Believer or Atheist?

[Sinister Dexter]

Atheist. I decided God did not exist before I (at least consciously) knew I was gay. It wasn't a reaction to being gay, but it certainly made accepting myself easier.

 

[miketlow]

I believe God exist.

 

[Dolmance]

I absolutely believe in God. As do most scientists, I think -- I recall seeing this in a reputable magazine at some time in the past.

Actually, according to most polls, the majority of scientists merely subscribe to either a particular religion or a kind of deism; there is no overwhelming majority who believe in one specific theological god.

 

[Tbot91]

I never understood how a person of a particular organized religion can embrace their religion in spite of the vast and numerous kinds of religions and deities, other than childhood indoctrination, but even then, I'm still baffled. Simply by the accident of where you were born you were a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, a whatever. Each one says that theirs is the "one true way," all with various "undeniable claims of truth" with nothing compelling enough to extinguish the others. It's like having hundreds of theories to explain the exact same thing and none of them have any strong evidence.

I can somewhat understand deism on the level that a supreme being created the universe and let it be, but I do not subscribe to the belief. I am highly skeptical of the idea that a supreme being continues to dawdle over human existence, performing miracles, answering prayers, punishing the wicked, etc.

I grew up without knowing religion and when I was grade school, I loved reading books on the planets in our solar system. When I first read that the planets were named after the Roman Gods, I was interested. Why don't people believe in the Roman Gods now? That just opened my eyes to the entire realm of religions and I found it very hard to understand how anyone chose any particular religion over another and still find it hard today.

 

[Fire]

No value judgements on it either way for me, people are free to believe wat they want to believe.

Post-modern relativist crap.

Oh yes, they are indeed free to believe it--you'd be hard pressed to stop them even if you were of a mind to do so--but the rest of us should be equally free to criticize those beliefs, and in many cases we're not. Even if there's no outright law against blasphemy in a given country (as there are in at least two EU nations right off the top of my head, and essentially every Muslim country in the world), there can be extraordinary social pressure against even discussing the validity of religious belief, to say nothing of openly criticizing it.

Yet why should religious belief be immune to thorough evaluation? Because it's so close to people's hearts? Or maybe because it will fall apart under such careful scrutiny?

 

[pauliesan89]

hmmm, intriguing. i may have to go with the splinter cult to your religion, the keybearers of Dawn.....

as long as you use the slayers prayer you have my blessing, also touch yourself while thinking of buffy she knows and appreciates this and shall shower you bountiful ham. Both normal and honey-glazed kinds

Our slayer which art in sunnydale,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in our home,
as it is in Sunnydale
Give us this day our daily slaying.
And forgive us our temptations,
as we forgive those twilight fans
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For sunnydale is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever.
Let us slay

 

[NineOfClubs]

Atheist or agnostic.

For sure, I'm not a believer.....

 

[magicman84]

I believe in God, but I am not a fan of organized religion. Basically, I don't feel like I have to put myself in a box and follow a bunch of rules written by men who have no clue what God really wants. I prefer to cut out the middle man.

 

[hungrybrownbear]

I can't really say.

Maybe agnostic?

 

[Ram]

I refuse to have an opinion on the existence of God. Whether it exist or not, I don't really care. I still won't care if it's real, and I still don't care if it's not.

I'm apolitical and "areligious".

 

[hungrybrownbear]

HArWEY kreESHMAR!!

 

[bankside]

It is interesting, the believers tend to state what they believe (with capital letters for Extra Holy Emphasis™) but almost never why.

And as for Marco's rant, I agree with him in part. I know people who come across as atheists, but they are really just believers who are annoyed with the god they imagine to be screwing up their lives.

As for me, it has nothing to do with being gay. I was a settled atheist before coming to terms with my sexuality.

Anyway, I just want to emphasize this post too, because it is really good:

Post-modern relativist crap.

Oh yes, they are indeed free to believe it--you'd be hard pressed to stop them even if you were of a mind to do so--but the rest of us should be equally free to criticize those beliefs, and in many cases we're not. Even if there's no outright law against blasphemy in a given country (as there are in at least two EU nations right off the top of my head, and essentially every Muslim country in the world), there can be extraordinary social pressure against even discussing the validity of religious belief, to say nothing of openly criticizing it.

Yet why should religious belief be immune to thorough evaluation? Because it's so close to people's hearts? Or maybe because it will fall apart under such careful scrutiny?

 

[DonQuixote]

Bankside,
Guy4Silver said why - FAITH.
I may not agree, exactly, with the conclusions drawn by Guy - The level of understanding of the science behind our Lord's bounty - for I do believe that he has an organized structure that everything is built on, takes time to assimilate into the simple mind. First, it's magic and wonder, then, as we evolve more and more into the likeness of His image, our "take it apart and see if we can figure out what makes it tick" child like curiosity stretches our minds.

Over generations and generations, those features that we use the most are selected for through evolution - yes, I believe that is also one of God's tools, until we approach what He wants for us - His Knowledge.

To many of you ~ PLEASE do not confuse the question of the OP - his was a simple, straight forward question - do you believe in (a) God. He did NOT ask if you believed in an Organized Religion. They are, as has been pointed out, VASTLY different things.

I was raised Roman Catholic, and I cherish my beliefs. I also attend one of the most liberal minded parishes in the world. I can separate what I see as Belief in God - "WWJD" from the human dogma that has grown up around it. Even with all of its faults, it is still a beautiful faith at its core.

I reach out to other people of faith. I look for the similarities in our beliefs - whether another Christian sect, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Native American beliefs, etc.

 

[blackbeltninja]

You can't ask that question unless you can answer these: If a being created the gases, where was that being before the bang? And where did the being come from?

There is no fathomable answer to my questions, nor to yours.

-d-

 

[DonQuixote]

And ain't that a scary proposition in and of itself?!

 

[blackbeltninja]

Indeed, but my brain caves in when I try to figure out a rational answer to either question.

I suspect it must be a fun thing to do whilst really, really high.

-d-

 

[3nipples]

I flick between atheism and agnosticism depending on how pissy a mood I'm in.

However, being a firm believer in empirical evidence, if G_d himself were to do something unexplainable while I was expecting it - knock my pen off my desk, say, while I watched; this has been an open invitation to G_d for quite some time - I'd be happy to trade all that in for belief. Seeing is believing, as they say.

A mate of mine says that "that would make G_d into our puppet, and that's just not going to happen" but I ask both him and G_d if the end (my believing and thus theoretical Saving) justifies the means, which I believe it does. We've had many discussions about this, of course; current status is agreeing to disagree and has been for several years.

-d-

You surprise me. I don't think the pen thing would be enough to convince me that a god exists, lol... I mean, moving a pen around my (or your) desk, however astonishing it might be, is a far cry from being the creator of anything... I'd probably pretend to believe though, just in case he turns out to be a bit volatile.

 

[Royal Heart]

Oh that's just awesome. They nailed the Buddhist perspective. I may be a Buddha nerd but sometimes I'm just, like, "Okay guys, I have to work in the morning, can we give it a rest?" I LOL'd

 

[levenshulme31]

Atheist. As with so many it is the total absence of any credible evidence for the existence of any of the thousands of deities which have cluttered up human history which makes me so.

Science cannot explain who created the first atom or give a rational explanation as to how we have come so far so fast. Within the past 100 years or so, we've gone from horse and carriage to the stealth bomber. From no television 50 years ago to Hi Def. ? From telephone poles to satellites all within 100 years.

Hmm, let me think. Maybe if the various churches down the centuries hadn't denounced, exiled, vilified, imprisoned or tortured and murdered anyone who applied rational thought to the world, scientific and industrial progress might have come a bit sooner.

The application of the merest hint of logic to theistic thinking will quickly highlight that, however noble the intention or however positive or negative the outcome, the fact remains that it is all based on nonsense.