Last week, we asked students what religious or spiritual beliefs they most closely associate themselves with and the top runner was Catholicism.

The Catholic option received 12 votes out of the 42 total votes, giving it 29 percent of the poll.

In general, Catholicism believes in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They follow the Bible and The Ten Commandments as well as participate in Baptisms, which are necessary for salvation. They also believe in the Holy Trinity.

Tied in second place were the Spiritual and the Christian option with 9 votes each, 21 percent. Spirituality has a less specific belief system. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of spirituality is as follows: “the quality or state of being concerned with religion or religious matters.”

Christians also believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and that there is only one God. They believe he is the Messiah who died for their sins at the cross and they base their beliefs off of his teachings and the Bible. Salvation is reached by confessing their sins to Jesus, who was sent by God to forgive every human.

Third place was also a tie. Three votes were cast for the Other option and also for the Judaism option, both receiving 7 percent. While there are many other beliefs that could be considered in place of the ‘other’ option, there is only one definition for Judaism.

Judiasm is “a religion developed among the ancient Hebrews that stresses belief in God and faithfulness to the laws of the Torah,” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.The Ten Commandments are the foundation of this belief system.

Fourth place is tied between Agnostic and Atheist with 2 votes each 5 percent. An Agnostic is someone who does not or is unsure of their belief in the existence of a higher power. An Atheist is a person who believes God does not exist.

In fifth place, a final tie is between Buddhism and Mormonism. They each received 1 vote, or 2 percent.

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Guatama, or Buddha, who is known go have reached Nirvana, or Enlightenment. Buddhists do not believe in a personal God because their beliefs are not centered on the relationship between humanity and a God.

Mormonism came in sixth place with one vote and they follow the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity.

Islam received zero votes in our poll and they follow the Qur’an, a religious text of the word of God.

Tune in this week for our next poll!