[NF] NFs and religion

[Cordiform]

This has probably already been discussed, but the NTs' thread made me curious, sooo ...

• Are you an NF?
• Are you religious/spiritual?
• Do you have supernatural/paranormal beliefs?
• Why do you have these beliefs, or why do you lack them?

I'm a secular humanist, so my answer is "no" to both. But I was raised by and live with hardcore conservative Pentecostal Christians! So of course I ended up becoming a baby-eating, Darwin-worshiping radical liberal materialist atheist. It's the only thing that makes sense to me.

How about you?

 

[Eileen]

I am religious/spiritual. I don't have necessarily supernatural beliefs, though, because I find that I can't intellectually commit to them. So I commit to the stories as valuable. Maybe it's a cop-out; it probably is, but it's what I can do right now. I yearn for the God that might as well be there, but that probably isn't literally there.

Things make more sense to me when I go to mass. That's all I really know.

 

[cafe]

Hello, my name is Heather, and I'm religious.

I also believe in the supernatural/paranormal.

I'm actually a less-than-hardcore, liberal, Pentecostal Christian. (See why we can't find a church? )

The way I feel about my beliefs is mostly comforted and connected. I have my beliefs probably because I was raised with them, they give some structure to the crazy universe, and they resonate with me.

 

[prplchknz]

yea
more spiritual, probably not religiou. I do believe something put us here, I don''t think it wants to be worship. Just to do the best we can and not harm others.
They make sense to me.

I forgot my supernatural ones, I don't have any.

 

[Cordiform]

Hello, my name is Heather, and I'm religious.

Why the face? I don't mind!

I also believe in the supernatural/paranormal.

I'm actually a less-than-hardcore, liberal, Pentecostal Christian. (See why we can't find a church? )

Actually, yes, I can see why you can't find a church. ... D'you think that maybe you're the only liberal Pentecostal out there?

The way I feel about my beliefs is mostly comforted and connected. I have my beliefs probably because I was raised with them, they give some structure to the crazy universe, and they resonate with me.

Ah ... I turn to science for structure. I find that religion just confuses things for me and makes me feel like there IS no order, and, well - confuses me! I can't fit it in my brain. And I've already got morality under control, so ... I just don't feel like I need it. And all of my internet learnings suggest that that's highly unusual and unnatural for an INFP!

 

[cafe]

Why the face? I don't mind!

The format just seemed a little 12 Steppy And also made me think of the Red Green Show and the Man's Prayer. Yes, my brain is weird.

Actually, yes, I can see why you can't find a church. ... D'you think that maybe you're the only liberal Pentecostal out there?

No, actually, I know I'm not. I'm married to one and some of my other Gen X friends are moving in that direction as well. When I say liberal, I mean politically liberal. I still live mostly like any Evangelical (except for the church part right now) and I'm on board with most of the doctrine, but I am not in favor of forcing Christian prayer into public schools, etc, and I'm in favor of civil unions for both homo- and heterosexuals. I'm pro-life, but I don't think outlawing abortion is the best way to reduce it it at this point. IOW, I don't think that just because I live and believe a certain way my government should force everyone to pretend to follow my beliefs for my comfort and convenience.

 

[niffer]

I'm an NF. Spiritual?...Maybe a little. Religious? Well, I don't often think of this stuff. I think religion makes everything more complicated. I believe in myself, and I believe in others. That's enough. No supernatural/paranormal beliefs either..

 

[CzeCze]

I'm actually a less-than-hardcore, liberal, Pentecostal Christian. (See why we can't find a church? )

My voice coach was Pentecostal and I had no idea until she told me. She was very well versed in sacred music and had been the music director for a Lutheran (? don't remember) church. She seemed very modern and hip to me (was maybe 30?) and was in fact a jazz singer. When she told me she was Pentecostal I was surprised, as I only know from 2nd hand observation that Pentecostals are popular in the deep south, where girls have to wear long skirts, etc. My voice coach explained it something along the lines of her parents and household were very Christian but not all that very Pentecostal... something like that.

 

[SolitaryWalker]

I think NFs are interested in spirituality because of their affinity with abstract thought. The popular myth is that religion has something to do with spiritualit and people deeply cherish that belief. NFs buy into this one because its valued a great deal by others and suppress their vivid intuition that the two have little in common.

Religion is no more than an instrument of social control. Spirituality is used to support this for the sake of making the tool more efficient.

 

[Cordiform]

I think NFs are interested in spirituality because of their affinity with abstract thought. The popular myth is that religion has something to do with spiritualit and people deeply cherish that belief. NFs buy into this one because its valued a great deal by others and suppress their vivid intuition that the two have little in common.

Religion is no more than an instrument of social control. Spirituality is used to support this for the sake of making the tool more efficient.

I have little to no understanding of spirituality. Can you expound upon the differences?

I sort of have a vague idea that spirituality in its purest form is pantheism or something of the like ...

EDIT:

Spirituality may involve perceiving or wishing to perceive life as more important ("higher"), more complex or more integrated with one's world view; as contrasted with the merely sensual.

Many spiritual traditions, accordingly, share a common spiritual theme: the "path", "work", practice, or tradition of perceiving and internalizing one's "true" nature and relationship to the rest of existence (God, creation (the universe), or life), and of becoming free of the lesser egoic self (or ego) in favor of being more fully one's "true" "Self".

That makes sense!

 

[SolitaryWalker]

I have little to no understanding of spirituality. Can you expound upon the differences?

I sort of have a vague idea that spirituality in its purest form is pantheism or something of the like ...

Spirituality is the quest for 'another world'. A search for a purpose that transcends all of our worldly experience. A true spiritual person does not follow a teaching, but merely follows an amorphous, ineffable intuition that he himself hardly knows. Spirituality cant be germane to anything we consciously know because by virtue of itself it is an other worldly property. Anyone who claims he knows what it means to be spiritual is kidding himself. At best he is passing off his inadequate, this worldly notions as descriptions of the indescribable. At worst forcing his own prejudices onto what the best of all worlds should be like. Its very difficult to do the former without the latter, as we experience spirituality via our Intuition--which is radically subjective. That is why so many of our great teachers had us sacrifice sheep for glory of god.

 

[Cordiform]

Spirituality is the quest for 'another world'. A search for a purpose that transcends all of our worldly experience. A true spiritual person does not follow a teaching, but merely follows an amorphous, ineffable intuition that he himself hardly knows. Spirituality cant be germane to anything we consciously know because by virtue of itself it is another worldly property. Anyone who claims he knows what it means to be spiritual is kidding himself.

Thank you!

 

[Kyrielle]

This has probably already been discussed, but the NTs' thread made me curious, sooo ...

• Are you an NF?
• Are you religious/spiritual? (When I say spiritual, I mean, "do you have religious ideas, but no external structure for them. Like Deism, or New Age, or something like that.")
• Do you have supernatural/paranormal beliefs?
• Why do you have these beliefs, or why do you lack them?

How about you?

Yes.

Spiritual to a degree, I suppose. I can't deny that there's something there beyond empirical data. I'd be stupid to do so. I don't know what it is, so I prefer not to put a label on it. Religious? No. Not at all.

Supernatural beliefs? To a degree. There is no yes or no answer to that one. There are somethings I'm willing to believe, and others I'm not.

I lack any sufficient belief in any religion or any belief at all, because I'm a little too analytical/critical to accept any religion's set of beliefs. There's too much grey, and I think every religion has the potential to be correct. However, as I said, I cannot deny that some days I feel something more than what I normally experience. I don't know what it is, and it doesn't really bother me to not know, because whatever it is is benign and neutral.

 

[wolfmaiden14]

* Are you an NF?
Yep

* Are you religious/spiritual? (When I say spiritual, I mean, "do you have religious ideas, but no external structure for them. Like Deism, or New Age, or something like that.")

Definitely Spiritual. Not at all religious. A religion thinks they have it right, I say as soon as you think you've got it right - that's when you know you're wrong.

* Do you have supernatural/paranormal beliefs?

I think often times they have a logical and/or scientific solution, or are just caused by suggestion or people seeing what they want to see, but every now and again.. yeah.. there's really something going on.

* Why do you have these beliefs, or why do you lack them?

I guess I started with a predisposition to believe in certain things. I'm a miracle baby, my mother wasn't supposed to be able to have kids, and the doctors didn't even believe she was pregnant at first, so I always thought that maybe there's a reason I'm here.
And I have intuition overload or something. I experience synchronicity and deja vu ALL THE TIME. Combined with a love of biology, which the more I learn about, the harder it becomes to believe that all the little ways the world is held together just right could be chance, makes it easy for me to believe there's something more going on. (I'm a big fan of the intelligent design theory.) I can totally understand how other people could disagree, and don't even know how well I'd hold up in a debate, but that's just how I see it, and my faith has led me well so far, so there's no reason for me to discount it.

 

[Cordiform]

yea
more spiritual, probably not religiou. I do believe something put us here, I don''t think it wants to be worship. Just to do the best we can and not harm others.
They make sense to me.

I forgot my supernatural ones, I don't have any.

Sounds like Deism!

 

[quietgirl]

• Are you an NF?
• Are you religious/spiritual?
• Do you have supernatural/paranormal beliefs?
• Why do you have these beliefs, or why do you lack them?

1. INFJ
2. Not particularly, but I can't seem to NOT believe in a higher power either. I guess you'd consider me agnostic.
3. I believe in ghosts.
4. I know the reason I do not follow an organized religion is because of the super Catholicism of my straight from Italy family. However, every time I try to NOT believe in anything, I end up feeling empty. I've settled on simply believing in something more than us. If I found something I could truly believe in, then I wouldn't be closedminded towards it. I do try to live by some Buddhist philosophies, but I don't exactly follow the religion.
I believe in ghosts because I grew up in a haunted house. ha.

 

[alcea rosea]

This has probably already been discussed, but the NTs' thread made me curious, sooo ...

• Are you an NF?
• Are you religious/spiritual?
• Do you have supernatural/paranormal beliefs?
• Why do you have these beliefs, or why do you lack them?

1) I'm ENFP
2) I'm not too spiritual nor religious. I really don't know if I should believe in bible or not because there are no real proof that the things they say in the bible are true. Altought I cannot say that they are untrue either because I don't know. So, I'm sort of middle of believing or not believing...
3) I can't say that really believe but I can't also say that these things (paranormal & supernatural things) are untrue -> because I don't have any experience of the subject. So it's kind of same than with the religion thing.
4) Why do I lack them? Who knows?

 

[paradox]

I am an ENFP and I am a Christian. I am both spiritual and religious, although I have never liked the word "religious". I believe in God, my faith is summed up quite nicely in the Apostles Creed, but I don't attend church that regularly and I have a tough time finding a denomination or church that I can fully agree or identify with. Self study is more important to me than following the teachings of some pastor with an ego.

I am more liberal than all of the conservative churches and a little more conservative than all of the liberal ones. So I'm stuck.

 

[Athenian200]

Are you an NF?

Yes. INFJ to be precise.

Are you religious/spiritual?

Not really. I have been in the past, but it just doesn't make sense to me anymore.

Do you have supernatural/paranormal beliefs?

No.

Why do you have these beliefs, or why do you lack them?

I don't believe in those things because everything else that was once attributed to magic/divinity can now be explained. Also, I can't seem to explain their existence in terms of anything I understand.

 

[runvardh]

Sometimes I question it, but I'm mostly sure I'm an INFP. Religion is more a set of rules based on a teaching of faith; I believe in the teaching and the faith itself. I'm Lutheran grown with a slight liberal swing; I believe in having the Holy Spirit bringing the masses to God wrather than cramming man enforced rules down their throats to save them. The teachings speak to me, even He speaks to me; and I He accepts me for who I am with out having to call me gay to feel comfortable about my personality.