are wrong why trust “god” at all?
Judaism for me, mainly because I love Chaim Potok’s book The Chosen and The Promise so much. Actually I might consider Messianic Judaism, because they try to keep the judaistic tradition, but still believe in Christ.