Do you believe in God?

[Capricious_Destiny]

I believe it would be best to go ahead and make these "religious" decisions on your own. I never really went to church much, just for funerals. My beliefs are a combination of many things...so I don't necessarily have a religion. Religion is a touchy subject for most people and many are really... stubborn when it comes to even pondering other beliefs/ideas... It's your decision and your life, live and believe the way you want. smile I wouldn't talk to your parents about it unless you were sure they wouldn't put you down for your doubts or questions.

[GreenEyedPale]

Sergeant Pancakebatter

I do not.
To address your fear, my own response to my same question as a child was if a god that was truly compassionate and kind existed, would such a god punish me eternally for honestly not believing, not out of spite or any negative reaction, just simply not believing. I came to the conclusion that if such a god existed it would have compassion and understanding for my way of thinking. It wouldn't judge me based on non-beliefs but the content of my character. If not, it is not a god I would want to worship anyway, but that is just me. I do not wish to change your mind about anything, I just wish to voice my experiences in the case it might help you come to your own conclusion, in either direction

The "punishment" is the separation of God and the person.

[Pondering Horizon]

"Question with boldness even the existance of a God; for if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."
-Thomas Jefferson

[[Ren The Ryoko]]

Nope. Atheist.

There's simply no reason to believe in God any more than there is to believe in unicorns. And there's no real benefit to belief in things that aren't real.

[Zana Bonanza]

[Ren The Ryoko]

Nope. Atheist.

There's simply no reason to believe in God any more than there is to believe in unicorns. And there's no real benefit to belief in things that aren't real.

Placebos can do wonders, actually.

Personally, I'm agnostic most of the time and a Pastafarianist when fundies get on my nerves.
There may or may not be a god or several gods. I don't know.

A truly great god, imo, would let anyone into paradise after death on the basis of whether or not they were a good person in life. I mean, I think I'm a fairly decent person. If there turns out to be a god and he doesn't let me into Heaven just because I was never baptized or went to church, then fine, I don't want go to Heaven if you're going to be like that.

[[Ren The Ryoko]]

Zana Bonanza

[Ren The Ryoko]

Nope. Atheist.

There's simply no reason to believe in God any more than there is to believe in unicorns. And there's no real benefit to belief in things that aren't real.

Placebos can do wonders, actually.

Personally, I'm agnostic most of the time and a Pastafarianist when fundies get on my nerves.
There may or may not be a god or several gods. I don't know.

A truly great god, imo, would let anyone into paradise after death on the basis of whether or not they were a good person in life. I mean, I think I'm a fairly decent person. If there turns out to be a god and he doesn't let me into Heaven just because I was never baptized or went to church, then fine, I don't want go to Heaven if you're going to be like that.

Common misuse of the word "agnostic".
Generally, if you're undecided with th e"there might be, there might not be", that means that you don't believe there is a God. That's Atheism. Being open to new evidence doesnt take away from that.

And yeah. Placebos are cool. But not worth all the social strife that goes along with religion if you ask me.

[Social Republic]

Nope. I don't believe in a monotheistic god (technically, anyway - if you want to get really technical, I'm polytheistic).

[Zana Bonanza]

[Ren The Ryoko]

Zana Bonanza

[Ren The Ryoko]

Nope. Atheist.

There's simply no reason to believe in God any more than there is to believe in unicorns. And there's no real benefit to belief in things that aren't real.

Placebos can do wonders, actually.

Personally, I'm agnostic most of the time and a Pastafarianist when fundies get on my nerves.
There may or may not be a god or several gods. I don't know.

A truly great god, imo, would let anyone into paradise after death on the basis of whether or not they were a good person in life. I mean, I think I'm a fairly decent person. If there turns out to be a god and he doesn't let me into Heaven just because I was never baptized or went to church, then fine, I don't want go to Heaven if you're going to be like that.

Common misuse of the word "agnostic".
Generally, if you're undecided with th e"there might be, there might not be", that means that you don't believe there is a God. That's Atheism. Being open to new evidence doesnt take away from that.

And yeah. Placebos are cool. But not worth all the social strife that goes along with religion if you ask me.

The way I learned it was that Atheism is a religion that believes there is no God.

I do not believe there is no God. I just believe that there might not be. I believe that there isn't really any way we can truly know for sure, until we die and find out. Though I also think that we might not necessarily find out even after we die. Ever hear of Schrodinger's cat? That's what religion is to me.

[[Ren The Ryoko]]

Zana Bonanza

[Ren The Ryoko]

Zana Bonanza

[Ren The Ryoko]

Nope. Atheist.

There's simply no reason to believe in God any more than there is to believe in unicorns. And there's no real benefit to belief in things that aren't real.

Placebos can do wonders, actually.

Personally, I'm agnostic most of the time and a Pastafarianist when fundies get on my nerves.
There may or may not be a god or several gods. I don't know.

A truly great god, imo, would let anyone into paradise after death on the basis of whether or not they were a good person in life. I mean, I think I'm a fairly decent person. If there turns out to be a god and he doesn't let me into Heaven just because I was never baptized or went to church, then fine, I don't want go to Heaven if you're going to be like that.

Common misuse of the word "agnostic".
Generally, if you're undecided with th e"there might be, there might not be", that means that you don't believe there is a God. That's Atheism. Being open to new evidence doesnt take away from that.

And yeah. Placebos are cool. But not worth all the social strife that goes along with religion if you ask me.

The way I learned it was that Atheism is a religion that believes there is no God.

I do not believe there is no God. I just believe that there might not be. I believe that there isn't really any way we can truly know for sure, until we die and find out. Though I also think that we might not necessarily find out even after we die. Ever hear of Schrodinger's cat? That's what religion is to me.

Atheism is no more a religion than bald is a hair color.
Atheism is the stance that you are unconvinced of any religion, or the existence of a God. It's the absence of faith. The default, if you will.
It's not so much "I believe there is no God" as it is "I don't believe there is a God", which is a subtle and semantic difference.

So...if you don't believe for sure that there is a God, then you're an Atheist.

[Zana Bonanza]

[Ren The Ryoko]

Atheism is no more a religion than bald is a hair color.
Atheism is the stance that you are unconvinced of any religion, or the existence of a God. It's the absence of faith. The default, if you will.
It's not so much "I believe there is no God" as it is "I don't believe there is a God", which is a subtle and semantic difference.

So...if you don't believe for sure that there is a God, then you're an Atheist.

That too, boils down to semantics. Because I don't have relevant books at hand, I've used the internet. All definitions listed on Dictionary.com use only words such as "rejection, denial, disbelief" in gods for Atheism. No words such as "uncertain" are used.

If we have to be specific, I think strong agnosticism defines my thought process well enough.

I'm not saying "I don't believe there is a God." I'm saying "I don't know." While I am not convinced of any religions, I am also not unconvinced. If I can't call that agnosticism, okay, but I can't call it atheism either. I'll have to invent a new term for myself.

[[Ren The Ryoko]]

Zana Bonanza

[Ren The Ryoko]

Atheism is no more a religion than bald is a hair color.
Atheism is the stance that you are unconvinced of any religion, or the existence of a God. It's the absence of faith. The default, if you will.
It's not so much "I believe there is no God" as it is "I don't believe there is a God", which is a subtle and semantic difference.

So...if you don't believe for sure that there is a God, then you're an Atheist.

That too, boils down to semantics. Because I don't have relevant books at hand, I've used the internet. All definitions listed on Dictionary.com use only words such as "rejection, denial, disbelief" in gods for Atheism. No words such as "uncertain" are used.

If we have to be specific, I think strong agnosticism defines my thought process well enough.

I'm not saying "I don't believe there is a God." I'm saying "I don't know." While I am not convinced of any religions, I am also not unconvinced. If I can't call that agnosticism, okay, but I can't call it atheism either. I'll have to invent a new term for myself.

If you do not believe in the existence in a God, then you LACK the belief in a God. That's Atheism.
The terms are thrown around a lot, and are rarely used correctly.

Agnostic actually means something totally else.

This is a useful (though rather snarky) explanation: [Image here]

[Zana Bonanza]

[Ren The Ryoko]

Zana Bonanza

[Ren The Ryoko]

Atheism is no more a religion than bald is a hair color.
Atheism is the stance that you are unconvinced of any religion, or the existence of a God. It's the absence of faith. The default, if you will.
It's not so much "I believe there is no God" as it is "I don't believe there is a God", which is a subtle and semantic difference.

So...if you don't believe for sure that there is a God, then you're an Atheist.

That too, boils down to semantics. Because I don't have relevant books at hand, I've used the internet. All definitions listed on Dictionary.com use only words such as "rejection, denial, disbelief" in gods for Atheism. No words such as "uncertain" are used.

If we have to be specific, I think strong agnosticism defines my thought process well enough.

I'm not saying "I don't believe there is a God." I'm saying "I don't know." While I am not convinced of any religions, I am also not unconvinced. If I can't call that agnosticism, okay, but I can't call it atheism either. I'll have to invent a new term for myself.

If you do not believe in the existence in a God, then you LACK the belief in a God. That's Atheism.
The terms are thrown around a lot, and are rarely used correctly.

Agnostic actually means something totally else.

This is a useful (though rather snarky) explanation: [Image here]

Why can't I lack a belief and a disbelief in a God at the same time?
Though, I suppose if you want to be technical, I would be considered an Agnostic-Atheist.
But that chart just proves that most people "atheism = don't believe in god" and...it's all just semantics, isn't it? We're not debating about the actual beliefs, but the word usages. x3 If I had a hat, I'd tip it to you.

[[Ren The Ryoko]]

Zana Bonanza

[Ren The Ryoko]

Zana Bonanza

[Ren The Ryoko]

Atheism is no more a religion than bald is a hair color.
Atheism is the stance that you are unconvinced of any religion, or the existence of a God. It's the absence of faith. The default, if you will.
It's not so much "I believe there is no God" as it is "I don't believe there is a God", which is a subtle and semantic difference.

So...if you don't believe for sure that there is a God, then you're an Atheist.

That too, boils down to semantics. Because I don't have relevant books at hand, I've used the internet. All definitions listed on Dictionary.com use only words such as "rejection, denial, disbelief" in gods for Atheism. No words such as "uncertain" are used.

If we have to be specific, I think strong agnosticism defines my thought process well enough.

I'm not saying "I don't believe there is a God." I'm saying "I don't know." While I am not convinced of any religions, I am also not unconvinced. If I can't call that agnosticism, okay, but I can't call it atheism either. I'll have to invent a new term for myself.

If you do not believe in the existence in a God, then you LACK the belief in a God. That's Atheism.
The terms are thrown around a lot, and are rarely used correctly.

Agnostic actually means something totally else.

This is a useful (though rather snarky) explanation: [Image here]

Why can't I lack a belief and a disbelief in a God at the same time?
Though, I suppose if you want to be technical, I would be considered an Agnostic-Atheist.
But that chart just proves that most people "atheism = don't believe in god" and...it's all just semantics, isn't it? We're not debating about the actual beliefs, but the word usages. x3 If I had a hat, I'd tip it to you.

XD It really does boil down to semantics. And it's such a hard thing to talk about. Definitions of words are slippery.

But...yeah. You can't both lack belief and disbelief at the same time. Lack of belief is disbelief.
That's like saying that you can not have any hair and not be bald at the same time.
So if you lack belief, you don't believe. Atheism.

But yeah. According to the chart I posted up there, we're both Agnostic-Atheists.