I consider myself an atheist, as i do not believe there is any sort of after life or higher being. For me it would be the idea that there are hundreds of different religions, how can they all be right? What makes one relgions beleifs right over another?

anyways just a thought

quote:Originally posted by Sidesteppedbackwards:

I consider myself an atheist, as i do not believe there is any sort of after life or higher being. For me it would be the idea that there are hundreds of different religions, how can they all be right? What makes one relgions beleifs right over another?

anyways just a thought

Why atheist? why not agnostic? You can't prove or disprove God's existance with any amount of logic, so why make the assumption that he does not exist?

^Why not weak atheist? The flaw in agnosticism is it can be applied to every argument. Should we be agnostic in respect towards fairies?

Jewish because I was born this way. I practice for traditions sake, but I'm really more Agnostic.

Cheers,

Lost

quote:Originally posted by Paradise Lost:

^Why not weak atheist? The flaw in agnosticism is it can be applied to every argument. Should we be agnostic in respect towards fairies?

Exactly, we can't prove or disprove fairies exist. Same with God. So we should all stfu about it since none of us have proof.

You don't need to "prove" anything if you're an atheist. That's the point.

If that's true, then neither do christians.

Christians claim that god exists, weak-atheists do not claim that god doesn't exist.

So no. Christians have a burden of proof, weak-atheists do not.

Christian because:

*I was raised this way.

*I believe there is a definitive right and wrong, thus I would need a source for the standards of this morality.

*Psychological comfort. If I am frightened or nervous and pray, I find my fear and anxiety subside. If I feel the day is going dreadfully slow and pray for the day to go by faster, somehow it just seems to fly by. If I have insomnia and pray for sleep, I am able to get rest.

I'm not going to speculate why it works. Skeptics would say that pray just reinforces a subconcious decision to do all of the above. The way I see it, I pray to God, my prayers are answered; therefore, despite skepticism, I give credit to Him because if it weren't for belief in Him in the first place, I wouldn't have prayed at all.

*It also displaces my instinctive fear of death.

*Furthermore, I actually like something to believe in. I like thinking that there is a purpose to life, that humanity was created, not a random occurance.

Agnostic, because of the lack of proof.

I'm a complete hardcore atheist. BUT YOUVE NO PROOF!!! Well, I believe in God about as much as I believe in Santa or that my cat is formulating a bestseller in its tiny little brain and has only to learn typing skills before it's the richest cat in town.

quote:Originally posted by Rust:

Christians claim that god exists, weak-atheists do not claim that god doesn't exist.

So no. Christians have a burden of proof, weak-atheists do not.

Yeah, that's the same as agnosticism. I go by concrete meanings.

quote:Originally posted by sp0rkius:

I'm a complete hardcore atheist. BUT YOUVE NO PROOF!!! Well, I believe in God about as much as I believe in Santa or that my cat is formulating a bestseller in its tiny little brain and has only to learn typing skills before it's the richest cat in town.

That's nice and all, but you still cannot prove or disprove the existance of a god.

For all practical purposes, an atheist.

Why? Because I'm totally indifferent to the existence of God. Just whistling in the darkness.

[This message has been edited by literary syphilis (edited 10-30-2005).]

I don't know exactly what I am. I suppose I'm somewhat pantheist/buddhist. Pantheist because I like to think there's a pattern in it all, but I still get a choice, and there's nothing truly authoritative over me. Buddhist-ish, because I think that to see the cosmic pattern is to be an active part in it, and to be part of everything, and as perfect as anything. (PS: I was raised Unitarian-Universalist, so I've pretty much gotten to make my own choices my whole life, so I have somewhat of an inherent dislike for organized religion, possibly why I don't belong to any of them)

quote:Originally posted by Elephantitis Man:

Christian because:

*I was raised this way.

Yeah, childhood indoctrination is the kicker.

It's no coincidence that the vast majority of people inherit their parents' religion.

Man of Tradition, because the ruins of temples do not yield the corpses of gods.

Cavalcare la tigre!

quote:Originally posted by coolwestman:

That's nice and all, but you still cannot prove or disprove the existance of a god.

That's nice and all, but you still cannot prove or disprove that my cat is a genius novelist frustrated by his lack of opposable thumbs...

quote:Christian because:

*I was raised this way.

*I believe there is a definitive right and wrong, thus I would need a source for the standards of this morality.

*Psychological comfort. If I am frightened or nervous and pray, I find my fear and anxiety subside. If I feel the day is going dreadfully slow and pray for the day to go by faster, somehow it just seems to fly by. If I have insomnia and pray for sleep, I am able to get rest.

I'm not going to speculate why it works. Skeptics would say that pray just reinforces a subconcious decision to do all of the above. The way I see it, I pray to God, my prayers are answered; therefore, despite skepticism, I give credit to Him because if it weren't for belief in Him in the first place, I wouldn't have prayed at all.

*It also displaces my instinctive fear of death.

*Furthermore, I actually like something to believe in. I like thinking that there is a purpose to life, that humanity was created, not a random occurance.

http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif) I respect your honesty! I pray too, but I know that whatever I'm praying to isn't there. I'm not talking to myself either though, it's some ficticious outside influence, an artificial god. On the issue of definitive right or wrong, I believe that right and wrong was defined by the necessities of society long before it was formally set out in religion. Being civilized is having morality, and I'm not sure if we need gods to tell us what's best for us collectively any more.

[This message has been edited by sp0rkius (edited 10-30-2005).]

quote:Originally posted by sp0rkius:

That's nice and all, but you still cannot prove or disprove that my cat is a genius novelist frustrated by his lack of opposable thumbs...



Actually I can. Your cat has not been taught how to speak or write. And is mostly the same compared to other felines. Your retort is rediculous. There is no information existing showing cats having a mind similiar to a mans.

I originally became atheist because frankly, in my opinion, it's the only intelligent reaction when faced with the major world religions that exist today. But when I say intelligent, I stress that it's in a purely analytical sense. The idea of a personal god who rules the universe doesn't stand up to reason when you start thinking about it for more than about 5 seconds, and that's without even factoring in the ridiculous claims that scriptures should be interpreted literally. From a purely intellectual point of view, the big religions don't make sense as anything other than tapestries of metaphorical fables designed to promote social cohesion and regulation.

But then I had my mind broken open by powerful psychedelic sacrements, and experienced consciousness unfettered by a the restrictions of analytical ways of knowledge. With the doors of my perception cleansed so to speak, and a holistic view of reality where I perceived "individual" things for the first time as being interconnected and indivisible elements of the systems they belong to, I was forced to accept the fact that everything in the world is part of some greater organism, in ever increasing layers of scope like some sort of cosmic onion.

So I don't really know what the fuck I am now, although on a universal scale and beyond panentheism is the closest fit to how I perceive God, although I also believe in godlike group consciousnesses that exist in this world on a much smaller scale. Sort of like civilisational zeitgeists. Although I've come to my current belief system as a result of a lot of rational thought on the matter, it's neither some kind of blind agnostic faith, nor is it a belief system based on simply feeling.

Thinking too much, in an analytical fashion, made me an atheist. But thinking also made me a theist of some sort again, although I needed to have a kick up the ass first to expand my perspective on reality. I also think I incorporate a degree of feeling into my thoughts now, it's a more balanced approach. If you think about it, feelings are simply the sensations that connect your mind to external reality (emotions themselves are simply physiological reactions), whereas purely rational thought defines itself as objectively removing itself from the outside world. I know it's supposed to make knowledge more accurate, but there's something of madness in it if you ask me.

[This message has been edited by imperfectcircle (edited 10-30-2005).]

Big words suck.

My born catholic faith died along with Sanata Claus and the tooth fairy.

imperfectcircle:

I originally became atheist because frankly, in my opinion, it's the only intelligent reaction when faced with the major world religions that exist today. But when I say intelligent, I stress that it's in a purely analytical sense. The idea of a personal god who rules the universe doesn't stand up to reason when you start thinking about it for more than about 5 seconds, and that's without even factoring in the ridiculous claims that scriptures should be interpreted literally. From a purely intellectual point of view, the big religions don't make sense as anything other than tapestries of metaphorical fables designed to promote social cohesion and regulation.

Would not religion, in all its forms, global and atemporal, have been squashed at its primary inception if it were so simple?

But then I had my mind broken open by powerful psychedelic sacrements, and experienced consciousness unfettered by a the restrictions of analytical ways of knowledge. With the doors of my perception cleansed so to speak, and a holistic view of reality where I perceived "individual" things for the first time as being interconnected and indivisible elements of the systems they belong to, I was forced to accept the fact that everything in the world is part of some greater organism, in ever increasing layers of scope like some sort of cosmic onion.

Ironic that you would use a phrase such as "psychadelic sacraments"; in South America (Brazil, perhaps?), there is a church where communion bread is replaced with such holy conduits.

So I don't really know what the fuck I am now, although on a universal scale and beyond panentheism is the closest fit to how I perceive God, although I also believe in godlike group consciousnesses that exist in this world on a much smaller scale. Sort of like civilisational zeitgeists. Although I've come to my current belief system as a result of a lot of rational thought on the matter, it's neither some kind of blind agnostic faith, nor is it a belief system based on simply feeling.

Jung and Campbell might interest you.

Thinking too much, in an analytical fashion, made me an atheist. But thinking also made me a theist of some sort again, although I needed to have a kick up the ass first to expand my perspective on reality. I also think I incorporate a degree of feeling into my thoughts now, it's a more balanced approach. If you think about it, feelings are simply the sensations that connect your mind to external reality (emotions themselves are simply physiological reactions), whereas purely rational thought defines itself as objectively removing itself from the outside world. I know it's supposed to make knowledge more accurate, but there's something of madness in it if you ask me.

Purely rational thought is a result of the aforementioned subjective senses. How could it be objectively removed from the outside world if it depends on its subjective extremities for analysis of the world?

quote:Originally posted by coolwestman:

Actually I can. Your cat has not been taught how to speak or write. And is mostly the same compared to other felines. Your retort is rediculous. There is no information existing showing cats having a mind similiar to a mans.



Religion is rediculous.

You can't prove that my cat doesn't speak English just because it can't produce the sounds, and you can't prove that my cat doesn't have a novel stored in its brain just because its brain isn't the same shape as ours.

There is no information showing that Atum created the world out of his own semen or that women were created from the first man's missing rib, that doesn't stop people believing it.

quote:Originally posted by sp0rkius:

Religion is rediculous.

You can't prove that my cat doesn't speak English just because it can't produce the sounds, and you can't prove that my cat doesn't have a novel stored in its brain just because its brain isn't the same shape as ours.

There is no information showing that Atum created the world out of his own semen or that women were created from the first man's missing rib, that doesn't stop people believing it.

The fact that it can't produce the sounds makes it unable to speak English, Mr. Smarty pants. As a hardcore atheist your just the same as a closed mind christian.

Is there any possibility of a thread in MGCBTSOYG not turning into a generic argument between theists and atheists?

I mean, really, the purpose of this thread was to share our beliefs and questions (questions that none of us can truly answer), not to argue an argument that cannot be won.

Can't we all just...get along? http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif)

*sits next to a campfire and starts singing 'Kum By Ya'*

quote:Originally posted by coolwestman:

The fact that it can't produce the sounds makes it unable to speak English, Mr. Smarty pants. As a hardcore atheist your just the same as a closed mind christian.

The fact that it can't produce the sounds doesn't mean it can't speak English in the sense of grasping the language, just that it can't literally "speak" English. Mr. Smarty pants.

I'm not a closed-minded atheist, I was agnostic for a very long time but I've reached the point where I've gone for long enough without an argument for Christianity being presented that's even slightly convincing that I'm not going to pretend I find spirituality to be a realistic possibility any longer.

quote:Is there any possibility of a thread in MGCBTSOYG not turning into a generic argument between theists and atheists?

I mean, really, the purpose of this thread was to share our beliefs and questions (questions that none of us can truly answer), not to argue an argument that cannot be won.

Heh, I guess that's my fault and I'm sorry. I was just stating why I no longer label myself as agnostic.

[This message has been edited by sp0rkius (edited 10-31-2005).]

quote:Originally posted by sp0rkius:

The fact that it can't produce the sounds doesn't mean it can't speak English in the sense of grasping the language, just that it can't literally "speak" English. Mr. Smarty pants.

I'm not a closed-minded atheist, I was agnostic for a very long time but I've reached the point where I've gone for long enough without an argument for Christianity being presented that's even slightly convincing that I'm not going to pretend I find spirituality to be a realistic possibility any longer.

Is there any possibility of a thread in MGCBTSOYG not turning into a generic argument between theists and atheists?

I mean, really, the purpose of this thread was to share our beliefs and questions (questions that none of us can truly answer), not to argue an argument that cannot be won.

Heh, I guess that's my fault and I'm sorry. I was just stating why I no longer label myself as agnostic.



Maybe you should go back to agnostic, like me, since no man can prove or disprove god.

Word of faith, because the inspired Word of God is the truth.

quote:Maybe you should go back to agnostic, like me, since no man can prove or disprove god.

Well, like I'm saying with the cat/novellist thing, no man can prove or disprove a lot of things but I don't go around saying "weeeelll, it might be happening", because, it's stupid.

Catholic, because it makes sense

I am Christian because:

1: Raised that way.

2: I can find no fault in it. Therefore it satisfies me.

3: It works in a more or less tangible way that cant be explained by coincidence.

I consider myself athiest, and not agnostic. This is because I believe in the non-existance of a god/gods and whether it can or can't be proven. This is in much the same way as theists believe that there is a god/there are gods. It may be completely illogical for me to believe this, but I do anyway.

I go to a Catholic school and think that the teachings are quite implausable. However, my own beliefs are probably just as implausable. They argue that such a complex world could not form simply by a series of random coincidences - they believe that is impossible and have many explanations that they believe to be better. However, I find their explanations to be just as impossible and prefer my series of random coincidences.

As well as that I would prefer to live by my own moral code, and have not found a religion as of yet that matches that perfectly. I believe that I am essentially a good person and can be so without being good as defined by the Amish, Buddhists, Wiccans, other athiests or anyone else.

quote:Originally posted by HellzShellz:

Word of faith, because the inspired Word of God is the truth.



And because Creflo Dollar appreciates the funding of his ministries/record label.

Cha-ching!$!

quote:Originally posted by LostCause:

Jewish because I was born this way. I practice for traditions sake, but I'm really more Agnostic.

Cheers,

Lost

88, STOMP ZOG.

I'm pretty much agnostic because I can't disprove or prove anything.