After much fiddling and dinking around,

[camwyn]

I finally answered the Selectsmart.com Religion Selector's questions as accurately as I possibly could. I'm not very happy with the phrasing of one or two of their questions, but I chose the options that were closest to what I actually believed...

According to the SelectSmart.com Belief System Selector, my #1 belief match is Mahayana Buddhism. What do you believe? Visit SelectSmart.com/RELIGION

Given that I was expecting to see Sikh, Liberal Quaker, or possibly some form of Liberal Protestant show up based on the results I got when I took the test last year, this is something of a surprise. Not a bad surprise, but not something I expected. Hrm.

Comments

[sdelmonte]

My results:

1. Bahá'í Faith (100%)
2. Reform Judaism (94%)
3. Sikhism (92%)
4. Orthodox Judaism (86%)

As an Orthodox Jew, I am kinda curious as to how I scored closer to their idea of a Reform Jew than to what I am. It was probably my willingness to accept good deeds and environmentalism, and maybe my answers about the afterlife. Clearly, they have an odd of what Reform and Orthodox Judiasm are if I got this result, since the differences are vast (especially in terms of ritual).

[camwyn]

I was raised Roman Catholic and am still technically Catholic, although I've got several broad streaks that put me well apart from the Church. What gets me is that I match more closely with both Reform and Orthodox Judaism than I do with Catholicism. I think it might help if the test included a few more ritual-specific - and culture-specific- questions. For example, last year I kept coming up with Sikh in the top two or three. Lots of beliefs I agree with - but they left out questions like 'Scripture should be read in a specific language whether it is the believer's native tongue or not' and 'The religion should have rules specifically governing personal appearance and body care', because the Sikh scriptures are written in Punjabi and one of the more important rules of Sikhism is that shaving and cutting the hair, any hair, are forbidden. (Respecting the body as originally made by God. Cutting nails is OK, though, because doing otherwise leads to serious hygiene/feeding problems. And yes, there is a rule about maintaining bodily hygiene including washing and otherwise keeping all that hair and beardage clean.) Specifics of practice are just as important as things like 'should baptism or another initiation ceremony be required', as far as I'm concerned.