You will probably find most people in Lemmy are Atheist or agnostic, IMO, but you do need to find your own belief system.

While having your own belief system is unusual in our conformist society, it is not weird. What is weird is that so many people blindly follow someone else’s belief system.

Literally every religion except the first one are formed via this method.

Normal.

You have to remember many parts of religions have nothing to do with the religion itself. They’re just normal things people would think about and do regardless. Religions are the after product of these things. The whole concept of religions is arguably pointless in this regard; they’re just ideologies that contain belief (the act of affirming truth without knowledge supporting it).

It’s entirely normal to have your own ideas and follow them. That’s the core of consciousness.

You’re referring to Syncretism, and it’s extremely common in the Western world. 25% of American Christians report believing in reincarnation.

Yes. Especially if it leads to creating a cult.

I think everyone has their own personal code of conduct and morals that directs their lives. Some (most) people don’t explicitly have a set but will justify their own behaviour based on both their religious beliefs and moral code. Some people just retroactively justify their own actons. Its a sign of maturity to think about and be intensional about creating and adhering to your own moral code which may or may not be directed by your own religious believes.

Having religious beliefs in general is pretty weird so you’re OK.

I think it’s normal and healthy, if it’s not taken too far. Same goes for mainstream religion.

Religion is ultimately about answering the unanswerable. Why are we here, the meaning of life, what happens after we die, that kind of thing. Nobody is able to answer these questions with evidence, so therefore any established religion has just as much credence as whatever you come up with yourself.

Denying objective reality or restricting the rights of others is where you have to draw the line though. That’s where things become weird.

Regarding mixing christian and pagan rites, there’s a fascinating history of how catholicism in particular incorporated pagan beliefs into their own pantheon. If it’s okay for them to pick and choose what to believe, then the same goes for everyone else too

honestly, that’s why I think about stuff as ‘religion’ versus ‘organized religion’

anyone can come up with their own relgion :)

No. Every religion started that way.

There was always an in-between point from pagan beliefs and Christianity during the Roman era, so it’s pretty normal I think. In many places, a mixture of beliefs is super common. In China, for example, the majority have a mix of Chinese traditional beliefs and Buddhism. Japan has their Shinto beliefs mixed with Buddhism and Christianity, and of course the indigenous peoples who were colonised can (important, not all) have a mixture of their own beliefs and the ones brought in by the settlers

I don’t care what people say, it is absolutely not weird. Everybody has their own version of their own religion. They can say they are 100% Christian, but then they get an abortion because theirs Is “OK“. Or they are Methodist but believe X. Or they’re Baptist but drink. I don’t see a difference in that and combining pieces and parts to make your own version. As Dennis Miller once said “I think my God believes I’m awesome and that is why I chose him as my God“

What you have is beliefs, which is normal.

A religion is a scam where people are told that all of their beliefs are or should be the same, which is absurd.

Believe what you feel is right, question it often, and that’s all. Religions are useless at best, dangerous in general.

Pretty much everyone has their own unique blend of beliefs. Like. Most Christian’s have their things they do or don’t believe, even if there’s a shared framework.

Like, ask 10 Christian’s what the hell the trinity is, you’ll get 20 different and usually mutually contradictory answers.

Or about hell and who goes and for how long.

I think it depends on what your belief system is. If you take good lessons from several different religions that help you be a better person. Not weird at all

If you wrote science fiction and then all of a sudden wanted to create scientology. Very fucking weird