God? What do you think:

[Kadarin]

Agnostic, because I can't for sure say there is no God (or Gods, as people seem to insist on God being singular). However, I certainly don't believe in the idea.

 

[eits]

theist, non-religious

 

[iSavage]

I need that cake. NOW.

 

[bfdd]

i just don't believe in any religious teachings, nor do i believe in some supreme being.

 

[wuliheron]

The higher a person's income and education the less religious they are begging the question of why anyone would want to be very religious.

 

[Minjin]

The higher a person's income and education the less religious they are begging the question of why anyone would want to be very religious.

I think it's genetic. Some people are very predisposed to believing in something "greater" than themselves. I think we all have it to a degree due to evolution (because it is advantageous to listen to a leader when in packs) but it is stronger in some people than others. I do wonder if it is the same or similar to the trait of believing in woo (aliens, ghosts, homeopathy, chiropractic, etc).

 

[HAL9000]

It's an interesting questions, and I find the results surprising, as they do not reflect the majority of peoples beliefs, perhaps this is a good indication of the direction that peoples beliefs are heading, as we are on the whole (I imagine) young, and in touch with technology and the future.... Interesting.

 

[Murloc]

I don't declare myself as an atheist, but in practice I am and I seriously doubt the existence of God. I'm not anti-religious in any way though, just anti-bigot.
I asked I'd say non-practicing protestant.
I have my views on how religion should be even if I don't believe.

 

[Platypus]

Couldn't care less about the subject.

 

[HAL9000]

Couldn't care less about the subject.

Do you ever give it any thought?

 

[oddyager]

What do I think? He was an okay guard who couldn't hack it in the NBA.

 

[Platypus]

Do you ever give it any thought?

A long time ago, yep.

 

[HAL9000]

A long time ago, yep.

Any conclusions?

 

[Platypus]

Any conclusions?

I'm pretty sure I already made that clear in my first post on the subject.

 

[rivan]

Agnostic with an atheist leaning.

 

[HAL9000]

I'm pretty sure I already made that clear in my first post on the subject.

OK. Fair enough, just curious if you were leaning one way or the other

 

[darkewaffle]

Where's the option for "I am a god"?

 

[HAL9000]

Where's the option for "I am a god"?

Other

 

[airdata]

Somebody was explaining to me yesterday about agnostics, and they said I was an atheist because I don't subscribe to any religion.


If somebody compiles a complete bible that is fully translated with no omissions.. .I may check it out.

 

[lxskllr]

Other - Apatheist

 

[ConwayJim]

I'll be counter culture to this group.

I'm Christian and have a fairly strong faith

 

[destrekor]

Douche-bag religious nuts can be more annoying than the atheist type, simply because of the hypocrisy. Eventually, some theists get bitter at being disrespected because others who claim to believe the same thing don't act like it. As one Christian once said: The single greatest cause of atheism today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. It was the religious who killed Jesus.

Your post got me thinking of another hypocrisy I have encountered a few times.

I have met a few people who are anti-religion, but still have a Bible-centric faith.

The one that really kind of shocked me was this one individual, who was agreeing with me all about the dangers of organized religion and the power plays often associated, and went so far to say religion itself is terrible. YET, later in the conversation he went on to say he believes that Jesus was here to relieve man of our sins, and that he understands that we are imperfect creatures with personal demons, but so long as we accept his love, we'll be treated wonderfully in the afterlife.
As he says this, all I can think about is the fact that he is subscribing to religion-specific beliefs while arguing the corruption of religions. He also had said he read all the major texts for each religion, and came to his conclusion based on what he read.

In my mind, someone who discards religion only to subscribe to the ideas pushed by a specific book, isn't exactly following his own logic.
Personal religion, or more specifically, personal spirituality, I greatly support that. I would think someone who discards religion because of the errors of the religious, would move to a personal spirituality. Belief in something greater, but not of ideas that are based around any one text.

If I could go this route, I'd be an Agnostic-Deist, the belief that there may in fact be a higher-order being that spawned all that is around us in the universe, but one that has no desire or care to actually interfere with human events. In short, a deity that is creator, but does not really care about humans. That one still leaves the question of afterlife hanging in the back of the mind, though... so it might not be a popular conclusion to reach I guess. We too often like to think of ourselves as special, something I find sinful in of itself.

On that note:

I think it's genetic. Some people are very predisposed to believing in something "greater" than themselves. I think we all have it to a degree due to evolution (because it is advantageous to listen to a leader when in packs) but it is stronger in some people than others. I do wonder if it is the same or similar to the trait of believing in woo (aliens, ghosts, homeopathy, chiropractic, etc).

I'd say its genetic, but I'm not sure if it varies by person to person all that much. There is definitely a section of our brain that is essentially the Spirituality Center, for all intents and purposes.

That is why I do agree with the basic principals of a personal spirituality, because it can help individuals get through life in the most peaceful and "complete" way. My own personal beliefs can cause internal conflict at times, and I am sure some atheists might also acknowledge this if asked. But personally, I enjoy the idea of this struggle: I think it makes one a better individual to constantly battle oneself. To be a better human, in every way, is my personal goal in life.

But research has shown that activation of a specific region of the brain will produce spiritual thoughts and imagery. More importantly, other research has shown that such thoughts where your own conscious thought is the spark, will lead to an increase in various Neurotransmitters. This is very important, because belief that one is being helped from above, or something along those lines, essentially acts as a massive placebo-effect induced by the body itself: we believe we are being given The Light from above, and so that Spirituality Center recognizes it needs to tell the rest of the brain to amp up the uptake of block the uptake of a few different NTs. Our brain has that key ability to make our body actually reach a healthy plateau, but only through conscious belief that that help is divine.

It's too late for me, so I'm not rewarded that awesomeness of the body's spiritual placebo effect. I'm trying to craft my own spirituality, Mankind is awesome and all my efforts make our species better, or something along those lines. Here's to hoping in the future, I'll reach a point that it's not consciously-crafted and it'll actually trigger the spirituality center. I want those divine drugs dammit!

 

[jonks]

Agnostic, because I can't for sure say there is no God (or Gods, as people seem to insist on God being singular). However, I certainly don't believe in the idea.

Not to stick you with a label you don't want or agree with, but what you described is atheism. No atheist I know is "sure" there is no god. They just don't believe there is.

 

[destrekor]

Not to stick you with a label you don't want or agree with, but what you described is atheism. No atheist I know is "sure" there is no god. They just don't believe there is.

technically that would be an Agnostic Atheist.

You're not entirely sure, mostly accepting that one cannot prove one way or the other, but mostly accept that there is zero proof that there is a God.

However, in general the term Atheist does kind of work. And one can be "sure" that no God exists, if one accepts the idea that there is no proof one indeed does exist - but it's not like such surety would lead one to say no God exists if God suddenly appeared in front of you performing divine magic tricks.
Such an individual, who would go so far to say no god exists even in the face of a god showing obvious signs of divine magic... that kind of person is called a Fool.

Most of us atheists aren't that retarded. We'd accept the existence of God with proof. We accept everything with proof, that's kind of how things work. No proof? Meh, doesn't exist. Oh, that's it right in front of me? Hmm, I guess that's real all right.
Evidence, that's all most atheists ask for. They won't deny such evidence just to be stubborn, or else we'd call such people a Fool. Much like how all the evidence for certain scientific knowledge is right there to be discovered, and many claim it's a sham (I call those poor souls Fools).

 

[Atreus21]

I'm Catholic, but what's annoying is that my I've convinced my brain of God's existence, but my heart is resisting, which seems to be in reverse.

I think proofs, or partial proofs, of God's existence can be found. But for some reason they aren't sufficient to get my heart into it.