180 replies to this topic

[Tree]

I am not one religion. I don't fallow any one religion. I don't go to church and I don't read the Bible. But, I do believe Jesus and that somewhere, there is some sort of God ruling the land.

(This is just my theory)
I started believing after thinking about how humans and life came to this world. I mean, humans are theoried to have evolved from other animals. But how did the animals get here? The world just can't be empty of life one second and then the next, poof, there is wild life and plans ect.

And after witnessing quite a few deaths in my family, I started holding on to life better. Not wasting it. And I also became to believe that somewhere, very far away, but close enough, there is a some sort of God.

...But I still am very skeptical about it. i'm a science man so.

Edited by Keiichi123, 24 July 2011 - 10:44 AM.

[Daniel]

I believe in God, the Bible, creationism and everything but I do not attend church nor do I make decisions based upon it. I used to follow my life strictly based on the Bible but now days when I get the chance to stick my penis in a middle aged woman I don't decline. So I consider myself a Christian but I don't follow it as I used to and probably should.

I voted non-religious, theistic.

[Daemon]

Neither Jesus nor Buddah are gods, actually. Jesus is the son of the christian god and Buddah is more or less a "teacher"/rolemodel for buddhists.

True, I wasn't really thinking when I posted that... I had forgotten about Buddha however.

[NoeL]

I believe in God, the Bible, creationism and everything but I do not attend church nor do I make decisions based upon it. I used to follow my life strictly based on the Bible but now days when I get the chance to stick my penis in a middle aged woman I don't decline. So I consider myself a Christian but I don't follow it as I used to and probably should.

I voted non-religious, theistic.

You should have voted religious theist, given that you hold beliefs that conform to a specific religion.

[Cukeman]

My family is half conservative christian and half secular liberal, so I am one of the rare
people who is comfortable with both groups. I feel very strongly against those who
generalize about conservatives or liberals being "wrong on everything" because they
both have some really beautiful and positive ideas. As for religion, I find it more
likely that there is a God than isn't, just because of the beauty and functionality of the
universe, and the way that, from where I stand, evolution doesn't seem viable because
there is no definitive proof, and the supposed evolution of our planet seems to have
stopped dead in its tracks when man came about, and even seems to be in the process
of de-volution, if you know what I mean .

Anyhow, not looking for a fiery debate, just sharing

EDIT: So how should I vote? I am mostly into religion as a source of life principles,
so I'm not sure how religious that makes me.

...There is a huge difference between faith and religion...People think faith and religion go hand in hand when they are two different things...religion is human made. Religion is our way of making sense of...

Could not have said it better myself.

Edited by Cukeman, 24 July 2011 - 11:53 AM.

[Daniel]

You should have voted religious theist, given that you hold beliefs that conform to a specific religion.

Ah, sorry about that. I thought by non-religious you meant not practicing it. My mistake.

[Plissken]

Non-religious; non-theistic for me. Really don't feel the need to explain it, since I believe it is the default. You're born without the ideas of these preset religions in your head, and then they are placed there by other people. I see no omnipotence in the equation.

NOTE: This is an extremely tl;dr version of my views on religion. If anyone wants to talk to me about I'll be glad to discuss it with whoever.

[NoeL]

As for religion, I find it more
likely that there is a God than isn't, just because of the beauty and functionality of the
universe, and the way that, from where I stand, evolution doesn't seem viable because
there is no definitive proof, and the supposed evolution of our planet seems to have
stopped dead in its tracks when man came about, and even seems to be in the process
of de-volution, if you know what I mean .

Anyhow, not looking for a fiery debate, just sharing

EDIT: So how should I vote? I am mostly into religion as a source of life principles,
so I'm not sure how religious that makes me.

Well, besides the fact your opinion on evolution is wrong on every level (there is definitive proof beyond reasonable doubt, evolution hasn't stopped dead at all, and it certainly isn't in the process of "devolving" (evolution isn't directional so the idea of it going in reverse makes absolutely no sense)), and that even if you were correct about evolution ignorance isn't a justifiable reason to believe something, I'm not entirely sure where to put you. I'd say you're theistic, and if that God you believe to be likely is specifically the Christian God (or a specific god(s) of any other religion) you'd be a religious theist. If you only believe in "some god" but not necessarily the god of any particular religion then you'd be a non-religious theist.

Ah, sorry about that. I thought by non-religious you meant not practicing it. My mistake.

No problem. Read the OP more closely next time

[Moosh]

I believe in God, the Bible, creationism and everything but I do not attend church nor do I make decisions based upon it. I used to follow my life strictly based on the Bible but now days when I get the chance to stick my penis in a middle aged woman I don't decline. So I consider myself a Christian but I don't follow it as I used to and probably should.

I voted non-religious, theistic.

Are you a wizard? Because this sums me up perfectly. I only have so long to live, and I'm certainly not going to let religious restrictions get in the way of living life to the fullest. I can't imagine life without ham, for example. I mean it's like its own seperate food group!

[Cukeman]

@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.

The de-volution thing was a joke, but TV and movies are really
getting dumbed down lately. And when was the last time they
published a document or book on the intellectual level of the
Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or even 1800's
literature for that matter? In early America's colonial days,
people were educated enough to go to college at age 14.
We are falling behind (generally speaking).

Back on topic, I would say the God I am thinking of would be the
one in the Bible, although I tend to feel he is often portrayed
from the human point of view, which is not quite accurate.

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.

Edited by Cukeman, 24 July 2011 - 02:02 PM.

[Isdrakthül]

Evolution is strictly in terms of the abilities of members of each species to survive long enough to reproduce, unfortunately.

[Mitchfork]

The de-volution thing was a joke, but TV and movies are really
getting dumbed down lately. And when was the last time they
published a document or book on the intellectual level of the
Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or even 1800's
literature for that matter? In early America's colonial days,
people were educated enough to go to college at age 14.
We are falling behind (generally speaking).

Well, wealthy people could go to university at age 14. Poor people never had that chance and probably were never formally educated. It wasn't until 1918 that all states had compulsory education laws (meaning prior to that point a significant number of people did not learn basic skills such as reading, arithmetic, etc.). The average "informational intellegence" level now is far greater than it has been for any time in history; even the people that we all tend to facepalm at for being dumb know that the human body is composed of cells and organ systems, and have at least been exposed to concepts such as trigonometry and precalculus. Among the educated (college-level) population this is even more the case (although exceptions abound). I don't mean to start a debate, as that would really drive this off-topic (although I think it would be cool to discuss this in the Debate Forum), I'm just providing food for thought, and noting that a lot of education historical anecdotes have to be taken with a grain of salt.

I voted non-theist and non-religious.

[Sheik]

I couldn't agree more Ebola. Never has there been a generation of humans better educated than we are. We (and probably the generation before us, too, to a certain extent) are the most intelligent generation of humans to walk this earth since ever.

Also, about you rant on literature, Cukeman, I highly recommand to read something on brain research. That's the highest intellectual level of literature you'll find these days (in my personal opinion) and it easily lives up to the examples you've given.

Edit: And the knowledge we are taught before attending college is much more than that which was taught back in the days of colonial America. No wonder that you can't learn all of it until the age of 14.

Edited by Sheik91, 25 July 2011 - 04:56 AM.

[SpacemanDan]

I was never that religious, though recently (like the past year or so) I've also been considering myself to be more non-theist as well.

So yeah, non-religious, non-theist is my answer.

[ShadowTiger]

I'm trying to move away from anything religious. I guess only one's actions in the present matter when taking the poll into account, right? Not intent?

As it is, I'm Jewish, (Likely more than anyone that's ever stepped foot on these forums.) though not perfectly adherent to whatever laws and scripture there is. The deity is not one that I currently yield to, though I believe in it. Then again, I believe other deities exist, though I do wish to depart completely from the stereotypical definition of deity for the purposes of my post, in that what I believe a deity is varies considerably, as does the definition of "heavenly body" in terms of the characteristics of each individual entity residing in space. Of course I don't so much "believe" in them than hold the potential to acknowledge their existence if prompted to.

"I'm in a state of flux," is the easiest way to paraphrase my bewildering post. Do yourself a favor and don't think too hard about it.