How religiously observant are you?

In My Humble Opinion
1

This is a highly non-scientific poll inspired by an ongoing GD debate regarding American vs. European views on the presence of religious observance in public situations. So if you feel like satisfying my curiosity, please indicate (with explanations if necessary):

  1. Where do you live now?
  2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?
  3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?
  4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?
  5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?
  6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?
  7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?
  8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?
  9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?
2

North Richland Hills, Texas (near Ft. Worth)

The Southern U.S. (Navy brat–but the majority was in Georgia and Texas)

When we went, which was sporadic, was either Presbyterian or Christian.

Not a lot. We belonged to a Christian Church in Albany, Georgia, for a year or two, and I was quite active in the youth program there. Basically, that means I went to church twice on Sundays and on Wednesday nights.

Not particularly, at least not in childhood. I just went wherever we went, and didn’t go when we didn’t go. As I grew up and eventually joined the church to which I now belong, my father and stepmonster were really opposed to it. They’ve settled down about it now and have quit trying to persuade me to change my religion.

Public schools, and there was no religious instruction involved at school.

Yes.

I am active in my church. For me, that means that I go to all my church meetings, pay tithing, read the scriptures daily, pray, do my visiting teaching, and serve where I’m needed.

I honestly don’t have an answer to this question. Just judging from the people I know–if they’re people I know from church, they are as active as I am. Otherwise, the majority of the people I know either do not belong to an organized religion or are not actively involved with it.

3
  1. Honolulu, Hawaii
  2. Ditto
  3. None
  4. No
  5. No
  6. Public. None. Although in AP English in my senior year we did read some of Exodus to study.
  7. No
  8. 0%
  9. Well if I’m at 0 they’d have to be higher. Hard to say how much more though. Yet I would say that Hawaii is definately no where near the most observant states. In fact I’d guess we’d be in the bottom 10.
4

I just realized it’s only fair to answer for myself:

  1. Chicago, Illinois, USA
  2. Evanston, Illinois, USA (Chicago suburb)
  3. Judaism (Reform)
  4. Some: Sunday school primarily (5 years or so). I blew off Hebrew school and Bat Mitzvah, with the approval of my parents. Long story. I’ve probably learned more about Judaism from independent reading than from formal instruction.
  5. A little: obviously I didn’t beg to be enrolled in Sunday school, but I didn’t really object, either. Mom would like it if I were more observant, and she gets really pushy and annoying around holidays when I fail to show much enthusiasm (which is mostly a circular thing, because she gets loony).
  6. Public schools exclusively.
  7. No.
  8. Spiritual but not religious. I believe the formalities of organized religions are sometimes contrary to their purpose, which is to have human beings lead a moral life. I do have morals, but they don’t have anything to do with what I eat, how I dress, or where I am physically located or what words I use when addressing spiritual matters.
  9. Hard to say: Chicago is a pretty diverse place. I’m about average for my peer group, though.
5

**1. Where do you live now? **
Knoxville, TN

2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?
Chattanooga, TN (about 100 miles south of here)

3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?
Roman Catholicism

4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?
Yes - 13 years of Catholic school.

5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?
As a child, my mother was the most influential (I’ve never known my father to attend church). She required us to attend weekly Mass and she was the one who chose our schools. She also brought a religious aspect to holidays like Christmas/Easter and the seasons leading up to them. In adulthood there’s been no open attempt to influence the degree.

6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?
Catholic schools, K-12.

7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?
No, I am not currently practising any organized religion. However, my reasons for not practising are not because of a lack of faith, but for other reason.

8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?
Primarily unobservant, occasionally observant.

9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?

Much lower. I’m in the Bible Belt.

6

Upstate New York

Rural Mississippi

Evangelical Christianity

Yes, Sunday School every Sunday from the cradle through high school, weekly Bible Study from junior high through college.

Until age 14 I was compelled to attend church and “observe the sabbath” in the manner prescribed by my family. Thereafter my observance was my choice.

Public schools, with no religious instruction.

I remain an evangelical Christian.

That’s hard to say. Do I attend church weekly? Not necessarily, as we’ve recently moved and have not yet found a church that’s nearby. (We occasionally travel to the church in the city, but it’s more than an hour’s drive and not terribly convenient with two small kids.) Do I pray? Yes. Do I read the Bible? Yes. But unlike Islam or Judaism, there aren’t that many formal “observances” or “practices” within Christianity that can be pointed to as making one observant. I don’t know, therefore, how to measure this – I daresay that it’s entirely possible that my belief and/or faith are stronger, despite sporadic attendance, than someone who is in church every Sunday morning, but there’s no objective or empirical way to measure that. At least none that I know of.

See above.

7

[ol][li]Philadelphia suburbs.[/li][li]Southern West Virginia.[/li][li]United Methodist.[/li][li]Church and Sunday school weekly from around the age of 9 or 10 through high school.[/li][li]Not really. My Mom believed but went to church very rarely, while my Dad was a funeral and wedding church-goer until I was in high school, when he began attending church with me.[/li][li]Public school; old enough to remember the Lord’s Prayer being said every morning, but no religious instruction.[/li][li]Yes, Roman Catholic.[/li][li]John Paul II and I may not see eye-to-eye on a number of issues, but I consider myself an observant Catholic (Mass every Sunday and Holyday, involved in various capacities with our parish, financial support, etc.)[/li]A bit more than average.[/ol]

8

**1. Where do you live now? **
Seattle, WA

2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?
Nashville, TN

3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?
Protestant Christianity (“Church of Christ”) from infancy; from the age of 10, the Episcopal Church

4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?
Don’t know if parental instruction and Sunday School counts as formal or not. Nothing beyond that.

5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?
Oh my goodness yes, in childhood. In adulthood, I went through a long atheist/agnostic period, and they coped well enough. My father has always been very Biblically observant, whereas my mother (they are no longer married) is perhaps a more casual Christian.

6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?
Public; no religious instruction in school.

7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?
Kind of a tricky question. I am a Christian – i.e., a follower of Jesus Christ. I practice Christianity to the best of my ability, some of the time. ( :wink: ) I am not currently a member of any religious body other than the Church Universal, if you will. I do not attend church services of any kind except very rarely.

8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?
As a Christian, I’m somewhat of a traditionalist … I believe all the same things about Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit that our fundamentalist brothers and sisters do. I respect and study and try to understand the Bible. But I’m not “organized.” Any formal practices and restrictions that I do have are self-imposed.

9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?

Even in my small way, I am much, much more observant than most anyone around me. The only Christians I know personally are family members. Seattle is a very agnostic/atheist town, IMO, at least among younger people. Most of my friends are musicians or tech people who utterly scorn all religion. I work with a lot of older ladies, many of whom are Christians, I’m sure, but I don’t know which. Religion/faith is one of those verboten topics in my office, and there is little outside socializing (that I know of).

To answer a couple of questions you didn’t ask:

I used to be a practicing member of the Episcopal Church, before my atheist phase. When I accepted the reality of God again – a couple of years ago – I didn’t feel called, or able, to attend church anymore. I still don’t. Just can’t do it, can’t even think about doing it. “Going to church” is not where it’s at, IMO.

9

Eva Luna – it’s just an impression on my part, but I think Dopers tend to be more skeptical than the population as a whole. Your unscientific survey may be even less scientific than you think.

  1. Where do you live now?
    Northern California

  2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?
    Northern California

  3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?
    Roman Catholic

  4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?
    Eight years in parochial school.

  5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?
    Mom made sure we attended Mass, as a family, on Sundays & holydays.

  6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?
    Parochial school in grades 1-8; public high school and college after that. No religious instruction in the public school curriculum.

  7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?
    Not particularly. Went through a spurt of mass attendance as we introduced our children to the concepts of religion, but I’ve relapsed.

  8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?
    Hardly observant at all. (I notice that you’re asking about levels of observance, and not belief. Two different questions…)

  9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?[
    As someone else has said – zero has to got to be below average. But I think the Bay Area, outside of ethnic enclaves, is less observant than other parts of the US.

10

Ooh, I love polls. I’ll talk on the phone for half an hour with a telemarketer while fixing dinner if it’s a poll. So:

*1. Where do you live now? *

Northern California, Central Valley.

2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?

Bakersfield and Santa Maria, CA. Plus a year or so in Denmark.

3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?

LDS.

4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?

Went to church with family every week (unless traveling or sick). Family taught religion too, though we weren’t much good at having family night every week like we were supposed to.

5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?

They taught me what they believed, and my dad and I liked to go around visiting other churches. I was encouraged to go with friends if I liked, and they even put up with me wanting to become a ‘Missionette’ with my friend (until I discovered that being a Missionette was not like being a Girl Scout, and mainly involved handing out tracts in the mall).

As we became older, we were pretty much considered to be able to decide for ourselves. I continue to practice, one brother is lapsed, another converted to a different religion, yet another served a mission in our church. My parents still like all of us.

6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?

Public school, though I seriously considered the local Catholic HS. In high school, I attended seminary, a daily early-morning religion class at the church (which was behind my house, conveniently).

7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?

Yes, the same one.

*8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?
*
Quite observant. I go every week and have a job to do there (as does most everyone), try to live as I believe I should, study my religion, etc. We even have family night :).

9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?

AFAICT, our town consists in fairly equal parts of very observant Christians and Jews, people who don’t bother much/are atheists, and various alternate practices of different types. I’m on the very observant end, but that’s not unusual at all.

11

Actually, I agree with you, and I’m under no delusions about how unscientific this poll is. And if you look at the hijab discussion, you will see exactly why I am asking specifically about observance rather than about belief.

Here’s a link to the hijab discussion, for those interested:

12
  1. Where do you live now?

Toronto, Canada

  1. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?

The same.

  1. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?

Low-church liturgical Anglican

  1. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?

Sunday school.

  1. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?

Hmm. Only by example, I think- they read the Bible and attended church, which encouraged me to do the same.

  1. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?

I went to public schools with no religious instruction, and went to a small ecumenical Christian college for studies in western history and literature. The college was was explicitly Christian, and theology and biblical studies were part of the program. There was also a weekly chapel.

  1. Do you currently practice any organized religion?

Practice meaning what? My husband and I are between churches, currently, in that we’re thinking about becoming Catholic.

  1. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?

I dunno. We do daily prayer and bible reading, and we’re learning to pray the Rosary. I use my Anglican prayer book to do morning and evening service about once a week, and used to to it more often. I guess pretty observant.

  1. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?

I have no idea. My husband and I are the only ones at our separate workplaces who are Christian, and the only other person at my work who’s part of any organized religion is a non-observant Sikh.

13

1. Where do you live now?
Australia

2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?
New Zealand

3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?
Roman Catholic

4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?
Not really, my mother was religious, my afther an avowed athiest. We were given the opportunity to decide for ourselves

5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?
See above

6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?
Semi-private. No religious curriculum

7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?
No

8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?
Not even a tiny bit

9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?
I would say that it is roughly the same as any other Australian or New Zealander. Religion and faith do not really play any part at all in the lives of most

14

1. Where do you live now?
Western Maryland
2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?
A suburb of Baltimore, MD
3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?
Catholic
4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?
My mother sent us to Mass most Sundays, although she herself did not attend. We also went to Sunday school sometimes.
5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?
Oh, my, yes. My mother would weep, wail and gnash teeth at the suggestion that one of us might leave the Church.
6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?
Public schools, no religious instruction. I have four older sisters. The oldest three went to Catholic school until the school did something that ticked off my mom, then no more Catholic school for us.
7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?
I’m a registered member of the Baha’i faith, and independent world religion.
8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?
Fairly observant. I pray daily, and observe numerous other things; I observe the yearly 19-day-fast. I attend all of the congregation’s meetings and devotionals unless I am extremely ill. I also suspend my children’s homeschooling for our formally observed Holy Days. We’re supposed to suspend work for these days, too, so, as a SAHM, I try to get laundry and other household chores all caught up so that I can work as little as possible on the Holy Days.
9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?
Well, Christianity is pretty popular around here. Sunday is not a sabbath for us, so if I have to go to Wal-Mart for something, I like to go on Sunday mornings, when it’s not crowded because every one else is in church. I’d say my level of observance is maybe on par, or perhaps just a little above average for the area.

15
  1. California’s Bay Area
    2.Same as above
  2. Roman Catholic
  3. Yes. I went to a Catholic school from K-8, and now I’m in a Catholic high school. Both schools have religion classes. I also attended several summertime “bible camps”, which were basically day programs at local schools where the kids did fun activities while learning about religion.
  4. My parents force(d) me to go to church every Sunday, unless there is a good reason why I can’t make it. They also insist(ed) that I follow certian rituals, such as fasting for an hour before taking communion.
  5. See #4
  6. Yes, see #5
  7. Quite observant, see #5. (note- I do not like going to church, and I disagree with many of the teachings of the catholic church.)
  8. Most of the people I an my family interact with we know from school or church. Most of them are as observant as we are.
16

Who me? I’m not religious at all! :wink:

1. Where do you live now? Pennsylvania
2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent? The same but I was born in England and the microculture at home was more British than American.
3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in? Episcopalian/Anglican Christianity
4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind? Like most kids in town, I went to Sunday School. I was also confirmed as a pre-teen, which included learning the Episcopal Church’s catechism, and served as a acolyte (it’s the equivalent of “altar boy”).
5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent? They thought going to Sunday school was a good thing. My father, a rather curmudgeonly agnostic, did encourage me to question my religion, although I’m not sure he intended to.
6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum? I did, but of course there wasn’t religious instruction in schools – this was, after all, America! :wink:
7. Do you currently practice any organized religion? As the saying goes, I am not a member of an organized religion; I’m Episcopalian. :wink:
8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion? Well, I should be at choir practice right now, instead of surfing the SDMB, but in spite of that, I’ll say “very.” The Episcopal Church requires that, to be an Episcopalian in good standing, one must attend 3 services in one year. I’ve been known to do that within 24 hours.
9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live? It’s hard to say. In my hometown, one curious phenomenon is the after-church rush at the local grocery stores at midday on Sundays, yet a great many of my friends seldom if ever darken the door of a church.

On this board, I worry that I come across as a religious fanatic. My faith is part of me, and despite Mum’s attempts to persuade me that a lady doesn’t discuss politics or religion, I could never resist leaving two such fascinating topics alone. I’ve had people on a Christian message board accuse me of lying when I’ve told them I had little first-hand exposure to American Fundamentalist Christianity growing up, yet that is the truth. Around here, Catholicism is the dominant religion, with Presbyterians probably being the most common of the various Protestant denominations. We’ve also got a good variety of Orthodox Churches here, including Serbian and Ukranian just to name a few. I freely admit that one reason I’m an Episcopalian Christian rather than a Fundamentalist Christian or a Gardnerian Wiccan is because my mother was and my father had no objection to it. Had I been born in an Islamic household, I may well have wound up a Muslim and found things in the Qu’ran which supported me in my faith and my views every bit as much as things I’ve found in the Bible support my views.

I firmly believe one’s cultural melieu affects one’s faith and what one believes a great deal. I’d say “as much as God”, but then that religious fanatic side kicks in and points out that I could argue that God is responsible for one’s cultural melieu, therefore He must influence one more. Tautological babble then ensues. In my case, that melieu led to me embracing the values of my church and continuing within it. The church I went to growing up had an above average number of engineers in it and, when I left it several months ago, it continued to encourage questioning one’s beliefs and deepening one’s knowledge. Since that suits my own predispositions, I’m Episcopalian. Had I grown up in a church which did not encourage doing so, I have a feeling I might well have wound up Wiccan.

I am still, at heart, a rogue Episcopalian who has a couple of dear friends who are Wiccan, and who is willing to at least look at the beliefs of most faiths. My culture shaped that faith, but so did my experience. I’m lucky. My experiences within the church led me to stay close to it because it was a very positive thing in my life, sometimes about the only one. That’s why I get frustrated with some people who seem determined to make Christianity as unpleasant as possible.

Thanks – this is a fascinating thread!
CJ

17
  1. SE Indiana
  2. Ditto
  3. until 4th grade- Catholic, from 4th grade on-Evangelical C’tian
  4. Just parental before 4th grade- parents were C’mas & Easter Catholics;
    then Sunday School & Church weekly
  5. Mom & Grandmom made sure we went to church with them, Dad backed them up but seldom attended himself (after struggling with my brother for two years, Mom gave up trying to make him go). In adulthood, Mom & I go regularly (when I was away in Grad school, I went on my own) and when we visit my brother in L.A. or he comes home for C’mas, we go to church together (when there, we usually go to Crystal Cathedral). Dad has passed away.
    6)Public school, which had no formal religious education but was pretty lax about prayer in the classroom & teachers reading Bible stories & sharing their beliefs (never had any teachers tho who were mean about it to non-C’tian kids.)
  6. Yes
  7. Daily prayer, semi-daily Bible study, Wed night & Sunday services, participation in special church events, irregular tithing, occasional witnessing.
  8. More than usual, I’d say I’m more religiously active than 55-60% of my community.
18

  1. Where do you live now?

    Tallahassee, FL

  2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?

    Southern Ontario, CA

  3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?

    We weren’t “officially” any religion. My mother started off going to the United church, but told me she found the people off-putting, haughty and judgmental, so she switched to the Anglican church, which I think in Canada is the equivalent of the Church of England.

  4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?

    At the Anglican church, I was either an altar boy or in the choir, I can’t remember, but I wore a white robe and sat up the front by the organ pipes. And I went to Sunday school there.

  5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?

    No. My mother sort of had this guilt thing about going to church, so we did, except for my father, whom I only saw set foot in one for funerals. I think I stopped going to church around the age of 14.

  6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?

    Public. In elementary school, I believe we said the lord’s prayer first thing in the morning after singing the national anthem, back before it was illegal. That was the extent of religion in the public school system.

  7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?

    No.

  8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?

    Not at all. I have never considered myself to “belong” to any faith or religious organization.

  9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?

    On a 1-10 scale, I’d say it was 0. I live in a place where the number of churches and the people who attend them is positively scary to behold!

19

  1. Where do you live now?
    Nashville, TN

  2. Where was the bulk of your childhood spent?
    Michigan, Minnesota

  3. What religion, if any, were you brought up in?
    Roman Catholic

  4. Did you have any formal religious instruction as a child? If so, how much and what kind?
    Catholic Schools from grades 1-8

  5. Did your parents try to influence your degree of religious observance, either in childhood or in adulthood? If so, to what extent?
    As children we went to Mass every Sunday and on holy days. Plus, as schoolchildren we usually attended at least once a week. 2 of my sisters still attend Mass. My third sister is a Catholic in name only. My brother doesn’t consider himself a Catholic and goes to some do-it-yourself Christian church.

  6. Did you attend public schools? Religious schools? Neither? If you attended public schools, was there any religious instruction as part of the school curriculum?
    Nothing while I was in Public schools.

  7. Do you currently practice any organized religion?
    I’m a devout Catholic.

  8. How religiously observant do you consider yourself to be now, in terms of following the formal practices and restrictions of a particular organized religion?
    I quite strictly follow all the tenets of my faith. I was going to Mass 3-4 times per week, but now usually only go once a week. I pray every night. I fast and abstain when I’m supposed to.

  9. How do you think your degree of religious observance compares to that of others where you live?
    I live in the bible belt, so I don’t think my level of commitment is anything unusual.

StG

20

Eastern Massachusetts.

Maryland.

Secular Christian. (My family is culturally Christian and religiously non-observant.) On the other hand, one could argue that I was brought up United Methodist (despite the fact that neither of my parents is), as I attended a UM church fairly regularly with a friend for much of my childhood.

I was not baptised or otherwise initiated into any religion as a baby; my parents thought the kids should decide rather than have that decision made for them. (They’re nonobservant in different Christian denominations, which I think is what provoked that decision.)

The limit of my formal religious instruction was being taught two variants of the Lord’s Prayer, really. I picked up some other stuff because I was the sort of kid that actually listened to the sermons, but was not formally taught; Sunday School at that particular church tended to involve a great deal of unfocused futzing about with construction paper with the odd seasonal motifs. They gave us cheap plastic dreidels once.

I get the opinion that my father thinks religious observance in general is a little woo-woo, but he’s fairly tolerantly amused with my practices. He’s also entirely happy to have a lengthy /philosophical/ discussion involving the tenets of various religions.

Public school. No religious instruction.

Kemetic, currently /very/ burned out about all the extant major organised denominations and tending towards independence as a result.

(Since I know this is a terribly obscure faith, I note for general information that Kemeticism is one of the reconstructionist paganisms, specifically Egyptian recon.)

Middling – I’m quite devout in my own fashion, but I’m not very good about regularly performing the daily rituals. I tend to do them on festival days that I’m marking, when I feel a need for formal ritual, and on impulse. On the other hand, some of the other Kemetics I know, including at least one currently in clerical training, are a bit of the opinion that a daily Daily Rite is a bit much for most people to manage, so I suspect that I’m on the low end of mainstream in my ritual performance when compared to members of the faith as a whole.

In this area? I honestly have no idea. I’m over ten years out of practice for even remotely approaching having a clue about how to identify which people are observant in mainstream religions. I do know that there’s a thriving pagan (mostly Wiccan) community in the Boston area, but have no idea how well-attended their events are or what proportion of the local pagan community they attract. One of these days I’ll attract the tuits to get to one or two events and see what the moderately locals are like.

My default expectation is the one of my childhood: that most people are either secular or private about their religious beliefs, and so I’m not likely to have any reason to notice whether or not they’re practicing.