The Spiritual Compass

[Arthur_Vandelay]

If Barley doesn't have any objections (too late now!), I've decided to post a link to the following survey on Beliefnet.com:

What's Your Spiritual Type?
"What's your religion?" It used to be such a simple question to answer. But now you might be "spiritual but not religious"--or raised in one faith but practicing another. Maybe you're a Methodist but think of yourself more as an evangelical, or a seeker who is anti-religion--or born again. The old categories don't seem to work because the religious landscape has changed so much.

The quiz is meant to help you learn about your self, see how you compare with others, and have a little fun. Please allow about 10 minutes for completion. Afterward, you might want to visit our message boards to meet others with similar scores.


Click here to take the test (http://www.beliefnet.com/section/quiz/index.asp?sectionID=&surveyID=27)



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As I suspect many people find with quizzes such as these, not all of the questions seemed to apply to me. Nonetheless, according to Beliefnet, I am an

Active Spiritual Seeker (http://www.beliefnet.com/boards/discussion_list.asp?boardID=759) -- Spiritual but turned off by organized religion

[Gothmog]

As you say, many of the questions (or rather the answers available) seem not to apply, However, like you I was classed as Active Spiritual Seeker -- Spiritual but turned off by organized religion.

While the available answers caused some problems for me, the result actually does seem to be much in line with how I see myself. (Perhaps the mirrior is not quite as distorted as I thought ;) )

[Ithrynluin]

Old-fashioned Seeker -- Happy with my religion but searching for the right expression of it

Funny, because I do not follow any particular (organized) religion, nor am I old-fashioned. ;) But I suppose the definition, as far as it goes, is quite correct.

[Barliman Butterbur]

If Barley doesn't have any objections (too late now!), I've decided to post a link to the following survey on Beliefnet.com...

Not only have I no objections, I was there ahead of you! I posted a link to this very test just a few days ago in the thread about John Paul...:eek: :p

And I too am classified as an "Active Spiritual Seeker," more in tune with Buddhism and Hinduism than with anything else, but satisfied with neither.

(If you want to get really terrified, read about the Bardo Thodol — http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/rebirth_reincarnation.html#3 — in Tibetan Buddhism, which lines up quite nicely/scarily with what is currently known of near-death experiences and the anoxia which causes them.)

Barley

[Walter]

Curious, I came up as a "Spiritual Straddler, One foot in traditional religion, one foot in free-form spirituality", which IMO doesn't seem to fit at all...

But then, there were many questions where I was not happy with the choices they gave...

[Elbereth]

I'm Old-Fashioned Seeker. Although I scored a 69...which is right on the border of Questioning Believer.

My results were both surprising and not.

[Firawyn]

he, I'm a Questioning believer . Yippy for me...cool quiz. :D And we meet yet again Barley.

[e.Blackstar]

Not entirely suprisingly, I am a...Questioning Believer – You have doubts about the particulars but not the Big Stuff.

Pretty close, I guess. Although some of the answers were extremes, with no middles ground. :(

Oh well.

[Aiwendil2]

I'm a hardcore skeptic - 26 on the 25-100 scale. I suspect, though, that it would have been a few points higher had some of the possible answers been phrased differently.

[Maeglin]

I'm a candidate for the clergy. Not surprising, I expected either that or confident believer.

[Lindir]

Hardcore skeptic, but I knew that.

[Varda35]

I saw more clearly than ever that there is nowhere for me to go among all of these paths. I am an agnostic. I say that none of the assertions about an afterlife can be proven one way or the other, since we lack the necessary physico/mental abilities to grasp and solve the question. I can say that it is a settled issue with me at least that the God of holy books is a mind creation of man's hopes and fears, and exists nowhere else.

Barley

Oh Barley, It makes me feel good to know that I am not the only one who feels this way.:) Oh, and I took the Quiz, not surprisingly I am a Spiritual Dabbler - Open to spiritual matters but far from impressed. The quiz got it spot on.

[Barliman Butterbur]

Oh Barley, It makes me feel good to know that I am not the only one who feels this way.:)

At last! A kindred soul! Out of the world's six billion people I now know that there are at least two of us! :eek: :p

Barley

[Hammersmith]

I scored 89, so I'm a Confident Believer bordering on Candidate For Clergy. I'm set like plaster, dogmatic and more than offensive. :p

On a side note, is the implication of the quiz that clergy have no doubts, confusions or even disagreements with spiritual teachings?

[Barliman Butterbur]

I scored 89, so I'm a Confident Believer bordering on Candidate For Clergy. I'm set like plaster, dogmatic and more than offensive. :p

My kinda guy! :D

On a side note, is the implication of the quiz that clergy have no doubts, confusions or even disagreements with spiritual teachings?

If you're serious: I think the writer of the quiz had his tongue firmly in his cheek. :)

Barley

[Gothmog]

This post has been edited to show thread split.
This thread seems to be moving away from the original idea of the test and its results and into a discussion that would perhaps, be better suited to a seperate thread.

Give it some thought, if you agree then let me know and I will split the thread.The Discussion has now been split into another thread and can be found Here (http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=17387)

[Arthur_Vandelay]

This thread seems to be moving away from the original idea of the test and its results and into a discussion that would perhaps, be better suited to a seperate thread.

Give it some thought, if you agree then let me know and I will split the thread.

Probably a good idea, Gothmog, if Varda and Barley are happy to continue the discussion.

The Discussion has now been split into another thread and can be found Here (showthread.php?t=17387)

Thanks.