Poll: What's you religious platform...or lack there of?

[ATM]

...An undefined theist and/or agnostic would be an agnostic theist. If someone is an agnostic theist out there, then they are more than welcome to vote for none of the above.

Agnostic theism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[groovatron]

Just to clarify those definitions:

Atheism is "the theory or belief that God does not exist."

An agnostic is "a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God."

There are no entries for "nontheist" or "nontheism" or related terms.

Source: New Oxford American Dictionary (included with my Mac)


They probably should'nt've been lumped together, but what's done is done. I'm just glad the only argument so far is still only about the options in the poll and nobody has degraded it to arguing about "I'm right and everybody else is wrong and you should change your opinion to match mine".

Kudos so far. Keep it up, and this thread might not get locked!

They were lumped together simply based on the core of their beliefs.....or lack there of. And that is simply that they are non-believers. Anyway you twist it, it remains the same. If you look at the true definition scientifically, agnostics actually deny the existence of god more than atheists. Look at the highlighted part of your definition. Nothing is known or can be known. This is pretty cut and dry. If science were to prove to an atheist that there is a god, guess what?....their would no longer be any atheists....just stupid people that don't believe in science.

For the record....I have done a huge amount of research in religious studies. It is a passion of mine. I absolutely love learning and this was the point of m poll. I will be happy to go on and on all day about this stuff. And I agree, I am also glad that it has remained civil

 

[Joe Williams]

What about Moonies?

 

[Deadly Z Driver]

I had to choose none of the above. Some people are deists, believing in a god or gods. Some are atheists, actively denying the existance of god or gods. Then there are the agnostics who are hedging their bets.

I'm none of those things. I am an apatheist. Apatheists Just Don't Care. Really. I have a strong moral code by which I live my life, and a sense of wonder at the way the universe works, but don't care about the various belief systems out there. They are all as equally likely or unlikely from where I stand and I consider the rather high amounts of energy people expend to prove that theirs is the best to be time well wasted and I've no desire whatsoever to expend any significant energy arguing points that cannot be proven or disproven.

Could not have said it better myself! Fits me to the T.

 

[groovatron]

No hard feelings, I just know this doesn't match criterion for valid survey sampling. This is a self-selected, non-random grouping. Useful maybe for INGO demographics - assuming no one is deliberately skewing the poll - but useless for extrapolations to the State-at-large, if that's what you were planning on. Interesting, but not random sampling, sir.

No problems...it was mostly sarcastic.....I take no offense to anything that's not physical. I would, however, like you to respond to the my post before it. You made three statements that were not applicable to my point.....and this post is just a continuation of that.

Threads are always self-selected.
Non random grouping is difficult when given only 10 choices.

 

[groovatron]

Could not have said it better myself! Fits me to the T.

That's a good point. This survey is becoming very simialr to my political party poll. Many jump on a classification, and many don't want to be classified at all.........shhhh...don't tell anyone, but that's the real information I seek.

 

[groovatron]

Agnostic theism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So am I wrong?.....I'm not sure what you are stating.

 

[ATM]

My progression would have been from agnostic to agnostic theist to Christian but I would never have considered myself atheist.

 

[groovatron]

My progression would have been from agnostic to agnostic theist to Christian but I would never have considered myself atheist.

I see what you are saying. And it makes complete semse to me. I suppose my next move would be to talk more about the atheist. Maybe the problem here is that the atheist is getting the bad rap. Athiests....again IMO...are not necessarily anti-god. Sure, some are, but most, from my experience, are non-believers due to the lack of physical evidence. This once again goes back to scientific method. That's why so many scientists are atheists. You made a choice based on faith, not physical proof. That was a decision you made as an individual. And there is nothing wrong with that. But before you made that decision, you were in fact an atheist. The moment you decided to accept faith as proof, you became a theist. If you want to call your limbo phase agnostic, then that is fine. That's why some consider themselves agnostic theists. I, personally believe that is a useless, self-defeating term. It's like saying the water is hot cold. To sum it up, a agnostic theist is still a theist. The are at the shoe store and know they want some shoes, they are just not sure what style.

I suppose my overall opinion would be simple. If you consider yourself an agnostic simply because you can't decide which god to believe in, then you a merely an indescisive theist. A true agnostic believes there is no way of knowing either way........no matter what.

 

[ATM]

We are closer but I still find a larger gap between not believing (passive) and disbelieving (active) as well as the differences of belief and knowledge (though they may both or neither overlap with truth.) Good discussion though.

 

[femurphy77]

Druid, Reformed!

 

[360]

I believe in scientific fact and evidence, no matter how long it takes to prove/disprove it.

 

[seamusalaska]

I suppose a follower of Amun-Ra comes under "None of the above".

 

[Ashkelon]

Why not a category for "all of the above" ?

I see nothing wrong with part and parcel religious beliefs if one is living a spiritual life guided by the best principles of each and other not listed recognized religions.

I may be "bathed in the blood" but also don't want to come back as a tapeworm if the Buddhists are right either.

 

[CoonSkin]

I am a Christian. Scripture is my rule of faith and practice. God is
my Father. Christ is my Master. The Holy Spirit is Guide through
his revealed word. And, I am humbled, yet grateful for all the
Godhead has done for my spiritual well-being.

Kindly,
CoonSkin

 

[ChrisK]

Christian !!!

 

[jeremy]

I am closer to being a deist than anything else...

 

[groovatron]

We are closer but I still find a larger gap between not believing (passive) and disbelieving (active) as well as the differences of belief and knowledge (though they may both or neither overlap with truth.) Good discussion though.

Agreed....great discussion!.....I see what you are saying. I just still think that the two are very similar....especially enough so for this poll. To me, nonbelief and disbelief are about as close to synonyms as one can get. In the end, the combo of the aheist/agnostic/nontheist, are clumped together because of their simple lack of belief and not necessarily their conviction for non-believing

I am glad it has stayed civil thus far. I enjoy this sort of conversation greatly when it doesn't get personal. I have an endless thirst for logical debate and continuing enrichment.

Oh yeah.....I'm also a none of the above. I will possibly get into that later

 

[norman428]

In GOD WE trust. Dollar Bill.
One Nation, Under GOD. Pledge of Allegiance.

Christian.

 

[smitty12b]

In GOD WE trust. Dollar Bill.
One Nation, Under GOD. Pledge of Allegiance.

Christian.

Those quotes were written by men who thought it was OK to own another human being.When your slave drives you to church, something is wrong.