What religion are you? (Anonymous poll)
- Thread starter Tboy
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GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
I agree, especialy since I sometimes view them as very interverted with their religion. Though I know they dont actively accept converts.puglover said:
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
*Sigh* We can go through this argument all dayPerfectionist said:
atheism & agnosticism are not the same. Atheists do not believe in God (or Gods) where as an agnostic believes that God is an unknown or unknowable. Way different from not believing in God. I should know because I used to be an agnostic.
Perfectionist
Angel of Verdun
Wrong, actually. Atheists and agnostics differ only in the probability they assign to the existence of god. Agnostics believe that the chances are fifty-fifty, so you might as well not bother until more evidence is provided. Atheists believe that the chance of god existing is so fantastically small that we might as well proceed as though he does not exist.
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
I am sorry, but once again I am right and you are wrong. Lets take a closer look at the two and perhaps cram it into your thick close-minded head. Moderator Action: Warned for trollingPerfectionist said:
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889
Agnosticism (from the Greek a, meaning "without" and gnosis, "knowledge", translating to unknowable) is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims — particularly theological claims regarding metaphysics, afterlife or the existence of God, god(s), or deities — is unknown or inherently unknowable.
Now lets take a look at atheism. In early Ancient Greek, the adjective atheos (from privative α- + θεος "god") meant "godless". In English, the term atheism was adopted from the French athéisme in about 1587. The term atheist in the sense of "one who denies or disbelieves" predates atheism in English, being first attested in about 1571; the phrase Italian atheoi is recorded as early as 1568. Atheist in the sense of practical godlessness was first attested in 1577. The French word is derived from athée ("godless, atheist"), which in turn comes from the Greek atheos.
So dont tell me that I am wrong on the difference between agnostics and atheists because as I said before. I used to be an agnostic before I returned to Christianity.
Swedishguy
Deity
That's wrong. I think there is NO CHANCE AT ALL!!!Perfectionist said:
So you are saying that an agnostic does believe in God?CivGeneral said:*Sigh* We can go through this argument all day
atheism & agnosticism are not the same. Atheists do not believe in God (or Gods) where as an agnostic believes that God is an unknown or unknowable. Way different from not believing in God. I should know because I used to be an agnostic.
Put it this way. Is an agnostic in the set of people who believe in God, yes or no?
What you mean is that agnosticism and atheism are different *concepts* (the former about lack of knowledge, and the latter about lack of belief). But they are not mutually exclusive. It is true that there are some agnostic theists, but most of them are not.
Agnosticism is the only sound stance, people of faith AND atheists all fit into two categories; Liars and Fools. Both religious people and Atheists believe irrefutably in something that can not be proven.
It must have something to do with human pride for most to not simply admit, "hey the mysteries of the universe are beyond my comprehension, and beyond my species comprehension". All we can do is strive to understand a little bit more of the universe one small bit at a time. Some folks want to short cut to the answers to the biggest questions of all, and to the best of my reasoning, no human being knows these answers.
It must have something to do with human pride for most to not simply admit, "hey the mysteries of the universe are beyond my comprehension, and beyond my species comprehension". All we can do is strive to understand a little bit more of the universe one small bit at a time. Some folks want to short cut to the answers to the biggest questions of all, and to the best of my reasoning, no human being knows these answers.
Zarn
Le Républicain Catholique
Swedishguy said:
Then why did you say 'I think?'
If you honestly do think that there is no possible chance, I would like to see the evidence.
As an atheist, I mean I *don't* believe in something, namely, God. I, like many atheists, do not believe in things without evidence. I think what you say refers specifically only to "strong atheism" (i.e., the belief that there are no Gods).Aneurism said:
Furthermore, if agnosticism is taken to mean claiming we can never know about God, then *that's* a positive claim being made without evidence...
Perfection
The Great Head.
Actually, you're both (partially) wrong.CivGeneral said:
Atheism and agnosticism blend very strongly into each other. By your given definitions, I am both an atheist and an agnostic. Certainly there are folks who are clearly atheist and not agnostic or clearly agnostic and not atheist but a good portion fall into this massive linguistic mess in the middle.
Swedishguy
Deity
Hmm... some religious people seems to be affected if someone says something about their religion, so why should other not respect my beliefs? Tough question. And to your question, it's at least better than saying ''I believe''.Zarn said:
As per whom I believe created the Universe: why would God need to be omnipotent to do so? He is very powerful, I believe, but there are limits to His power. As for why I worship Him: why not? What do you believe the word "worship" to mean?
Heretic_Cata
We're gonna live forever
Err... how ?Shadylookin said:
If you ever meet a serial killer who is happy point him to me please.Shadylookin said:what about serial killers? does god want them to be happy by continuing their practice?
Unless a person is mentally ill he will regret the wrong things he does. It's one of those hooman traits.
Sure, i was happy torturing animals; but it never once made me think it was "right".
Or maybe we're thinking of different definitions of happiness here ... Here's what i meant by happy.
I never meant temporary happiness, like being drunk, killing people, sex, drugs; i meant having a happy life.
Damn, i can't quite explain it... there are long (months, years) periods of time when you feel you had a happy life and long periods of time when you don't feel you have a happy life.
Yup.Shadylookin said:so you made your own religion because you were bored
(something like that 
)
Stormrage
Ever Present Taskmaster
I do belive there`s a god, but I think he`ll be gone for a while, having fun with a new project or something like that.. He gave us religions so the priests can take care of us. Naturally, they screwed up. Its only human 
He drops by, stirrs the water a bit, slaps a few people, rewards others, does a few random things and then its back to the arcades with him!
He drops by, stirrs the water a bit, slaps a few people, rewards others, does a few random things and then its back to the arcades with him!
Heretic_Cata
We're gonna live forever
Wow, that is one of teh best and most perfect descriptions of everything.Stormrage said:I do belive there`s a god, but I think he`ll be gone for a while, having fun with a new project or something like that.. He gave us religions so the priests can take care of us. Naturally, they screwed up. Its only human
He drops by, stirrs the water a bit, slaps a few people, rewards others, does a few random things and then its back to the arcades with him!
I bow to your wisdom. 
Too bad it's to big for me to put it in my sig. He's probably modding his latest creation (humans) to put on other planets.
Swedishguy
Deity
I have more tolerance with agnostics like you than christians/muslems/jews(I also think they should be more vocal)/buddhists/hinduists/pagans(or shall I say the ''miscellaneous)Stormrage said:I do belive there`s a god, but I think he`ll be gone for a while, having fun with a new project or something like that.. He gave us religions so the priests can take care of us. Naturally, they screwed up. Its only human
He drops by, stirrs the water a bit, slaps a few people, rewards others, does a few random things and then its back to the arcades with him!
It's good that people don't do rash decisions of how the deities are.
MrCynical
Deity
Eran of Arcadia said:
Well, creating the universe; i.e everything that exists, from nothing would seem to require power beyond anything that exists within it. The general problem with attributing omnipotence to God is his lack of intervention in the world for the prevention of evil. It is hard to reconcile a God who could create the earth and humanity in the blink of an eye with his apparent inability to prevent humans from perpetrating evil. There have been arguments that for some reason God cannot go against human will, but that then clashes with most religions' view that God has one last task to complete; the ultimate judgement of everyone. There, he is going to have to have the power to override human will.
Eran of Arcadia said:
Equally; why do so? Any being that fulfils the criteria for a God is way beyond such petty ego massaging. "Worship" - religious praise, thanks, devotion, adoration. I don't see why God would care about these one way or another. If altruism is admired in humans I see no reason to assume it is not present in God. You could argue that it is still right to be thankful, but to which of the innumerable deities that are, and have been, worshipped?
First of all; I do not worship God to "massage His ego" - religious praise and devotion are for our benefit, not His. He would not be any less God if no one worshipped Him.
Second; I do not believe that He created the universe out of nothing, either. There are self-existing elements in the universe.
Second; I do not believe that He created the universe out of nothing, either. There are self-existing elements in the universe.
Zarn
Le Républicain Catholique
Swedishguy said:
Thinking there isn't any divine being and saying there is no chance is two completely different things, and you seem to know that. One is respectable. One is not. You have no idea if any such being exists or not. How could the statement that a divine being has zero chance of existence be respected?
What exactly is wrong with saying "I believe?"
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