Do you believe in God?

[ZRT]

There are atheists who say exactly that.

It's not a misconception but a pretty demonstrable faction of atheists. There are also different definitions of the word. But the word agnostic has a more clear definition regarding no evidence and no excitement.

It's a bit like saying no true anarchist would belong to a group that organized and paid dues, but that happens too.

I agree with a goodly bit of what you're saying. Where I tend to disagree with agnostics is that typically agnostics make a point of saying that the god of the Christian bible could exist, but if you ask them if Zeus might be up there tossing the lightning bolts, they'll scoff at the notion because that's an ancient and dead faith. But both are equally probable.

 

[Keroin]

Atheism essentially is agnosticism. It's stating that there's no evidence for any particular deities. Thor is just as probable as Yahweh is just as probable as the Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc.

So I don't believe in god(s) - though the flying spaghetti monster scares the bejeesus out of me - but if I had to pick, it would be Loki. Definitely Loki.

Mmmmm, trickster god makes Keroin all creamy and smiley faced.

 

[Recidiva]

I agree with a goodly bit of what you're saying. Where I tend to disagree with agnostics is that typically agnostics make a point of saying that the god of the Christian bible could exist, but if you ask them if Zeus might be up there tossing the lightning bolts, they'll scoff at the notion because that's an ancient and dead faith. But both are equally probable.

Hehehe...agreed there.

 

[ZRT]

So I don't believe in god(s) - though the flying spaghetti monster scares the bejeesus out of me - but if I had to pick, it would be Loki. Definitely Loki.

Mmmmm, trickster god makes Keroin all creamy and smiley faced.

I'd take the Norse pantheon in general. Valhalla is where I'd like to spend my hypothetical afterlife.

 

[Recidiva]

So I don't believe in god(s) - though the flying spaghetti monster scares the bejeesus out of me - but if I had to pick, it would be Loki. Definitely Loki.

Mmmmm, trickster god makes Keroin all creamy and smiley faced.

Coyote also.

He had/has style.

Gotta love a God with a sense of humor.

 

[Recidiva]

I'd take the Norse pantheon in general. Valhalla is where I'd like to spend my hypothetical afterlife.

Most of these are denied me 'cause, I'm, you know, a girl.

 

[Myskaninen]

well Valhalla is only for the men who die in combat... and was lucky enough to get choosen by the valkyres ...

 

[Recidiva]

well Valhalla is only for the men who die in combat... and was lucky enough to get choosen by the valkyres ...

Right, so my job would be Valkyrie, which strikes me as courier service, or serving wench.

Not the ideal for an eternity.

 

[ZRT]

My Valhalla would be gender-inclusive.

This is like a rebooted Norse pantheon, see.

 

[Myskaninen]

I wish you would be that lucky the women were considered ammong the least brave so they ended up in Niflheim under the Godess Hel (doughter of loki who gave birth to her hmmm) a very cold and stinking place

 

[Recidiva]

My Valhalla would be gender-inclusive.

This is like a rebooted Norse pantheon, see.

Well, okay then.

See? That's not so hard.

 

[Homburg]

I agree with a goodly bit of what you're saying. Where I tend to disagree with agnostics is that typically agnostics make a point of saying that the god of the Christian bible could exist, but if you ask them if Zeus might be up there tossing the lightning bolts, they'll scoff at the notion because that's an ancient and dead faith. But both are equally probable.

Given the evolution of the bicameral mind, Zeus and Yahweh/Jehovah are equally plausible.

To be frank though, I've never met an agnostic that differentiated between Zeus, Yahweh, etc in their lack of proof. I've met deists that did, but not agnostics. As Recidiva said, pretty clear definition there.

It has been my personal experience that more of the people that I know that self-identified as athiests were active non-believers, and frequently aggressively so. I certainly was.

 

[ZRT]

My Valhalla would also be heavily BDSM-themed, for the record.

I should get around to inventing a religion sometime.

 

[ZRT]

Given the evolution of the bicameral mind, Zeus and Yahweh/Jehovah are equally plausible.

To be frank though, I've never met an agnostic that differentiated between Zeus, Yahweh, etc in their lack of proof. I've met deists that did, but not agnostics. As Recidiva said, pretty clear definition there.

It has been my personal experience that more of the people that I know that self-identified as athiests were active non-believers, and frequently aggressively so. I certainly was.

My experience has differed, but that's probably a regional thing. There aren't many militant atheists here in the heart of the bible belt.

 

[Harmony_1985]

See, I'm a bit strange when it comes to this.

I'm christened. I've been to church services and I still go to certain church services, but I don't believe in a god per say.

I do believe that there is a higher power controlling our lives, but I don't put that power down as god.

 

[MisterSir]

Atheism isn't saying definitively that there -is no god or gods-. It's saying that there's no evidence and therefore no reason to get excited about the concept.

Should a deity appear tomorrow, then there would suddenly be evidence. But I have as much reason to believe that as I do to believe that money will spontaneously rain from the sky when I snap me fingers, so I don't worry about either notion.

It's a common misconception about atheism exacerbated by enthusiastic deity-deniers arguing with Christians.

As a fully paid-up atheist, allow me to say - no, you're wrong. Just to drop some definitions on you, atheism is the belief that there is no God according to the good people at Dictionary.com; the absence of belief in deities or the explicit view there are no deities by Wikipedia's standards and the doctrine that there is no deity in Merriam-Webster's eyes.

Lots of atheists, and I'm one of them myself, do subscribe to the belief you assign to all of us and don't believe in the existence of a deity or deities thanks to the lack of evidence - passive atheism, if I can coin a term - but an equally large amount of atheists actively do not believe that deities exist for other reasons entirely, let's call them active atheists. To label both of these groups, plus the multitude of other denominations beneath, as all believing that since there's no evidence God doesn't exist is as blinkered as declaring all Christians Catholics or all Muslims Sunni - both things that history has proven to be very, very bad ideas.

To summarise, what you've said is the misconception and please try not to act like your opinion is the be-all-and-end-all on this future.

NB: "Passive atheism" will probably be called "agnosticism" by somebody, so let me clarify - the difference between the two is where the whole lack of evidence/faith shtick goes. When presented with a lack of evidence in God, atheists take that as proof God doesn't exist while agnostics take that to mean that God might or might not. I do also find that "passive atheists" generally have more reasons than just a lack of evidence for not believing in God.

 

[ZRT]

As a fully paid-up atheist, allow me to say - no, you're wrong. Just to drop some definitions on you, atheism is the belief that there is no God according to the good people at Dictionary.com; the absence of belief in deities or the explicit view there are no deities by Wikipedia's standards and the doctrine that there is no deity in Merriam-Webster's eyes.

I'll concede the dictionary definitions.

To summarise, what you've said is the misconception and please try not to act like your opinion is the be-all-and-end-all on this future.

And I'll take your lecture under advisement.

 

[BiBunny]

Yes. I also count myself as "spiritual, not religious," if that makes any difference.

 

[intothewoods]

My point was if you go back in time you trace them all to the same God. Part one. The Christians had a part two, and the Muslims had a part three.

I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with WD. In addition, my understanding is that not all Christians believe in the Trinity concept.

Anyway, I am agnostic. I have no idea whether there is a God or not, and I have come to a point where I've stopped asking the question. Fwiw, I believed in God as a child and then experienced some tradgedy in my life as a teen and never quite had that unwavering devotion to a higher power again. I am culturally Jewish, and I do pray, for a wide variety of reasons, but I'm not going to prove that there is or isn't a God. And that's ok with me. I actually LOVED Obama's answer to the question of when life begins. That it's above his pay grade. That's how I feel about the existence of God. We don't know really.

 

[graceanne]

Yes.

A shock, I know.

 

[WriterDom]

I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with WD. In addition, my understanding is that not all Christians believe in the Trinity concept.

Netzach and MWY have agreed with me often. At least five times!

 

[graceanne]

Netzach and MWY have agreed with me often. At least five times!

To be specific Jehovah Witnesses don't believe in the Trinity. There might be other denominations that don't, but I can't think of them off hand.

 

[WriterDom]

Looks like God is having a comeback. Satan will call on the General Board to skew the poll.

 

[intothewoods]

To be specific Jehovah Witnesses don't believe in the Trinity. There might be other denominations that don't, but I can't think of them off hand.

Really, that's it? I thought there was more, but admittedly I have trouble keeping the denominations straight.

 

[graceanne]

My point was if you go back in time you trace them all to the same God. Part one. The Christians had a part two, and the Muslims had a part three.

Ok, a little history lesson.

Once upon a time there was a man named Abram. Abram found favor in the eyes of the Lord and He renamed him Abraham and promised he'd be the father of nations. But Abraham and his wife (was Sarai, changed to Sarah) got impatient as she continued not to have children and not to have children. So Sarah told Abraham to take her handmaiden (read: slave), Hagar, and get her pregnant. Hagar had a little boy, Ishmael. Shortly after Sarah had Issac. Sarah abused Hagar and Ishmael and eventually had her and Ishmael banished. God told Hagar that her son, also, would be the father of nations. The Arabs are descendants of Hagar, and therefore Abraham. The Jews are descendants of Isaac, and also Abraham. Abraham believed in the God I believe in.

Then, a long time later, Jesus came. He was born, he taught, he was persecuted, he was killed, and he rose again. Those of us who follow Jesus, who was the son of the God of Abraham, are Christians. The main difference? You don't have to believe in the God of Abraham to be a Jew or an Arab, it's a culture AND a religion. But all three religions can be traced through Abraham.