The "Religious Free Agent" Tour

[She]

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I would definately spend more than one week... definately more like one month per each major religion

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This sounds good to me. Also consider that you may want to use more time to study some religions while boring of others early, so don't make your schedule too rigid.

I would also like to (re)suggest Taoism and Wiccan, as well as Catholicism.

As for sources, my biggest reccomendations would be google (surprise, surprise), your local library and Book Mooch. That way you're not spending a ton of money on books that you could find elsewhere for free.

Religion facinates me as well, so pm me if you'd be interested in a study partner.

[RacersEdge]

I'm doing something similar, but more from a historical angle for now. I'm reading this book right now to get a perspective. Pretty interesting since I know very little about the subject. One thing it shows it how all religions including Buddhism and Hinduism have a lot of things in common.

I think one week per religion is way too short of a time - probably need at least a month - maybe 2-3 months to get all the nuances of the religion down.

[webmonarch]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions and comments. A few points I think I need to address:

First, I definitely understand the point that Atheism and Scientology are not "religions," but I guess the idea is to explore "religious viewpoints," if that's more clear.

Second, I definitely understand the fallacy of suggesting I could reasonably understand every religion in a week or so. I think the suggestion that I take a month per "viewpoint" might be more appropriate.

Trust me, I understand that I could spend a lifetime on any one of the choices, but at the very least, I want to see if I can eliminate certain choices within some reasonable amount of time.

Now, thoughts on a few choice comments:

From Reardon:

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I'm also kind of shocked by your attitude toward this. If right now you aren't serious about having a religious or philosophical guide thats just fine. Realize there is no one pushing you to do so and you in fact do not have to make a choice with respect to this issue (which I think would be preferable than making a choice after a week). I think that would be preferable to maintain the status quo of you not being serious on this issue as opposed to making a significant personal decision based on a mere sampling. Why not date a chick for a week and then marry her? etc. under your logic that would make sense. Youre talking about issues of logic, faith, tradition, etc that play into peoples lives and give them different answers to the big questions of being human. Most people grapple with the finer points of their faith or nonfaith for a significant part of their life... trying to evaluate a single belief system in a week is pretty dumb.

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Of course, valid points. To clarify, the idea is to get a feel for what may be right and what may not be. Certainly, I wouldn't complete the tour and then convert. But I would want to perhaps follow up more seriously with those viewpoints that struck me as being best (if any).

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If you planned on doing this to expose yourself to other cultures and ways of thinking I would tell you to go for it... I think more people should try such a thing.

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I think this is the best way to look at it, right now. But I'm also looking at what may or may not be right for me.

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Oh, and discounting certain Christian branches because your parents had ups and downs... wow...

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Well, its not a discounting of their views, but I've been exposed to these views, know some of the concerns and benefits, and want to compare other views compared to the ones under which I was raised.

I do appreciate your thoughts though, I think they've been useful in my clarifying the plan.

From Amplify:

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Tao, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Bahá'í, Shaker, Quaker, Rastafarian, Wicca, Confucianism, Jain, Druidism, Voodoo, Gnosticism, Native American Beliefs, Zoroastrianism, Satanism, Pentecostal.

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Yeah . . . a good indication of the task in front of me. I'm going to have to expand my schedule, I think.

From Bicycles_Biatch:

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I would spend two weeks at one church and then two weeks at a different church of the same faith. Having grown up protestant... it's amazing how different preacher A vs preacher B and change the vibe of an entire faith.

I know it sounds stupid, but everytime I get into a new hobbie like finding out about history or playing pool... I always buy one of the ridiculous yellow books "_____ for dummies". It's a good baseline of information, good reference source, and will usually direct you to some expanded sources of reading / studies.

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I agree this is an issue that has worried me. Just like a person isn't necessarily a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent, but might be a liberal or conservative or radical within each of the broader categories. I agree, and I think this is helpful to get a good idea.

Dummies books seem like a decent idea, especially since I am quite literally a "dummy" when it comes to many of these religions.

From She:

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This sounds good to me. Also consider that you may want to use more time to study some religions while boring of others early, so don't make your schedule too rigid . . . Book Mooch. That way you're not spending a ton of money on books that you could find elsewhere for free . . . Religion facinates me as well, so pm me if you'd be interested in a study partner.

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Thanks for resource suggestion. Hadn't heard of that. If this continues to attract interest, I'll probably post a trip report, but I'd enjoy bouncing ideas off others as well.

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But yeah, this is very helpful, I invite additional suggestions from anyone who has them!

[Rearden]

Monarch...

Why not start with a book list of sorts as an intro. Then you can try to read some info on certain faiths before deciding to include or exclude them. Try to get some feedback from folks who have done books on the subject or on the specific faith youre interested in.
My contributions:
"End of Faith" or "Letter to a Christian Nation"- Sam Harris
"Blind Watchmaker" or "God Delusion"- Richard Dawkins
"Under the Banner of Heaven"- Krakauer
And... names escape me at present but.. read some stuff on meditation and eastern religions

Harris and Dawkins offer views on the logical problems with faith (Dawkins more so) and systemic problems with organized religion (Harris more so).

Jon Krakauer's book is a study of religious fundamentalism in the US in the example of fundamentalist mormon groups. It is also one of the scariest works of non-fiction I have ever read. Keep in mind though its a look at the "rogue" parts of Mormonism.... for an indepth study of Mormons as a whole I direct you to the South Park episode on that topic (ditto to Scientology)

Also as an aside... a cool book to read on personal discovery and international cultures: "The Adventurist"- Robert Young Pelton

Good luck with everything man... just realize this is a question you can spend your whole life trying to answer (and it wouldnt be a wasted life)

[webmonarch]

Thank you for the suggestions on books. My goal of posting here was to get exactly this kind of feedback as to how to go about this, and I have not been disappointed.

I'll plan to periodically come back and update my status, and we'll see if anything else comes up.

[ClevelandWasp]

What went wrong with Protestantism? I think maybe your old man was doing it wrong. Are you serious about this or joking with us?

[samjjones]

You may want to schedule Scientology last.

[wet work]

Don't forget to look into the wonderful world of cults. Some of these may require more than a week to explore though. Good Luck!

[thejerkface]

As a Pastafarian, I urge you to look into the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. This brochure gives a nice overview of FSMism. We encourage people to give FSMism a 30-day trial. If you don't like it, feel free to go back to your old religion. I'm glad that OP is willing to give FSMism a try and I'm sure that he'll be touched by the Flying Spaghetti Monster's noodly appendage.

[samjjones]

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Don't forget to look into the wonderful world of cults. Some of these may require more than a week to explore though. Good Luck!

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WTF? Read the OP again. He already said he was checking out Scientology.