Comments on: “Belief-O-Matic — A personality quiz about your religious and spiritual beliefs” http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2008/04/13/belief-o-matic-a-personality-quiz-about-your-religious-and-spiritual-beliefs/ Miscellaneous ramblings on miscellaneous topics Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:44:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Joshua Lee http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2008/04/13/belief-o-matic-a-personality-quiz-about-your-religious-and-spiritual-beliefs/comment-page-1/#comment-1268 Joshua Lee Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:53:38 +0000 http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/?p=474#comment-1268 Then call it "denomination-o-matic." ;-) Then call it “denomination-o-matic.” ;-)

]]> By: Head Geek http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2008/04/13/belief-o-matic-a-personality-quiz-about-your-religious-and-spiritual-beliefs/comment-page-1/#comment-1266 Head Geek Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:53:07 +0000 http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/?p=474#comment-1266 Yes, I found that some of the questions didn't have an answer that fit my beliefs well either. I just picked the one that was closest. In one or two cases, when even the closest answer wasn't all that close, I marked the question as low priority as well. And yes, it's far more Christian-oriented, but that makes sense -- most of the native-English-speaking world is Christian, as (I'm sure) are the people behind that site. Yes, I found that some of the questions didn’t have an answer that fit my beliefs well either. I just picked the one that was closest. In one or two cases, when even the closest answer wasn’t all that close, I marked the question as low priority as well.

And yes, it’s far more Christian-oriented, but that makes sense — most of the native-English-speaking world is Christian, as (I’m sure) are the people behind that site.

]]> By: Joshua Lee http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2008/04/13/belief-o-matic-a-personality-quiz-about-your-religious-and-spiritual-beliefs/comment-page-1/#comment-1265 Joshua Lee Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:24:04 +0000 http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/?p=474#comment-1265 This is what I wound up with. Funny, I don't wear a turban or always carry a knife. ;-) I think the test is a biased one, simply because half the time, my beliefs weren't even represented. (For example, the nature of G-d; acosmic, personal, and no incarnation? Not an option. Also, all forms of Orthodox Judaism doesn't even always have *my* belief, though Monotheism of course is a constant, as is the practice of halachah by its adherants. (The "way of walking", literally, or "laws".) It asked a whole bunch of questions that only fitted Xtianity, especially Protestantism, too. Though really, Orthodox Judaism wound up at least tied for third place. Surprisingly, your beliefs (undisclosed) were rather low on the list. That's because of the test being mostly focused on theological minutia, which considering Orthodox Judaism's focus on praxis (everyday actions done with G-d's will in mind), doesn't make sense for a test meant to detect if your religion of choice matches it. :-) In general, I haven't found the BeliefNet site to be edifying, and those few times it treated Orthodox Judaism it was slightly condescending and uninformative, so I stopped reading it. 1. Sikhism (100%) 2. Bahá'í Faith (97%) 3. Islam (96%) 4. Orthodox Judaism (96%) 5. Reform Judaism (85%) 6. Jainism (82%) 7. Hinduism (80%) 8. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (74%) 9. Mahayana Buddhism (71%) 10. Orthodox Quaker (70%) 11. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (69%) 12. Eastern Orthodox (66%) 13. Roman Catholic (66%) 14. Seventh Day Adventist (65%) 15. Liberal Quakers (64%) 16. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (62%) 17. Theravada Buddhism (56%) 18. Neo-Pagan (56%) 19. Unitarian Universalism (54%) 20. Jehovah's Witness (53%) 21. Scientology (53%) 22. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (47%) 23. New Age (42%) 24. New Thought (41%) 25. Secular Humanism (28%) 26. Taoism (20%) 27. Nontheist (19%) This is what I wound up with. Funny, I don’t wear a turban or always carry a knife. ;-) I think the test is a biased one, simply because half the time, my beliefs weren’t even represented. (For example, the nature of G-d; acosmic, personal, and no incarnation? Not an option. Also, all forms of Orthodox Judaism doesn’t even always have *my* belief, though Monotheism of course is a constant, as is the practice of halachah by its adherants. (The “way of walking”, literally, or “laws”.) It asked a whole bunch of questions that only fitted Xtianity, especially Protestantism, too.

Though really, Orthodox Judaism wound up at least tied for third place. Surprisingly, your beliefs (undisclosed) were rather low on the list. That’s because of the test being mostly focused on theological minutia, which considering Orthodox Judaism’s focus on praxis (everyday actions done with G-d’s will in mind), doesn’t make sense for a test meant to detect if your religion of choice matches it. :-)

In general, I haven’t found the BeliefNet site to be edifying, and those few times it treated Orthodox Judaism it was slightly condescending and uninformative, so I stopped reading it.

1. Sikhism (100%)
2. Bahá’í Faith (97%)
3. Islam (96%)
4. Orthodox Judaism (96%)
5. Reform Judaism (85%)
6. Jainism (82%)
7. Hinduism (80%)
8. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (74%)
9. Mahayana Buddhism (71%)
10. Orthodox Quaker (70%)
11. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (69%)
12. Eastern Orthodox (66%)
13. Roman Catholic (66%)
14. Seventh Day Adventist (65%)
15. Liberal Quakers (64%)
16. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (62%)
17. Theravada Buddhism (56%)
18. Neo-Pagan (56%)
19. Unitarian Universalism (54%)
20. Jehovah’s Witness (53%)
21. Scientology (53%)
22. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (47%)
23. New Age (42%)
24. New Thought (41%)
25. Secular Humanism (28%)
26. Taoism (20%)
27. Nontheist (19%)

]]> By: Joshua Lee http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2008/04/13/belief-o-matic-a-personality-quiz-about-your-religious-and-spiritual-beliefs/comment-page-1/#comment-1264 Joshua Lee Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:05:24 +0000 http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/?p=474#comment-1264 I took the same one before, I assume Belief-Net hasn't modified it a lot. I took the same one before, I assume Belief-Net hasn’t modified it a lot.

]]> By: Head Geek http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2008/04/13/belief-o-matic-a-personality-quiz-about-your-religious-and-spiritual-beliefs/comment-page-1/#comment-1263 Head Geek Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:00:43 +0000 http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/?p=474#comment-1263 Did you try to take it? GoddessJ just did... she had the same top-four items as I did, though in her case the top one was the one we both practice. And the bottom one on her list was also Jehovah's Witness. :-) Did you try to take it? GoddessJ just did… she had the same top-four items as I did, though in her case the top one was the one we both practice. And the bottom one on her list was also Jehovah’s Witness. :-)

]]> By: Joshua Lee http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/2008/04/13/belief-o-matic-a-personality-quiz-about-your-religious-and-spiritual-beliefs/comment-page-1/#comment-1262 Joshua Lee Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:44:10 +0000 http://geekblog.oakcircle.com/?p=474#comment-1262 The problem with the quiz for me is that it's a theology quiz. My religion doesn't really focus on that, and its all over the map with regards to afterlife etc, other than a few key principles. So the survey doesn't work at all for me. The problem with the quiz for me is that it’s a theology quiz. My religion doesn’t really focus on that, and its all over the map with regards to afterlife etc, other than a few key principles. So the survey doesn’t work at all for me.

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