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Post by Jacob on May 27, 2007 19:35:49 GMT -5
Why not make a post of my own? Okay. Why not.  I believe "believing" in a God isn't enough. Far too many beliefs say one doesn't need to be worthy for salvation, but it's never even practiced here on earth. One must always be worthy for something, as nothing ever comes for free. Especially forgiveness. in terms of what properly titled form of belief system i hold, i don't hold any. I was raised Presbyterian, but i no longer believe in it or any title. Titles conform to set ways, and from what I've seen, no practitioner of a faith follows what a title implies. Not only that, there are far too many "one true" religions out there, making me exasperated with all of them. I hold no belief. I only believe in myself and those around me. they are all we really have, and all that matter. |
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Post by Sock on May 27, 2007 19:42:58 GMT -5
Eh, I should probably post here xD
I'm agnostic. I don't apply myself to one religion or believe there's any way to prove one religion is true.
I like to believe in a God but not the usual God who has feelings and thoughts of it's own. Just sort of a power that caused things like the Big Bang to happen to Earth (I believe in the Big Bang Theory) and for life to form on this planet. I believe in Evolution and highly in Science.
I believe in an afterlife but not a Heaven/Hell duality. If we're going somewhere, I think we're all going there (even animals), despite what we did in life.
I have no problems with people of other religions so long as they don't try to cram it down my throat. Don't have any problems with my agnosticism, and I won't have any problems with your religion, whatever it may be.
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Post by laurensk90 on Sept 7, 2007 11:57:10 GMT -5
I consider myself atheïstic. I'd like to believe in a heaven, reïncarnation and all that other stuff, but when I just set aside my hopes and wishes of life after death, and take my knowledge of how the human mind works, I come to the conclusion that there cannot be a god, heaven, hell or afterlife.
However, there is a certain philosophy that says the different timelines happening in parralel universes are repeated, but each time with a different run of history, and I believe that to hold some truth. Or at least hope.
Edit: Just a question, what does agnostic mean exactly?
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Post by Craig on Sept 7, 2007 12:24:32 GMT -5
OK, I know this is a touchy subject, so I'm just going to kind of type what I'm thinking and see where it takes me. Obviously, tolerance is extremely important. I don't have anything against the beliefs of other people, because (obviously) it's their belief and I have nothing to do with it. So, my personal belief is that there is a God. I'm Catholic, and I could ramble on for a long time about the specifics of all my beliefs, but I know them well enough and most of you have heard them before, so I guess I'll go into more of... personal thoughts on the subject. I feel like looking at the world from face value, only believing what we see or what can be proved, can be depressing. Whenever I doubt my faith or wonder if there really is a God, I see the world as cold and harsh and very, very lonely. People are so good and real and alive that I feel like death cannot be the end, and while the limits of my human mind have no certainty of anything that isn't proven, I can still believe in heaven. I don't know what it's like, or even if it's a place or just a state of existence, but I'm convinced that life cannot simply just end. It seems like a lot of people will turn to God when they need something, or when something goes right. But if times are tough, or they don't get the response they think they should get, they get resentful and take that as proof that he does not exist. Personally, I believe that hard times are sort of like a test, just suffering we need to get through. Another belief of mine that is very... theoretical, is that all people are connected. I kind of picture heaven as everyone being joined together, keeping your identity but uniting and living through each other, experiencing and sharing everything. I don't know if that's a religious or just a personal belief, but it's nice to think about. Overall, I just feel like if there's no God or religion... what is there? What defines right from wrong? If nothing comes after life on Earth, then nothing matters; people would live selfishly and for their own personal gain. I think that morality in its most basic form is defined by belief in something more than we can see, something that means more than we can comprehend. |
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Post by laurensk90 on Sept 7, 2007 12:58:14 GMT -5
In my opinion, indeed, nothing matters. But everyone with common sense can define right from wrong.
If you want to know a really nice impression of heaven, read The History of the World in 10-and-a-half Chapters by Julian Barnes. Beautiful book, really makes you view religion from another angle.
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Post by Nimras on Sept 7, 2007 13:09:47 GMT -5
Just a question, what does agnostic mean exactly? An agnostic is a person who believes that it is impossible to ever know if God (or gods) exist or not. They believe that it can never be proven one way or the other, and to pick one or the other is simply a matter of faith. |
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Post by Enn on Sept 7, 2007 13:15:46 GMT -5
Just a question, what does agnostic mean exactly? An agnostic is a person who believes that it is impossible to ever know if God (or gods) exist or not. They believe that it can never be proven one way or the other, and to pick one or the other is simply a matter of faith. Well, that's strong agnosticism. Weak agnosticism is where a person doesn't know if God/Gods exist, but that it might be knowable. Also there's apathetic agnostics who just don't care, according to Wiki. :3 |
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Post by laurensk90 on Sept 7, 2007 13:24:29 GMT -5
Ah ok, thanks. |
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Post by kamikatze24 on Sept 7, 2007 13:47:05 GMT -5
An agnostic is a person who believes that it is impossible to ever know if God (or gods) exist or not. They believe that it can never be proven one way or the other, and to pick one or the other is simply a matter of faith. Well, that's strong agnosticism. Weak agnosticism is where a person doesn't know if God/Gods exist, but that it might be knowable. Also there's apathetic agnostics who just don't care, according to Wiki. :3 XD That would be me  I never understood religions, to be honest. Especially not Christianism, even though I grew up in a very faithful catholic family (well, from the fatherly side at least). I wasn't opposing religion like my brother did when I was a kid - I just never understood it. "How can the death of a man be more important than his birth? If he'd never been born, he couldn't have died, either" was just one of the many things I asked myself. Later, I figured it was just too bothersome for me to believe something I can't understand, so I changed my mind to "Ah well. I don't mind whether there's a god or not. Life continues anyway, no matter what I think." |
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Post by Enn on Sept 7, 2007 16:12:04 GMT -5
Overall, I just feel like if there's no God or religion... what is there? What defines right from wrong? If nothing comes after life on Earth, then nothing matters; people would live selfishly and for their own personal gain. I think that morality in its most basic form is defined by belief in something more than we can see, something that means more than we can comprehend. Well that's daft. I'm an atheist- I don't go around stealing or murdering or anything, and I know right from wrong. To think morality is only based on us fearing we have to be nice and good, else burn for all eternity or face similar punishment, is pretty depressing- just like you thought life without a God could be. I like to think that humans aren't as awful without religion as that, that we would know hurting one another is wrong despite whether we "had" to or not because of what a book tells us to do. |
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Post by Patrick (Forumerly Known As) on Sept 7, 2007 18:36:01 GMT -5
I'm an apathetic agnostic Partially because the name is cool. I don't think that religion is important, personally. I mean, I certainly respect those who believe in God and go to church everyday, but to me it's not a major factor. |
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Post by Luna on Sept 7, 2007 19:01:48 GMT -5
*Raises Hand* I'm an apathetic agnostic. I believe firmly in science and what it can teach. I get angry when people preach to me or scream that I'm going to hell. I believe religion can be a force of great good in the world, but it can also be a source of undeniable, tangible suffering. I don't often bring up my religious views for fear of being looked down upon (it's happened way to many times) or told that I'm just wishy washy. I personally don't care if there is a supreme being or not, if they exist then they do, if not then oh well. I don't need a higher power telling me how to live my life or with a carrot and stick approach of 'do this and you go to heaven,' I'm a moral person but I do those things because I simply see them as the right thing to do and don't expect a reward or even hope for one. Religion just isn't important enough for me to worry about, and if I turn out to be wrong and am punished for it then that just proves that there is no such thing as free will. Basically, "you can choose to have this yummy slice of cake, or this gun which I will then use to blow out your brains. It's 100% completely your choice, I won't influence your decision at all. So what's it going to be?" That's how I view that issue. Free will to choose your faith but if you don't choose the specific 'right' one you'll burn forever in horrible agony in Hell, not much of a choice is there. The sensible person will always choose the cake over death, it's pretty one-sided. Not meant to offend, that's just my view on the matter.
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Post by Tdyans at work on Sept 7, 2007 19:07:01 GMT -5
Zombie thread! Overall, I just feel like if there's no God or religion... what is there? What defines right from wrong? If nothing comes after life on Earth, then nothing matters; people would live selfishly and for their own personal gain. I think that morality in its most basic form is defined by belief in something more than we can see, something that means more than we can comprehend. Well that's daft. I'm an atheist- I don't go around stealing or murdering or anything, and I know right from wrong. To think morality is only based on us fearing we have to be nice and good, else burn for all eternity or face similar punishment, is pretty depressing- just like you thought life without a God could be. I like to think that humans aren't as awful without religion as that, that we would know hurting one another is wrong despite whether we "had" to or not because of what a book tells us to do. Nick, I think you're extrapolating a bit too much. Look at what Craig *actually* said vs. how you interpreted it. He said morality is based on something more than we can see-- he didn't say that "something" was God or fear of eternal punishment. Obviously that is what he believes, but he wasn't saying that everyone has to share that belief in order to have any morality. He was saying that the source of morality is intangible, something "more than we can comprehend", because yes, we all know right from wrong, at least on big things like murdering people, but *how* we know is another matter that's not so obvious or easy to pinpoint, whether you think that "something" is God or social norms or survival instinct or whatever. And there's no need for insults. Feel free to disagree with someone and state your reasons, but it's not necessary to put down what someone else says as "daft". |
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Post by Luna on Sept 7, 2007 19:10:45 GMT -5
Actually morality seems to logically come from common sense. Running around killing people for nothing or wronging people just doesn't make sense and it's likely to get people angry at you who will then end your own life in turn. Kind of like, "I'm not going to steal their stuff because then it's ok for someone else to rob me."
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Post by Crystal on Sept 7, 2007 19:20:04 GMT -5
Depending on what 'morality' implies, I suppose. Religious morality tends to include some things non-religious morality doesn't, and vice versa.
I'm seeing a great deal of the whole idea of 'believe or you go to hell' idea, but I'm a bit tired of explaining that. I suppose you could put it as less of 'you are neutral, either go this way or that' and more of 'you are screwed, here's a lifejacket, grab on'. The perspective is very different. XD
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