180 replies to this topic

[trudatman]

made perfect sense, to me.

[Chris Miller]

I've read the Bible cover to cover, and believe every word. Jesus Himself said religion was a bad thing. In fact, He spent a lot of time giving the religious crowd a hard time. That's not to say going to church is a bad thing, but avoid those that just make up ceremonies and wear fancy hats for no good reason.

Edited by Chris Miller, 24 July 2011 - 09:30 PM.

[Ice Cream Link]

Me is a Christian!
I was baptized, and I believe in every single word in the Bible. I attend church and I am still studying the Bible...

[Aslion]

I've read the Bible cover to cover, and believe every word. Jesus Himself said religion was a bad thing. In fact, He spent a lot of time giving the religious crowd a hard time. That's not to say going to church is a bad thing, but avoid those that just make up ceremonies and wear fancy hats for no good reason.

Wearing fancy hats for no good reason is awesome though. Like, really.

Also, I voted non-religious non-theist. I used to be a Catholic but then my 7th birthday came around and I grew out of it. It's pretty easy to tell anything to a child, unfortunately.

Edited by Lithium, 24 July 2011 - 09:50 PM.

[Chris Miller]

Wearing fancy hats for no good reason is awesome though. Like, really.

You are partially right.

[trudatman]

....It's pretty easy to tell anything to a child....

that's why the "successful" religious indoctrinate ASAFP. after all, the laws of evolution require perpetuation.

[NoeL]

I think a lot of religious theists are voting as non-religious theists just because they don't like the stigma of the word "religion". Please read the OP and vote in the category you belong to. Thank you.

@NoeL:
Lol, I've read up on evolution, so don't think I am that ignorant.
But I'm not good at expressing myself, don't have my books at
hand at the moment, and generally have a distaste for debate.
I would consider it rude if you thought I was making an excuse
instead of the explanation I mean it to be.

...

EDIT: "Reasonable doubt" is merely a form of consensus, and its
quality is based solely on the members of that consensus. In my book
that's hardly better than opinion. But don't get me wrong, well-formed
opinions can be very good things.

With all due respect, if you've read up on evolution and said to yourself "well, there's no proof for this" then you've clearly missed something. I'm not going to get into it here, though you're free to PM me (though you probably won't, given your distaste for debate).

Edited by NoeL, 24 July 2011 - 10:24 PM.

[Golden Chocobo]

I don't follow any sort of religion whatsoever, but I do believe that there's some kind of greater power out there... But I don't know what or where or who.

To clarify; some greater power that created everything. Nothing that involves like... fate or destiny, or that we all have some purpose in life. As for the afterlife... Well, I believe in ghosts, so I think there's something that's beyond this world, too.

[Bayta]

I was raised Lutheran Christian, and do occasionally attend church, but I don't believe most of what is written in the Bible. I believe there is some sort of god out there; though not necessarily the Christan variant. I voted non-religious, theistic.

[Moosh]

I think a lot of religious theists are voting as non-religious theists just because they don't like the stigma of the word "religion". Please read the OP and vote in the category you belong to. Thank you.

re-li-gious |riˈlijəs|
adjective
believing in and worshiping a superhuman controlling power or powers, esp. a personal God or gods : both men were deeply religious, intelligent, and moralistic.
• (of a belief or practice) forming part of someone's thought about or worship of a divine being : he has strong religious convictions.
• of or relating to the worship of or a doctrine concerning a divine being or beings : religious music.
• belonging or relating to a monastic order or other group of people who are united by their practice of religion : religious houses were built on ancient pagan sites.
• treated or regarded with a devotion and scrupulousness appropriate to worship : I have a religious aversion to reading manuals.

There's a difference between believing and worshiping.

That is to say, someone could say that they believe Jesus was the son of god, but also believe he was a major dickweed. To be religious, you have to actually worship the being you believe in.

Edited by Pokemonmaster64, 25 July 2011 - 06:28 AM.

[NoeL]

snip

You're correct, I screwed up my definitions. Too late to change them now though. It just means that people who answered "religious" on this poll may not actually be religious, but instead just hold religious beliefs. Thanks for bringing that to my attention... shame it makes the data unreliable, but whatcha gunna do?

[Titanium Justice]

I'm a Christian, but I don't simply believe that some magical man lives in the clouds, no, I believe everything the Bible says. After all, what good would it be to simply believe God exists and not have faith in him? Even the demons know he's real, in fact, they tremble.

I believe to be a true Christian you need to have faith in Christ (the son of God who is one of the persons of the Holy Trinity), who is the core of Christ-ianity (see what I did there?), and that salvation came through him when he died on the cross to take away our sins, even though he was absolutely perfect, and didn't deserve a criminal's death. He then rose from the dead, and left his tomb evidently empty up to this very day (unlike Muhammad, Buddha, Confucius, etc who left their ashes and bones for the whole world to gaze upon) and promises that whoever believes in him will not truly die, but will have everlasting life.

I believe this salvation comes from God through Christ alone, and cannot be earned in any way, whether that be based on works, or little things that you've done to try to be a "good person". Although good works are a result of ones faith.

So do I consider myself Theistic? Hell yes! Do I consider myself religious? Not exactly. To be religious these days seems to imply that you apply strict laws made by man, that usually aren't even from the Bible (like that technology is evil), or are erroneous in interpretation (how many people know of Christian's who don't eat pork?). Religious people also seem very favorable of certain denominations, but I consider myself non-denominational, even though I've been attending a Pentecostal church for several years now, and have never explored too far into anything outside of Protestantism.

Edited by HeavyTitanium, 25 July 2011 - 12:16 PM.

[Sheik]

You're correct, I screwed up my definitions. Too late to change them now though. It just means that people who answered "religious" on this poll may not actually be religious, but instead just hold religious beliefs. Thanks for bringing that to my attention... shame it makes the data unreliable, but whatcha gunna do?

Well, it's still pretty good data on somewhat religious versus non-religious if you put the first three poll options together against the last.

Quick edit, I have a question, HT:

I believe this salvation comes from God alone, and cannot be earned in any way, whether that be based on works, or little things that you've done to try to be a "good person". Although good works are a result of ones faith.

So if someone is a good person, who gives his money to the poor, feeds the hungry, helps where he can and every other nice thing you can think of. Given he did all those things but not because he believes in God or to please God, his actions are worth nothing? Will such a person burn in hell (given hell exists) like for example a mass murderer just because he did what he did not out of believe?

Edited by Sheik91, 25 July 2011 - 10:57 AM.

[trudatman]

....left his tomb evidently empty up to this very day (unlike Muhammad, Buddha, Confucius, etc who left their ashes and bones for the whole world to gaze upon) and promises that whoever believes in him will not truly die....

wow. that reads as scary to me. how dare they leave mortal remains?! the heathens! that is some serious ethnocentrism you are spouting, there, buddy. I guess we all believe what we believe, but that really kicks dirt in the eyes of those from other cultures and religions. it is that level of self-assuredness in hate that leads to rationalizing criminal acts and general apathy toward anything "other," which is quite dangerous on the planet so desperately clinging to any remaining sense of balance. do most Christians actively deny that their stories are representations of astronomical entities and cling to literal interpretations of their myths as if that is the key to avoiding death? I am fully aware that this is not the debate forum, but I couldn't hold back in expressing that I find that stuff to be extremely scary.

[Mitchfork]

Save it for the Debate Forum/PM's, guys. While I have no problem with such discussion, there is a proper place for everything, and it's not here.

HeavyTitanium: Okay, but you are religious, by both the definition used in this thread and the definition Pokemonmaster64 quoted. I find it unfortunate that the word "religion" has a negative stigma, because it obscures what the word actually means.

Something I have been wondering; what qualifies as religious, but non-theistic? If you were an agnostic that still went to church every Sunday, would that put you in that camp?