To believe or not to believe....

So, I found an old (old, as in from March) survey Newsweek had done that asked people about, among other things, what they believed was the origin on human beings. They were given 4 options:
God guided the evolutionary process leading to the modern human
God had no part in the evolutionary process leading to the modern human
God created humans in their present form
Don't know.

The responses were then broken up into the following categories:
Evangelical Protestants
Non-Evangelical Protestants
Catholics
Atheist.

First of all, I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between an "Evangelical Protestant" and a "Non-evangelical Protestant" is and, frankly, I could get in a long debate with anyone over this. But, that's not what really confused me.

Apparently, 27% of Atheists believed that God guided the evolutionary process and 13% believe that God created humans in their present form.

Okay, anyone home? Atheists, by definition, atheists do not believe in God. Yet, 27% claim to believe that God guided evolution and 13% believe in creationism. Am I the only person here who finds this odd?

I have to say that this stymies me a bit more than the current pope, who does not believe that the sex abuse by priests in the US actually happened, but thinks that Harry Potter is real. Maybe he needs to meet with the Atheists so they can all straighten out what exactly they believe in.

Who woulda believed it...

In an effort to be more spiritually attuned (who are we kidding? I was killing time!) I took the belief-o-matic quiz over at Beliefnet. Here are my results....

1. Orthodox Quaker (100%)
2. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (88%)
3. Eastern Orthodox (87%)
4. Roman Catholic (87%)
5. Seventh Day Adventist (86%)
6. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (84%)
7. Orthodox Judaism (76%)
8. Liberal Quakers (72%)
9. Bahá'í Faith (63%)
10. Hinduism (62%)
11. Islam (60%)
12. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (58%)
13. Reform Judaism (56%)
14. Sikhism (56%)
15. Unitarian Universalism (55%)
16. Jehovah's Witness (52%)
17. Jainism (40%)
18. Neo-Pagan (38%)
19. New Age (36%)
20. Mahayana Buddhism (36%)
21. Theravada Buddhism (34%)
22. Secular Humanism (30%)
23. Taoism (21%)
24. New Thought (19%)
25. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (18%)
26. Nontheist (18%)
27. Scientology (14%)

Quaker, huh? I have a friend who walked out of a Quaker meeting the last time he attended because there was a puppet show. It wasn't meant for the kids.

Interesting to know that of all the recognized (by beliefnet) religions, I am least like a Scientologist. At least I don't need to question my sanity!

Matzo balls and Cream Eggs

I found this article today while taking a break from work. Basically, it's about how some Jewish people are offended by Christians practicing the seder on Maundy Thursday. It was rather timely since I just returned from my first seder dinner--held at my Lutheran church for Maundy Thursday.

I have wanted to attend a seder for ages. While I was living in Boston, I had Jewish friends, but they usually went home (that is, away from Boston) for Passover. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and service this evening, although I think that it might not be what you'd find in a good Jewish home. The part about Jesus, for example. And the fact that it wasn't in Hebrew. It wasn't even in German, Norwegian or Swedish as one might expect from good Lutherans. It was in English and I have a sneaking suspicion that our Pastor dug out one of his wacky Bible translations again because it didn't sound very NRSV-ish (or even NIV-ish!) Even so, it was a beautiful service and the food was great! Ever since living in Boston, I've become a fan of chicken matzo ball soup and it's pretty dang hard to find in Oregon (if anyone has a good recipe, please send it to me!)--and I was able to chug down 2 bowls! YUM!

But I do understand why the Jewish congregations in the above article would be put off by a service such as the one I attended this evening. I mean, I have to bite my tongue as my non-religious friends start getting into the Christmas parties and such. And really, an Easter Bunny??? Despite all of Hallmark's attempts, the Christian holidays are still sacred to me and I would be more than happy to forgo the Santa Clauses, Easter Bunnies and Cadbury Cream Eggs. Okay, not the cream eggs--I still want those.

I realize that my belief that the Jewish and Christian faiths are really not that far from each other is not shared by all Christians. I find it sad that there is such a schism between the faiths. I remember a sermon my Pastor once gave (yes, I do pay attention!) on the parable of the prodigal son. While I was always taught that it was about forgiveness and family ties, he offered an alternate explanation. The good son, the one who stayed, was the Jews--they will always be with God. The Prodigal son represents the gentiles who return to the Father--the Christians.

Okay, I don't mean to get all religious here...it's just that the article got me thinking that, as we said when we were kids, it's all the same God! This week, 2 of the world's major faiths celebrate their most holy holidays. Happy Passover...Happy Easter...Mazel Tov....pass the Cadbury Cream Eggs!