How Much of a Theist or Atheist are You?

[Divine Wind]

5 Reasons Why I Hate Religious Christianity | The Huffington Post

People who aren't bitter don't hate.

Agreed.

People who hate usually have deeper psychological issues. Many times those issues involve self-loathing, unhappiness and other misery that causes them to lash out at others to spread their misery.

 

[sealybobo]

5 Reasons Why I Hate Religious Christianity | The Huffington Post

People who aren't bitter don't hate.

Agreed.

People who hate usually have deeper psychological issues. Many times those issues involve self-loathing, unhappiness and other misery that causes them to lash out at others to spread their misery.

That's what christians do! LOL



Spreading their joy.

And I don't hate anyone. Hate is an awfully harsh word but so is eternal damnation.

You have to see the movie Brimstone. Best preacher ever!

 

[sealybobo]

5 Reasons Why I Hate Religious Christianity | The Huffington Post

People who aren't bitter don't hate.

Agreed.

People who hate usually have deeper psychological issues. Many times those issues involve self-loathing, unhappiness and other misery that causes them to lash out at others to spread their misery.

WAAAAH. Don't come to a thread like this and get all sensitive. If you were on the street I'd leave your gullible ass alone. I would just secretly be praying the dumb out of you all just like I do in church this weekend.

 

[Divine Wind]

...And I don't hate anyone. Hate is an awfully harsh word but so is eternal damnation....

Disagreed you don't hate. Clearly you do.

Example:

WAAAAH. Don't come to a thread like this and get all sensitive. If you were on the street I'd leave your gullible ass alone. I would just secretly be praying the dumb out of you all just like I do in church this weekend.

As for eternal damnation, I agree that no true all-loving, all-merciful power would do such a thing. That's just mankind's interpretation like calling thunderbolts the anger of Zeus.

 

[sealybobo]

...And I don't hate anyone. Hate is an awfully harsh word but so is eternal damnation....

Disagreed you don't hate. Clearly you do.

Example:

WAAAAH. Don't come to a thread like this and get all sensitive. If you were on the street I'd leave your gullible ass alone. I would just secretly be praying the dumb out of you all just like I do in church this weekend.

As for eternal damnation, I agree that no true all-loving, all-merciful power would do such a thing. That's just mankind's interpretation like calling thunderbolts the anger of Zeus.

I don't hate the sinner i hate the sin

 

[Cecilie1200]

The first time I heard of a scale being around was through Richard Dawkins, one of the founders of the New Atheism group. Since I do not have a differing widely known scale, I use his. He's eliminating other beliefs and the like for those whose beliefs lie elsewhere, so I include "Other" in my poll.

1. Strong Theist: I do not question the existence of God, I KNOW he exists.
2. De-facto Theist: I cannot know for certain but I strongly believe in God and I live my life on the assumption that he is there.
3. Weak Theist: I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.
4. Pure Agnostic: God’s existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable.
5. Weak Atheist: I do not know whether God exists but I’m inclined to be skeptical.
6. De-facto Atheist: I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life under the assumption that he is not there.
7. Strong Atheist: I am 100% sure that there is no God.

If this has been posted before, then please forgive. I did a search and did not find.

They should have included "Evangelistic Atheist", the people who are so convinced that they're right about His non-existence that they feel compelled to go out and preach their beliefs and try to convert people to agree with them, which always seemed like an utterly pointless effort to me.

 

[Cecilie1200]

4. Pure agnostic. It's the thinking person's position.

Agnostic is derived from the word ignorant.
So no, while agnostic is about thinking, a thinking person must seek the truth and find it.

A thinking person must also accept that there may never be any "finding of truth" in this matter. Sometimes, the smartest position to hold is the recognition that you're ignorant.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I don't understand how a person can claim to "know", one way or the other.

There can be no 100%. No God believer will be truthful if they say they never have questioned. But many athiest swill tell they know they are 100% certain.

Well, it's an ideology, one way or the other. And part of being an ideologue is literally talking yourself into something you'd otherwise know isn't true.
.

I'm an engineer, it got down to statistical probabilities using the evidence available. And when you get to 99.99999998% you go with it, no matter how uncomfortable the answer is.

. . . And you're nowhere near that on the subject of God. The problem with atheists is that they view no-evidence as evidence, and jump to a conclusion from there.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Well, it's an ideology, one way or the other.

I didn't realise lack of knowledge was an ideology.

Anything can be an ideology, if you're fanatical enough about it.

 

[Mudda]

4. Pure agnostic. It's the thinking person's position.

Agnostic is derived from the word ignorant.
So no, while agnostic is about thinking, a thinking person must seek the truth and find it.

A thinking person must also accept that there may never be any "finding of truth" in this matter. Sometimes, the smartest position to hold is the recognition that you're ignorant.

Is that where you're at?

 

[sealybobo]

The first time I heard of a scale being around was through Richard Dawkins, one of the founders of the New Atheism group. Since I do not have a differing widely known scale, I use his. He's eliminating other beliefs and the like for those whose beliefs lie elsewhere, so I include "Other" in my poll.

1. Strong Theist: I do not question the existence of God, I KNOW he exists.
2. De-facto Theist: I cannot know for certain but I strongly believe in God and I live my life on the assumption that he is there.
3. Weak Theist: I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.
4. Pure Agnostic: God’s existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable.
5. Weak Atheist: I do not know whether God exists but I’m inclined to be skeptical.
6. De-facto Atheist: I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life under the assumption that he is not there.
7. Strong Atheist: I am 100% sure that there is no God.

If this has been posted before, then please forgive. I did a search and did not find.

They should have included "Evangelistic Atheist", the people who are so convinced that they're right about His non-existence that they feel compelled to go out and preach their beliefs and try to convert people to agree with them, which always seemed like an utterly pointless effort to me.

Well it's not. Turns out a lot of people out there are/were/have been struggling with this and it's nice running into like minded people. Or to run into someone who thinks they believe but they have such a problem with the conflicting feelings they are having but never had anyone else to talk to. I only wish I could have got to my gay neighbor who killed himself because he believed being gay was a sin. He would have been much better off becoming fabulous and embracing who he is.

I never preach to someone who says they believe in god. If they tell me they believe in god I stop talking. But if they give me that window where they admit not being that religious but at the same time claiming to be a christian. No you are not. Just because you were born into it and go to church on Easter doesn't make you a christian. You have to believe what Christians believe in order to be called a Christian, right? But the church isn't that picky when a ton of people show up with money to put in the hat. Who cares what they actually believe. It's more of a social group than a religion. For example a lot of atheist Jews. Their culture is Jewish but they themselves don't believe in god. It is possible to be a jew and an atheist. Did you know?

Anyways, this is the part of the argument where theists resort to guilt. They say we are mean, hurtful, must be bitter. This is a tactic because logically they got nothing.

Why can’t atheists just leave theists alone?

• Because religion has been, and continues to be, responsible for countless horrors throughout human history. See also: Religiously motivated animosity, violence and oppression and discrimination.
• For all the problems we face as a society, many theists choose not only to do nothing to help, but actually engage in sabotage by actively preventing solutions from being instigated, usually by supporting irrational political positions e.g. stem-cell research, contraception, women’s rights, sexual equality and even global warming.
• Because belief in a god taps into mankind’s natural tendency to defer moral decision making to authority figures (including priests, prophets, holy books, popes, ayatollahs and imams). Acting out ‘God’s plan’ or ‘God’s will’ is a sure-fire way to absolve one’s-self of responsibility for one’s actions. See also: Cituke.
• Because as a functional member of society it benefits everyone if your decision making process is founded on evidence and reason, not on superstition. Faith isn’t a virtue; it is the glorification of voluntary ignorance.
• Because religious superstition erects an absolute monarchy in a person’s mind. It teaches them to be satisfied with with not understanding the world and represents a surrendering to ignorance under the pretension of ‘devine knowledge’. Many of the greatest thinkers in human history have been repressed, sometimes forcefully, by those with faith. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. See also: Hypatia, Galileo Galilei, Giordano Bruno, The relationship between science and religion.

Note: The common theist response “Those people aren’t really [insert religion]” is an example of the No True Scotsman fallacy. If all the Christians who have called other Christians ‘not really a Christian’ were to vanish, there’d be no Christians left.

See also: The Ethics of Belief (a must read).

“Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions.” – Blaise Pascal

“No belief held by one man, however seemingly trivial the belief, and however obscure the believer, is ever actually insignificant or without its effect on the fate of mankind” – William Clifford

 

[sealybobo]

4. Pure agnostic. It's the thinking person's position.

Agnostic is derived from the word ignorant.
So no, while agnostic is about thinking, a thinking person must seek the truth and find it.

A thinking person must also accept that there may never be any "finding of truth" in this matter. Sometimes, the smartest position to hold is the recognition that you're ignorant.

Is that where you're at?

I love running into like minded agnostics/atheists. Wish I would have run into you when I was 10 years old. Wish someone would have had an honest conversation with me about religion rather than lie to me for 30 years until I realized I'm not alone or evil.

 

[sealybobo]

...And I don't hate anyone. Hate is an awfully harsh word but so is eternal damnation....

Disagreed you don't hate. Clearly you do.

Example:

WAAAAH. Don't come to a thread like this and get all sensitive. If you were on the street I'd leave your gullible ass alone. I would just secretly be praying the dumb out of you all just like I do in church this weekend.

As for eternal damnation, I agree that no true all-loving, all-merciful power would do such a thing. That's just mankind's interpretation like calling thunderbolts the anger of Zeus.

That post of mine doesn't prove hate. You guys are brainwashed. For example when you say things like, "you will be punished for rejecting god". I'm not rejecting god. I'm rejecting you and your preachers stories that god visited your ancestors. Do you realize how dumb you would have to be to believe a story like that if I told you a story about how god visited my ancestors and impregnated a virgin? Yet you expect us to take you seriously or give you any respect? Lets be honest, if anyone talks about god in public for more than 5 seconds everyone starts to get uncomfortable. Most people would not hire an overly religious person. And so really religion should remain personal. And yes I would love nothing more than for you to tell your children both sides of the debate. What you do now is tell them god is a fact when in fact he is not. I've seen your religious shows for kids. They are not having honest discussions with those kids. Sorry if this bothers me that we are holding ourselves back intellectually by remaining superstitious. I think if we are dumb enough to believe crap like this we are an easy species to manipulate. They've been manipulating us for thousands of years. Holding us back. I'm not angry or bitter. I just passionately think we need to improve before it's too late. For example, you believe in virgin births but not global warming, right?

I’m sorry if my insensitivity towards your beliefs offends you. But guess what – your religious wars, jihads, crusades, inquisitions, censoring of free speech, brainwashing of children, forcing girls into underage marriages, female genital mutilation, stoning, pederasty, homophobia and rejection of science and reason offend me. So I guess we’re even.

 

[Divine Wind]

...And I don't hate anyone. Hate is an awfully harsh word but so is eternal damnation....

Disagreed you don't hate. Clearly you do.

Example:

WAAAAH. Don't come to a thread like this and get all sensitive. If you were on the street I'd leave your gullible ass alone. I would just secretly be praying the dumb out of you all just like I do in church this weekend.

As for eternal damnation, I agree that no true all-loving, all-merciful power would do such a thing. That's just mankind's interpretation like calling thunderbolts the anger of Zeus.

I don't hate the sinner i hate the sin

Disagreed. You, like other religious fanatics, have made it abundantly clear you hate people who think, act and believe differently than you do. You're not alone in doing that, sir, but you are certainly no different than those religious hypocrites you hate so much.

 

[Divine Wind]

Disagreed you don't hate. Clearly you do....

....For example when you say things like, "you will be punished for rejecting god"....

I've never said that and never would. Quote me or be known as a low-down scumbag lying hypocrite. Betcha a $25 Gold membership you can't!

 

[Divine Wind]

Well, it's an ideology, one way or the other.

I didn't realise lack of knowledge was an ideology.

Anything can be an ideology, if you're fanatical enough about it.

Ideology is good if it's logical. Fanaticism is not because fanaticism is emotional, not logical.

 

[Foxfyre]

Well, it's an ideology, one way or the other.

I didn't realise lack of knowledge was an ideology.

Anything can be an ideology, if you're fanatical enough about it.

Ideology is good if it's logical. Fanaticism is not because fanaticism is emotional, not logical.

Illogical or irrational or knee jerk conditioned. One or the other. But when it comes to matters of faith and/or those who embrace matters of faith, some who reject that do so with equal fanaticism.

 

[Divine Wind]

Illogical or irrational or knee jerk conditioned. One or the other. But when it comes to matters of faith and/or those who embrace matters of faith, some who reject that do so with equal fanaticism.

Agreed. Atheists can be as fanatical as theists.

 

[sealybobo]

...And I don't hate anyone. Hate is an awfully harsh word but so is eternal damnation....

Disagreed you don't hate. Clearly you do.

Example:

WAAAAH. Don't come to a thread like this and get all sensitive. If you were on the street I'd leave your gullible ass alone. I would just secretly be praying the dumb out of you all just like I do in church this weekend.

As for eternal damnation, I agree that no true all-loving, all-merciful power would do such a thing. That's just mankind's interpretation like calling thunderbolts the anger of Zeus.

I don't hate the sinner i hate the sin

Disagreed. You, like other religious fanatics, have made it abundantly clear you hate people who think, act and believe differently than you do. You're not alone in doing that, sir, but you are certainly no different than those religious hypocrites you hate so much.

I don't hate my dad, brother and nephews. GTFU with that shit. Hate? Hah! This is just you getting sensitive because you can't argue your faith rationally and logically. You can't prove it. So you fall back on turning this into a personal thing. I must be angry or bitter. Well that's better than 100 years ago you would have said that was SATAN doing it.

 

[sealybobo]

Disagreed you don't hate. Clearly you do....

....For example when you say things like, "you will be punished for rejecting god"....

I've never said that and never would. Quote me or be known as a low-down scumbag lying hypocrite. Betcha a $25 Gold membership you can't!

Quote me saying I hate anyone for their religious beliefs. If not you will be known as a low down scumbag lying hypocrite.

I hate the sin not the sinners. I feel sorry for you ignorant fools. And you're holding us back as a species.

Has religion interfered with the advancement of humankind more than it has contributed to it?

the Dark Ages refers to a period of roughly 1,000 years during which the science of the ancient Greek and Roman societies was forgotten, discouraged, and suppressed by medieval Christians. By placing their "holy" book above all else and fighting anything that was not consistent with it, early Christians set back scientific progress approximately 1,000 years.

What is even more troublesome than losing the advances of the ancients to early Christians' war on reality is that there are Christians today working toward similar ends. Recall that opposition to modernism and anti-intellectualism are key components of Christian extremism. The result is that we have a politically influential movement in the United States opposing education, battling science, and working to prevent equality for women, LGBT persons and many other groups.

You know who makes me mad? Nancy Reagan. She was against stem cell until Ronny got Alzheimers. She was against gays before she found out her son was gay. And I'm sure religion played a part in her initial ignorant positions.

If you guys are offended, don't come to a thread like this. You will run into extreme atheists like me.