Religion

[Dante Hicks]

We seem to get "What political ideology" threads/sub-threads every few days or so, but no-one seems to discuss religion that often. I suspect because it's uncontroversial - i.e. the vast majority are unreligious, but just to confirm.

Is anyone religious?

To make it slightly more precise :

1. Do you believe in God? (a divine power who created the universe)
2. Do you believe in God (b)? (a divine power who created the universe and intervenes in human lives (in whatever fashion)
3. Do you believe in some form of afterlife?
4. What would you describe your beliefs on religion? (Atheist/Agnostic/Christian/Muslim/Hindu, etc)

To answer the questions for myself 1) no, 2) no, 3) no, 4) atheist.

[LHC]

1) no
2) no
3) no
4) atheist

[Ragnarak]

1) maybe
1) maybe
1) maybe
1) Agnostic

[Deffeh]

I avoid definately answering any of those questions because i feel a conflict between my heart and my head in answering them honestly.

[Evergreen]

Originally Posted by LHC

1) no
2) no
3) no
4) atheist

[Zharkov]

Originally Posted by Ragnarak

1) maybe
1) maybe
1) maybe
1) Agnostic

im sitting on the fence

[queball]

Originally Posted by LHC

1) no
2) no
3) no
4) atheist

[Tactitus]

1) no 2) no 3) no 4) atheist

[Dante Hicks]

Originally Posted by Zharkov

im sitting on the fence

This isn't a troll, but out of interest, are you on the fence on the existence of Thor, Zeus or "the Force"?

[LHC]

Originally Posted by Deffeh

I avoid definately answering any of those questions because i feel a conflict between my heart and my head in answering them honestly.

you could have just quoted Ragnarak

[SYMM]

1. Yes
2. Maybe
3. Maybe
4. Christian

:|

[Zharkov]

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks

This isn't a troll, but out of interest, are you on the fence on the existence of Thor, Zeus or "the Force"?

id say so, yes.

i dont discriminate when it come to indecision

[Zar]

Originally Posted by LHC

1) no
2) no
3) no
4) atheist

[KaneED]

1 No
2 No
3 Yes
4 Don't Knwo What They Mean

[Proteus]

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Yes
4) Roman Catholic

[MrL_JaKiri]

1) Maybe, empirically no.
2) Maybe, empirically no.
3) Maybe, empirically no.
4) Agnostic, empirically atheist.

[MrL_JaKiri]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Roman Catholic

You dirty boy.

[Leshy]

Question 1 is incorrect, as you define god as a "divine power who...". The term divine already means you're assuming the existence of deities, and the term who implicates that god is an actual person. There was undoubtedly some power which caused the creation of the universe, and one might call that god.

Question 2 repeats question 1, as you've already asked whether one believes in a divine power who created the universe, which could be answered with yes, provided the definition is amended. The second part of the question could also be answered with a yes if one views god as equivalent to 'nature', as an earthquake or volcanic eruption would definitely be interfering with human life, yet not be the result of a rational decision by a sentient being.

3. No
4. Somewhere in between Agnostic and Atheist.

[MrL_JaKiri]

Originally Posted by Leshy

Question 1 is incorrect, as you define god as a "divine power who...". The term divine already means you're assuming the existence of deities, and the term who implicates that god is an actual person. There was undoubtedly some power which caused the creation of the universe, and one might call that god.

Question 2 repeats question 1, as you've already asked whether one believes in a divine power who created the universe, which could be answered with yes, provided the definition is amended. The second part of the question could also be answered with a yes if one views god as equivalent to 'nature', as an earthquake or volcanic eruption would definitely be interfering with human life, yet not be the result of a rational decision by a sentient being.

3. No
4. Atheist.

So what you're saying is that there's personal interpretation on the question of religion, and the definition of god?

WELL DONE SIR

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by MrL_JaKiri

So what you're saying is that there's personal interpretation on the question of religion, and the definition of god?

I was merely pointing out that the questions were a bit flawed and as such I felt answering them with a simple 'yes' or 'no' wouldn't be accurate of my views.

[queball]

Originally Posted by Leshy

Question 1 is incorrect, as you define god as a "divine power who...". The term divine already means you're assuming the existence of deities, and the term who implicates that god is an actual person. There was undoubtedly some power which caused the creation of the universe, and one might call that god.

That's because he is asking specifically about "deities". (I believe)

[Leshy]

The thread title and main question seem to indicate that Dante has an interest in what people's religious beliefs are, which can be much broader than whether they believe in a deity or not.

[skiddy]

a) Many, not just one
b) Yes, but what one reply's depends on what you ask for
b) Yeah
d) Dunno, none really, guess my view would come under Pagan(?) though...

[LHC]

more like barbarian am i rite

[midge5]

1)no
2)no
3)yes
4)agnostic

[NEWSBOT3]

the thread ignores that fact that anyone with sense and beliefs stays away because you just get abuse (and you do, i've seen it happen on here regularly) for having them.

[Shr00m]

Originally Posted by Proteus

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Yes
4) Roman Catholic

thats unfortunate

If there is a god I hope I rot in hell

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Shr00m

thats unfortunate

I don't see how.

Originally Posted by Shr00m

If there is a god I hope I rot in hell

Convenient, that...

[Deepflow]

maybe maybe maybe agnostic

its a nice view from the fence.

[JonnyBGood]

1) Yes
2) No
3) Yes
4) Rationally agnostic

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by idimmu

im not commiting to anything incase he's reading this :/

Don't worry, I don't hold grudges

[JonnyBGood]

Flavius is my alternate personality :)

[NEWSBOT3]

my comiserations.

[Baron Morte]

Originally Posted by LHC

1) no
2) no
3) no
4) atheist

=(

[LHC]

why the sad

[Deciduous]

1) Nope
2) Nope
3) Afterlife seems like an odd word since if it does exist it's just a continuation of life. It would be interesting to know why human consciousness is the way it is though. Anyway, no to the question.
4) Athiest

[Bunga]

1) Depending on how you define it, either definatly or definatly not.
2) No.
3) Not really.
4) Agnostic.

[Nodrog]

1) 90% (for ungiven values of 'divine power' and 'create'; would drop significantly if you were to substitute in a particular for either term. Would pantheism be classed as a 'divine power' 'creating' the 'universe' for instance? What about taoism?).

2) 75% (although could go down to 10-20% depending on how you define 'interfere. A taoist believes the tao 'interferes' in his life (excusing the horrible English) when he is meditating, which I would class as 'a divine power intervening'. I would give 'interfere' in this context a far higher liklihood of being true than 'interfere' in the context of "a jealous God' smiting down unbelievers" or whatever)

3) 60% (assuming 'afterlife' includes things like reincarnation in all its forms and not just the Christian heaven)

4) dont know


edit: tried to clarify the ambiguous English almost always inherrant to these questions.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

edit: tried to clarify the ambiguous English almost always inherrant to these questions.

'inherent'

I'll now be off to buy a "I corrected Nodrog's spelling and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" garment.

[Phil^]

no
no
no
atheist

[Deciduous]

Heh, I like how Nod puts an exact figure to his beliefs.

[Deciduous]

90 is an exact figure however much you want to argue about it, as he never said anything to the effect of 'around 90'.
Can you honestly distinguish between, say, 70% and 75% how much you believe in something?

[MrL_JaKiri]

Originally Posted by Proteus

I don't see how.

I'd say because catholicism is inconsistent, but I doubt that's what he's referring to.

[MrL_JaKiri]

Originally Posted by Flavius

Exact figures aren't rounded to the closest '5 or '0

Originally Posted by Deciduous

90 is an exact figure however much you want to argue about it, as he never said anything to the effect of 'around 90'.
Can you honestly distinguish between, say, 70% and 75% how much you believe in something?

90 isn't necessarily an exact figure, given it's possible that he's dealing in 5's, or at the very least integers. However, it doesn't mean that he makes any more sense.

Is it 90% by mass, or by volume, I wonder.

[Nodrog]

Originally Posted by Deciduous

90 is an exact figure however much you want to argue about it, as he never said anything to the effect of 'around 90'.
Can you honestly distinguish between, say, 70% and 75% how much you believe in something?

I dont think it makes sense to say you 'do' or 'dont' believe in something in situations such as this where the objective evidence is so scarce in either direction. The %s relate to how likely I think that something is to be true - obviously this isnt an exact science, as subjective probability is by its nature subjective. I admit that my views on how likely something is to be true doesnt make much sense outside of my wider belief context due to relativity (since "I think X is more likely than Y" makes more sense than "X is x% likely to be true"), but this thread was about "what do you think about religion", not "what does Nodrog think about the world".

Anyway, how can you rate a computer game out of a 100? Does it make sense to say one game "is 94% good" while another "is only 91% good"? Individual ratings within a rating system only make sense relative to each other, not objectively.

[Deciduous]

Giving a game a score of 94% makes no sense, and is at best a general idea of what only one person (unless someone contributed to the review) thinks about it. You're better off reading the review, downloading the demo and deciding for yourself.

[G_frog]

no/no/no/atheist

I adopt this position for reasons of lack of positive evidence in favour of the propositions given. I am not aware of either evidence or a priori arguments of value against some deity or other existing (though I am not sure such evidence or arguments are possible).

i really would like to know why Nod says what he does.

EDIT: downloading a demo of god would certainly enliven this debate.

[MrL_JaKiri]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

Anyway, how can you rate a computer game out of a 100? Does it make sense to say one game "is 94% good" while another "is only 91% good"? Individual ratings within a rating system only make sense relative to each other, not objectively.

You can't, and given that the judging of computer games isn't objective anyway...

[G_frog]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

I dont think it makes sense to say you 'do' or 'dont' believe in something in situations such as this where the objective evidence is so scarce in either direction.

I'm not sure the proposition "there exists an entity X" is one for which there can be evidence against.

[Nodrog]

Originally Posted by G_frog

i really would like to know why Nod says what he does.

I dont believe that the 2 dice I've just rolled but not yet looked at both display '6', and I also dont believe that you have 4 arms. However, I think the first scenario has a far likelier chance of being true than the second. A simple 'yes' or 'no in response to the question "Do you believe X" is a shallow answer, because it leaves out just how confident you are in that belief (especially when the question deals with something as vague and ambiguous as the 'existence' of 'God').