Poll: Are you religious?

ShotgunZombie

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I believe in a god so yes, but I'm my kind of religious not anyone else's.

And now to quote the Myst "I don't believe that god is the sadistic asshole you make him out to be..." But hey, I could be wrong and you know what? My view of the world wouldn't change a single bit even if tomorrow someone proved without a shadow of a doubt that god doesn't exist.

I'd also like to mention they've I've always been extremely uncomfortably at churches. Any church really.
 

historybuff

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I tried with religion. I was not brought up religious. In high school, I tried it out. And after a while, I thought to myself, "I don't believe any of this..."

And I gave it up. The people who went were all "See and be Seen". It was hypocritical and hateful and the pastor's daughter and I were best friends and she turned out to be crazy and her dad was basically there too.

So I know I had a very bad experience with religion. I know it's got good points but I've only seen the downside.

So I respect y'all with religion, but don't expect me to join the game.
 

Xooiid

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CJ1145 said:
Xooiid said:
Really? Let me quote Carl Sagan:

"It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it not stirring to understand how the world actually works ? that white light is made of colors, that color is the way we perceive the wavelengths of light, that transparent air reflects light, that in so doing it discriminates among the waves, and that the sky is blue for the same reason that the sunset is red? It does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little bit about it."

Pointlessness and mundanity aren't something held back by the world. They are something put into the world by the observer. If you see the world as pointless without a unseeable, unprovable, unspeakably hypocritical father figure, than that is fine with me.

But this small, weird little world in this massive, weird universe of ours is an incredible place full of beauty and purpose. Just because I don't believe in the supernatural doesn't take that beauty or amazement away.

Looking at the world around me, I don't see it as pointless and mundane.

Or, as Dawkins put it:

Matter flows from place to place, and momentarily comes together to be you. Some people find that thought disturbing. I find the reality thrilling.
Now, I'm not going to call what I'm about to say rational, but please don't quote Dawkins to me. I would go at that man with a tire iron if I ever got the chance, without hesitation.

Your Sagan quote has little effect on me either, as I think you've misunderstood what I meant by "magic" and all related matters in my post. I have nothing against knowing how the world works. Finding out the other day that parrots name their children is probably the most thrilling thing I've ever read. And whatever your beliefs are on what the world really is or how we got here, go ahead and keep believing them.

My point was, there are people out there that see the world as crafted down to most minute detail, all those little points your quote covered, by a loving and attentive almighty father figure who knows you by name and cares for you, even when nothing else does. For some people, life has shit on them so hard that it is one of the only comforts they can have, that knowledge that they are still loved by him despite all their faults and their problems. To try and rob them of that is one of the most evil things I can imagine.
I quoted Dawkins because he was one of the people that you listed for trying to 'suck all the magic out of the world for you', to quote the part that you didn't post. I was showing you that, no, atheists aren't trying to remove the beauty of the world no matter how many times you say they are, and to make that point when it is flawed is not a good thing to do. It's also the reason I used Sagan, that and because Sagan is empirically proven to be awesome.

As for the plea to the almighty who 'crafted down to the most minute detail', and 'who knows you by name and cares for you, even when nothing else does', that's fine. That's belief. But your original point, that atheists view the world as 'pointless or mundane', is simply not true by any measure. Atheists see the world as a incredibly diverse place in an unimaginably vast universe, filled with the strange and wonderful. And none of it, None at all, has to be chalked up to a small god who is prone to temper tantrums and rigid conformity.

As for the comfort of the downtrodden, i'll give you another Sagan quote:

"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
 

someonehairy-ish

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They tried forcefeeding me that in Primary school and none of it seems to have stuck.

It would be pleasant to believe that there is some all powerful being who actually cares about humans for some reason, but there is not a shred of physical evidence that is at all convincing, nor is any philosopher's theories.
Take the popular argument that any complex thing must have a creator. The eye is compared to a camera; it is too carefully put together to have just 'happened.' But that idea is heavily flawed, it assumes that the eye just came to be as it is now rather than having first appeared as no more than a slightly photosensitive spot in primative organisms.
Some bits of religion seem to be a fairly shallow justification of mankind's arrogance as a species- we were made in God's image and tasked with basically being the most important thing in nature, according to the Bible. Some of it is just a mystical explanation for the universe from a time when there were no competing theories and mythical creatures and magic were popularly considered real. There are some good ideas in there too, reinforced by the idea that one would burn in hell forever without them and the promise of an afterlife, but that reinforcement should not really be necessary.


So, overall, am I religious? No.
 

onewheeled

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Yup. I'm a Christian.

I understand that some people could take me less seriously for saying that proudly, but it's true.
 

Keepeas

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no,no,no,no,NO.

However I went to a christian school for Kindergarten/1st grade because it was the only good school in the area.
My mom was raised Jewish, she is not anymore.
My dad was raised Catholic, he is not any more.

We all pretty much decided to be non-religious I guess...weird.
 

Keepeas

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matoasters said:
Zetion said:
matoasters said:
Zetion said:
matoasters said:
Yosharian said:
matoasters said:
Yosharian said:
matoasters said:
Speaking as an agnostic, an atheistic worldview doesn't prevent any of the shit that atheists seem to think only religion causes. Stalin, Mao... those names ring a bell?
The God Delusion? Ring a bell? Oh, that's because you haven't read it. Read it before mentioning redundant arguments like Stalin and Mao.
My point is simply that religion isn't the only thing that causes people to oppress other people, and a god isn't necessary to drive people to hate each other. Just because someone is an atheist doesn't make them any less capable of committing the same acts that have been committed by people of pretty much every belief system throughout history.
So your point is we should stop picking on religion, because there are plenty of other causes for genocide, murder, etc. Why single out religion. Is that your argument?

Religion isn't the only one, and God isn't necessary. That is entirely beside the point. Religion allows people to do crazy, unjustified things in the name of God - whichever one they happen to believe in. It isn't a defense of this to say 'oh but there are other beliefs that do this too!'.

As for atheism, why does everyone expect atheism to PREVENT things, or PROVE that things don't exist? You have it all backwards. Atheists don't have to prove a goddamn thing.
What atheists do need to prove is that atheism doesn't allow people to do the exact same shit as theism does, otherwise they should stop complaining about the fact that some people think differently than they do, and criticize religion based on genuine logic, as it should be, instead of pretending that not believing in a god makes you a better person. Most atheists I know don't do this, but the ones who do annoy me to no end.
No part of Atheism says that you can't go on a crazy genocide. What it doesn't let you do is find a justification for your war/atrocity/genocide in itself.
Yes it does. The whole view of religion as the root of all evil, can and has been used as a reason to attempt to wipe out religion in several countries, for the sake of cleansing the "evils" of religion from the nation. And I'm not saying religion is any better. It's just that neither is atheism, in that regard.
There are no commandments in Atheism, and no where does it say that to be an atheist you must think that religion is the root of all evil. That line of thought varies from person to person, independent of atheism. There are many deists, agnostics, and other spiritual people who feel the same way while believing in a higher power.
I know that most atheists don't believe religion is the root of all evil, it just irks me when the ones who do try to say that getting rid of religion would immediately make the world a much better place. People will be people, and people are generally asshats, whether they think they're being guided by a god or not.
And THAT is why I choose the word "non-religious".
The word "atheist" has changed into more of a "non-religious religion"

There is no Rule Book to being non-religious.
If a person is good they will do good,
if a person if evil they will do evil regardless of what they choose to believe(or not believe) in.
 

christmasbats

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Strong atheist but that doesn't mean I believe whole heartedly in science because I just don't care. I have no need to know where the universe comes from although im sure that god/gods don't exist and most religious books are bunch of fairytales. Also I refuse to spell 'god' with a capital 'g' because it doesnt exist.
 

IkeGreil29

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I am raised Catholic, and consider myself a deist. I don't like the church though, so I maintain my beliefs personal and reuse to attend mass.
 

MrFluffy-X

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NO religion is EVIL nothing ever good came from religion...that was sarcasm, im not close minded :D

To answer question: Agnostic
 

Elijah Ball

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i've always had problems with the faith portion of religion. if there was actual proof that their was a god i would be inclined to believe in him/her/it.

(on a side note, i wonder how many ppl are gonna get banned/warned in this thread) =P
 

Bara_no_Hime

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Kilroy17 said:
Simply are you a religious person or not? Feel free to say which religion you follow or why you don't follow one in the comments.
Yes. Pagan.

Love it. It's a wonderful religion - very laid back, very accepting, and has no problem with modern science. ^^
 

deserteagleeye

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My mother is very Christian and my dad is very atheist. Both of them act self-righteous with those views. Mostly in spite of them, I choose agnostic. I just like to stay away from being called the stereotypical Christian wingnuts or the boring asshole Atheists.
 

kittii-chan 300

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I used to be a priestess at one of the shinto shrines in japan. When i came back to england my family tried to force me into being a christian. my nan even forced me to go to sunday school. one thing I learnt from the preist guy is "God does not have an appearance as it is against the commandments to reperesent him with a statue or a picture." I got kicked out when I told him that my gods have statues everywhere and are therfore much more reliable.

My RE teacher told me that my religion wasnt as good as theres because it wasnt one of the 'main religions'... she then preceded with the 'candle time' part of the lesson.

Now im pretty much an atheist although I would list myself as Shinto in a questionarre or whatever.
 

Arif_Sohaib

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Yosharian said:
Arif_Sohaib said:
This thread is going to breed a lot of animosity in the Escapist forums so I will just quote a translation of Surah Kafiroon(translated by Marmaduke Pickthall) from the Quran and politely request the moderators to close this thread.

"Say: O disbelievers!
I worship not that which ye worship;
Nor worship ye that which I worship.
And I shall not worship that which ye worship.
Nor will ye worship that which I worship.
Unto you your religion, and unto me my religion."

This thread will not change anyone's opinion. Atheists will not become theists and theists will not become atheists by reading this thread and Agnostics will continue to respect people's right to religion. So lets all stop arguing and close this pointless thread.
Here's a quote:

I say to you that it is our duty as free-thinking people of this planet to encourage and participate in debate and discussion no matter where it arises on such topics of great importance such as this one. To dismiss such discussion because of stubbornness of some of its participators would be a mistake. I counterbalance your request to moderators to close this thread with a request of my own, namely to keep open this thread in order that all people who look upon it may have their thinking challenged and their minds expanded. So sayeth the great Yosharian on these matters.
Frankly, I think that the only people who gain by stopping discussion on this matter are the theists.
Then let me start a PC vs Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs Wii discussion on the Escapist or better yet on Youtube comments.
The thing is all sides will have their fanboys and all will be stubborn and the the discussion will just waste everyone's time and lead nowhere.
Religion is extremely important to those who believe in it and extremely hurtful to those who think they have been betrayed by it.
This discussion will lead nowhere and I stand by my stance that that this stupid time wasting thread be closed and I will try my best not to reply to the next person who quotes me on this thread.