What Faith Are You? Again…
A while back, I took the Beliefnet.com Belief-O-Matic quiz. This quiz is a compilation of 20 questions about a variety of 
topics ranging from your view of the afterlife to your understanding of salvation to your stance on social issues… Based upon the answers that you give for these questions, the quiz will match you to a percentage of coincidence with 27 different faiths. As the the Beliefnet.com website makes clear, *”a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.” The higher a faith appears on the list, the more in line it is with your thinking, even if there are some major differences remaining.
Last time I took the quiz in January, I came out as a Reformed Jew (100%), Sikh (99%), Baha’i (97%), Liberal Quaker (86%), Unitarian Universalist (79%) tied with Jain (79%). I posted the rest of the results on this previous entry from January http://evesutopia.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/what-faith-are-you-find-out/
Since my views on some issues have evolved over this past semester, I thought I would take the quiz again as a way to see where I am now in comparison to then. I took the quiz this morning and apparently, I’m still a Reformed Jew. But some shifting did occur in between. The results are as follows:
| 1. | Reform Judaism (100%) |
| 2. | Liberal Quakers (98%) |
| 3. | Unitarian Universalism (94%) |
| 4. | Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (90%) |
| 5. | Baha’i Faith (89%) |
| 6. | Sikhism (82%) |
| 7. | Neo-Pagan (82%) |
| 8. | New Age (76%) |
| 9. | Secular Humanism (72%) |
| 10. | Mahayana Buddhism (70%) |
| 11. | Jainism (68%) |
| 12. | Orthodox Quaker (68%) |
| 13. | Orthodox Judaism (67%) |
| 14. | New Thought (66%) |
| 15. | Islam (64%) |
| 16. | Theravada Buddhism (64%) |
| 17. | Taoism (59%) |
| 18. | Scientology (59%) |
| 19. | Hinduism (49%) |
| 20. | Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (48%) |
| 21. | Nontheist (47%) |
| 22. | Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (47%) |
| 23. | Eastern Orthodox (40%) |
| 24. | Roman Catholic (40%) |
| 25. | Seventh Day Adventist (38%) |
| 26. | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (32%) |
| 27. | Jehovah’s Witness (10%) |
Again, as I noted the disclaimer last time, in no way can 20 questions reveal the complexities of faith. I’m not sure how well this quiz separates the core from the peripheral issues– for instance, if you disagree with a core conviction in one particular faith, yet agree with this faith on many of the particulars, I wonder if this quiz wouldn’t list you as being in basic agreement to the particular faith in question, and vice versa. At any rate, overall, it is an interesting, and perhaps useful, tool to use in order to chart out your spiritual terrain and evolution. I recognize that many people who hold to a particular faith have trouble entering into the territory of other faiths. However, we must recognize that all faiths and ideas have elements of truth within– if they did not, then no one would have a reason to be compelled to follow them. And other faiths and ideas can teach you much about the faith and ideas to which you currently ascribe.
As with last time, if you are feeling up to the challenge, take this quiz and find out where you stand. And take this quiz again from time to time to see how you are spiritually developing and changing. Feel free to post your results as a comment. I would be interested to know what people get. And, not to worry, you will not be held to the faith with which the quiz identifies you.
Here is the link to the site: http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx
(Photo credit: Cambridge Inter-Faith Group (UK) OLD homepage)
