Was Elliott known to be religious?

[...Derek...]

Just curious. He was clearly spiritual. His music points to a belief in forces beyond... but did he follow any specific religion?

I know I am starting too many threads, but hey... what are ya gonna do?

[Aidan]

I don't think he was religious. He referenced a few different gods from different cultures. I think mostly that he respected several forms of religion but practised none specifically.

[creatrix]

THere's a picture of him with "KALI THE DESTROYER" written on his arm. I don't know if he was being spiritual or just referencing destruction, though. Could be both...

:hmm:

[massromantic]

in that^ picture he was in the middle of writing that song...i think.

[meepmeep]

Originally posted by POINTY!
His granddad is a minister. :)

shoot, i knew i wasn't crazy. i was told that & someone here disputed it. anyway, in interviews he said he grew up in a religious household. I believe it was a sect that was similar to the latter day saints, but i've heard church of christ.

i don't think he practiced anything in his adult life, but i think his upbringing definitely influenced him.

[...Derek...]

Originally posted by POINTY!
Well, you are crazy :-p , but you are also correct about his granddad being a minister in spite of it. Maybe they were referring to his other granddad. Everyone's entitled to two, aren't they? :D

[meepmeep]

well, i probably *am* crazy.

i can't find the interview now, but i know i've read that he was talking about being 'haunted' by god....when he was writing st. ides heaven (i think). he said he used not be able to sleep at night and would wander around streets in portland and sit on the steps of a church there thinking god hated him. something along those lines.

:(

[sombre winds]

Originally posted by meepmeep
shoot, i knew i wasn't crazy. i was told that & someone here disputed it. anyway, in interviews he said he grew up in a religious household. I believe it was a sect that was similar to the latter day saints, but i've heard church of christ.

i don't think he practiced anything in his adult life, but i think his upbringing definitely influenced him.

This is the family religion: Community of Christ, originally the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

It's sad how growing up with a very strict religion can lead to more torment when someone has grown up with abuse.

[Parliament of Fowls]

he said in some interview that he didn't believe in hell but it had been pounded into his head so much as a kid that he did/as some point did have an irrational fear of it. some elements of organized religion seem to have scarred him. he seemed to have a decent knowledge of various religions.

there is of course the great quote about wanting to walk out in the desert and be eaten by birds when he dies, instead of being buried or otherwise. some people have read a lot into that quote, but i think sometimes elliott just sorta said stuff during interviews without thinking it would be used as hard fact years later.

[ktothebbc]

Originally posted by meepmeep
well, i probably *am* crazy.

i can't find the interview now, but i know i've read that he was talking about being 'haunted' by god....when he was writing st. ides heaven (i think). he said he used not be able to sleep at night and would wander around streets in portland and sit on the steps of a church there thinking god hated him. something along those lines.

:(
Yeah, I remember reading that somewhere. I've totally overdone it with reading the interviews that I can never rememember what I read where, but that definitely rings a bell.

[dorareever]

Originally posted by number nine
This is the family religion: Community of Christ, originally the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

It's sad how growing up with a very strict religion can lead to more torment when someone has grown up with abuse.

aren't they like Mormons or something?...Mormons..Smith...hmm...was he related to Joseph Smith maybe?...now that's *heavy* to be related to the founder of a religion.
:eek:

[sombre winds]

Originally posted by dorareever
aren't they like Mormons or something?...Mormons..Smith...hmm...was he related to Joseph Smith maybe?...now that's *heavy* to be related to the founder of a religion.
:eek:

No not Mormons at all. This is a religion with only a small number of members. I've read on their site that they are more liberal then Mormons and have involved women in the religion etc. No polygamy. But I've known people who are members of this and from their description it sounds very fundamentalist and not liberal at all. Maybe the differences are regional.

In any case, the history is that Brigham Young took many followers of Joseph Smith to Utah and those became the Mormons. A few followers of Smith stayed behind in the midwest and they formed this religion.

[heavymetalmouthagain]

It does make me wonder why he asked god for forgiveness in the end.

[llaurens]

you mean in the supposed suicide note (post-it note)?
I don't know but it's not even sure he really wrote it. Last time I heard about it the police was analyzing the handwriting... :rolleyes:

[hi im skot]

Originally posted by tangled up in blue
No not Mormons at all. This is a religion with only a small number of members. I've read on their site that they are more liberal then Mormons and have involved women in the religion etc. No polygamy. But I've known people who are members of this and from their description it sounds very fundamentalist and not liberal at all. Maybe the differences are regional.


polygamy is outlawed by the mormon church, now...

[heavymetalmouthagain]

Originally posted by llaurens
you mean in the supposed suicide note (post-it note)?
I don't know but it's not even sure he really wrote it. Last time I heard about it the police was analyzing the handwriting... :rolleyes:
OK honestly I didn't mean any offence...just was thinkin about it thats all

[llaurens]

Originally posted by HEAVYMETALMOUTH
OK honestly I didn't mean any offence...just was thinkin about it thats all
oh I did not take any offence to your comment :)
the rolleye smily was just commenting on the fact that we haven't heard any follow-up to this for a long time...

[heavymetalmouthagain]

cool :) it's funny though how many people turn towards God in death...guess it's human nature

[llaurens]

yes it's human nature, but in his case I don't see how that could have happened... if he killed himself it was in the heat of the moment.. how could he have possibly taken the time to write a suicide note?

[heavymetalmouthagain]

well my uncle killed himself and he wrote a note...?*shrugs*

[llaurens]

Originally posted by HEAVYMETALMOUTH
well my uncle killed himself and he wrote a note...?*shrugs*

I'm sorry :(

but it all depends on the circumstances...it's just that writing a note seems inconsistent with that way of killing oneself.. (to me)

[creatrix]

Originally posted by HEAVYMETALMOUTH
cool :) it's funny though how many people turn towards God in death...guess it's human nature

I don't think that rejecting a religion necessarily denotes a rejection of God.

[loveishell7]

Originally posted by tangled up in blue
No not Mormons at all.

err..sort of. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (mormon's) was founded by Joseph Smith. When Joseph Smith was killed, one group believed that the remaining church leaders should, with the help of god, choose the next prophet, or leader of the church. Another group, which became The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, believed that the role of prophet or leader should stay in the family, so I believe it was Joseph Smith's son that was choosen by them. The group that chose to follow Joseph Smith's son split from the original church. They eventually began adapting other believes into their religion, which differed from the original mormon church, such as allowing women to lead, etc... If you go to missouri (if that's where it's still at), you can take a tour of The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ's temple and museum and learn all about it. Which i have once. Also, my family is VERY VERY Mormon. So really, technically, they sort of are mormon's...or at the very least, a break off of them.

[loveishell7]

Originally posted by tangled up in blue
In any case, the history is that Brigham Young took many followers of Joseph Smith to Utah and those became the Mormons. A few followers of Smith stayed behind in the midwest and they formed this religion.

true. after smith was killed, brigham young was chosen as the next leader, and he led one group to utah. while the others stayed behind.

[loveishell7]

it's nutty stuff. no wonder elliott was scared off...as i assume he was. :)

sorry for rambling...i have to wake up to this stuff everyday and it makes me grumpy :rolleyes:

[hi im skot]

Originally posted by loveishell7
Also, my family is VERY VERY Mormon.

ahh, i'm not alone!

my parents are also quite mormon...there was almost a huge war when i told them i didn't really believe in anything a couple years ago...

[monstersWalkthe_earth]

Originally posted by hi im skot
ahh, i'm not alone!

my parents are also quite mormon...there was almost a huge war when i told them i didn't really believe in anything a couple years ago...

i'm still getting to that....

mormon parents...what can you do...

[jeffy]

Originally posted by hi im skot
ahh, i'm not alone!

my parents are also quite mormon...there was almost a huge war when i told them i didn't really believe in anything a couple years ago...

Same here. I quit going a year and a half ago, and my mom cried a whole bunch.
My brothers served missions, and everyone was married in the temple and all that jazz.

[loveishell7]

damn. we could form a group.

[danny]

Originally posted by loveishell7
err..sort of. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (mormon's) was founded by Joseph Smith. When Joseph Smith was killed, one group believed that the remaining church leaders should, with the help of god, choose the next prophet, or leader of the church. Another group, which became The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, believed that the role of prophet or leader should stay in the family, so I believe it was Joseph Smith's son that was choosen by them. The group that chose to follow Joseph Smith's son split from the original church. They eventually began adapting other believes into their religion, which differed from the original mormon church, such as allowing women to lead, etc... If you go to missouri (if that's where it's still at), you can take a tour of The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ's temple and museum and learn all about it. Which i have once. Also, my family is VERY VERY Mormon. So really, technically, they sort of are mormon's...or at the very least, a break off of them.

thank you, thank you, thank you for relating the actual facts so that i didn't have to do it. my family is very, very mormon as well, and while i don't really practice the religion anymore, i don't like when people distort facts or talk crap on mormons. they're good people and the ones who follow the religion are always happy. that's impressive to me, so i respect them.

[finneganwakes]

I don't think the Community of Christ see themselves as Mormons- which is why the name change. Nor do they see themselves as a break off of the Mormons- it's the other way around.

Other then sharing the Book of Mormon their values and beliefs have been quite different.

I don't want to offend anyone who grew up Mormon as this isn't a criticism of the Mormon religion. But saying that the Community of Christ is sort of Mormon seems similar to saying that Christians are sort of Jewish or Protestants are sort of Catholic.


Here's a link to their interesting history.
http://www.cofchrist.org/history/intro.asp

[finneganwakes]

Does anyone remember Elliott's god rock? He said he made it in Sunday school and his mother sent it to him when he was in LA.

[hi im skot]

Originally posted by danny
thank you, thank you, thank you for relating the actual facts so that i didn't have to do it. my family is very, very mormon as well, and while i don't really practice the religion anymore, i don't like when people distort facts or talk crap on mormons. they're good people and the ones who follow the religion are always happy. that's impressive to me, so i respect them.


:yes:

man, who knew all these sweetaddiers had to go through the giving up on religion thing...

it's still hard and awkward...since i started going to school away from home, i'm getting calls from church leaders in this area...i never answetr my phone when they call.

[no confidence man]

Originally posted by danny
thank you, thank you, thank you for relating the actual facts so that i didn't have to do it. my family is very, very mormon as well, and while i don't really practice the religion anymore, i don't like when people distort facts or talk crap on mormons. they're good people and the ones who follow the religion are always happy. that's impressive to me, so i respect them.

Yeah, that bugs me too. I'm Mormon, still semi-active (or at least trying to be). I like Mormonism, sometimes it's just tough for me to stick with it. It's also tough to know how you stand on some things once you realize that life is not always as black and white as you were raised to believe.

[brown_polyester]

on the post-it note thing: i interpreted the post-it note as asking for forgiveness in general, not necessarily asking god for forgiveness. i know it said "god forgive me," but the word "god" could be an exclamation. not a stellar insight, but that's what i was thinking about it.

[anti]

growing up within a fundamentalist branch of religion.....not fun, whether its mormon or latter day saints or evangelical or anything else imo. i can relate to elliott in that a certain aspect of that fear becomes a part of you, regardless of your conscious decisions and opinions regarding religion. like so many other foggy ghosts from early childhood, it resurfaces in the strangest ways and at the most difficult times...

i hate to make assumptions about the intent of those who are not here to clarify, but if i had to guess, i would guess that the reference to god was authentic and sincere. bet-hedging aside, i think most of us raised with a strong fear of god and the devil would want to make things right at the end, even if we only had a few words left in us...

(god bless his soul)

[francesca]

an interesting question. hmm.

[meepmeep]

Originally posted by francesca
an interesting question. hmm.

hi francesca.

[heavymetalmouthagain]

Originally posted by anti
i think most of us raised with a strong fear of god and the devil would want to make things right at the end, even if we only had a few words left in us...

(god bless his soul)
AGREED!

[heavymetalmouthagain]

Originally posted by anti


i hate to make assumptions about the intent of those who are not here to clarify, but if i had to guess, i would guess that the reference to god was authentic and sincere. bet-hedging aside, i think most of us raised with a strong fear of god and the devil would want to make things right at the end, even if we only had a few words left in us...

(god bless his soul)

I wonder if a true non believer would be worried bout this..or maybe in the face of death there are not to many real non believers

[Littleone7]

Originally posted by wingchungisfun
I wonder if a true non believer would be worried bout this..or maybe in the face of death there are not to many real non believers I think you're on to something there.:)

[aardpaard]

Originally posted by wingchungisfun
I wonder if a true non believer would be worried bout this..or maybe in the face of death there are not to many real non believers

I guess I do see myself as a true non believer, in the sense that I do not believe in a god or deity. I do sympathise a lot with the Buddhist view though. There is a particular story in Buddhism about Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, who actually went to to hell in order to help those most in need. I believe this is a far loftier ideal than wanting to be admitted to a heaven controlled by a spiteful god. So yeah, I guess what I meant to say was, if there does happen to be a god after I die, he can kiss my a**!

[heavymetalmouthagain]

Originally posted by aardpaard
I guess I do see myself as a true non believer, in the sense that I do not believe in a god or deity. I do sympathise a lot with the Buddhist view though. There is a particular story in Buddhism about Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, who actually went to to hell in order to help those most in need. I believe this is a far loftier ideal than wanting to be admitted to a heaven controlled by a spiteful god. So yeah, I guess what I meant to say was, if there does happen to be a god after I die, he can kiss my a**! I would say def. your a non believer than :). I kinda think Elliott believed in some sense..but who am I to know..I'm just guessing.

[Littleone7]

Originally posted by wingchungisfun
I would say def. your a non believer than :). I kinda think Elliott believed in some sense..but who am I to know..I'm just guessing. Me too. Why else would he ask for God's forgiveness, unless it was for the benefit of his mom or something?

[Littleone7]

True.:-o

[heavymetalmouthagain]

Originally posted by indie evan
not trying to rouse any bad blood here but...


if i can remember.. wasn't elliott's name spelled incorrectly on the post-it note?
damn I really didn't mean to open these

[aardpaard]

Originally posted by indie evan
not trying to rouse any bad blood here but...


if i can remember.. wasn't elliott's name spelled incorrectly on the post-it note?

Nope, it was transcribed incorrectly in the coroner's report.

[Littleone7]

Originally posted by aardpaard
Nope, it was transcribed incorrectly in the coroner's report. True.:-D Hehe.

[Summergirllv]

the first part of this old thread made me cry.

i miss some of these people, and the conversations, and things. i miss things.