WHAT RELIGION ARE YOU?

I've always considered myself in the broad category of being non-religious. I was raised in what one would call a fairweather Christian family - only visiting church for weddings, deaths, Easter or when visiting the much more Christian grandparents on a Sunday. Throughout my formative years, I sought elightenment through newly discovered religions, meditation, and even the mind-enhancing effects of substances like beer. My journey educated me to the philisophical ways of many religions, but none appealed to me. I have come to believe in my own ways, my own ideas about the world, my own supreme being, if one exists.

When I found a web site that determines what religion best fits my own personal philosophy of the world, I was intrigued. How could it hurt? My own personal belief system wouldn't send me to hell for questioning the all-powerful Oz. Would it? It was worth a try. So I went to www.speakout.com/ActivismTools/selectors/religion/ and took their quiz.

Expecting to be told I was a devout agnostic, I was surprised to discover my beliefs had something else in store for me. Religions and beliefs I had little experience with.

The site recommended I become (in order of importance) a Theravada Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist, Neo-Pagan, Humanist, Mahayana Buddhist, Liberal Quaker, New Age practitioner, Taoist, Atheist/Agnostic or an Orthodox Quaker. One it didn't recommend that I think I'll continue being a follower of is a beer in one hand and a fishing pole in the other.

THE WORLD'S TOP 10 RELIGIONS

Christianity 33%

Islam 20%

Non-religious 15%

Hinduism 13%

Buddhism 6%

Athiests 4%

Chinese Folk Religions 4%

New Asian Religions 2%

Tribal, Animism 2%

Source: U.S. Center for World Mission

THE TOP 10 RELIGIONS IN THE U.S.

Christianity 76.5%

Nonreligious/Secular 13.2%

Judaism 1.3%

Islam .05%

Buddhism .05%

Agnostic .05%

Atheist .04%

Hinduism .04%

Unitarian Universalist .03%

Wiccan/Pagan/Druid .01%

Spiritualist <.01%

American Religious Identification Survey, 2001 study.

TOP 10 CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS IN U.S.

Catholic 24.5%

Baptist 16.3%

Methodist/Wesleyan 6.8%

Lutheran 4.6%

Presbyterian 2.7%

Pentecostal/Charismatic 2.1%

Episcopalian/Anglican 1.7%

Latter-day Saints/Mormon 1.3%

Churches of Christ 1.2%

Congregational/United Church of Christ 0.7%

American Religious Identification Survey, 2001 study.

IDAHO'S RELIGIOUS MAKEUP

Protestant 39%

(Methodist 6%)

(Lutheran 4%)

(Baptists 4%)

LDS 30%

Non-Religious* 13%

Roman Catholic 12%

Other Christian 2%

Other Religions 1%

Wikipedia.com

* Western states are typically more tolerant of non-religious practitioners than the Midwest and South according to a recent PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life research study.

Article copyright Bar Bar Inc.

Chart (THE WORLD'S TOP 10 RELIGIONS)