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What's the biggest deviation from someone's religion or faith you've seen in an individual without them ceasing to be that religion or faith?

I was watching a video and it got me thinking about this. We all know the type. The Jewish friend who comes over every year to ask if you have any leftover Easter ham. The Buddhist who everyone will brag saved them in the war. The Bahai who adheres to reincarnation instead of Heaven. The other day, I met a Muslim walking his pet pig. A match made in Heaven.

What's the biggest deviation from the norm you've seen in someone of a certain religion who otherwise would show they genuinely believe in it?

53 comments
  • Had a room-mate I described as a "lapsed Muslim". He took things like Ramadan VERY seriously, but then he'd drink like a fish the rest of the year.

    Kind of like a Christian who shows up at church for Christmas and Easter, but blows it off the rest of the year.

  • Met someone who - in the course of a discussion - admitted that they were adamant in their belief that God existed and all the stuff in the Bible had actually happened, but also adamantly refused to observe any religious commandments or pray, because he was "angry at God" over the state of the world.

    I wasn't quite sure if I felt sorry for his dealing with that kind of anger, or mild respect for his willingness to fully believe in God and yet raise a giant middle finger in His direction. Man had a mission, I guess.

    • I don't believe that there is a God.

      But if there is, I sure do have a laundry list of questions for that mfer that I'll surely be asking as I'm escorted out of the pearly gates and downstairs.

  • I'm out here everyday not sacrificing people and everyday the world gets a little worse.

    The Earth and the Sun are hungry.

  • I'll start with fellow followers of Christ and say a lot of the ones I've met aren't as easygoing as would be stereotypical. Now you might read the Bible (or the Book of Mormon, or the Book of Hagoth; I have 'em all) and think "hey that person over there is famous for their devotion, I'm going to strike a friendship" and then realize it's a lot closer to "stepping on eggshells" than you might think. Points to other Hagothists/Mormons though as they actually have been understanding people. Gossip, hate, whatever you want to call it, I'm no stranger to bearing witness to it, and you often wonder "wait, why are they involved in this". It's also complicated because, by the same token, they have positives like what we might call tolerance towards the LGBT, so there are other dimensions to it.

    Technically not a "religion" per se, but the atheist situation strikes me as odd. It often seems like their attitude towards adherence to God is second-hand because what they'll say about God they'll never say about government, or they'll do it rarely. Everything to most of them considered "questionable" or "concerning" is only "questionable" or "concerning" when it involves divine authority. I have joked before that if climate change or Marxism was in the Bible, nobody would believe them.

    I also noticed a lot of Buddhists couldn't quote sutras from the Tripitaka or don't follow them to an extent where the individuals are Buddhist-esque enough to rely on to be peaceful towards your dilemmas, almost as if it's for show. Heck, I'm not a Buddhist yet can quote sutras that aren't in the Tripitaka (because not all of them made into the final edition).

  • Disclaimer: I’m not Muslim and didn’t grow up around many Muslims, but I now have a lot of contact with Muslims of varying strictness.

    The phrasing in the Quran is not perfectly clear, but there are a few interpretations: all intoxicants are banned (including laughing gas, alcohol, and various medications); plant-based intoxicants are banned (including alcohol, Opium, hookah, tea, and tobacco); or intoxicants made from grapes or dates are banned (so vodka is fine).

    I used to work at a hookah bar, and was always surprised that Muslims generally believe tea is fine (caffeine is an intoxicant), frequently believe hookah is fine (nicotine is definitely an intoxicant), and generally believe alcohol made from other sources is not okay. This seems like picking and choosing to me, but even the Muslims I know who drink tend to fall into this category and just feel guilty about it

    Unfortunately, I am not delicate enough to seriously discuss this without offending people, so I don’t know why. I assume cultural norms outweigh the actual scripture (which happens with most religions and which I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing, but I’m generally in favor of harmless cultural norms and non religious).

    The one that seems to me like the biggest deviation, to actually answer the question, is when pro-life christians are for the death penalty or hawkish about wars.

  • There's an inside joke about Iran that after the Shah was deposed, the only thing that changed was all the illicit activity happened inside instead of outside.

    Its pretty believable considering you can find plenty of Muslim Iranians who openly drink and party, hence why they're actually the least likely to be seen amongst a group of Muslims.

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