What are your religious views?

I believe in the Trinity of Worms. Basically we live underground and then sometimes go above ground to kill the ground walkers and then we scream to heal our allies and we control the Rift Worm and shit gets serious...

I don't know what I believe, and truthfully I never really give it any thought until I see threads like these.

I don't believe in any gods or heaven or hell or anything like that. I'm fond of the Hindu notion of reincarnation, but I don't believe in that either. I do think there has to be more to our existence than what we see in front of us though. I hope so at least. Simply ceasing to exist upon death is wholly unappealing.

Hopefully the singularity hits before I die. I doubt it will though.

I guess I should have read page 15 before I said people here have learned to tolerate each other's beliefs...

I believe it be nice if he did exists but I doubt it. Also people can believe in whatever they want just don't push you beliefs on me.

Raised Mormon but I'm agnostic in reality. I believe there is a God.....that's where the relationship ends in my view.

I always throw this into religious debates, but mainly because so many people still fall foul to it. It's useless to say you're "an agnostic". For one, the word agnostic doesn't relate specifically to faith ("In2010,PresidentObamacalledhimself“agnostic”ontaxcutsuntilhehadseenallavailableoptions"). You can be agnostic to the whole affair, but then you are simply "agnostic" to faith discussions. You're not "an agnostic".

Gnostic Theist - You KNOW a God exists. (often called LUNATICS)

Agnostic Theist - You don't KNOW but you live your life on the basis that a God exists.

Agnostic Atheist - You don't KNOW but you live you're life on the basis that a God doesn't exist.

Gnostic Atheist (probably the rarest) - You KNOW that Gods don't exist. (for the record - no you don't).

I'm a Catholic, and I have no problem with people of other religions or atheists, and I don't go around preaching to people on my beliefs. What pisses me off the most though are shitheads who actively attack religion and theists. People like that are next to religious fundamentalists in the list of pretentious assholes.

@bibamat: A lot of us who consider ourselves "agnostic" are agnostic to the origin of the universe, and our thoughts fluctuate between the beliefs of agnostic theists/deists/atheists. We tend to be open-minded about the origin of existence, and not to claim we even BELIEVE we know where we came from. We can't quite "complete the puzzle" to any set of belief, and therefore do not draw any hasty conclusions to the matter.

Agnostic Atheist. Evidence plox?

Christian

I am right and everyone that is religious is wrong because there is no proof God exists! Therefore, he doesn't exist /logical fallacy.

Religious people have been brainwashed from youth and all they do is just shove all their religious books at me all the time! I'm like, "Man, I'm atheist and refuse to recognize that members of my "lack of belief" also try and force their "lack of beliefs" on others. Also, God is a silly notion because I say so. Furthermore, God is absurd because bad things happen and I have not read any counter arguments made by St. Augustine or even attempted to understand the Christian point of view"

Lastly, religious people have no idea what laws and morals and ethics are because they act only out of fear of their God. I am not oversimplifying their beliefs nor am I looking at their beliefs in a fashion that does not take into account many of the teachings of said religious views. By the way, I want to state this definitive and unarguable fact, God does not exist.

Spaghetti monster. Derp.

(Insert assertion about everyone's beliefs here)

Also, God does not exist because you are crazy.

Disclaimer: This only applies to atheists that do this/say these things, as they are highly annoying and have no right to say such things :)

Atheist. I don't understand why religions should be more exeptable than any other mental disease. Tell me, how is it not okay to have two persons inside you but speaking to a magical creature that no one ever saw and all of our knowledge about it is based on some old books and scrolls is held normal by the general public? Any god is a disgrace to the human intelligence that very thing that separates us from the other species which dwell on this planet. And those who say I can't know for certain that god doesn't exist, which is true, but it shouldn't be considered normal to even pressume such things.

While I don't believe in any higher power, I have great respect for most organized religions as a powerful force for good in society.

It's scary to think about how those people out there that rely on religion to guide their behavior would act if they didn't have something to believe in or be afraid of.

@devilzrule27 said:

@theguy said:

This can never end well :/

Agnostic atheist here.

agreed and same

Like most, I'm agnostic athiest here.

I used to believe, then the whole religious industry got too much for me.

I bet most of these self-proclaimed atheists will change their tune when faced with death. Just say you're apathetic since you it always becomes a bit awkward when you realize how often they say "god damn it" on a daily basis.

@No0b0rAmA said:

I'm a Catholic, and I have no problem with people of other religions or atheists, and I don't go around preaching to people on my beliefs. What pisses me off the most though are shitheads who actively attack religion and theists. People like that are next to religious fundamentalists in the list of pretentious assholes.

Either that or their trying to bring the world into the 21st century? Unfortunately for me in an Irish family my parents chose to make me Catholic, so now officially I am lumped into the same category as all the paedo priests that destroyed many a life here in Ireland. Yeah no need to attack religion, it has a perfect track record. Let's not question anything it does and leave our children unattented with a bunch of paedos.

@Still_I_Cry said:

I am right and everyone that is religious is wrong because there is no proof God exists! Therefore, he doesn't exist /logical fallacy.

Religious people have been brainwashed from youth and all they do is just shove all their religious books at me all the time! I'm like, "Man, I'm atheist and refuse to recognize that members of my "lack of belief" also try and force their "lack of beliefs" on others. Also, God is a silly notion because I say so. Furthermore, God is absurd because bad things happen and I have not read any counter arguments made by St. Augustine or even attempted to understand the Christian point of view"

Lastly, religious people have no idea what laws and morals and ethics are because they act only out of fear of their God. I am not oversimplifying their beliefs nor am I looking at their beliefs in a fashion that does not take into account many of the teachings of said religious views. By the way, I want to state this definitive and unarguable fact, God does not exist.

Spaghetti monster. Derp.

(Insert assertion about everyone's beliefs here)

Also, God does not exist because you are crazy.

Disclaimer: This only applies to atheists that do this/say these things, as they are highly annoying and have no right to say such things :)

Yeah, but St Augustine's argument for the existence of evil is rather terrible. It's hopelessly dated and a tad sadomasochistic. His argument is actually what finally pushed me over to atheism. I mean come on, bad things happen because some chick happened to take a bite out of an apple 4000 years ago and we're all suffering because of that? The whole notion of original sin is unjustified, and just plain stupid, in the extreme. Rape, birth defects, the holocaust, female genital mutilation...you name it- God turning a blind eye to all this is his way of lovingly punishing the rest of us throughout history for Eve's little fruit fetish. Well, what a complete and utter dick he is if that's the case; talk about holding a grudge.

Oh yeah and natural disasters that kill millions? Naughty angels did it by jumping up and down on the spot in hell apparently...

His argument is simply offensive to any human being capable of rational thought.

Orthodox Christian.

Deism

I don't know whats a scarier thought, the idea of nothing after death, or that there is some judgmental psycho super being waiting at the end of this all to decide if I get to spend forever with out without him.

Definitely the psycho super being option.

I think religion is a beautiful thing ruined by flawed people. That's as good as I'll ever say to the internet about my religious stance.

@GooieGreen said:

I bet most of these self-proclaimed atheists will change their tune when faced with death. Just say you're apathetic since you it always becomes a bit awkward when you realize how often they say "god damn it" on a daily basis.

Sure, why not? Voltaire tried to.

@nail1080 said:

@No0b0rAmA said:

I'm a Catholic, and I have no problem with people of other religions or atheists, and I don't go around preaching to people on my beliefs. What pisses me off the most though are shitheads who actively attack religion and theists. People like that are next to religious fundamentalists in the list of pretentious assholes.

Either that or their trying to bring the world into the 21st century? Unfortunately for me in an Irish family my parents chose to make me Catholic, so now officially I am lumped into the same category as all the paedo priests that destroyed many a life here in Ireland. Yeah no need to attack religion, it has a perfect track record. Let's not question anything it does and leave our children unattented with a bunch of paedos.

What? Talk about shoveling words into his mouth and utterly misconstruing what he said. In fact, I don't believe he took any jabs at Atheists, just the ones who actively, irreverently, irrespectively assault the beliefs of others.

@Keyboardwarrior said:

@Still_I_Cry said:

I am right and everyone that is religious is wrong because there is no proof God exists! Therefore, he doesn't exist /logical fallacy.

Religious people have been brainwashed from youth and all they do is just shove all their religious books at me all the time! I'm like, "Man, I'm atheist and refuse to recognize that members of my "lack of belief" also try and force their "lack of beliefs" on others. Also, God is a silly notion because I say so. Furthermore, God is absurd because bad things happen and I have not read any counter arguments made by St. Augustine or even attempted to understand the Christian point of view"

Lastly, religious people have no idea what laws and morals and ethics are because they act only out of fear of their God. I am not oversimplifying their beliefs nor am I looking at their beliefs in a fashion that does not take into account many of the teachings of said religious views. By the way, I want to state this definitive and unarguable fact, God does not exist.

Spaghetti monster. Derp.

(Insert assertion about everyone's beliefs here)

Also, God does not exist because you are crazy.

Disclaimer: This only applies to atheists that do this/say these things, as they are highly annoying and have no right to say such things :)

Yeah, but St Augustine's argument for the existence of evil is rather terrible. It's hopelessly dated and a tad sadomasochistic. His argument is actually what finally pushed me over to atheism. I mean come on, bad things happen because some chick happened to take a bite out of an apple 4000 years ago and we're all suffering because of that? The whole notion of original sin is unjustified, and just plain stupid, in the extreme. Rape, birth defects, the holocaust, female genital mutilation...you name it- God turning a blind eye to all this is his way of lovingly punishing the rest of us throughout history for Eve's little fruit fetish. Well, what a complete and utter dick he is if that's the case; talk about holding a grudge.

Oh yeah and natural disasters that kill millions? Naughty angels did it by jumping up and down on the spot in hell apparently...

His argument is simply offensive to any human being capable of rational thought.

You haven't read the City of God, at least the Chapter regarding the fall of Rome, which states, first and foremost, that bad things happen to people (oversimplification of the argument) to keep us humble and appreciate the good things we have. He makes more points in that direction as well, I just don't remember them at the moment. I have no idea what you read, doesn't sound like what I read though. Also, the apple thing isn't an excuse for the bad things that happen to people. I'm not going to lecture you on Christian (or rather, Catholic, as that seems to be the direction you are headed) beliefs though..

Yes, some of Augustine's arguments and explanations may be dated, they are subject to the thoughts of the period in which they were written after all, but I wasn't touting him as the great mind that has all the answers for every question, I was using his arguments as an example of the many arguments that are overlooked or seem to be overlooked.

Furthermore, hopping the border to Atheism because of the arguments made by someone who is trying to explain why things happen? Not sure if you were joking there but that seems rather irrational..then again, I'm not here to judge your beliefs.

I'm not religious at all, I don't believe in God.

I have no religion. I feel that residing at the core of every religion is a disposition destructive to the coexistence of the human species – namely:

1. One should believe an idea without evidence.
2. One should take pride in and feel sensitive about ideas one has procured by way of point one.
3. One should take ideas procured by point one off of the table of rational discourse, and feel personally offended, given one's pride and sensitivity, by logical challenges to said ideas.

What's particularly perilous about this disposition, and about the notion of religious tolerance, is that ideas believed without evidence have no standard by which to determine their relative merit. This standard can never be morality, for these ideas are compatible with a morality preached by the religions out of which they are borne, and religious tolerance necessitates moral relativism. This means that all ideas believed without evidence, regardless of how incompatible, should be granted equal consideration and tolerated to the same degree.

But you'll notice a particularly intolerant class of people are the religious, for their ideas believed without evidence are inconsistent with other ideas, such as those of science and, importantly, those of adherents of other religions also believed without evidence. This inconsistency, intensified by a pride and sensitivity in one's ideas believed without evidence and an offense taken by efforts to criticise or undermine them, is what causes wars, genocide, crusades, inquisitions, and all manners of religiously motivated barbarism, and it's all sanctioned by God.

If you regard yourself as a tolerant, liberal religious person, then know that by subscribing to a religion and committing even one relatively benign instance of belief in an idea without evidence, such as "Jesus was reincarnated two days after his death", you are guilty of precisely the same infraction as those committing malign instances, such as "Homosexuals should be stoned to death". You are both merely believing an idea without evidence, and these are both ideas your gods have allegedly imparted to you. If you then proceed to be proud of and sensitive about your idea believed without evidence, if you demand it be respected and tolerated, if you are offended if it is subjected to rational discourse and criticism, then you are demanding the same rights for people who harbour ideas far more destructive to humanity, and you make these destructive ideas far more difficult to openly discuss and criticise.

The only way to be fair, and to tolerate every idea believed without evidence to precisely the same degree, is to reject all of them and to tolerate not one of them. Evidence is universal, and ideas substantiated by evidence can be shared by every human being without inconsistency and conflict. That is why I have no religion.

I was baptized and born Orthodox Christian, but I broke away in my rebellious teen years to LaVeyist Satanism of all things.

Today I'm an Agnostic Atheist but I also practice Satsang and re-discovering my Norse roots. Because vikings.

@GooieGreen said:

I bet most of these self-proclaimed religious-types will change their tune when faced with a high level science class.

I changed it to something just as silly.

lots of people saying "all religions are the same durrrrr"

I say this as an agnostic atheist, buddhism owns

@TheFreeMan said:

@GooieGreen said:

I bet most of these self-proclaimed religious-types will change their tune when faced with a high level science class.

I changed it to something just as silly.

You'd think they would, too! But after all, "faith is fact".

@GooieGreen said:

@TheFreeMan said:

@GooieGreen said:

I bet most of these self-proclaimed religious-types will change their tune when faced with a high level science class.

I changed it to something just as silly.

You'd think they would, too! But after all, "faith is fact".

"I'm going to trial because you don't understand what a blooper reel is? GUARDS!"

Atheist. Not into religion. My usual comment on religion is: None exist, what's the deal?

I don't really care if he exists, I just care about the purpose of his existence, whether it be created or absolute truth.

I have none at all. Sort of wish I did at times.

But yes live and let live. Too many atheist are taking it upon themselves to destroy all forms of religion because of the destructive powers of extremism. They forget about the quiet and personal belief in god that is a comfort to so many. Also while we can't prove that God exists we cannot prove otherwise either.

@VetleNM said:

I'm as atheist as they come, although I had somewhat of a Christian upbringing and the one half of my family are Jehova's Witnesses (and absolutely brainwashed, sadly).

The same here, my friend. Now, I'm a nihilist. And a recovering alcoholic.