The spectrum of religious belief

Akita Suggagaki · Feb 12, 2025

I have been looking for a framework to illustrate a spectrum of religious/spiritual beliefs.

The Religious Typology

A new analysis looks at beliefs and behaviors that cut across many religious denominations – important traits that unite people of different faiths, or that divide those of the same religious affiliation.

www.pewresearch.org

2PhiloVoid · Feb 12, 2025

Akita Suggagaki said:
I have been looking for a framework to illustrate a spectrum of religious/spiritual beliefs.

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The Religious Typology

A new analysis looks at beliefs and behaviors that cut across many religious denominations – important traits that unite people of different faiths, or that divide those of the same religious affiliation.

www.pewresearch.org

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Those are some handy pics.

Akita Suggagaki · Feb 12, 2025

2PhiloVoid said:
Those are some handy pics.

I thought of another one. Literal-Figurative on one axis and Involvement in faith community on another.

I meet a lot of people who say they are spiritual/religious but have no church. Their interpretation of the Bible can be anywhere.

2PhiloVoid · Feb 12, 2025

Akita Suggagaki said:
I thought of another one. Literal-Figurative on one axis and Involvement in faith community on another.

I meet a lot of people who say they are spiritual/religious but have no church. Their interpretation of the Bible can be anywhere.

Yes, I can understand that. I wish there was a Provisional Theism category--- I'm confident in the evidence for the Biblical Christ. So, I believe in God. (Edited for conciseness)

Yttrium · Feb 12, 2025

I don't like the Reason/Imagination chart. One can put a lot of reason and logic into religion. Some great minds have put intensive thought into exploring religious aspects of the Bible. Meanwhile, it can take a great amount of imagination to explore the possibilities within reality. The universe is a weird place, with quantum mechanics and relativity and black holes and all that, and common sense doesn't necessarily apply.

In addition, supernatural beliefs aren't limited to theism. One can be atheist and believe in ghosts, reincarnation, and all manner of spiritual things. There are plenty of Buddhist atheists. This just wrecks the chart.

SelfSim · Feb 12, 2025

Akita Suggagaki said:
I have been looking for a framework to illustrate a spectrum of religious/spiritual beliefs.

View attachment 360976

View attachment 360977 View attachment 360979

The Religious Typology

A new analysis looks at beliefs and behaviors that cut across many religious denominations – important traits that unite people of different faiths, or that divide those of the same religious affiliation.

www.pewresearch.org

View attachment 360978

View attachment 360980
View attachment 360981

So much effort .. to explain notions of no practical use!

SelfSim · Feb 12, 2025

Yttrium said:
I don't like the Reason/Imagination chart. One can put a lot of reason and logic into religion. Some great minds have put intensive thought into exploring religious aspects of the Bible. Meanwhile, it can take a great amount of imagination to explore the possibilities within reality. The universe is a weird place, with quantum mechanics and relativity and black holes and all that, and common sense doesn't necessarily apply.

In addition, supernatural beliefs aren't limited to theism. One can be atheist and believe in ghosts, reincarnation, and all manner of spiritual things. There are plenty of Buddhist atheists. This just wrecks the chart.

The chart wrecks itself straight out of the gate .. it is of zero practical use, from what I can see.

Also what about all the exclusions it makes .. like the totality of scientific objective reality?
Isn't that worth an independent major bubble floating aloof there somewhere, eh?

2PhiloVoid · Feb 12, 2025

Yttrium said:
I don't like the Reason/Imagination chart. One can put a lot of reason and logic into religion. Some great minds have put intensive thought into exploring religious aspects of the Bible. Meanwhile, it can take a great amount of imagination to explore the possibilities within reality. The universe is a weird place, with quantum mechanics and relativity and black holes and all that, and common sense doesn't necessarily apply.

In addition, supernatural beliefs aren't limited to theism. One can be atheist and believe in ghosts, reincarnation, and all manner of spiritual things. There are plenty of Buddhist atheists. This just wrecks the chart.

I think you're right. The Reason/Imagination chart needs heavy revision.

AV1611VET · Feb 12, 2025

SelfSim said:
So much effort .. to explain notions of no practical use!

I see a mission field in those charts.

AV1611VET · Feb 12, 2025

SelfSim said:
Also what about all the exclusions it makes .. like the totality of scientific objective reality?
Isn't that worth an independent major bubble floating aloof there somewhere, eh?

I see Aron Ra is still cranking out his usual antibiblical nonsense.

I so wish he would come back here.

I'd love to lock horns with him again.

The IbanezerScrooge · Feb 12, 2025

Yttrium said:
I don't like the Reason/Imagination chart. One can put a lot of reason and logic into religion. Some great minds have put intensive thought into exploring religious aspects of the Bible.

Yes, but I feel like it's pretty much always post hoc. Very few people come to be religious through reason. The vast majority come to religion via emotion and then come up with post hoc reasoning to justify their beliefs.

Yttrium said:
Meanwhile, it can take a great amount of imagination to explore the possibilities within reality. The universe is a weird place, with quantum mechanics and relativity and black holes and all that, and common sense doesn't necessarily apply.

I certianly would agree with that.

Yttrium said:
In addition, supernatural beliefs aren't limited to theism. One can be atheist and believe in ghosts, reincarnation, and all manner of spiritual things. There are plenty of Buddhist atheists. This just wrecks the chart.

This is true as well. I know a Buddhist. We laugh about people believing in gods together and then he talks about how surprised all these religious nuts are going to be when they reincarnate as a mosquito.

Hans Blaster · Feb 12, 2025

Akita Suggagaki said:
I have been looking for a framework to illustrate a spectrum of religious/spiritual beliefs.

View attachment 360976

The whole "spectrum" idea is pretty bad in this category generally.

Akita Suggagaki said:
View attachment 360977 View attachment 360979

The Religious Typology

A new analysis looks at beliefs and behaviors that cut across many religious denominations – important traits that unite people of different faiths, or that divide those of the same religious affiliation.

www.pewresearch.org

This one from Pew is the only "reasonable" chart as it just seems to be an attempt to group religious views and styles using a wide range of questions. (Hey, it is Pew after all.) Probably sorted with a PC analysis or something. It looks like a spectrum, but really isn't. The old me would have really messed with their sorting of believers.

Akita Suggagaki said:
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Two axes do not make it better. The orthodox-liberal axis might be good for classifying Christians (and different criteria, similar concept some other faiths), but it is meaningless to talk about the theological liberalism of non-believers.

Akita Suggagaki said:
View attachment 360981

This might be the worst of the bunch.

AveChristusRex · Feb 12, 2025

AV1611VET said:
I see Aron Ra is still cranking out his usual antibiblical nonsense.

I so wish he would come back here.

I'd love to lock horns with him again.

You debated THE Aron Ra?!

2PhiloVoid · Feb 12, 2025

AV1611VET said:
I see Aron Ra is still cranking out his usual antibiblical nonsense.

I so wish he would come back here.

I'd love to lock horns with him again.

Aron Ra used to be on CF? The Youtuber? Really.

Hans Blaster · Feb 12, 2025

2PhiloVoid said:
Aron Ra used to be on CF? The Youtuber? Really.

Yep. Left before my time and probably yours. I've seen him in old threads subject to the necromancy of a certain star of "Crazy Things Fundamentalists Say" (o wait, you were replying to him.)

The originator of the "Poe" notion about parodies of extreme beliefs being indistinguishable from the real thing was a real poster named "Poe". I can't remember if I've seen any other "internet famous" people here.

AveChristusRex · Feb 12, 2025

Hans Blaster said:
This might be the worst of the bunch.

On the contrary, I think it is the only truly acceptable one they posted. Just me though...

Having a good Valentine's week blaster?

2PhiloVoid · Feb 12, 2025

Hans Blaster said:
Yep. Left before my time and probably yours. I've seen him in old threads subject to the necromancy of a certain star of "Crazy Things Fundamentalists Say" (o wait, you were replying to him.)

Are you saying I replied to Aron Ra, or to AV?

Hans Blaster · Feb 12, 2025

2PhiloVoid said:
Are you saying I replied to Aron Ra, or to AV?

The guy with his own pages of posts at FSTDT (I remembered the name slightly wrong. I think it was titled after a show about Kids saying odd things):

FSTDT

And a follow on on Poe's Law I found while searching for FSTDT

Poe's Law

2PhiloVoid · Feb 12, 2025

Hans Blaster said:
The guy with his own pages of posts at FSTDT (I remembered the name slightly wrong. I think it was titled after a show about Kids saying odd things):

FSTDT

And a follow on on Poe's Law I found while searching for FSTDT

Poe's Law

Are you implying this guy has something quoted from me? I'm not clear on what you're referring to.

AV1611VET · Feb 12, 2025

AveChristusRex said:
You debated THE Aron Ra?!

Very briefly.

Here's one of them: Post 26

The spectrum of religious belief

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