Which religions are totally non-existant among us Dopers?
this [thread=315737]GQ thread[/thread] about Christian Science got me thinking:
the OP asks a question about the Christian Science church, and got NO responses from anyone who is a believer.
The SDope has lots of threads with religious content , and usually somebody joins in who is a practicing Mormon, Jew,Bahai, Evangelical , Muslim, or whatever.
In the thread I linked to, I was surprised not to see a reaction from a practicing member of the Christian Science church. There is one post which suggests that there are no such believers on this site, (hinting at the reason:, after all we are in the business of fighting ignorance here. )
So , Let’s try a poll!
If you are believer, and practicing member of a non-mainstream religion–Please check in here, with a quick “I am a believer in…”, plus whatever you want to add.
(yes,mods, I know this is GD.But I think a poll like this is a legitimate use for GD-- a serious forum for defining who we Dopers are who we aren’t)
I know we have lots of religious people here. Of course, most of the mainstream religions we see here are broad enough to include a wide array of beliefs, liberal and conservative, open to discussion --i.e. the kind of people who are attracted to a site like this one. It’s the smaller (more extreme?) religions which by definition limit their believers to unusual, less-accepted beliefs, and thus will be less represented among us Dopers.
I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint - often called Mormons.
I do think the premise of the OP is a little flawed. The reason Christian Scientists are less likely to be represented on this Board is because, there are fewer of them. My understanding is that Christian Scientists are members of a mainly US denomination, and according to The National Counsel of Churches, there seem to be less than a million Christian Scientist (which is the smallest denomination they list. Contrast that with 5 1/2 million Mormons (the 4th largest denomination in the US), and 1.04 million Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Similarly, according to adherents.com, there only seemsto be around 300,000 Christian Scientists in the world. (contrasted with over 12 million Mormons world-wide IIRC.) So it may be just a matter of numbers.
On the other hand, maybe there is something about Christian Scientists that keeps them from this site - there seems to be plenty of Wiccans and Unitarians on this Board, and according to Adherents, the have approximately 300,000 and 630,000 members respectively.
And then, there is the whole question of what constitutes a “non-mainstream religion”.
Although I’m no longer practicing, I was raised a Christian Scientist and am still on the church membership rolls. So feel free to count me for polling purposes.
Numbers may have something to do with the lack of response here; my understanding is that there are somewhere between half a million and a quarter million Christian Scientists worldwide—far fewer than some of the other religions cited.
Another reason may be that CS is not really a proselytizing religion. Sure, the church has some outreach efforts: public reading rooms in many towns; a Web site (www.spirituality.com); international shortwave radio programs; and of course the Christian Science Monitor, which is primarily a newpaper but does include one religious article each day. Nevertheless, many Christian Scientists, growing up fully aware that they are members of a small, dispersed, and little-understood religion, tend to keep their beliefs to themselves. For them, religion is a deeply personal and private matter, not something you shout from the street corners or accost passersby about. That feeling can make Christian Scientists reluctant to wade into potentially idle or hostile discussions of their faith with nonbelievers.
But I didn’t want us to go unrepresented altogether, so I broke my yearlong lurkerdom on SD and subscribed specifically so I could post to this and the aforementioned thread.
Wiccan, here - raised Southern Baptist.
I’m afraid I disagree. I see nothing “not serious” about IMHO (and I certainly see lots of less than serious stuff in GD). The difference between the Fora tends to be based more on the level of evidence required to support an argument than the “seriousness” of the argument.
I’m shipping this off to IMHO where you might also look up the older thread Religion Poll.
[ /Moderator Mode ]
Darned if I wasn’t thinking about something on this line the other day- not RE Christian Science, but more about JW’s & other Charles Taze Russell-inspired groups (the more independent Bible Students) and Armstrongist church members.
I think the raindog may be a CTR-style Bible Student, due to his position on Christ’s Pre-Existent Sonship vs His Deity. Any others? (Btw, the raindog is a fine debater in whatever tradition he represents.)
Me too. And Owlett also makes a good points about proselytizing.
I second this. What do you mean by non-mainstream? Because if you’re talking about Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, which are traditionally considered mainstream, that leaves a hell of a lot of people out.
I’m not really a member of any religion, at the same time I feel awkward not answering the question. So FTR: I’m atheist Hindu.
Somewhere in here there is a meanspirited joke about Episcopalians, but I can’t quite formulate it.
We’re pretty well represented here, anyway.
Discordian Chiming in.
Hail Eris.
(Goddess of confusion, discord, and bureucracy.)
Also nonspecifically pagan. I tend to use Ra for a Godhead when I need one.
With a pantheon that’s half Egyptian and half Roman, it’s perfect philosophy for Roamin’ around, Gypin’ people. 
I’m an Apatheist. I’m just kinda “meh” about the whole God vs. No God debate anymore.
(yes,mods, I know this is GD.But I think a poll like this is a legitimate use for GD-- a serious forum for defining who we Dopers are who we aren’t)
GD a serious forum? C’mon…I’ve seen more mundane, pointless BS quarreled over by clueless ideologues in GD than all the other fora here combined…
The fact that you can cite somebody’s blog don’t make you cool.
I wonder if there are any Scientologists here. Would they “come out” on a board like this? I wonder what the reaction would be…
I’m a practising Resistentialist.