• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

[INFP] Are INFPs Non-Religious?

TopherRed

New member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
1,272
MBTI Type
ENFJ
Enneagram
2w3
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
Are INFPs stereotypically non-religious? It seems to be a trend that most INFPs I've encountered don't have any particular faith...

So I'll parse this out...

  • Do you have a faith and attend a place of worship?
  • Do you have a faith and used to attend a place of worship, but now feel like there are "too many sharks in the pool" for it to be a good place?
  • Last question with, do you believe all churches are that way?
  • Do you have a faith, but don't believe in organized religion (so you don't attend a place of worship)?
  • Do you have a faith? What makes you have, or not have, a belief in a higher power of some kind?
I'm curious.
 

BlackCat

Shaman
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
7,038
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Faith is unrelated to type. I know INFPs who are religious, non religious, and somewhere in between.
 

Stanton Moore

morose bourgeoisie
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
3,900
MBTI Type
INFP
I don't know what a stereotypical INFP thinks...I've never met one.

Of the one's I've known, there has been a fairly even split between hardcore athiests and people of faith (including non-Christian spirituality). One woman had very deep religious beliefs that she kept entirely to herself. She never raised the topic with me even once...
Personally? Agnostic. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence...
 

neptunesnet

man-made
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
1,228
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
5&4
Instinctual Variant
sx
Do you have a faith and attend a place of worship?
Yes. I'm an AME but I also attend Quaker services.

Do you have a faith and used to attend a place of worship, but now feel like there are "too many sharks in the pool" for it to be a good place?
Within the last three years, I've gone to four different churches, and those "sharks" were certainly the reason why I've been wandering around so much. They just take away from the entire experience.

Last question with, do you believe all churches are that way?
No. There have to be some good ones.

Do you have a faith, but don't believe in organized religion (so you don't attend a place of worship)?
No. I like the idea of a community too much.

What makes you have, or not have, a belief in a higher power of some kind?
I just feel it. I can feel that spirit wherever I am. It's a part of me.
I know my response is very NF, but <shrugs.
 

JivinJeffJones

New member
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
3,702
MBTI Type
INFP
Do you have a faith...
Yes.
...and attend a place of worship?
No.
...and used to attend a place of worship, but now feel like there are "too many sharks in the pool" for it to be a good place?
"Sharks" is a bit extreme. I think there are a lot of people secretly (or just politely) being dicks, and a lot of little power-struggles. Basically a lot of people paying far too little attention to what they're supposedly there to do while they're doing it.
do you believe all churches are that way?
I dunno. All the big ones, yeah. Any time you get largish groups of people together egos move to the forefront.
 

William K

Uniqueorn
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
986
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
One woman had very deep religious beliefs that she kept entirely to herself. She never raised the topic with me even once...

I think if there is any commonality, that would be it. Discussions about religions tend to get confrontational quickly to me since I live in a country with 4 major ones, and so I've learnt to say "Live and let live". I have my god(s), and you have yours. I'm not going to convert you to my view, and I sure hope you don't intend to convert me to yours.
 

TopherRed

New member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Messages
1,272
MBTI Type
ENFJ
Enneagram
2w3
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
Interesting.

Just responding to William, a little off topic--Personally, I'm not an evangelist. When people come up to me and tell me, "Oh, I had this feeling that I should share Christ with so-and-so, but I chickened out (or I did, but they didn't respond. *shrug* Oh well, I guess I was obedient)...", I just internally roll my eyes--I think people are converted most by seeing Christians being the hands and feet of Christ. There's plenty of His mouth, it's at the pulpit and in the Bible, but we currently live in a culture in the United States (and my guess would be it carries overseas too, but correct me if i'm wrong...) where action speaks far louder than words. Most Christian leaders fail to see that.

*shrug* Just how I feel about it.
 
G

Ginkgo

Guest
[*]Do you have a faith and attend a place of worship?
No.
[*]Do you have a faith and used to attend a place of worship, but now feel like there are "too many sharks in the pool" for it to be a good place?
Hmm. I believe that, while religious/ethical beliefs are subjective, most religious organizations portray them as objective (god given). To elaborate, people inevitably cherry-pick what they want out of religion. Knowing this, I can conclude that faith is not necessary for developing one's own ethics. I don't think that answers your question, but I felt like saying it anyway.

When you say that there are too many "sharks in the pool", are you saying that there are too many people who are looking for money in church? Are you saying that religion is becoming a business? Or are you saying that an abundance of people can change the dynamics of a religion, and therefore it is bad? Or something else?

At the church I went to as a child, I often felt that most of the attendants were there only to socialize, bicker about nonsense, and distract themselves from faith itself.

[*]Last question with, do you believe all churches are that way?
[*]Do you have a faith, but don't believe in organized religion (so you don't attend a place of worship)?
I'm not going to stereotype Christianity as a whole. I've heard of everything from "homosexual marijuana faith based churches" to "homosexual hating YOU'RE ALL GOING TO BURN IN HELL" churches. Kudos for anyone who saw my Religulous allusion.
[*]Do you have a faith? What makes you have, or not have, a belief in a higher power of some kind?
[/LIST]I'm curious.

There are too many intuitive leaps in logic when it come to faith. I could delve deeper into the subject, but it would take too long.

However, I used to be a Christian.

There are many religious organizations that contribute to society in a good way, and I think that is important. I'm not entirely anti-faith.

EDIT: I think that INFPs are inclined to seek meaning in everything they see and hear, and that is why they might gravitate towards faith. I love to analyze stories and their meanings as well, however, a more systematic archetype like ISTJ might think that I am making erroneous conclusions from thin air. Therefore, I try to be more logical and self aware when it comes to these matters.
 

OrangeAppled

Sugar Hiccup
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
7,626
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I don't like discussing religion online, but I can do these questions.

Do you have a faith and attend a place of worship?
Yes.

Do you have a faith and used to attend a place of worship, but now feel like there are "too many sharks in the pool" for it to be a good place?
No.

Last question with, do you believe all churches are that way?
No, but I think many are.

Do you have a faith, but don't believe in organized religion (so you don't attend a place of worship)?
No, I don't lump all organized religion together.
 

souffle

New member
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
124
MBTI Type
INFP
I am not religious at all, and I can relate it to being an INFP. The only religion I've been exposed to is Christianity, which I've tried to take on a few times, but I would always ultimately have to face the promise of eternal damnation and torture for anyone who doesn't believe in God/repent for their sins etc. I cannot wish that for anyone, or like a God who imposes it on anyone. My empathy takes over. I personally find it hard to believe that any Fi dominant could hold strong fundamentalist beliefs, which would mean to accept the eternal damnation, but feel free to correct me.

Would it be feasible to say that INFP's would be more fond of religion as a personal and unique relationship with a loving and supportive God rather than a large scale, conformist, by-the-book worship of a God that is possessive and strict?
 

phthalocyanine

#005645
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
679
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
sx
short answer - yes, i have faith and yes, i attend a place of worship. i am a part of both the community and the infrastructure i am happy to say so.

no, i don't give up when things are trying - i try to improve them. it can be trying to work with such a diverse group of people with different viewpoints and agendas, but the things that we can and do accomplish are encouragement enough for me..

i think every place of worship has internal struggles.
i prefer to attack problems rather than ignore them.

organized religion is what people make it.
open dialogue and a spirit of reform sure can help.
 
Last edited:

Snuggletron

Reptilian
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
2,224
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
10
* Do you have a faith and attend a place of worship?
No.
* Do you have a faith and used to attend a place of worship, but now feel like there are "too many sharks in the pool" for it to be a good place?
no.
* Last question with, do you believe all churches are that way?
no.
* Do you have a faith, but don't believe in organized religion (so you don't attend a place of worship)?
no.
* Do you have a faith? What makes you have, or not have, a belief in a higher power of some kind?
I have an idea.
 

nanook

a scream in a vortex
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Messages
1,361
I used to be overall agnostic all my live.

in my pre-school time i painted one or two angels, also zombies *g* but mostly horses or stuff. knights, castles, pirateships ...

in elementary school
i was a bit interested in inspiring images of religion.
just looking at them, like you look at pile of chicken shit, or a vulcano.
i could not care less about stories about a bearded man or adam and eve.
i felt my religion teacher was a crazy boneheaded child and i felt sorry, because she was mobbed by some rather antisocial students.
she actually cried about that.

in my rational time i was just living with a rational worldview and for the most part i was oblivious about the fact, that there are methodologies to transcend the agnostic statement "we can not know". like ZEN or entheogens. i literally was oblivious. i just did not give a f....

well, then at 28, i entered into my fifth seven-year-circle ....
 

Coeur

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
237
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
[*]Do you have a faith and attend a place of worship?
Christian, and yes.
[*]Do you have a faith and used to attend a place of worship, but now feel like there are "too many sharks in the pool" for it to be a good place?
Nope. I just have trouble fitting in at youth group because it is very cliquish.
[*]Last question with, do you believe all churches are that way?
Nope.
[*]Do you have a faith, but don't believe in organized religion (so you don't attend a place of worship)?
I don't think that you need a church to gather together and worship God.
[*]Do you have a faith? What makes you have, or not have, a belief in a higher power of some kind?
Yes. Personal experience with Jesus.
 

Thalassa

Permabanned
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
25,183
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sx
I'm an ENFP who also tests INFP, and yes I'm a spiritual person who really has a hard time with the whole scheduling a certain time to be at church with thing. Not all churches are bad places. Some are. Mine isn't, I'm just not an organized religion person. I tried to be once, I even taught Sunday school (can you imagine?) but I found it exhausting, and I don't think that's what spirituality is supposed to be about.
 
B

brainheart

Guest
I am an ethnic Catholic, not religious, not particularly spiritual. But I hate it when people dis on religions or those who are religious with stupid sweeping generalizations like, "The Catholic Church is evil" or "Mormons are psycho", etc. It almost makes me want to go to church again just so I can rub it in their faces or something.

I liked my religious upbringing but no longer felt the need for it around the age of eighteen. I walk in and it doesn't seem relevant to me anymore; it's like writing a sixth grade diary entry while wearing clothes five sizes too small.
 
Top