Saturday, March 12, 2005

Facinating

I think I will write a quiz to see why I am addicted to quizzes.
Anyway, I probably match my Denomination 95% -- I actually match "Orthodox Quaker" 100%.
I thought I was finished feeling my oats.....

1. Orthodox Quaker (100%)
2. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (95%)
3. Liberal Quakers (84%)
4. Seventh Day Adventist (75%)
5. Unitarian Universalism (71%)
6. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (68%)
7. Eastern Orthodox (60%)
8. Roman Catholic (60%)
9. Hinduism (53%)
10. New Age (48%)
11. Mahayana Buddhism (46%)
12. Reform Judaism (45%)
13. Bahá'í Faith (44%)
14. Taoism (42%)
15. Theravada Buddhism (42%)

Try it here at the Belief-O-Matic.

Then I tried What kind of Christian are you?

And I am on the cusp between Bishop Spong Christian (a.k.a. "Biblical Revisionist") and Hillary Rodham Clinton Christian (a.k.a. "Left-Leaning Traditionalist"). Funny that parts of both are true. I would have said "moderate radical neo-orthodox fundementalist emergent" but that wasn't on the list.

Bishop Spong like: You believe in God as a loving creator and that She will forgive you for just about anything. You go to church for the sense of community and the music and because you like to hector your fellow Christians about their backward ways. You read Toni Morrison, Elaine Pagels, and Bishop Spong, the controversial Episcopalian prelate. You enjoyed the "The Da Vinci Code" as a thriller and found its ideas about Christian history thought-provoking, if not always historically accurate. You live in a leafy university town, order Chai at the local coffee house (never Starbucks). You watch TV so you can talk disdainfully about how bad TV is. You give to charity, preferring the local homeless shelter to those bureaucratic national charities. For you, the crux of Christianity is Jesus' revolutionary message of empowering "the least of these."

Hiliary Rodham Clinton (except I really don't like the moniker very much) like: You think the Bible is divinely inspired, and you say Jesus was the Son of God. You admire Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Bill Moyers, and the Dalai Lama. While watching "The Passion of the Christ," you cried during the flashback when toddler Jesus fell and Mary ran to him, (yes, I did) but many other parts of the movie bothered you. You eat boneless chicken breasts, organic produce, and designer ice cream. You talk a lot about the value of community. You ardently support gay rights. You believe the surrounding culture is polluted and blame it on big corporations. The power of Christianity for you is the sense of community and the emphasis on love, forgiveness, and helping the less-fortunate.

Then I read the George Bush Sr. list and related to some of those statements, as well.

I really am somewhere between these. I hate boxes and I hate being put in a box. Leftist/liberal? No, I prefer inclusive and radical (Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin radicalis, from Latin radic-, radix root meaning to procede from the root, or relating to the origin, marked by a considerable departure from the usual or traditional, tending or disposed to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions, advocating extreme measures to retain or restore.) Yep. I like the word radical. After all, Jesus was radical.

3 comments:

Danny Bradfield said...

RM, you're taking me kicking and screaming into these quizzes! Ha! Here's my results. Note that I'm more likely to be Buddhist than Catholic. Hmmm....

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (89%)
3. Orthodox Quaker (83%)
4. Unitarian Universalism (79%)
5. Reform Judaism (66%)
6. Hinduism (65%)
7. Seventh Day Adventist (64%)
8. Theravada Buddhism (62%)
9. Mahayana Buddhism (61%)
10. Neo-Pagan (60%)
11. Sikhism (60%)
12. Bahá'í Faith (60%)
13. Eastern Orthodox (57%)
14. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (57%)
15. Roman Catholic (57%)
16. New Age (56%)
17. Jainism (53%)
18. Secular Humanism (53%)
19. Taoism (53%)
20. Orthodox Judaism (42%)
21. New Thought (40%)
22. Scientology (38%)
23. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (35%)
24. Islam (33%)
25. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (28%)
26. Nontheist (26%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (18%)

Unknown said...

Wow! I'm making a comment!
I've taken Belief-o-Matic before, and it simply confirms what my family already knows, that I am a major Jewish wannabe. I come out 100% for Reform Judaism every time. How can that be? I think it's because I relate strongly to their Messianic vision, that it is up to us to bring about the God's kingdom in our time and place.
(I also score 95% Liberal Protestant, so don't worry, I'm not converting.)
The other test was fun but a little frustrating, as are all these quizzes, I guess. Bishop Spong is actually my cousin; I think of myself as being very much in line with his theology, but not with his Christology. This test was more about the latter than the former. I fell into the Hilary camp. Interesting.
As to why you love the quizzes, I think being in the process of theological education is all about discerning who we are and where we fit and where we itch to break out!

Michael said...

Hey just checking in to make sure that you get some rest for tomorrow.

It's going to be a busy day and I wanted to send some ripples of energy for you to ride.

Take Care
Michael