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My mom says I can't be an atheist or agnostic, but that I an be another faith if I really want to...I'm consideing converting...is Catholicism less annoying than Judaism, and what similarities and differences are there, and is it easier?

P. S. Sory, I didn't document what happened orr anything like that...not on a day-by-day basis.

I'd say the biggest difference between Catholicism and Judaism is the role Jesus plays....

I beleive at age 14 you might have to go through the RICA process to become Catholic. In our parish that is nine months of weekly classes. I don't think you would enjoy it.

I think Judaism is a fastinating faith. But I am on the outside looking in.

BeeBee

What about other religions?

I definetely don't want Islam due to the terrorism, Protestantism due to the evangelism, Sikhism due to the turbans, Hinduism or Jainism due to the veganism, Buddhism due to the yoga...and that's jut one reason for each...I think that's about all the religions there are.

I'd like to be an Atheist or Agnostic, but my mother will never go for that...I just with there was a way I could remain Jewish and God-beleiving without having to do religion in school.

What kind of Judaism is your family currently practicing? There are many, many kinds of Judaism if you could call them that. If the sort you are currently studying is too rigid for you, what about Reform?

I am agnostic, but if I weren't, I'd probably convert to Reform.

Hmmmm...I ahve this amazing book on religions.It tells about it the faith,the holy text,how many followers,all that other crap that yuo can think of.What knid of stuff are you intrested in?Do you like spells?Soemone said something about Wicca earlier.Here's something on it:

Wicca is an earth based and peaceful religion.The spells are used for good not bad.And yuo get to pick yuor ow gods or whatever.To be accepted you must spend one year in apprenticeship before you can fully be accepted by the coven.The afterlife depends on the wiccan:you can g oto a palce called Summerland or be reincarnated it's your choice:be in Paradise or live on earth again.

But here's the trick-Why worship a god you yourself created?That's the only thing I see wrong with it.

If you find a good church, Christianity is an awesome religion (mine). People respect and accept you while giving good advice on living. Again, if you find a good church. Christianity seems to have the most hypocrites out of all the religions, so watch out. *sigh*

(Okay, this is actually chamoisee, I forgot to log mutant out before I began. sorry)

I dunno. What I *loved* about Judaism was its open-mindedness and freedom of thought, and encouragement of seeking new ways to look at parts of the bible. (Yeah, I know that will surprise some people).

In Christianity there is often only one way to see a particular story or verse or whatever. That's always irritated me. It seemed pretty one dimensional and exclusive. Moreover, it's anathema to question the accepted meaning of said verse, story, etc. If you do, you are told that you just need to have faith, or another verse is quoted out of context to "prove" the other verse. "Faith" always means end of story, don't ask anymore questions or maybe you're not a real Christian or maybe you need prayers for doubt.

In Judaism, the bible is like a kaleidoscope. Every story has many meanings and lots of depth, links to other stories, legends, the mishnah, and it just goes on and on. There is no one way to look at it, and if you don't entirely agree with the interpretation you just read, there are a whole lot of other, also acceptable answers or ideas to pick from or you can come up with your own. You can think pretty much whatever you please, feel what you want to feel...unlike Christianity there is no sin in thinking about sleeping with someone, for example. NO thought crimes!

There are strong routines, ways of doing things, but being aspie I found these comforting and that they centered me, rather than seeing them as restrictive.

Another way I saw it: Christianity was about guilt; "I'm not good enough, we can't be good enough, that's why we need Jesus, we can never be good enough, we're filthy rags no matter how hard we try, our hearts are full of wickedness, ad nauseum...". How depressing.

Judaism was more like: Nobody's perfect. Start today. Give it your best shot today. If you screw up, try to go and make it right. I liked that. It was realistic and encouraging to me. (and now that I've written all this, I am once more tempted to go convert!).

Are you talking about Orthodox or Reformed Judaism? What you're saying dosen't sound like the Orthodox people I've known. Personally, I've found the Messianic Jews to be an interesting bunch. They seem to have alot of insight into the Old Testament and apply it to the New Testament in a very harmonious way.

[quote="aspergian_mutant"]
In Christianity there is often only one way to see a particular story or verse or whatever. That's always irritated me. quote]

I don't really think that is true.

For example, some forms of Christianity take a very literal view of the Bible. Others think you have to understand the societiel context to understand what the writer was trying to get across and then filter out the writer's bais.

My family is "Conservative Jews"...it means we're more than Reform, but less than Orthodox, wyhen it comes to religiousness.

Well, I practice Reform Judaism, and I converted from Catholicism. I was raised a Roman Catholic, but converted to Judaism in my mid-twenties.

I like Judaism b/c you can question anything and everything. You can argue. I found Torah study fascinating, b/c people would bring interpretations from the different branches of Judaism as well as from the Zohar and other mystical texts.

I find the ritual aspect appealing also. The rituals provided a lot of comfort for my aspie brain. The congregation I first joined had an unbelievable cantor and rabbi. The music was amazing.

I also like Judaism's belief in personal responsibility for what one does today, in the here and now. One is not able to just confess one's sins and hope to be absolved by some intermediary. In Judaism, whatever happens and whatever you do, is between you and G-d only. You have a personal and deep relationship with G-d, without any middlemen.

I have studied all major world religions, and my best friend's mom is a Persian, who practices Zoarastrianism, has taught me a lot of what she knows. I find Judaism to be the most compatible with my innate beliefs about G-d, the world, the universe etc.

Tallgirl.

Probably not. Without having actually delved into the study of orthodox Judaism or having gone to their Temple, one would have to rely on preconceived notions and base all input upon what you already thought. This is common in many areas.

For example, I might believe that all dogs bite. If I see a dog, and it has teeth, I could point to it and say to myself, "Teeth! To bite with! I knew it!" And of course when I shoudl happen to hear about some isolated dog bitig incident, this data gets stockpiled in reasons to believe why all dogs bite.

People are that way about other religions, belief systems, ethnic groups, etc, and this includes autistics. We have seen in the movies or in a book or heard from someoone we know...and then we are all too ready to make assumptions when we actually have a dearth of real information.

Anyway, even Hasidic Judaism allows and encourages arguing and thinking about scripture. Go read the Talmud. It's basically a lot of well respected rabbis disagreeing about how to interpret or apply various laws or mitzvot. There is rarely one way to see things.



Sure, they're essentially Christians who maintain their Jewish identity. They try to bridge the gap between Judaism and Christianity. The problem is that Messianic Jews believe in Jesus, that he was G-d in the flesh. I don't believe that G-d has a split personality or that he can pray to himself or beg himself for mercy, or that he could be tempted by sin. I think that G-d cannot appear in human form or physical forms, (if I believed in G-d, and at this point I'm not sure). I don't think that part of G-d could die while part of him remained living, and if He didn't really die, then what kind of a sacrifice was that?! It would only be a sham, a trick. Also, what kind of a sacrifice was it if he *knew* that he was going to be resurrected after only three short days? There were a lot of serious problems with the logic of Jesus being G-d in the flesh and dying.

Anyway, this brings me to another reason why I love Judaism: unlike many other religions, it doesn't ever say, "Our way is the only way. Only we get an eternal reward. The rest of the world is going to hell! They should believe like us." It's extremely tolerant of other belief systems and has no desire to proseletyze the world or terrify them with dire predictions of doom. Judaism believes that gentiles can recieve an eternal reward whatever their religion, if their conduct is ethical and righteous.



OK, I will restate this: for each church, there is usually only one way to look at a verse. If you're very lucky, soemtimes there are two ways to look at it, and the two are compatible. At no time is contradiction allowed or encouraged or admitted to, however. And it tends to hold true that one chruch's interpretation of a verse is the only right way, and then if you go into another church, they may see it differently and disrespect the other church's view out of hand. Also each church tends to see their way as the right way, and other churches are beign deceived or misled. This is because they are in competition with one another for congregants! They get really ticked if you go to another church for awhile and apply all sorts of pressure so that you'll come back to theirs! I got very tired of the exclusivity of the whole thing.

Okay! Thank you for clarifying, chamoisee!

I'm still not sure I agree but now I understand better.

BeeBee

That's an unusual situation. Does she say this because she thinks you would benefit from religion regardless of ideology, or just she just want you to validate her lifestyle? My mother raised me as a Protestant and didn't mind too much when I started looking at other denominations and religions, but wasn't pleased when I became agnostic. I think agnosticism is the most offensive option to most religious people because it not only dismisses their chosen religion but belittles all forms of religious belief.

Actually, as I understand it, agnosticism is simply the view that we cannot know if there is a god or not. It's atheism that says no god could possibly exist.

171NewYork, it defeats the purpose of religious faith to pick a religion because your parents told you that you have to. (I believe, anyway, that) one's relationship with a god or refusal of god should be a personal choice, not dictated by other people

Do you understand what atheism and agnosticism are? They are not religions like Christianity and Judaism. Atheists believe there is no god and agnostics are unsure and irreligious (for an easy explaination).

Personally I find Judaism pretty interesting (at least Orthodox and Hessidic). Do you learn Hebrew? Don't just quit a particular religion because you find it "annoying". Many things in life are.