Do you actively participate in a religion?

@therookie727: word to my fellow JW.

30, male, California, Jehovah's Witness

Does militant atheism count? Just kidding. But I do what I can to make sure my immediate family gets their dose of science as regularly as I can, regardless of how much they think of it as "guessing."

Agnostic atheist here. 30, male, Texas panhandle, not enough college to claim a major. I think I was maybe 10 or younger when I realized Christianity was a sham. Hell, I believed in Santa Claus longer than I believed in that other stuff. He actually left evidence. I was the target of a lot of grief from everybody else as I was growing up because I thought the koolaid tasted a little funny. That type of reaction just pushed me further away.

My extended family ranges from reborn to Methodist to Baptist to Jevoha's Witness to bible thumpin, snake handling, tongue speaking Pentacostals. I mostly only talk to them around Xmas, if at all.

39, identify as Jewish but not observant, from Ohio, work as a freelance writer.

Grew up in a Conservative Jewish household, though we were more high holidays Jews than active temple-goers. Had a bar mitzvah and pretty much checked out from formal religious education after that. Nobody should begrudge anyone if their faith gives them strength. I get more annoyed with smug atheists than proselytizers. Luckily this thread is smugness free..mostly.

I consider myself agnostic and I'm a 21 year old pre-med major in California. My parents are religious Sikhs and they encourage me to be more religious but they're generally alright with me not believing in all of it. There are a lot of good lessons to be learned from it, sure, but I just don't believe in God and arrogance and ignorance derived from religions just drive me crazy.

No. I am 24, male, and from British Columbia Canada.

I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses until recently. Not "disfellowshipped" but very purposefully inactive. After years of unexplored doubt I finally started researching all I could about the religion from outside sources (highly warned against by their publication and public talks) and came across a number of unreconcilable things throughout its history that are confirmed by references to their publications. It has been a very troubling time and still is. There is no dignified way to leave the religion. Once you confess any disbelief you are labelled as "mentally diseased" a term applied to "apostates" which is to say anybody who criticizes their "Governing Body's" claims to be appointed and directed by Jehovah. Any relationships I have with the people I've known my whole life are pretty much bound to end. It's taught that they must shun even their closest family members, should they become disassociated.

In short: I don't recommend it to anybody.

I'm atheist. 28 years old. Male, I've lived in Las Vegas, Nevada for the past 10 years (my whole adult life). I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. I go to UNLV, where I'm working towards my MS is Astrophysics.

I work in the aerospace industry (PM if you want company name). Most people I've talked to in school and at work are atheist. I've never taken a poll or anything, but it feels like most of my industry (locally, at least) doesn't believe in any type of God.

My whole family is Christian. I grew up very poor (a pack of ramen noodles and one hotdog often fed 3-4 people) and in one of the worst neighborhoods in the country. I remember associating how religious the family was with our rough conditions. Church was a bit of a safe haven (literally, when people are shooting outside). Also, having faith in something greater almost seems vital to get through that kind of situation. I never believed in God or heaven even as a kid. That's when I should have been most open to the possibility. I had to hide that I didn't believe until I was an adult. Even now, the family doesn't really acknowledge that i'm atheist. It wasn't until I grew up that I realized rich people are religious too.

I'd be curious to see how the numbers go up for people living below the poverty line, and by race (I'm half black and white, raised by the black side of my family). I'm also curious if the number of people that identify as religious differs between major cities and rural areas. I'm sure those studies exist somewhere.

I sometimes go to church with my mother when her husband is working and can't go with her. She is very active in the church. She connects the success she's had in her late 40's to God, almost more than her own hard work. That disturbs me a bit, to be honest. I never debate it with my family, because the genuinely believe it. It makes them happy, and doesn't hurt anyone. That's all life is. Do what makes you happy without hurting anyone in the process. If a religion helps you do that, then go for it. In the absence of physical evidence, I need math and science. I don't have faith. :)

I hope some of this helps. PM if you have any more questions.

26, Male, LDS (Mormon). From California, currently in school in Utah. Even though I am relatively heterodox (as I believe true Mormonism ought to be heterodox, questioning, and iconoclastic, as opposed to the dogmatists) I am very active. I believe that many Mormons nowadays (especially in Utah) have built a social bubble that has made them complacent. There is tremendous social pressure to not rock the boat.

28, male, I find religion scary, Denmark

27, Male, British Columbia. Some university completed, no degree or major at the time.

I am an agnostic atheist. I have not been provided with proof to believe in a personal god (the atheist part) however given the vastness of the universe (multiverse?) I can not disprove that a god like being exists (agnostic part).

My religious background is mixed; my mom's family is very Catholic (church every Sunday, my grandparents take vacations to Catholic Monasteries), my dad's side is Sikh however only my grandmother was religious (my grandfather, father, uncles, and aunts were/are "white washed"). Because I saw two very different religions very closely at a young age I decided to "study" a few different religions and came to the conclusion that all of them can't be right nor would it make any real sense for only one of them to be (why would god "enlighten" one group of humans but not another?).

Atheist, 27, male, Canada.

I was christian for the first 12 years of my life and even professed to be saved. Never baptised or anything though. I was introduced to the comedy of George Carlin by my father at 13 years of age and then I discovered Bill Hicks and it just sort of snowballed from there.

@falserelic: That's funny. That is the exact word for word rhetoric that was drilled into me for the first 12 years of my life every Sunday and whenever I visited my grandmother. I remember spouting that crap to people at school when I was a kid and now think back on how crazy I must have seemed to the other kids.

Hmm I may have gotten a little too personal. Oh well, thank god for internet anonymity.

Nope-a-doop-dope. I suppose the most concise reasoning is that I haven't been satisfactorily convinced otherwise. Morality only enters the discussion insofar as it helps to feel that factual correctness can propagate social benevolence.

@fattony12000: Man, I knew you'd post something like that.

I don't know what specifically gave me that feeling, but I saw that you posted in the thread, and I thought, "Fattony has got to be making a joke, probably about some gamer religion or something. There's no way he's going to treat this mildly seriously at all." ha.

Atheist, male, 25, currently in Washington.
Got my bachelors in computer science at Northern Kentucky University.
About to finish my masters in computer science at DigiPen.

I quite simply just don't believe the stories are true, and haven't heard anything close to convincing to persuade me that anything supernatural exists. Even if I wanted it to be true (I don't), I wouldn't be able to reconcile how incongruous most contemporary religions are with what we observe about the natural world.

No, 24, Atheist, Missouri.

I was raised in a very religious family. My great grandpa was a preacher, and my mother, grandma, cousins, aunts, etc etc - all fairly devout Christians. I never really jived with any of it. I was always the black sheep with that stuff. Had you asked me up to, say, age 15 or so what my religion was, I'd likely say "I don't know.". I just honestly did not think about it. I was sort of scared, I suppose, after all the bullshit that was spewed at me around it. It was at around 16 I truly began to research it all, and came to the realization I was an atheist. I think 'coming out' to my family as an atheist was as rough to them as anything imaginable. My grandma and uncle basically said "Don't say that word around me!" as though their god was going to strike us both dead for merely uttering the word 'atheist'. Nobody ever talks about it, of course. They prefer to ignore it.

You want serious? I can do serious, maaan.

SERIOUSLY

I am, largely, with Epicurus (341 BCE - 270 BCE, shouts to the old school mandem) and his ilk on this one:

"For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by ataraxia—peace and freedom from fear—and aponia—the absence of pain—and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that pleasure and pain are the measures of what is good and evil; death is the end of both body and soul and should therefore not be feared; the gods neither reward nor punish humans; the universe is infinite and eternal; and events in the world are ultimately based on the motions and interactions of atoms moving in empty space." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicurus

That being said...

I fully believe in any and everyone's innate right to think and feel and believe in whatever they like, provided that their actions and practices are in accordance with the rule of law (e.g. if your beliefs told you that raping and killing a child every Sunday was a cool thing to do, I would have to disagree with your beliefs in a rather strong fashion). There are exceptions, of course, such as peoples who might be trying to win their religious/societal freedoms from the shitty dictator of their country, for example. These peoples would probably have to do some rather naughty things in the eyes of the government that they were seeking to overthrow.

I would not attach any label to myself such as atheist or agnostic, however.

Essentially, believe whatevs, just Don't Be A Jerk.

26, living in the UK. I'm a Christian have been since I was 17. I get involved with various levels of youth ministry.

Can't really give you a major but I'm a software engineer for the company that probably made your phone :-)

21, male, Denmark. Nope.

Religion should never have been created, sure it gives many people happiness in their lives. But no amount of happiness can in my opinion justify all the blood that has been spilled in the name of religion. Granted that if religion never happened, people would just have found another reason to spill each others guts anyway.

In the end I guess people can believe whatever they want, so long they don't kill each other over it...

I try to think about religion as little as possible. Male, 21, Sweden.

no. but,... believie in a higher power. religion is a producst of assH0les using the power of mushrooms(etc) to hijack peace loving civilizations during "prehistory". The sacred mushroom and the cross and the Bhagavad Gita go a long way to prove the dumbass stuff i believe :P

Thanks for the serious explanation, Fattony! :)

Agnostic Atheist, 28, Alberta

From what I've seen, little good has come from religion so I want no part of it. Whether God(s) exist or not, Man seems to enjoy using it for more selfish reasons like controlling the masses, pushing their agendas, starting wars, etc. Many religions promote a lot repugnant stuff like sexism, racism and homophobia. Just thinking about religion and its effects on the world makes me want to drink.

20 (21 in a week), male, NY

I was raised a roman catholic, went to church every Sunday and attended CCD for the bulk of my youth (k-8th grade). Was baptized, had communion, and confirmation. I believed in god for a long time, but reality hit me at a young age and my faith eventually waned.

I used to pray to God to help me through my problems and to show me his way, but nothing ever came of it. There's only so much faith you can muster up from within when every single outside force is collectively shitting on you. I wont get into a lot of detail, but I've had to deal with death, illness (not me, but my family), and other horrible things from a very young age, which probably contributed to my lack of faith.

I honestly wish I could believe in a higher power, one that is looking out for me and guiding me on a righteous path, but I can't. The world is too gray for that to be the case. If there was a higher power, I'm almost certain it is apathetic of us. They certainly don't give a shit whether we believe or not.

I do believe that there must be something more to our creation than the big bang, it's obvious that there is. If I thought that all of this came from nothing and happened by chance alone, I don't think I could pick myself up in the morning. There has to be something more, but I don't think we'll ever find the answer, unless whatever created us wants us to know. So, for me, I think it's pointless to look for these answers. All I can focus on is that I'm alive right now, and I will eventually die (as we all will). The thought of death occasionally frightens me (since I don't know what comes after), but I'm young and have yet to fully live my life. If I can live a long life with no regrets, I think I could come to terms with dying and there being nothing afterwards. I'm not there yet, but hopefully I can attain that.

Side note: the concept of heaven and hell is absolutely ridiculous to me. Just another worldview filtered through a black and white lens (good and evil). And if Satan was cast out from heaven into hell by God, why would he hate us and put us through eternal torture? Wouldn't he be the one entity in existence that would love people who sin? Wouldn't hell be heaven for evil? It makes no sense to me. And the fact that you have to believe in God to get into heaven is even dumber. How are we supposed to believe when you gave us free will? Maybe hint to us that you are there from time to time and I'll believe. Having to put all of my faith into a book written thousands of years ago by a bunch of people I'll never know, talk to, understand, and were sometimes ignorant asshats is not good enough for me. Maybe show us you're there every 100 years and more people will believe.

To end my rant, I think religion is fine for some people and not so much for others. For both sides, I say this: regardless of what you believe in, the outcome of your existence on earth and in this universe is wholly up to you and no one else. You own your life. You can choose to live it however you wish, or for whomever you wish (god or otherwise). That means the choices you make fall on you and you alone. But it's also important that we all can coexist with each other. So don't be a selfish asshole and grow some empathy. Everything will be fine if we can reach a mutual understanding.

Just a side note: I have noticed a lot of people are claiming to be agnostic when they really are atheists. Being an atheist does not mean the absolute rejection of the possibility that gods exist, it just means you don't believe in them. I seriously doubt any atheist would reject out of hand the mere possibility that god-like beings exist. I don't believe there are conscious rocks, but I haven't checked them all so how can I know for sure? I still don't believe they exist.

Really, the word "atheist" is kind of pointless. We don't have words for people who don't believe the earth is flat. Either you believe in God, or you don't. Those are the only two states there are. You're either a believer, or not. Labeling someone an atheist is just a way of grouping people together and enabling lines of arguments like "atheism is just another form of belief". No, it's not. It's a lack of belief.

One of my favourite quotes goes something like this:

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

With that said, maybe it doesn't need to be said I voted "No". I'm 34 and I am from Sweden. I work as a software developer.

I don't know whether or not to say yes or no....I'm a Buddhist, but do I subscribe to all the beliefs in Buddhism? Not really, but do I actively participate in it? Yes, at least according to myself. Meaning that I meditate and follow the Eightfold Path along with the Four Noble Truths. So you tell me, should I say yes or no? I may no go to a temple as other Buddhists do, but I consider myself part of their group.

30
Atheist
Software Developer (Just like everybody else is or aspires to be apparently)

@truthtellah: no probs winky smiley face

Jedi Knight - 26 - Oklahoma - Graduated with BS in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Applied Nanoscience

Pretty sure God is an alien and can't come back because we invent a new strain of the flu every year as an extra-terrestrial deterrence, and disperse it through the populace under the guise of a vaccine.

Nope, not anymore.

What if I told you I participate in my own religion...

Non-religious

age=44
gender= cis male
state= Massachusetts
university= not a student, but went to a Univ of Connecticut
major= Bachelor of Arts in English Lit AND Master of Science in Library and Information Science

Age = 46

Religion = Tarvuist - It's so easy to join!

State = England, UK

University = Degree in Computer Science, Post-grad qualification in Teaching (PGT) - all yonks ago.

@giantlizardking: Software developers are the architects, foremen and construction workers of the digital landscape. Code monkeys in cubicles are the modern version of workmen eating lunch a thousand feet up on those steel girders.

Never raised to religion, am an atheist, 28, male, lives in Idaho, does office work for a living.

I have friends who are deeply religious (Catholics, specifically) and other friends who, while not atheists, at least seem to not remotely give a shit about faith or attending a church. We discuss faith & spirituality as outsiders on occasion and I have interesting discussions with my Catholic friends now and again, but it usually doesn't come up.

Hope that helps.

I think that atheism and agnosticism are separate things and that you can be (and I am) an "agnostic atheist". Agnosticism is about claims to knowledge and atheism can be a specific rejection of theistic ideas. My agnosticism drives my belief in atheism - specifically in that claims to theological knowledge are beyond reasonable justification and require something called "faith". Perhaps I simply lack faith, but I think that concept is unsuitable for forming beliefs, since it can be used to promote any idea without rational justification. Agnosticism does extend past religion and into the relative nature of all knowledge, as you suggest with your ideas about the nature of belief and conscious rocks, etc.

I think a lack of belief is not enough to define the term "atheist" because without a-priori information about theism I could not possibly dismiss it. I think I take a more active personal interest in religion and philosophy than just having a lack of belief. Instead, I find various valid justifications of why I would dismiss religious claims to absolute knowledge. The Stephen F Roberts quote you chose demonstrates this in rejecting the other Gods a religious person is aware of through the influence of their own faith. Religious faith is a particular sort of belief. Although atheism can also be described as a lack of certain beliefs, I have encountered many more self-styled atheists that take a stronger (widely read, knowledgeable) stance than that of ignorance. Perhaps this is the difference between "strong" and "weak" atheists, or even a reason for calling yourself an "igtheist", or "apatheist".

@diz: What you call "agnostic atheism" is just atheism though. If you mean the word "atheist" should refer only to people who claim to know there is no god, that would be a very slim percentage. Most atheists have simply looked at the evidence presented, come to the conclusion that it is not compelling enough to believe in god and so, they don't. I think most atheists are generally scientifically minded, and one of the tenets of science is that it's bloody hard to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt that something does NOT exist. That is why the onus is always on the person claiming belief in something to prove they are right.

Now, if we are talking about the christian god, or any other deities described in the religions of the world... the stories we have about them are so flawed and full of contradictions that I feel confident saying they objectively cannot be true.

I have to admit you lost me a little on the way, but just to sum my point up: a theist is someone who believes there is at least one or more gods. An atheist is not that. That is all the word really means. There is no need to complicate matters really :)

Seeing the discussions in this thread, I feel compelled to elaborate on my terse original post. I'm 32 and live in Washington, USA. I majored in Comparative Literature: Cinema Studies.

I grew up in a protestant household and was for much of my youth very religious and actually kind of uptight in some ways. Not that I didn't have other reasons to be uptight, seeing as I was essentially that one kid that everyone else in school liked to bully. Boys, girls, upperclassmen, underclassmen, sameclassmen(?). Basically, my school life in K-12 was an emotional nightmare I'd rather not revisit. Anyway, when I was in high school, I really started having doubts about the whole Christianity thing, and as I got older and went off to college, I actually learned it was OK to just let that all go. Religion was never something that made me happy. If anything, it only contributed to those emotional problems I had, and when I learned to just push that all away, I ended up much happier for it.

Would I ever go back? No. Certainly not to Christianity or any related religion, at any rate. I don't believe that any god that demands unconditional devotion in return for salvation is worth my breath in prayer.

I'm saying that agnosticism and atheism mean quite different things. In my case one thing leads to another, but for other atheists that may not be true. I have met atheists who have felt burned by their religious upbringing and harbour resentment towards faith. I've met other atheists who are so certain of their case that agnosticism does not play a part in their belief. I think doubt is healthy though, which manifests itself in an agnostic outlook.

You are right in thinking that the scientific method is agnostic and that claims to absolute knowledge don't really exist within the relative nature of scientific theories. There are many flaws and contradictions too about scientific understanding, but we tend to accept those on the basis of "best evidence", rather than cling to any scientific certainty.

I don't think what I'm say is complex - only an accurate representation of the beliefs of a significant minority in this world. I worry that dismissing atheism as only a lack of belief demeans it somewhat, since there is usually a basis and justification to such a disbelief that surely entails alternative beliefs and thought processes.

@diz: I see what you are saying. I just.. hmm. I found this article which I feels explains what I have been trying to say far more eloquently than I could myself. I recommend reading it.

Myth: Atheism is a Denial of God That Requires Faith

I particularly liked this bit:

Once it is understood that atheism is merely the absence of belief in any gods, it becomes evident that agnosticism is not, as some assume, a "third way" between atheism and theism. The presence and the absence of a belief in some sort of god exhaust all of the possibilities; thus everyone either has or lacks such a belief. There's nothing in the middle.

I understand what you mean when you call yourself an agnostic atheist. My point is really only that that is practically implied already.

I don't think that it is implied, since (as that article points out) there are many existing "dictionary" definitions of atheism that talk about denying, rebelling against or rejecting God. Those definitions may assume that God does exist. The article goes on to say:

"Comprehensive, unabridged dictionaries use "disbelief in God or gods". When we take a closer look at "disbelieve," we find two senses: an active and a passive."

I agree that the use of agnosticism is misunderstood and that people can use it to sit on the fence over theism. That is not the usage I have used myself: I think the Greek stems "theos" and "gnosis" are evidence enough of the definitions and differences of these "atheism" and "agnosticism" words. I personally think concepts around gnosis are fundamental in understanding and justifying atheism though challenging the basis of religious ideas.

True enough, but I'd say your "agnostic atheist" label covers 95% of all atheists. It would be better to just call those atheists and the rest something else. I guess your definition is more clear, but I wonder if it wouldn't be better to just say you're an atheist and then explain what atheism means when/if you are questioned.

I'm a 22 year old male, from the province (basically the Canadian equivalent of a state) of Ontario, I am a psychology major.

I do not actively participate in any religion. I find it incredibly, INCREDIBLY hard to believe that there is a higher power, but I won't just make the statement that there is no god.

22 from Canada. I was raised Catholic but I don't believe god exists, and I find religion on the most part to be silly. It can bring good to people, but it also brings a whole lot of bad. Like people thinking they can only have morals with a religion, or hatred against groups of people. Religion in todays society is largely pointless imo. If there was evidence of god, or religion being real. I would of course believe it, but I still wouldn't follow it. God seems like kind of a jerk.

I'm christian I think. Most of the time.

And LSD can definitely change your perspective of what is set in stone and what is and what should never be.

<4

I think definitions are in themselves only labels and are relative, subjective and somewhat transient. I was only responding to your "original" side note criticizing agnostics, then saying "the word atheist is kind of pointless", because I think both words have valid meanings and can be used together. I hope I have shown this.

I don't think an appeal to the majority is rational, so think being quite specific is useful in these discussions. My use of the term "agnostic atheist" may make people think about the differences between knowledge and belief (and maybe the value of faith) in questioning my usage. I already mentioned alternative terms (igtheist and apatheist) that may encompass a broader group of atheists. There are more besides those, and then more alternative world-views that arise from atheist principles (i.e. absurdism, existentialism and nihilism, for example). Just like the many Christian denominations and their spectrum of adherent beliefs (or any other religion you'd care to name), not all atheists think in the same way!

Not believing there is a god is not the same as saying there definitely isn't one. You can comfortably call yourself an atheist by the description you just provided.

I get the feeling there are a lot of people falsely equating religion with faith.