Your religious beliefs

[Speed of Sound]

I have now spent most of my memorable life as an atheist, specifically as a Secular Humanist. I was a Lutheran Christian, but I just wasnt finding the drive for life in the belief, especially considering its clashes with my political beliefs and scientific endeavours. It just was never gonna hold for me, and I joined the American Humanist Association in 2005.

[nclib]

agnostic

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Option 1

[Lief 🗽]

Agnostic. And I'll remain so until someone proves to me that God either definitely exists or definitely does not. And I think militant atheists and militant theists are both horrible.

[ilikeverin]

Christian - Mainline Protestant, bland cookie-cutter suburban variety. (though the young adult newsletter I get said my church was sending some members to the Minneapolis Pride Parade.  Gasp!)

[Purple State]

Jewish, but semi-agnostic. I don't believe it is possible to prove or disprove the existence of a God, but I sure hope he exists.

[Frodo]

Putting aside the question on whether it actually is possible to prove the unprovable:

Agnostic. And I'll remain so until someone proves to me that God either definitely exists or definitely does not.

And how exactly do you want someone to prove it to you?  What are you looking for when you say 'proof'?

[Marokai Backbeat]

I don't believe one can prove conclusively either way, because, quite frankly, I don't believe anyone can prove almost anything conclusively one way or another. There is always going to be some uncertainty, some question, some area unexplored, but we can prove almost certainly one way or another.

I'm an atheist because I believe "God" almost certainly doesn't exist. I see no reason to quibble with semantics, personally.

[War on Want]

I am an agnostic/sort of deist. I am not spiritual in any way but I definitely respect religious philosophy and the positive things religion has done in the world. I lean towards mainline protestantism the most.

Oh yeah I was a Presbyterian. My beliefs are confusing because I like associating myself with the church but I just don't care about any of the spiritual stuff. Jesus was a good dude and philosophically everything he said is great but thinking I am going to go to hell because I have some doubts about his apostles and the old testament is stupid.

[Vepres]

Agnostic.

I don't think we can know if there is a higher being nor can we know if there is an afterlife or not. After all, there's no evidence for these things, but there really isn't evidence against them either.

Either way, I think that even if a higher being existed, all the current religions wouldn't have gotten it right.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Agnostic.

I don't think we can know if there is a higher being nor can we know if there is an afterlife or not. After all, there's no evidence for these things, but there really isn't evidence against them either.

Are you also an agnostic on the Invisible Pink Unicorn?

[Lief 🗽]

My problem with comparing God with Santa Claus or the invisible pink unicorn or whatever is that you can't. Santa Claus isn't a concept that mankind has believe in, to some degree or another, for thousands upon thousands of years. The invisible pink unicorn isn't something that gives people solace and hope and helps them through their lives. People do not live or die for or devote their lives to the flying spaghetti monster. God, or whatever you want to call it, is not the same as just another old imaginary being or person.

[Associate Justice PiT]

My problem with comparing God with Santa Claus or the invisible pink unicorn or whatever is that you can't. Santa Claus isn't a concept that mankind has believe in, to some degree or another, for thousands upon thousands of years. The invisible pink unicorn isn't something that gives people solace and hope and helps them through their lives. People do not live or die for or devote their lives to the flying spaghetti monster. God, or whatever you want to call it, is not the same as just another old imaginary being or person.

     So people putting stock in something makes it more likely to be true? I would have to disagree very strongly with that notion.

[Gustaf]

Some of you seem to be confusing "believing in God" that is theism, with belief in the God described by the Bible. You cannot argue that the general belief in a God is the same as belief in Santa Claus or a spaghetti monster, or whatever.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You cannot argue that the general belief in a God is the same as belief in Santa Claus or a spaghetti monster, or whatever.

Well you can, but if you do you just look juvenile.

[Lief 🗽]

My problem with comparing God with Santa Claus or the invisible pink unicorn or whatever is that you can't. Santa Claus isn't a concept that mankind has believe in, to some degree or another, for thousands upon thousands of years. The invisible pink unicorn isn't something that gives people solace and hope and helps them through their lives. People do not live or die for or devote their lives to the flying spaghetti monster. God, or whatever you want to call it, is not the same as just another old imaginary being or person.

     So people putting stock in something makes it more likely to be true? I would have to disagree very strongly with that notion.

When nearly all people of all cultures and ethnic groups of all eras of human civilization put stock in it, then it's not necessarily true, no, but not something you can dismiss as easily as Santa Claus.

[Lunar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You cannot argue that the general belief in a God is the same as belief in Santa Claus or a spaghetti monster, or whatever.

Well you can, but if you do you just look juvenile.

Speaking of juvenile, here's the forum's resident one just in time for another cheap attack!  Any substance today or is your Maxi pad still wedged up in there?

I'm not quite sure how to respond to this as I can't tell whether irony was intended or not...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You cannot argue that the general belief in a God is the same as belief in Santa Claus or a spaghetti monster, or whatever.

Well you can, but if you do you just look juvenile.

Speaking of juvenile, here's the forum's resident one just in time for another cheap attack!  Any substance today or is your Maxi pad still wedged up in there?

I'm not quite sure how to respond to this as I can't tell whether irony was intended or not...

Right, because I'm supposed to ignore your garbage?  Or am I supposed to turn sh**t to gold and somehow turn it into a conversation of substance?  I've offered plenty, you've offered nothing.  As usual.

I'm not quite sure what you're on about as I didn't intentionally insult you in this thread; I just read Gustaf's post and added a note of agreement.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You cannot argue that the general belief in a God is the same as belief in Santa Claus or a spaghetti monster, or whatever.

Well you can, but if you do you just look juvenile.

Speaking of juvenile, here's the forum's resident one just in time for another cheap attack!  Any substance today or is your Maxi pad still wedged up in there?

I'm not quite sure how to respond to this as I can't tell whether irony was intended or not...

Right, because I'm supposed to ignore your garbage?  Or am I supposed to turn sh**t to gold and somehow turn it into a conversation of substance?  I've offered plenty, you've offered nothing.  As usual.

I'm not quite sure what you're on about as I didn't intentionally insult you in this thread; I just read Gustaf's post and added a note of agreement.

No, you went out of your way to call names, something he's respectful enough not to do.

No, I did not "call names". I merely made an observation.

[Verily]

My problem with comparing God with Santa Claus or the invisible pink unicorn or whatever is that you can't. Santa Claus isn't a concept that mankind has believe in, to some degree or another, for thousands upon thousands of years. The invisible pink unicorn isn't something that gives people solace and hope and helps them through their lives. People do not live or die for or devote their lives to the flying spaghetti monster. God, or whatever you want to call it, is not the same as just another old imaginary being or person.

     So people putting stock in something makes it more likely to be true? I would have to disagree very strongly with that notion.

When nearly all people of all cultures and ethnic groups of all eras of human civilization put stock in it, then it's not necessarily true, no, but not something you can dismiss as easily as Santa Claus.

"Nearly all peoples" is a lovely exaggeration typical of Euro-centric theism. The vast majority of Sub-Saharan Africa, pre-Columbian America and East Asia have essentially no tradition of "God" at all--minor deities, sure, and ancestors, but those don't have any sort of supreme power, they're just like wizards or dragons or ghosts. (In fact, a belief in ghosts was far more prevalent worldwide than a belief in a singular, supreme divinity or spiritual force for most of world history. Clearly, we should take ghosts seriously.)

There are a few scattered exceptions to this rule, although I would venture to guess that most of them are pockets where a Jewish or Christian or Muslim or latter-day Hindu merchant settled at some point prior to the 16th century and influenced local thought.


Even if it were the case, that's nothing more than a combination Appeal-to-the-Masses and Appeal-to-Tradition. It holds no water whatsoever.

[Torie]

Near atheist WASP, with next to nil "spirituality." I am a hard bitten lawyer type, who wants facts, evidence, and logic. I am hopelessly "linear" in that way.  It is hard wiring in my genes I think. I think I would be the same way, even if my parents had been JS's parents.

If parentage, previous pastors and siblings were the deciding factor in my religious upbringing, I should be a hardcore Atheist.  Or, to put it in picture form...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Among my generation, one's upbringing has virtually nothing to do with one's current religious affiliation from what I've noticed.

[Smash255]

non-religious Catholic.

[bullmoose88]

Erm, lets see, Baptized Methodist (UMC)...became Lutheran (LCMS, but my church is well, not nearly as conservative as the rest of the Synod), educated at a Catholic Private Prep High School, College was loosely affiliated with the Presbyterians.

So basically, I'm a mishmash of Mainline Western Christianity...that's not to say I don't have my doubts...oh I certainly do...especially in the last few years.  At this point, I honestly hope its some sort of test rather than getting fcuked repeatedly by chance.  At least there'd be some point behind it.  I think/hope.