The most ANNOYING misconception about YOUR faith?

[Katzpur]

That atheism is a religion, and all atheists are hedonists.

I don't know anyone personally who believes that atheism is a religion or that all atheists are hedonists, but I believe that it is a misconception with some people that atheists, since they don't believe in God, must be Satanists. Obviously, you would almost have to believe in God to even believe in Satan.

 

[PetShopBoy88]

That Christians are only christian because they mindlessly follow their family, don't study anything, and use their brains as little as possible.

 

[MaddLlama]

I don't know anyone personally who believes that atheism is a religion or that all atheists are hedonists, but I believe that it is a misconception with some people that atheists, since they don't believe in God, must be Satanists. Obviously, you would almost have to believe in God to even believe in Satan.

Well, for me those are the two I hear the most often.
The people who associate it with Satanism are the same type of people who believe that if you're not a Christian you follow Satan. That I can see, in a sick and twisted sort of way. However the idea that atheists are self-absorbed, amoral hedonists is something I take great exception to, especially since I hear it all the time.

 

[Katzpur]

Well, for me those are the two I hear the most often.
The people who associate it with Satanism are the same type of people who believe that if you're not a Christian you follow Satan. That I can see, in a sick and twisted sort of way. However the idea that atheists are self-absorbed, amoral hedonists is something I take great exception to, especially since I hear it all the time.

Let me ask you something, since I'm a little bit confused here. You describe yourself as a pantheist, and yet you speak as if you are an atheist. Would you explain?

 

[James the Persian]

A few (from a long list):

That we are just eastern Roman Catholics
That we formed in 1054 after we broke away from Roman Catholicism
That we worship the Theotokos
That we worship icons
That 'praying to' saints means worshipping them rather than asking for their prayers
That the Ecumenical Patriarch is to us what the Pope is to RCs
That you have to be Greek/Russian/Serbian/etc. to be Orthodox

That last one's, frankly, the most annoying. Unfortunately, unlike with the others, we are at least partly to blame for this misconception as certain immigrant parishes to give off rather an ethnic ghetto feeling. It seems as though some Orthodox forget that phyletism is an anathematised heresy. If I could change one thing about the Church it would be that (thankfully my parish is not at all unwelcoming to those of us who aren't ethnically Romanian).

James

 

[c0da]

That rebirth is the same thing as reincarnation.
That to meditate one has to say hummmmmm.
That Hotei (the fat monk statue you see in bars and restaurants) is actually the Buddha.

I'll post any more if I can think of them

 

[Buttercup]

Well, since I'm one of the guilty ones who does tend to group all Baptists together, why don't you take this opportunity to educate me on the differences between you and them? Seriously, I have no idea what they are other than that I believe the Southern Baptists are the more conservative group.

You have to take this all with a chunky grain of salt since I'm a heretic at the moment.

http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp

There's a link to the SBC.....Looking over their belief statement, I would say their core beliefs are very similar to ours:

http://www.fbceugene.com/pages/believe.php

However...we are not affiliated with SBC and churches on the West coast tend to be much more laid back. I would say that many Christian churches hold the same core beliefs but reflect the mindset of the locals. Oregon is notoriously liberal in general and that reflects everywhere. But, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Mike182]

that my faith is "Devil" worship.... now, just because one of my Gods is Horned

 

[YmirGF]

As I am the founder of my own worldview, I generally do not have many problems explaining my positions. So far, however, I have found the experience to be a bit frustraing. You see, I am keenly aware of the fact that very few will actually understand what I am blathering on and on about... however, I have the utmost confidence that eventually I will hit a stage with my writing when I am able to truly resonate at a very deep level with the reader. From my standpoint it isn't a case of "if", but merely a case of "when".

The biggest thing I have learned so far is that in order for a message to be acceptable it must conform with people's existing belief structures. If it does not, one is pretty well wasting their time.

Ah well, it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

 

[Mike182]

As I am the founder of my own worldview, I generally do not have many problems explaining my positions. So far, however, I have found the experience to be a bit frustraing. You see, I am keenly aware of the fact that very few will actually understand what I am blathering on and on about... however, I have the utmost confidence that eventually I will hit a stage with my writing when I am able to truly resonate at a very deep level with the reader. From my standpoint it isn't a case of "if", but merely a case of "when".

The biggest thing I have learned so far is that in order for a message to be acceptable it must conform with people's existing belief structures. If it does not, one is pretty well wasting their time.

Ah well, it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

i hear it is a hard life, being a Piltdown man... this true?

 

[ayani]

well... my faith is something i keep private. however, i always wear a head covering when out in public, and i've been taken for a Muslim a couple times. and i can say that based upon this, a common misconception about Islam is that Muslims are anti-american seperatists who hate all non-Muslims.

now, if that's the impression i get from being mistaken for Muslim, then my heart truly goes out to real Muslims who face much worse.

 

[MaddLlama]

Let me ask you something, since I'm a little bit confused here. You describe yourself as a pantheist, and yet you speak as if you are an atheist. Would you explain?

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33809

Sorry, I thought I had made this clear before.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

I have a list of the most annoying misconceptions of Christianity:

1) The Protestant canon and the virility with which American fundamentalists worship it (eg, thinking that the culmination of the work of God is the closing of the canon, the belief in inerrancy, etc).

2) Dispensationalism.

3) The Rapture and all of the fanatic ramblings that go with it.

4) Jerry Fallwell and Paige Patterson (obviously this list is in random order)

5) Religious arrogance

 

[Green Gaia]

Let's see, misconceptions about UU....


That we're not a real religion.
That we can believe anything we want.
That we practice/believe in all religions.
That we are completely secular and political and devoid of real spirituality.
That we are Christian denomination (we once were but are not any longer).
That all UUs are political liberals and must be.


I'm sure there's more... I had a thread about this in the UU forum, I think I'll pull it up again.

 

[BFD_Zayl]

Well, i do have quite a bit...*takes deep breath* ok, we are NOT Evil sorcerers, we do NOT summon so called "demons" daemons deimons daimons etc. we do NOT drink blood and we are NOT out for "world domination" nor are we able to command legions of zombies.

 

[Mike182]

we are NOT out for "world domination" nor are we able to command legions of zombies.

your specific Pagan path might not, but after meeting Feathers, i think you will see that some deffinatley are :yes:

 

[ayani]

...nor are we able to command legions of zombies.

you're not?! :cover:

oh, heck.

but would that not be awesome?

 

[thalassa]

...there are so many...

but I would have to say that the baby/animal sacrificing devil worshiper one is the worst...

 

[jewscout]

Our political views are based on our religion.
That we control the media.
That we control all governments.
That protocols is real.
That we created communism to "kill all christians"
That the Holocaust is a myth to help the Zionist cause.
That Zionism is one and the same with Judaism.


If you look up 'Jew' in google the second thing that comes up is www.jewwatch.com that is to quote wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewwatch

don't forget jews created capitalism too
that i am...how did someone on this forum put it...

But Jews are well known for being the trouble makers in the world

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=340490#post340490

ah yes...."trouble maker in the world"

 

[MysticSang'ha]

The guru-disciple relationship in our tradition is wildly misunderstood. To see a disciple make a decision for complete subservience to another human being is a bit of a shocker, but it is encouraged for us to have a guru to lead us through the difficult journey toward enlightenment...........and then what to actually do once you are enlightened as a bodhisattva.



Happy Hotei is a big misconception, although that has been covered before.



I would say that the strangest misconception has to do with the recent trend of "Hollywoodizing" of Buddhism: our practice is getting what some would believe to be "good press" in Hollywood scripts for TV shows and movies. A character might say, "I'm a Buddhist", and immediately it is understood that this character is far and away a more moral person than the other characters. I sometime cringe when I see this, because it can so easily feed the ego. I also become annoyed that Hollywood is trying desperately to compare our tradition as a favorable path to all others.




Why do this? This kind of proselytizing can so easily spin out of control, and can wind up being dangerous for non-practitioners or for practitioners of other schools of Buddhism. Power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts. Let's stop feeding the masses information that our tradition is just soooooo much better than all the other religions in the world. :sarcastic




Peace,
Mystic