Poll: Are you religious?

[Firstmark_Bannor]

People complain that God doesn't exist because the world isn't perfect, it's annoying. A perfect world would without suffering would be without purpose, and not worth living. Just as a world with only suffering would also have no point.

To have the good in life we need the bad as well. That is not some "rule" "God" made up, that is how things in existence works. To have the positive we need the negative. Otherwise we can never obtain balance.

There is no meaning to life without those to live it. If we want to have meaning in live we must create a meaning, and if you wish that meaning to make live better for all then you have to do it. God helps those who help themselves, but even then God can only do so little. Do to much, and people become dependent on you. Do to little and people lose faith. The best way is to use a light touch, so people won't know if you have done anything at all. That way we as the people can rightfully take ownership of what we have done good or evil.
You need not believe. Just do.

Nice use of Futurama's quote.
I am a raging atheist, mainly because i live in whats known as the "bible belt". So yeah i'll admit that one of my hobbies includes destroying the occasional persons faith. nice way to let off some steam against the largely religious area.

 

[That One Six]

Well, I'm Taoist, which is more a philosophy of life than a religion...

 

[SonofaJohannes]

Yup, I'm christian. But not protestant, or catholic. I'm not sure what it's called, or even if it has a name, but I belong to that branch of christianity that don't believe in heaven or hell but still believe in god.

 

[Veritasiness]

I don't think it's deflective to define rationality as what it is - or at least, the definition I'm working off of. The point I was, in fact, making was that rationality and atheism are in no way the same thing, any more than rationality and religion are.

Point out to me how coming to a conclusion that any of today's religions is rational. Then talk about there being as much ties with rationality as with atheism.

And keep thy definitions to thyself. Work with what everyone else is working with, otherwise you'll just be a pain in the ass.

Then what is everyone else working with - and how do you know?

I didn't say they didn't have "ties." Religion and rationality have ties; see Aquinas's Five Proofs [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinque_viae]. So do atheism and rationality. The only argument I've been making is that rationality is a tool by which someone determines a conclusion; it's the vehicle that brings you to the destination, not a component of the destination itself.

But you're right, that strays a bit from the topic; I've made my point so that's all I've got to say .

 

[Shirokurou]

Why are "No" and "Agnostic" separate choices?
I happen to be an agnostic atheist...
I believe that not everything in this world can be understood, but there is no God, as described in any religion...

 

[malestrithe]

I am an atheist. My mom's family is Catholic, my biological father's is Methodist, and my Stepdad's is Southern Baptist.

I decided a long time ago that if I were to worship, he is going to need to get off his cloud in the sky and actively recruit me. If he, she or it does not do it because "he does not want to," or any other lame excuse, then he, she or it is not worth my time. To that end, I have a 7 part test that I keep in my head at all times. All the deity needs to do is cause everything on the list to happen in a reasonably short amount of time, like 3 months after the first one. If the god or goddess does that, then I will worship him. Otherwise, I will not.

 

[TheDist]

Yup, I'm christian. But not protestant, or catholic. I'm not sure what it's called, or even if it has a name, but I belong to that branch of christianity that don't believe in heaven or hell but still believe in god.

Would that be Universalist? I might be wrong but I think universalists belive in god, that said god is "love" and wouldn't send anyone to hell, thus all are saved. Sound about right?

 

[Veritasiness]

I am an atheist. My mom's family is Catholic, my biological father's is Methodist, and my Stepdad's is Southern Baptist.

I decided a long time ago that if I were to worship, he is going to need to get off his cloud in the sky and actively recruit me. If he, she or it does not do it because "he does not want to," or any other lame excuse, then he, she or it is not worth my time. To that end, I have a 7 part test that I keep in my head at all times. All the deity needs to do is cause everything on the list to happen in a reasonably short amount of time, like 3 months after the first one. If the god or goddess does that, then I will worship him. Otherwise, I will not.

By having a test for a supposed deity, and demanding that they comply with it, aren't you basically admitting that deity must exist? It has to, in order to decide to fulfill or not fulfill your requests.

 

[Ammutseba]

Am I schizophrenic? No, no I'm not.

 

[Hectix777]

I'd like to believe I am(heh, belief in belief). I acknowledge that not only that there is a GOD(if not, some entity of powerful proportions) but that he must have done this for a reason. I also believe(please don't bunch me in with mega Catholics, Mormons, or Sarah Palin's people who believe the Earth was made in 4,000 years for saying this) that the Big Bang theory is bogus. You can say,"the universe was made by an explosion of energy from an extremely concentrated collection of gases," or whatever, but I still say it's bogus. For the Big Bang to have happen that mean's those gases were always there from whatever beginning there was, and in that case there was no beginning there was just an always.

Call me crazy but the thought of an all powerful loving being of all creation created the universe and all that's in it more logical than an explosion of gasses that shouldn't have been there in the first place. I'm not joking when I say that I believe the Big Bang theory is bogus.

 

[Dango]

I'm agnostic. I very much doubt humanity will ever know whether or not a God does or does not exist.

 

[Captain Pirate]

Yes.
That is to say, I fully believe there is a God.
However, I'm just not buying half the stuff in the Bible because it's stupid.
Such as how many times it says Homosexuality is wrong. Fuck that.
If it harms another human being in any way, I'd call that a sin, as opposed to not going to church and being accepting of gays.

I follow the good stuff.
'Love thy neighbour' is pretty much the motto I love by.
A lot of Jesus' words, whether you believe he was the son of God or not, were good, I think.

Nearly all the Christians I know (I guess if you had to class me in a specific religion, which I don't like doing, I'd be closest to a Christian by far) have a go at me for saying that I think half the Bible is scare tactics, mainly the Old Testament. They say 'Oh that makes you a non-Christian then'.
Well fine, I was at a huge preach once where the guy said that you shouldn't try and be anyone you're not, cause you aren't fooling God.

Well, that's settled then, I'm me, and I'm not entirely Christian. I still, however, wholeheartedly believe there is a God.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against anyone who says there isn't. In the way a lot of people's mind works that says they don't believe in God because there isn't enough evidence to prove his existence, my mind works in that I find it hard to not believe in God, because there is no solid evidence to disprove him.

 

[Draitheryn]

I was raised baptist, most of my family is religious and I have great respect for spirituality. That being said, however, I don't believe in a personal God, but I cannot be certain there isn't a superior being/beings that have a greater control over the universe than we do.

I am very much anti anti-theists though, not so much because they are obnoxious, but because of the hypocrisy of not knowing anything about religions and their beliefs aside from what they see on tv, and make fun of their ignorance on topics which aren't even accurate.
I have read the bible, the Torah, and the Quran, and all of them should be read by everyone with an open mind, they are the most influential works ever written and it is, in my opinion, foolish to go through life without seeing why.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Here's a couple of statements to sum up my beliefs.

1. If parents weren't allowed to teach their kids religion until they were about 15 or 16 years old, all organized religions would die out in a matter of about 20 years or so. The only reason religion still exists is because kids are taught this nonsense when they're young.

2. I think saying "I know there is no god" is just as presumptuous as saying "I know there is a god".

3. I am agnostic, to a point. I DO believe in some kind of god, but simply because I don't see how the universe could have been created any other way.

4. I am just as annoyed by cynical, pessimistic atheists as I am by overzealous, smug religious types.

 

[Evil Top Hat]

Not a shred of evidence to suggest either way, and outside of the universe we know of, anything could be possible. We can't apply the rules of reality to anything outside of the universe that we have discovered, because they may well change. The existance of god (to me) seems likely nor unlikely, because anything could be possible, and we are in no position to make assumptions either way, because those assumptions could never be based on proven fact.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

Alhough I consider myself an agnostic, I am a practising Wiccan.

 

[Burntpopcarn]

No. You remember earlier this year when that guy predicted the second coming and said that if you weren't christian you'd be destroyed by god in his coming apocalypse, right? that's one reason.
another reason is if god is so loving, then why in hell is he going to blow the universe up, eh? makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[technoted]

The teachings of religion, yeah. The concept of a deity or something creating the entire universe, no.

 

[SonofaJohannes]

Yup, I'm christian. But not protestant, or catholic. I'm not sure what it's called, or even if it has a name, but I belong to that branch of christianity that don't believe in heaven or hell but still believe in god.

Would that be Universalist? I might be wrong but I think universalists belive in god, that said god is "love" and wouldn't send anyone to hell, thus all are saved. Sound about right?

Eh, kind of. Except for the whole everybody is saved thing. I believe that there is no hell, and if you die, you're dead. And if you live in sin you stay dead. It would be quite a lot to write, but it's definately not what you just described. But thanks for trying though.
The search for a name continues!

 

[brom0220]

I'm seeing a common trend I don't like among fellow atheist. The idea that SCIENCE! disproves all ideas or concepts of a "A god" or an higher entity, so to speak, and quite frankly, it does not. It only disproves all forms of religion we humans have managed to come up with. (God, Thor etc)

You can still quite logically belive in the existence of "A god" but also belive fully in all forms of science and still be a perfectly logical thinking human. In relative terms we humans know absolutely jack shit about anything. Just as much as theres no evidence for "A god" theres the same ammount against "A god". There is however plenty against the chirsten God.

Just because science can't answer everything yet doesn't mean there is a god. Basically, what you are saying is that God is an ever decreasing gap in scientific knowledge. This is called the "God of the Gaps" argument.

I stared out somewhat skeptical of the whole "divine being crated the universe from nothing on a whim" but then the fact that most of the science types I've asked about the origin of the universe can never come up with anything any more reasonable for the origin of matter or the origin of life has (among other things) caused me to follow the same path as my parents and be a christian, plus I figure there's always Pascal's Wager so its a win-win for me. The irony is that so many people here say that they don't like religion because its followers are pushy I have only ever had the opposite experience, I had several atheists rant at me and tell me i'm a moron if I don't agree with them but the church types have never been anything but nice.

The ignorance (as in, lack of knowledge, often confused for stupidity, it is possible to not know about something yet still be quite intelligent after all,) of a few people does not mean that it is reasonable to believe in a god without evidence to support its existence. Also, you are very lucky if you have only met the nice church types, but don't let that fool you into thinking that the pushy types don't exist. The history of mankind is riddled with atrocities committed in the name of religion. And for every atheist that condemns religious people as complete morons, there are many more that are just fine with people believing what they want to believe, provided they don't try to force others to agree with and accept their beliefs. Also, the sheer number of different religions makes Pascal's Wager pointless. What if when you die you meet Buddha or Vishnu instead of God?

OT: No, I am not religious. I used to be a Christian, but as I grew up and learned more about the world and science I stopped believing in the Christian version of God. And even if Jesus did exist, there is no evidence that proves he was the son of God. I guess I would be an agnostic atheist. I am open to the possibility of god, but I don't really believe in one, or in other words, if there is a god, I doubt anyone has the right idea about the nature of that god.


Just thought I would leave these here; despite the slightly condescending presentation of these videos, I find them funny and thought provoking. I wish I knew how to embed them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRLR9jhP_DM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSxgnu3Hww8&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfZFsXfCy6s&feature=relmfu