Poll: What is your position on religion/god?

What are your religious beliefs?

  • Christian

    Votes: 29 10.2%

  • Muslim

    Votes: 7 2.5%

  • Jewish

    Votes: 2 0.7%

  • Buddhist

    Votes: 2 0.7%

  • Hindu

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Sikh

    Votes: 2 0.7%

  • Deist

    Votes: 3 1.1%

  • Agnostic

    Votes: 74 26.1%

  • Pantheist

    Votes: 5 1.8%

  • Atheist

    Votes: 159 56.2%
  • Total voters
    283
elmarko1234 said:
How many people here picked agnostic who don't believe in a god.

Because if you don't believe in a god you are an atheist.
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It's not as black and white as that. You can be an agnostic atheist who doesn't hold a belief in a god but accepts that you have no way of either proving or disproving the existence of one.

An atheist out and out states that there is no god and the question of proof is irrelevant.
 
elmarko1234 said:
Atheist = lack of belief.

Agnostic = does not believe it's possible to know either way.

You can be a theist or an atheist & agnostic at the same time.

They concern different things.

This somewhat warps the results, as very few people misunderstand this.

How many people here picked agnostic who don't believe in a god.

Because if you don't believe in a god you are an atheist.
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an atheist is not someone who simply lacks a belief in the existence of god, atheism is a position of disbelief, not a lack of belief.

admittedly, some in the new atheist movement have tried to redefine the term in recent years, but it is still a position that requires explicit disbelief, not simply a lack of explicit belief.
 
easyrider said:
So both viewpoints require faith...Whatever you conviction if you believe, don't or don't know requires faith.
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No.

Do you have faith that father Christmas does not exist, or do you simply not believe in father Christmas?

Faith is trust, hope and belief in the goodness, trustworthiness or reliability of a person, concept or entity It can also refer to beliefs that are not based on proof.

It requires no proof to not believe, or faith, hope or trust.
 
Dolph said:
an atheist is not someone who simply lacks a belief in the existence of god, atheism is a position of disbelief, not a lack of belief.

admittedly, some in the new atheist movement have tried to redefine the term in recent years, but it is still a position that requires explicit disbelief, not simply a lack of explicit belief.
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No.

Because there is nothing I can explicitly disbelieve.

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.

It's a rejection of a belief.

Does it require explicit disbelief to not believe in Big Foot?

You say atheism is a position on belief, no - it's a rejection of belief.

I agree the term is vague, so I'll refer to myself as a T'atheist.

It means - "A lack of belief of any god/god"'

It's OK, I can see why religious people attempt to mislabel atheism as a belief also. They obviously feel at a disadvantage that belief is based in faith & has no proof - so wish to mislabel atheism to put a rejection of there irrational beliefs on the same level.

It works on people less educated on the subject.
 
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easyrider said:
Exactly

They can't prove Truth hence the science movement being no different than organised religion.

Also believing in a god does not always have anything to do with religion
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I think by they you mean we ;)

We can't prove anything unequivocally, only that the theories stand up to scientific scrutiny. Science is different in that it has, where as religion hasn't. If it had it would be science.
 
elmarko1234 said:
No.

Because there is nothing I can explicitly disbelieve.

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.

It's a rejection of a belief.

Does it require explicit disbelief to not believe in Big Foot?
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The definition of disbelief is the rejection of belief.

Great copy and paste from wiki by the way.
 
elmarko1234 said:
No.

Because there is nothing I can explicitly disbelieve.

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.

It's a rejection of a belief.

Does it require explicit disbelief to not believe in Big Foot?
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perhaps you need to learn the origins of the term atheism. i'll give you a hint, it doesn't derive from A-theism, atheism as a term creates theism by around 80 years, and had always been an explicit position. you appear to be trying to redefine atheism to be the same as nontheism...
 
easyrider said:
That realisation of these scientists is based on faith...It carries no more weight than the man on the street preaching Jesus
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It dose in a court of law. Because it's not faith.

Do not confuse science with the way people lead their lives, even scientists.
 
elmarko1234 said:
It requires no proof to not believe, or faith, hope or trust.
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No its just words its meaningless

Atheism is meaningless to an extent as its based on the conviction of faith that no God exists.

Just like the person who believes in GOD..The faith in the belief is meaningless to the atheist.

Both standpoints require faith in the perception of man in order to manifest.
 
Dolph said:
perhaps you need to learn the origins of the term atheism. i'll give you a hint, it doesn't derive from A-theism, atheism as a term creates theism by around 80 years, and had always been an explicit position. you appear to be trying to redefine atheism to be the same as nontheism...
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I think you are mistaking atheism with strong-atheism.

Nontheism is not specifically about gods & was also not in the options made available by the maker of the poll.

Very few atheists are strong-atheists as you stated, it's illogical because it would require proof (which there is none either way - but I'm not exactly sure how one would find proof that something does not exist).

I'd like for somebody to find proof that Goblins don't exist.

A bit from wiki (I'm not a walking dictionary so sue me).

Explicit atheism is defined as "the absence of theistic belief due to a conscious rejection of it".

Explicit atheists have considered the idea of deities and have rejected belief that any exist. (in our case due to no evidence).

Implicit atheists thus either have not given the idea of deities much consideration, or, though they do not believe, have not rejected belief.

Only strong-atheism accounts for the requirement of a belief (as a position is held which requires defending).
 
BrownSparrow said:
Do you really believe that science offers no more answers about the universe we live in than religion? Not having a go, just a genuine question!
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As I have stated up to a point you have to take the leap of faith with science.

Every scienctist worth their salt would agree with this statement.
 
In stead of creating another thread, I'll ask my question on your opinions here.

As someone who grew up in a Christian hOusehold and once considered myself as one, I now feel more like I'm classified in a "im lost" category ( I guess now more accurately Agnostic).

My logical brain says that that there are just too many plot holes in the bible to be able to take any of it seriously and also that how could there be an omnipotent God, when there's so much suffering in the world ( I don't buy into the "free will" argument)

On the other side, I have this fear and dread of death which my mind struggles to comprehend. Religion makes dealing with death easier - how do you athiests/agnotics etc deal with the concept of death?
Also, does the possibility that you might be wrong not bother you and the possibility that you might burn in hell for all eternity not scare you?

I guess that's risidual feelings/emotions from growing up in a Christian household, but I'd find it interesting to know what ou think about it.
 
steve-h said:
Which takes no faith. No evidence = probably doesn't exist... it's that easy.
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Its not though. many scientists are convinced in string theory...There is no evidence to suggest that strings within galaxies exist. The notion is based on faith.

But many scientist are convinced by it. This is no different to the man conviced that Jesus is the son of god.

There is no difference. Lack of evidence does not mean things don't exist.
 
Supercow said:
In stead of creating another thread, I'll ask my question on your opinions here.

As someone who grew up in a Christian hOusehold and once considered myself as one, I now feel more like I'm classified in a "im lost" category ( I guess now more accurately Agnostic).

My logical brain says that that there are just too many plot holes in the bible to be able to take any of it seriously and also that how could there be an omnipotent God, when there's so much suffering in the world ( I don't buy into the "free will" argument)

On the other side, I have this fear and dread of death which my mind struggles to comprehend. Religion makes dealing with death easier - how do you athiests/agnotics etc deal with the concept of death?
Also, does the possibility that you might be wrong not bother you and the possibility that you might burn in hell for all eternity not scare you?

I guess that's risidual feelings/emotions from growing up in a Christian household, but I'd find it interesting to know what ou think about it.
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The fear of hell to an atheist is akin to how you fear being attacked by Big Foot during the night.
 
easyrider said:
Its not though. many scientists are convinced in string theory...There is no evidence to suggest that strings within galaxies exist. The notion is based on faith.

But many scientist are convinced by it. This is no different to the man conviced that Jesus is the son of god.

There is no difference. Lack of evidence does not mean things don't exist.
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They have theories, which exist because they partially explain certain natural & testable events.

These are not randomly made up things with no evidence whatsoever (like a god concept).

These are also not held as some greater truth that can't be challenged, scientists are also working constantly to find out the results of these tests.

There is a massive difference.
 
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