Poll: To atheists:What kind are you?

[happysock]

I don't believe in a God or religion however I do believe there could be a higher being and I have this friend in school who I normally get into discussion about with theories about God and the like(He is a Christian by the way).
I respect his opinions and he respects mine and sometimes we find something funny like holes in theories etc that we chat about for hours.

 

[Lordmarkus]

I want to see myself has I respect other religions but when I meet an overly believing I tend to bash them in my mind.

Though worst scenario are when those thoughts slips through my mouth. That's when hell starts.

 

[Smudge91]

i'm going to pop my 2 cents worth in here and say...
Personally i'm an agnostic and was raised in the Anglican chruch and offically am a member of the church still. I treat atheism and theism both the same, i'll listen and respect their ideas and be the devils advocate but on the other hand i won't allow someone to force their ideas on to me.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Just for that, I looked the passages up online. It actually only allows the stoning of people who didn't cry for help: in other words, those that had committed adultery instead of actually being raped.

The shekels bit is, once again, an effort to curb inter-familial violence. In those days, the only man a woman could have sex with was her husband: a woman who slept with someone who wasn't her husband was considering indecent. Thus the law forcing the raper to marry the woman: it's more for the sake of the woman's reputation than it is a acceptance of rape.

Once again, misinterpretation for the win.

Just goes to show how realistic the bible is. (much pun intended! XD)

Did you know how few rape victims actually cry out when they are being raped?

Most actually become scared. "Paralyzed with fear" (im sure you've heard the expression), especially when the rapist punches the victim for saying "no" in the first place. They stay silent and take it because they don't want to get hit anymore.

The net result is that according to the bible, a scared woman being raped should be stoned to death along with the rapist... Because she was so scared she couldn't cry out loud enough. Nice going Bible! You sure do preach some real classy ideals that we should all live up to!

//Housebroken Lunatic - expert of snippy sarcasm

P.S I guess I shouldn't mention the fact that some rapists are actually smart enough to cover the mouth of their victims with something in order not to be disturbed while doing their nasty deed? XD

 

[JoshGod]

ive realised that it doesnt matter, the fact is people get happyness out of religion that is what is important im not gunna slag it of as it does no one any good. i understand some need a reason for it all and cant say, its just chance or there is no reason for anything.
i mean lets face it how many religions are there? now consider the chance that one of them is right (pretty slim) then picking the right one (rediculously slim) and then remember there may be no god.
there may be a higher force but i doubt its what any religion says it is from my previous paragraph.

(you may be able to tell im a respecting athiest)

but honestly i dont care what religion your are until someone tries to convert me. (unless its one of those less known religions that worship devil etc and may eat me)

i think its rediculous those blody johovas witness (i know i cant spell it) i mean why cant we not try impose our believes on others i mean did you ever find an athiest spreading the word of no god? no. i wont bash your views if you dont try to change mine!

and if there is an ater life im not worried if you live a good life what forging loving god wouldnt let you in?

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I am willing to accept the premise of a supreme being because such a thing provides as good of an explantion for existance as anything I've heard from science. Moreover, I don't really believe that the commonly held scientific viewpoint in how we came to exist (big bang, evolution etc) is contrarian to a religious viewpoint (who's to say that god didn't creat the universe with the big bang, setting the rules and conditions from the outset for evolution and whatnot?) That said, I don't believe in a religion as religion is fundamentally an institution of man created to further the goals of the state. I will not challenge anyone's belief or adherence to a religion, but if questioned I will explain my viewpoint. I am, as such not hostile to the keepers of the various faiths, and I bear them no ill will so long as they choose to grant my position with equal respect.

 

[Archaon6044]

my "beliefs" as an athiest (if i can have such things) are that you are allowed to beleive in whatever you want, just don't stuff it down my throat, and try to convert me, because i'll bash you. i'll let you get on with your worship, but i still think your a fool for doing it, and that religeon as a whole is somewhat defunct in todays society

 

[[Cold-Shoulder]]

I'm a quiet atheist but I also respect others beliefs .

 

[Theissen]

If you believe there is some form of higher being then I don't think you're an actual Atheist. Atheists believe that there is no higher being. Agnostics believe there could be a higher being. Theists believe there is a higher being. I might be slightly off, but I think that's pretty much it.

To get picky about, most of us would say that Atheism isn't the "belief that there's no God", but rather "lack of a belief in God". There's quite a difference.

That sounds completely backwards to me. Atheism should be the belief there is no God, if it was the lack of a belief in God then that implies in itself that they believe there is a God and they just don't believe in him... which in itself is a contradiction... I hope that made sense...

It's not that hard. We see no reason to believe in a God, so we don't acknowledge any. Lack of belief in God. "We believe there is no God" is a statement of belief, that most Atheists would avoid.

It is for me. I seriously don't understand why you make that distinction. If there is any simpler way you could break it down I would appreciate it, it kind of sounds silly the way I'm interpreting it (wrongly I assume).

I really don't see where you're having trouble here. Here's how it works:

"I believe there is no God" is a statement of belief; the burden of proof would then lie with them just as much as the "I believe there is a God" person
"I lack a belief in any sort of Deity" is basically to say "I don't see anything, why the fuck should I worship it?" One is a statement of belief, one isn't.

Actually, that makes you neither an atheist nor an agnostic.

An atheist is, by definition, one who actively rejects the idea of a higher entity.
An agnostic is, by definition, one who beleives you can't aknowledge anything beyond experience read 'cannot be proven').

I'm an agnostic myself. If anything, you are more of an agnostic than an atheist.

Fundamentalistic atheists can sometimes be just as bad as fundamentalistic theists.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

ive realised that it doesnt matter, the fact is people get happyness out of religion that is what is important im not gunna slag it of as it does no one any good.

*DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!*

You just answered the million dollar question!

It doesn't matter what anyone believes because mostly a belief of any kind makes you happy in one way or another.

As the sceptic guy I'll be glad to admit that I'd also find the idea of a nice invisible man living in the sky who want's us all to follow rules that imply us being nice to eachother to be a rather comforting and pleasant idea.

I just can't bring myself to believe it or have "faith" in it due to my pragmatic and scientific convictions. But if I could I would, and I certainly understand why this thought makes people happy, and if it works for them then by all means they should hold on to it if it gives them a reason to get up in the morning.

The onl real problems one could reasonably have with religion is when prophets and zealots try to convince otheres to believe in the same thing they do, and engage in pitiful pursuits in trying to convert fairytales from the bible into science by pseudo-scinetific means ("Creationism" anyone?).

There's no rule in the bible that says that you won't go to heaven when you die, if you just keep your religious business between you and God and let everyone else lead their lives as they see fit. There are some arbitrary bulshit in the bible that wikll have you believe that it is "right" and "just" in trying to convert people, but really these texts weren't written by God. They were written by some bigot several thousand years ago.

How about believing in God instead of believing in everything that different priests, prohpets and zealots say about God? It would make us all so happy, wouldn't it? : )

 

[asinann]

You missed the option "I'll leave you alone until you spout dogma and try to pass it off as fact.)

 

[r3lix]

Religion or not, you are who you are, accept it or leave it. I don't see much point arguing.

 

[Chipperz]

You missed the option "I'll leave you alone until you spout dogma and try to pass it off as fact.)

Is that the same as the people who say "I KNOW there is no god"?

Hell, believe what you want, I really don't care, but noone knows anything about religion, because that's the answer you only get when you don't come back to tell anyone.

For the record, I believe in God, I believe in evolution. I am... The DAYWALKER (according to most people on the Escapist, who seem to think that all Christians are crazy people who can't believe in science).

 

[asinann]

You missed the option "I'll leave you alone until you spout dogma and try to pass it off as fact.)

Is that the same as the people who say "I KNOW there is no god"?

Hell, believe what you want, I really don't care, but noone knows anything about religion, because that's the answer you only get when you don't come back to tell anyone.

For the record, I believe in God, I believe in evolution. I am... The DAYWALKER (according to most people on the Escapist, who seem to think that all Christians are crazy people who can't believe in science).

You can believe in science all you want, but when it runs contradictory to the bible, you are obligated to take what is in the bible as fact because of your belief in that book as the sacred word of a being that is all-knowing, all-seeing and incapable of making a mistake of any kind (even though within that book it shows that he himself considered humanity a mistake at least once.)

 

[Salmaras]

I have a respect for peoples beliefs, but i do have a tendency to get annoyed by over-the-top religious people who tell me Jesus wants to be my friend

 

[Flamezdudes]

I kinda bash Religion alot but thats just to annoy my friends and parents who are most religious. I respect their beliefs, although i don't agree with them.

 

[AngloDoom]

I respect those with beliefs. I even have respect for people who attempt to convert me. I just get angry with people who do not leave me alone, and I have a tendency to destroy people who are religious because "My dad says so" and never stopped to think about it for themselves.

 

[GrinningManiac]

I'm a none-practising Catholic, and I find it hilarious with the kind of atheist who would just throw snide comments and nasty, wormy "hah! You belive in an invisible cloud castle you go to when you die!".

I like to respond "Hah! Yeah, fancy that. Well, when you die? Good luck with empty oblivion!"

It's weird how they point out the dogmatic authoritarianism the Church employs, and yet they seem to belive it's a god-given...wait...uh..."science-given" right to adopt the same refusal to accept that people have other opinions.

But "they're allowed to", because the Church belives in a zombie carpenter from 2009 years ago

 

[EeveeElectro]

I respect others, I'm kinda laid back with it.
It's like Yeah, I'm atheist... you're not? that's cool. Who cares? let's have a cup of tea.