Religion and beliefs

[Xelbair]

Well, I'm pretty interested in religion and beliefs of Gotwooters.
So what do you belive in?
I'm personally an agnostic, i take in account all possibilities, that god exists, or that he does not, and I'm cool with it. Its not like i don't care if he exists, but i take in account that it might not exist.

Please for god/supreme being/anything sacred for you(underline the right one) don't try to convince people to your faith and start a flame-faith war.

[DB_Hunter]

I think those who have been around here a while know my beliefs, but for those that are new I'm Muslim.

[animus]

I'm an Athiest, though I used to be an Agnostic.

About the poll, I found it funny you put in Shinto and not something as huge as Buddhism.

[Xelbair]

I'm an Athiest, though I used to be an Agnostic.

About the poll, I found it funny you put in Shinto and not something as huge as Buddhism.

Damnit, i knew i forgot something. Sorry guys, i will fix it as soon as possible(if possible).

[KrayZ33]

Believing in a deity but not sure about whether it's the christian god or something else (or even more than 1 god) is Agnosticism right?

I voted for that..even though I'm officially katholic.

I don't want to believe that everything was created by chance and since I really don't want to admit that everything ends for me, when I die.. there must be something like an afterlife, or reincarnation

[Ryllharu]

Agnostic.

I was atheist for a while (some time in primary school), but came to the conclusion later on (during college) that atheism can be just as bad as any of the variants of Christianity in the US. It is still the firm belief that something does or does not exist. When as humans, we cannot possibly know. Maybe a God figure is an alien, perhaps a galactic binary computer, a immense singular spiritual being, an "oversoul" of all life, the force that initiated the Big Bang, or even a personification of nature.

That said, while I am agnostic, I'm also a polytheist. If the possiblity of God exists, then there is also the possibility that many deities exist.

I can't prove anything of this nature one way or another. *shrug*

I only pray to whatever embodiment of Tyche/Fortuna/Lady Luck/Lakshmi/etc. may exist. A capricious source of "benevolent chaos" is as good as any to pray to, whether what comes is good fortune or ill.

[Buffalobiian]

I once thought I'm Christian, because in primary school we had religion lessons every Tuesday. Then I thought I was Buddhist because my mum brought my brother and I along to a temple every Saturday, and made me pray with her a good dozen times. Later on in high school, I considered myself an Athiest, because, if you can't prove it exists, then it doesn't. Teenage logic.

Now at uni, I'd be best described as an Agnostic. More open-minded, I've accepted the possibility that God(s) can exist, and the different ways to show that faith, amongst other things. Whether or not such beings exist doesn't seem to foreseeably impact on me, so I'm not in pursuit of a truth neither.

[shinta|hikari]

Agnostic, for all the reasons Ryll already stated.

I was never an Atheist though. I started out with a mix of Buddhism and Catholicism, as well as a bit of folk superstitions, then I became a "born-again" Christian. I became Agnostic after I spent a year in Japan on an exchange program.

No, it is not the fault of Japanese culture.

[Death BOO Z]

voted.
despite the fact my personal beliefs about god's whereabouts are closer to atheism (nisht, gournisht, zitto, nada), I hardly refer to myself as such, and my identify is based more on my culture than my disbelief of god.

[The Heretic Azazel]

I was raised Catholic until I reached the age of............enlightenment.

Then I was agnostic in high school because like some of you I didn't want to think there was no afterlife, or maybe even afraid that if I shunned God he would shun me back.

Then I realized that if there is a God, he would be pretty fuckin arrogant to not let me into Heaven just because I don't believe, no one deserves to be that cocky, not even a fictional character. Basically religion fucking disgusts me and horrible, horrible people represent every faith. My exception would probably be for Buddhism's nonviolent followers, who look to themselves before they cast blame, and how they try to build themselves up instead of cutting others down.

I'm a happy atheist now. It's not so bad when you think this is the only world in which you'll exist, it just takes a little adjusting.

[Buffalobiian]

My exception would probably be for Buddhism's nonviolent followers, who look to themselves before they cast blame, and how they try to build themselves up instead of cutting others down.

Oh no, there are no exceptions. Someone close to me has had very painful experiences with these "Nonviolent Buddhists". Their actions may have been nonviolent, but their intent, mouths and actions were no less malicious. Understandably, this is only regarding the community we've crossed paths with.

Still, I stand by that there are no exceptions.

[Idealistic]

Religion.... What's that?

My beliefs? Oh my god, my post #666 was about religion.

[The Heretic Azazel]

When I mentioned the nonviolent followers of Buddhism, I was speaking of the ones who were nonviolent, not that they were all like that.There are absolutely no exceptions, but I'm pretty much talking about the monks' way of life or those who more strictly adhere to that kind of 'turn the other cheek' attitude. Seems like less of the "my god's dick is bigger than your god's dick" mentality. There are no religions lacking crazy overzealous people. On the contrary I think if you gathered up enough of them they would be recognized as a religion on that basis alone.

[Xelbair]

Well, i was raised as christian, at the middle school(grades from 7 to 9, primary school is 1-6 here, and high school is 10-12(so 6 years primary, 3 middle, 3 high)) i was deist, and now I'm agnostic.
I don't have anything against other religions, until they start being annoying and forcing you to convince to their faith, because our is the best etc. Most people think that religion makes people do good, well result is the same, but which one is better: Someone helping you out of fear of divine punishment, or because he wants to?
Buddhist may be found cruel by someone, because thanks to their belief in karma they wont help anyone poor/starving/troubled, because they think that's punishment for past life/lives, but they are expecting the same from others.
It's kind hard to live in 95% catholic country, where 5% are made of Jehovah wittiness and Jews, and most people see no difference between agnosticism and atheism. Where being baptized is enforced by society and parents. We theoretically have free-religion but just dare to be different... its especially visible in primary school. For agnostic its not so hard, you can tell just that you believe that god might exist, but its very hard for atheists and Jews, it's sad but true that most of people here are antisemitic(but media forbid us to even call them polish version of Jew, and make us call them "Followers of Judaism"), and 33% of my country's people would make Jew-jokes at concentration camps(those left by Nazi Germany).

[Buffalobiian]

Buddhist may be found cruel by someone, because thanks to their belief in karma they wont help anyone poor/starving/troubled, because they think that's punishment for past life/lives, but they are expecting the same from others.

I thought that was the case for Hinduism, but not Buddhist. Then again, there's so many schools of Buddhism, the existence of an extremist school of thought should not be surprising. As much as they believe in Karma, they also believe in helping people break out of the karma cycle. According to them, our souls cycle through 6 levels of beings (hell ghosts/humans/animals/gods etc), and are constantly locked in such a cylce of life and death. Where we end up if affected by previous lives' actions.

Only through enlightenment can we be free of these bonds and not suffer the pains of reincarnation (the omnipresent being called Buddha).

/exhausts Buddhism knowledge

[Abdula]

*shakes head* Agnostic, what a croc.

I guess of the choices there it would be the best fit but I voted Christianity. I can accept someone who has faith, even if I completely disagree with their religion. There is just something admirable about a person who believes in something and lives their life a certain way because of that belief. I can even accept Athiests, not the I just make fun of anyone who believes in anything atheists, or the "I think I'm an atheist" atheists but I definitely have to acknowledge anyone who thinks this pathetic world is all there is to life.

Agnostics on the other hand, well I'll just quote The Great Zapp Brannigan

I hate these filthy neutrals Kif! With enemies you know where they stand but with neutrals? Who knows! It sickens me

Of course, I'm just generalizing.

[XanBcoo]

My mom tried to use that same argument on me when we were talking about Agnostics. Why do you admire so much those who believe (or disbelieve) in something so unshakably for which there is literally no proof? Should those who have doubts about the legitimacy of religion automatically commit themselves to an Atheistic worldview? Or should they just give some "God" the benefit of the doubt and become Christian, despite the problems they have with the doctrine? I think Atheism is a pretty realistic approach to the universe.

My point of view is similar to Ryllharu's. I was brought up Baptist, became interested in Catholicism, but then I was finally put off by the arrogance of a system of beliefs which claimed knowledge of the universe (through pretty unreliable means) as a way to easily explain it. It doesn't seem right to hold the rest of the world up to standards that many people have simply been indoctrinated with. I'm Agnostic because I know we can't prove either side one way or the other, but I remain open-minded.

There is just something admirable about a person who believes in something and lives their life a certain way because of that belief.

On the other hand, there is just something off-putting about a person who believes in something and lives their life another way despite that belief: http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/anti-tales.html

Also, I think everyone should have a look at these videos from The Atheism Tapes. It was a program created by this British intellectual, Jonathon Miller, containing interviews with a number of theologians, intellectuals, and philosophers. These videos are the interviews in their entirety and are extremely interesting. Miller is an Atheist, so they tend to lean towards that worldview, but I think they are worth watching anyway. Each one is pretty golden: http://video.google.com/videosearch?...%20tapes&emb=0

Edit: Hah, there's a quote from the Denys Turner interview which makes the same point Ryllharu was trying to get across:

I find the likes of a card-carrying Atheist like Richard Dawkins to be really just an inverted image of a certain kind of rather narrowed-down theism. There's a fundamentalism about Dawkins' atheism which matches, as in the reversing of a mirror image, that which he's rejected.

[Psyke]

I thought of myself as a free thinker, for lack of a better term perhaps. After doing some research online, I find that I fall under the Agnostic category as well. Have to admit I didn't know what it meant intially though.

[Ryllharu]

Edit: Hah, there's a quote from the Denys Turner interview which makes the same point Ryllharu was trying to get across:
"I find the likes of a card-carrying Atheist like Richard Dawkins to be really just an inverted image of a certain kind of rather narrowed-down theism. There's a fundamentalism about Dawkins' atheism which matches, as in the reversing of a mirror image, that which he's rejected." - Turner

Someone forwarded me this message sometime in 2005 (I kept good notes, so I know the years at least), which was after I had slowly switched to agnoticism. It is much along the same point that you quoted.

"The opposite of the religous fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not."
-Eric Hoffer (1902-1983)

This is not true for many atheists, hence Hoffer's use of "fanatical," but I have found a large number of self-proclaimed atheists to be just as fervently insistent that there isn't a God as much as certain sects of Christianity are that there is one. Just like the Turner quote, a mirror image of each other, each desperately attempting to convert the other and those who lie in the middle.

My version of Agnosticism is the kind that finds it inherently impossible to prove or disprove which deities there are. There may be one, there may be thousands. It isn't that I don't want to choose one or the other, I just don't bother because there's no way I can prove it.

Wikipedia informs me that I am a follower of Agnostic Theism or Spiritual Agnosticism. Didn't know there was a name for it...

It really isn't that much different from one of the core beliefs of Catholicism in that God Himself is unknowable, and if we were to be able to directly communicate with him, our minds would never be able to comprehend it (and possibly die). Thus, Saints and Angels exist to act as go-betweens for God and humanity. I am aware that I am either exaggerating or playing the concept up (due to ignorance rather than intention), but the concept is at least similar.

[DB_Hunter]

I thought we were not meant to be trying to preach about what we believe in this thread (not aimed at you Psyke, you just happen to be the previous poster)?