Two Journeys (Part II)

This post, although it may not look like it, is a follow-up to an earlier post I had made in November, wherein I talked a bit about Rev. Ted Haggard's and my own spiritual journeys.  Today I was taking a brief break from my research, and I was blog surfing when I came across a rather intriguing quiz on Beliefnet.com, a website whose mission statement reads:

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness.

Whether you're exploring your own faith or other spiritual traditions, we provide you inspiring devotional tools, access to the best spiritual teachers and clergy in the world, thought-provoking commentary, and a supportive community.

Beliefnet is the largest spiritual web site. We are independent and not affiliated with any spiritual organization or movement. Our only agenda is to help you meet your spiritual needs. (source)

The quiz I took is called, rather tongue-in-cheek, the Belief-O-Matic, and bills itself thusly:

Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic™ knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing.

Warning: Belief-O-Matic™ assumes no legal liability for the ultimate fate of your soul.

Basically, it's church-shopping just taken to its ultimate extreme ;-)  Love the disclaimer :-) ...anyway, I was sufficiently intrigued to try my hand at the quiz questions, and here are my results:

Your Results: The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa. Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.     1. Unitarian Universalism (100%) 2. Liberal Quakers (96%) 3. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (79%) 4. Neo-Pagan (76%) 5. Reform Judaism (75%) 6. Mahayana Buddhism (73%) 7. Theravada Buddhism (71%) 8. New Age (69%) 9. Secular Humanism (67%) 10. Baha'i Faith (67%) 11. Taoism (66%) 12. Jainism (62%) 13. Sikhism (61%) 14. Hinduism (58%) 15. Orthodox Quaker (54%) 16. New Thought (52%) 17. Nontheist (49%) 18. Scientology (47%) 19. Orthodox Judaism (42%) 20. Islam (39%) 21. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (35%) 22. Seventh Day Adventist (32%) 23. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (27%) 24. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (23%) 25. Eastern Orthodox (12%) 26. Roman Catholic (12%) 27. Jehovah's Witness (10%)

Apparently, I'd make a lousy Jehovah's Witness.  And a miserable Catholic too. But what's interesting to me is how the quiz results actually match up with what I had already been thinking about myself and my spiritual beliefs.  What I have been reflecting on for well over a year now is that the Unitarian Universalist church seems to be the best spiritual "home" for me

And then I had an idea: I would take the Belief-O-Matic test a second time, only answer each of the questions as I would have fifteen years ago, before I burned out of my job, before I came out of the closet, but after my separation and divorce.  Results?

1. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (100%) 2. Eastern Orthodox (95%) 3. Roman Catholic (95%) 4. Orthodox Quaker (92%) 5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (90%) 6. Seventh Day Adventist (88%) 7. Sikhism (71%) 8. Orthodox Judaism (68%) 9. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (63%) 10. Liberal Quakers (62%) 11. Baha'i Faith (60%) 12. Reform Judaism (60%) 13. Hinduism (59%) 14. Islam (59%) 15. Unitarian Universalism (54%) 16. Neo-Pagan (40%) 17. Jehovah's Witness (36%) 18. Jainism (34%) 19. Mahayana Buddhism (34%) 20. Scientology (34%) 21. Theravada Buddhism (34%) 22. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (32%) 23. New Age (26%) 24. New Thought (24%) 25. Nontheist (22%) 26. Taoism (22%) 27. Secular Humanism (21%)

Veeery interesting.... and again, it confirms something I already knew about myself.  Over the past decade, I have undergone a near-complete transformation on what I believe.  Which makes sense, given that most of my formerly firmly-held opinions were blasted out of the water by my later experiences.  More on this later, in another blogpost.