Are there Religious SPDs?

meh27 wrote:I am gnostic. To be atheist (no judgement) indicates a belief in nothing whereas I do believe in something. And to me that something is located within each person and is in fact our true individuality. Education and knowledge can be granted from it if the ego is placed aside. I have found that even in the "empty" and "nothing" something is present. And because it is within you, it is a part of you whether you want to believe it or not. I do not find safety and solidarity in church. Only judgements and confusion. People look to heroes on the outside of themselves to save them...you must save yourself. From what? From judgement. Your mind is not wrong in it's assumptions. What you believe is real is made real by your mind. But belief and truth are not the same. Truth is out there and you will only find it within yourself by listening to yourself. There is an ALL and we are each a part of it. In our differences and separateness we are truly one. I know I am alone on this one. It's cool. But it may help you as it has helped me.... Shoham's The Bridge to Nothingness, makes perfect sense.
---If that wasnt confusing enough

I believe in that too.It's good to see that there are people like this around.

I'm Christian (practicing), from a Pentecostal / charismatic background (ironic, much?), though visibly uncomfortable in church. I'm also formally educated in constructive and philosophical theology (at a Masters level from an 'ivy league' institution), with an emphasis on the religious thought of Søren Kierkegaard.

LoneWanderer wrote:I can't believe there are people with SPD who are actually religious? I suppose we're not the emotionless, logical beings that some people around here claim we are - although I've never really believed that we are anyway.

I realize this post is old, but (1) being 'emotionless' - don't you mean reduced emotional capacity? - and / or (2) being 'logical' are not mutually exclusive with being 'religious', though certainly there are expressions of religious faith, e.g. those you find in a Pentecostal or charismatic church, that someone with SPD would not identify with (which I know from experience). There are also expressions of religious faith that someone with SPD would probably not take issue with, e.g. the 'religious hermit'.

I personally gravitate towards an existential / philosophical 'religious' outlook. My 'religious experience' is intellectually grounded.

I'm a Zen Buddhist and a pagan. I worship Minerva, not because I have any facts but because it pleases me to have a being to worship. I mediate to cleanse my mind and live in the moment, but I usually practice alone. Some times I will meditate with a zen group, but it's cool because we hardly talk at all and I can come and go as I please. It's like the gym: I'm around people, but not really forced to interact with them.

I find this interesting. I'm schizotypal and I have thought of the difference between us. Religion seems to be a very schizotypal thing. I thought all schizos were into the spiritual realm since I have met schizophrenics and they're as crazy in God as we seem to be. But not you guys, why???

I grew up in a nominally Christian family; my grandparents went to church regularly but not my parents, although I think they considered themselves believers. Went to church occasionally with my grandparents (and parents on special occasions) but never really connected with it. By the time I was in college I realized it just didn't make any sense to me. I never really thought about it before but now that the subject has been brought up, I think the reason it didn't initially take root in me may have something to do with my schizoid tendencies (just having no interest in the social aspect of going to church and sharing in normative behaviors) and because of that, I was able to look at it more analytically and come to the conclusion that it was all a bunch of hokum.

I am a believing Christian. I started off as being religious then I became atheist at one point. Now I have gone back to religion but a different one this time.

religion sucks. That is my religion.

I'd call myself a hard agnostic. I wouldn't say atheist because I think it presumptuous to assume there is no greater power at work in the universe. I do think that if such a power existed it's actions are not really any of my business--I doubt it cares about me & I doubt I could understand it. The closest thing to a deity I've observed is randomness--it's what created life and what allows for some semblance of free will.

I don't, however, think that SPD and religion are incompatible. I've read a lot on religion and especially mystical experiences, and there is (in most religions) a dimension of introversion and self-reflection that I have found appealing. I also wouldn't claim that all religion sucks. It serves a purpose for many people. When Marx said religion was the opium of the masses he was not saying it was necessarily a bad thing. The middle class at the time could afford opium to make their lives better easier to bear & religion was just a cheap(er) way to do that. Yes, people have done horrible things in the name of religion but it's stirred some people to do positive things as well. You could say the same thing about political ideologies.

I'm an atheist. While it may be presumptuous to assume there is no greater power at work in the universe, I believe it's equally presumptuous to assume that there is.

Religion has always been a mystery to me. I received no religious schooling or training. If my parents ever sat me down as a child and told me about God, then I don't remember. My mother was moderately religious (Catholic), my father, who knows. Over the years a few people have spoken to me about religion but it only seemed to confirm my beliefs.
I've often wondered what it is that I lack in this case; was it the lack of religious tutoring from my parents? Is there some kind of cerebral receptor that serves as a conduit to belief in God that hardcore atheists lack?

To anyone reading: when was it that you first started believing in God?

I'm a lifelong atheist.
My parents never went to church (other than weddings, etc), but they would never have called themselves non-believers (they'd have thought it too clever-dick for them).
My first wife was a secular Jew and a member of the Communist Party, so obviously also atheist.
However, my second wife was a Christian - a convert from the Indian Parsi faith (Zoroastrianism) - and we brought our children up as part of Methodist congregations.
The great majority of the religious people I've met have been generous, considerate, kind and liberal minded - whatever their actual faith - and certainly less dogmatic than most of the communists I knew.