Are you religious?

[Angry Irishman]

Welp, I'm back home from work and I see this post has degraded to the normal religious vs. Atheist mudslinging match it usually does.

Everyone is going to explain either divine faith or scientific reasoning....there is no right answer. To each their own.

There are trolling craftsman on this site.

 

[eits]

this thread title and poll don't sync up.

yes, i believe in God.

no, i'm not religious because i hate religion.

the poll implies that belief in a god = being religious. they're not mutually inclusive of each other.

 

[mirandu04]

as the user above me although i am not a very religious persons someone/something is out there. and let's be honest life is to complex to be a hazard thing

 

[BoomerD]

At best, I'm agnostic.

I have a difficult time thinking everything was just an accident...but I also have a very difficult time with the "god was here before he created the universe" aspect of religion. If god was here...where was here? What was here before the universe was created? IF there is an all-powerful omnipotent being, why would that being want us humans to worship it? Would that being even notice us? Would it want us to worship it anymore than we would want the ants to worship us?

As for the generally accepted "big bang theory," What was there before the big bang? Where did it happen? What materials were used to create the big bang? Where did the materials come from?



I'm not sure exactly what I believe, but none of the "organized religions such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam make sense to me. Those just seem like "crowd control" for the masses.

(believe and do as I say, or you will go to a bad place full of eternal torment.)

 

[eits]

i had a personal experience that leave no room for doubt in my mind that there's a God and that he cares about me. i can't deny it.

on the other hand, i completely deny the divinity of jesus and the divinity of the bible or any other religious texts. the only thing i'm sure of is that there's a caring God and i'm cool with that.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

I have a difficult time thinking everything was just an accident...

Accidents aren't always a bad thing. And personally I prefer to think of us as supreme beings rather than us being created by one. Believing that gives a tremendous sense of freedom, power, and prestige. Afterall, human beings are pretty amazing creatures (or at least we have the capacity to be).

i had a personal experience that leave no room for doubt in my mind that there's a God and that he cares about me. i can't deny it.

Were you taking any hallucinogens at the time of this personal experience?

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Im surprised at agnostic having the lowest votes.. Anyone smart enough to realize how ignorant we are, should keep their mind open to new ideas, so saying there is no god is just as bad as saying there is one

Its just the biblical definition of god is retarded, but there could be a supreme being out there, no doubt, just not some "special dude with super powers", more like an omnipresent consciousness

 

[SlitheryDee]

Im surprised at agnostic having the lowest votes.. Anyone smart enough to realize how ignorant we are, should keep their mind open to new ideas, so saying there is no god is just as bad as saying there is one

Its just the biblical definition of god is retarded, but there could be a supreme being out there, no doubt, just not some "special dude with super powers", more like an omnipresent consciousness

Most variants of atheism don't absolutely preclude the possible existence of a god. Being an atheist is akin to expressing the "opinion" that there is no god. We know very well that our opinion could be wrong. We doubt it, but anyone with any sense knows that they are only operating on limited information, and therefore could possibly be drawing the wrong conclusion. At least we are making some use of the data we are collecting throughout our lives. A true agnostic doesn't even form an opinion at all, and therefor is making zero use of the information available to them. It's not like we are forever married to our conclusion of the moment. If the proper evidence presented itself most atheists would surely adjust their opinion to match. There is nothing wrong with drawing a conclusion from available evidence right now.

I think this disconnect occurs only when dealing with theological matters because there is a notion in the back of all our minds that whatever our current opinion on the matter is must be our opinion forever. Why we view this particular subject in that light when we view almost nothing else that way is a mystery to me. I am an atheist ONLY because that seems to be the correct conclusion to draw at this time. I have not and will never rule out the possibility that I am incorrect, however small I consider that possibility to be.

 

[Beev]

i had a personal experience that leave no room for doubt in my mind that there's a God and that he cares about me. i can't deny it.

on the other hand, i completely deny the divinity of jesus and the divinity of the bible or any other religious texts. the only thing i'm sure of is that there's a caring God and i'm cool with that.

Sheesh, no wonder you're a chiropractor. You'll believe anything!

Friendly jest aside, what happened to make you have no doubt?

 

[reallyscrued]

No,

but Eid Mubarak.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

At best, I'm agnostic.

I have a difficult time thinking everything was just an accident...but I also have a very difficult time with the "god was here before he created the universe" aspect of religion. If god was here...where was here? What was here before the universe was created? IF there is an all-powerful omnipotent being, why would that being want us humans to worship it? Would that being even notice us? Would it want us to worship it anymore than we would want the ants to worship us?

As for the generally accepted "big bang theory," What was there before the big bang? Where did it happen? What materials were used to create the big bang? Where did the materials come from?



I'm not sure exactly what I believe, but none of the "organized religions such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam make sense to me. Those just seem like "crowd control" for the masses.

(believe and do as I say, or you will go to a bad place full of eternal torment.)

Why? What if the universe and matter has always been here? Why do humans always have this notion that everything must have a beginning?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Im surprised at agnostic having the lowest votes.. Anyone smart enough to realize how ignorant we are, should keep their mind open to new ideas, so saying there is no god is just as bad as saying there is one

Its just the biblical definition of god is retarded, but there could be a supreme being out there, no doubt, just not some "special dude with super powers", more like an omnipresent consciousness

And yet again:

Atheism is the lack of belief in a god(s); nothing else. You're not rejecting anything, just lacking belief in it.

Complete agnosticism is not inherently smart in any way. It's just believing that there's no way to answer the question and there's 0 probability going in one way or the other. There's zero evidence that a god(s) exist, just like there's zero evidence that unicorns exist. Just because we can't prove the opposite gives ZERO justification to agnosticism. The burden of proof is on the one making the claims, not the one refuting it based on absence of evidence. You can't prove with 100% certainty that a god does not exist, but you don't need to be 100% certain there's no god(s) to be an atheist. That's a mistake people commonly make; at the same time, it's the reason why most atheists (including me) are agnostic atheists. I'm agnostic in the sense that I know we can't prove definitely that god(s) don't exist, but an atheist because there's no evidence to suggest a god exists to begin with. We already have science and philosophy to answer our questions.

 

[dank69]

... Would it want us to worship it anymore than we would want the ants to worship us?

...

I can't be the only one here with a devoted ant army ready to give their lives to me for any cause I deem necessary. I test their faith all the time. Whenever one fails the test, he burns for all of eternity three seconds in front of his peers as an example to all. When one passes the test, I reward him with a lifetime supply of sugar. So far, none have actually passed the test but that doesn't mean they aren't devoted, right?

 

[eits]

Were you taking any hallucinogens at the time of this personal experience?

never have.

 

[eits]

Sheesh, no wonder you're a chiropractor. You'll believe anything!

Friendly jest aside, what happened to make you have no doubt?

personal story. if you really wanna know, pm me.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Welp, I'm back home from work and I see this post has degraded to the normal religious vs. Atheist mudslinging match it usually does.

Everyone is going to explain either divine faith or scientific reasoning....there is no right answer. To each their own.

There are trolling craftsman on this site.

I'll reiterate:

Here's some cheese to go with that...

Cry moar...

Im surprised at agnostic having the lowest votes.. Anyone smart enough to realize how ignorant we are, should keep their mind open to new ideas, so saying there is no god is just as bad as saying there is one

Its just the biblical definition of god is retarded, but there could be a supreme being out there, no doubt, just not some "special dude with super powers", more like an omnipresent consciousness

Ah, another "shroedinger's cat's balls"-ist

 

[Angry Irishman]

I'll reiterate:



Cry moar...


I'm not real sure what your problem is; I'd say you are one of the leading contributors to useless posts.

I don't recall insulting you for any random occurances...I'd appreciate the same courtesy. Do you have an ATOT badge and belong to some forum policing agency?

 

[darkswordsman17]

I'll reiterate:



Cry moar...


I'm not real sure what your problem is; I'd say you are one of the leading contributors to useless posts.

I don't recall insulting you for any random occurances...I'd appreciate the same courtesy. Do you have an ATOT badge and belong to some forum policing agency?

I'm not surprised you don't know what the problem is since I told you that was the problem the first time you started whining after you got your ass handed to you in that other thread. I pointed out exactly what is wrong with your posting there, and all you've done since is pop into threads make the same whining statement (despite the fact that often there is actual discussion going on). Of course the threads turn out the same way but most people recognize them for the clear trolling trash they are and so don't even bother to take them seriously because it always plays out the same way. Even when people waste their time trying to actually give insightful discussion they always get it thrown back in their face by the person claiming they were looking for actual discussion when they were just looking for someone to validate their beliefs (which generally seems to try to get people that disagree with their stupidity together so they can believe they're all "militant atheists" to help reinforce their predisposed hatred of them; what they don't get is that plenty of the people calling them idiots are in fact more religious than they are). Fact is most of these threads are not about religion, they are about someone trying to force their religious beliefs into topics that have nothing to do with it and then being called morons for it.

Or I could have just summed it up this way instead:

I'll reiterate:
Cry moar...

I'm really starting to hear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ_QVfT_wM

The latter is just a quicker way of getting the same results, the former is pointlessly writing something that you probably won't comprehend even if you took the time to read it and gets the same results in the end.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

In my first move I shall now dismiss Kant from the nature of humans being:

Empiricism of anything but the world of Newtonian physics has an inherent impact on the observed. We can not build a replicate-able, generalize-able, falsify-able science of anything that changes dynamically with the observation of it.

Now I will dismiss Descartes:

The Cartesian split between the self and other fails at recognizing the nature of internalization of those things that are at hand. If something of your body finds function do you, is it not part of yourself? There is no split between one's vocal cords and one's being. Nor is there a split between the craft's man's hammer and his being. Nor is there a split between other humans and your own being. Nor is there split between you, as you are, and anything else that you take as functional in this world.

I will now construct an ontology of reality that is based on how we actually live in the ontic world.

The logic by which we interact with the ontic (or ontological understanding of reality) is a function of attending to the biological imperative through the extension of our intentions into those things that we find at hand. So in extending ourselves into our vocal cords we embrace the physical reality of our vocal cords using the logic of speech. So to, when we spend money, we engage the ontic reality of our squares of paper and engage the ontologic intentions that form our spending of money.

In this way animism is true; as the spirit of self imbues those things we have intentions towards and animates them with the caring we put into those things. The physical attributes of those things has little influence on the importance of those things to our lives or the functions that they perform, unless the desired function is that of a physical behavior.

I will now explain that this is distinct from the social construction of reality:

If the function of the imbued, animated, thing works on any level outside of the physical, as all most all things do that we interact with, then we have a reality that is created not through dry observation or social construction but through the intentions of the individual.

in conclusion:

Christ is a crutch, no doubt, but I've not found a single individual that is not lame.

 

[Angry Irishman]

I'm not surprised you don't know what the problem is since I told you that was the problem the first time you started whining after you got your ass handed to you in that other thread. I pointed out exactly what is wrong with your posting there, and all you've done since is pop into threads make the same whining statement (despite the fact that often there is actual discussion going on). Of course the threads turn out the same way but most people recognize them for the clear trolling trash they are and so don't even bother to take them seriously because it always plays out the same way. Even when people waste their time trying to actually give insightful discussion they always get it thrown back in their face by the person claiming they were looking for actual discussion when they were just looking for someone to validate their beliefs (which generally seems to try to get people that disagree with their stupidity together so they can believe they're all "militant atheists" to help reinforce their predisposed hatred of them; what they don't get is that plenty of the people calling them idiots are in fact more religious than they are). Fact is most of these threads are not about religion, they are about someone trying to force their religious beliefs into topics that have nothing to do with it and then being called morons for it.

Or I could have just summed it up this way instead:



I'm really starting to hear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ_QVfT_wM

The latter is just a quicker way of getting the same results, the former is pointlessly writing something that you probably won't comprehend even if you took the time to read it and gets the same results in the end.

Are you proud of that wall of words that I'm not even going to finish reading? I started to read and then saw you telling me what you judge as wrong again. Again, I don't know why you feel so self appointed to do that, nor do I give a flying shit.

Ass handed to me...If you say so....whatever. Go back and read the other thread. All it entailed was immature insults by you and I don't recall a response nor did I want one as it would be coming from you.

Go learn some common courtesy. Your responses are on the same level of a child not getting what he/she wants. Is your latest response part of the actual discussion going on?

Are you going to tell me that these threads don't cause the same concerns and consequences that drove politics/news and love/relationship threads to separate areas?

Let me sum it up this way: you have proven yourself a contributing troll and even if not fitting that definition to the letter you are acting like one rude and self righteous a-hole...that's my one and only insult to you.

Don't bother responding; I don't fucking want to hear it.

 

[Onceler]

I believe that there is God with a multitude of lesser gods below Him. I am not religious other than attending to my spiritual training.
I do not believe that religion should be forced onto someone or pressured. I had the great advantage of growing up with parents who never forced me into religion and let me decide for myself.
I do not like these born againers who try to convert everyone (Jesus said "Do not cast your pearls before swine") meaning don't cheapen your own spirituallity by indoctronating everyone you see.
Christians are supposed to lead by example, their lives are supposed to be so fantastic that an onlooker who is needing Christianity looks upon their example and says hey I want what you got, show me how (they have to ASK for it, not the other way). Not being a bunch of hipocrites whose own lives are unraveling.

 

[qliveur]

Not anymore, no.

What's the fucking point? I knew I was nothing special and that my life served no purpose decades ago.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

No,

but Eid Mubarak.

[belated] Eid Mubarak!

Sorry OP, question fail. What is religion? An exclusive club? A set of rules or guidelines? A personal compass? Define your prompt.

Do I believe in God? Yes. Do I pray to said God? Yes. Do I let anything other than a sense of right & wrong dictate what I do? NO. Religion is what you make of it - too many people use it to justify their bigotry and hatred, so I often resort to answering "No" to your very question. "Religious" has become synonomous with arrogant, backwards, and convoluted. That is not what I am. Well, maybe the first one.

 

[Oyeve]

Religion is for the weak minded. Just enjoy life.

 

[totalnoob]

No, there is no evidence for any gods..outside people's brains of course.