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Poll: What is your religion?

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31–40 of 368 posts

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#31
post #11

Interesting question. I have lot of theories regarding religion and I wonder if the HN community is interested discussing them. Just one question now (for Atheists): Why don't you believe in God. Do you have a good reason? Is it because it doesn't interest you? Is it because of a scientific theory that proved to you that God don't exist?

From someone raised in the Christian church:

I was taught from a very young age certain things about God and man: that God was all-knowing and all-powerful; that God was the creator of everything; that man was irrevocably prone to sin and therefore needed a savior; that God chose certain people to save; that heaven was the ultimate destination for those who were saved; etc...

As I grew older, I began to realize that other people had substantially different beliefs from the ones with which I had been inculcated. This was a realization only because I had been intentionally isolated from people who thought differently from my parents and educators. I noticed that what these different belief systems had in common was their moral program. All Abrahamic religions, and many others, prescribe how people ought to behave. But this moral program is not much different from common sense under conditions of abundance. The ways in which they differ are more interesting and are mostly tuned to ensure their adherents perpetuate the system.

So, with this in hand, it became readily apparent that the bulk of organized religion was a historical artifact from the time when peoples of old were figuring out how to treat one another (back at the emergence of what we term "civilization"). It is possible (and in my opinion, now necessary) to separate moral education from religious indoctrination since, ironically, much of the unrest in civilization is now caused by the differences in religious prescription rather than differences in morality.

Either that, or religious thought reeks of delusion and lacks any evidence whatsoever for what it claims. Seriously, I don't know any religious person who can demonstrate any reason for their belief other than indoctrination. Prove me wrong.

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#32
It seems disingenuous to mix Agnosicism with Atheism. Both are utterly different - one makes a knowledge claim (atheism) while the other is in a position of neutrality or indifference (agnosticism)

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#33
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally find existing religions I have looked at (mostly Christian religions) insatisfactory and haven't found the need to dig too deeply into what else is out there. I am fine with not knowing why certain things are the way they are without replacing it with faith. As I find with many atheists, I believe there may be some higher power, but it does not affect my daily life (outside of the way in which religious…

but I personally find existing religions I have looked at (mostly Christian religions) insatisfactory and haven't found the need to dig too deeply into what else is out there. You should take into account that those religions appeared hundred, yet thousands of year before you. They are custom made for the population of that time and they should have basic ideas that their brains can understand. So those religions may…

If you traveled back 2000 years with a helecoptor, or modern weapons, or a bulldozer - you'd be a higher power.

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#34

Missed Paganism (or 'Paganism/Newage', as I frequently see it, much to my annoyance). Also, I bet there's at least 14 people here who would fill out 'Jedi' on their census form.

Is Paganism a religion, or a large collection of (now defunct and poorly-understood) religions?

What are the ontological claims of paganism? Precisely which supernatural beings does paganism assert the existence of?

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#35
post #11

Interesting question. I have lot of theories regarding religion and I wonder if the HN community is interested discussing them. Just one question now (for Atheists): Why don't you believe in God. Do you have a good reason? Is it because it doesn't interest you? Is it because of a scientific theory that proved to you that God don't exist?

For the same reason that theists only believe in their concept of god, all the other options failed to convince them for whatever reason. We just have a higher standard of evidence, and nothing in the entire pantheon of theistic mythology has managed to sway us. Frankly this is less a reflection of the diamond sharp analytical abilities of the atheistic and more a reflection of the woefully inadequate nature of the theistic epistemology.

That said, what I'd like to know is why other people actually believe this? If you were to find your holy text in a cereal box and read it in totality now, would you truly think it a divinely inspired text? Or is it simply an ancient perspective hangover that has not diverted enough attention to it's structure to warrant a full critical analysis?

I expected even more of a skew toward atheism than I saw here, actually.

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#36
post #11

Interesting question. I have lot of theories regarding religion and I wonder if the HN community is interested discussing them. Just one question now (for Atheists): Why don't you believe in God. Do you have a good reason? Is it because it doesn't interest you? Is it because of a scientific theory that proved to you that God don't exist?

Quite simply, there is very, very little reason to believe in any type of "god". Sure, there's stuff we don't know. But trying to explain that away with some type of "god" thing doesn't cut it. I find it quite baffling that anyone can believe in a god, actually. I mean, surely the logical inconsistencies in pretty much all religions must bother you? And moving away from organized religion, why would you believe in a…

Quite simply, there is very, very little reason to believe in any type of "god". Sure, there's stuff we don't know. But trying to explain that away with some type of "god" thing doesn't cut it.

Quite good. We have a brain, we should analyze things and not only accept them as they are.

I find it quite baffling that anyone can believe in a god, actually. I mean, surely the logical inconsistencies in pretty much all religions must bother you?

A very good reason. The inconsistencies in religions are huge and spawn lot of doubts.

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#38
post #11

Interesting question. I have lot of theories regarding religion and I wonder if the HN community is interested discussing them. Just one question now (for Atheists): Why don't you believe in God. Do you have a good reason? Is it because it doesn't interest you? Is it because of a scientific theory that proved to you that God don't exist?

Well, this kind of question is usually asked when someone is trying to force me some specific moral rules or kind of behavior, based on an idea, that if I believe in God, I'm somehow obliged to accept some specific set of moral rules (not that there were just a single one) or respect authority of some church or so on. In that case, I say no, to avoid it.

Otherwise, it's just a personal feeling about an English word. Which doesn't have much meaning to me. I have some workable idea about what God should be for me, I can even believe in it, but I guess it wouldn't make any sense to you or anybody else -- and I still remain an atheist :-)

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#39
post #6

It's not hard to be atheist or agnostic and a Buddhist. It's fundamentally a very god-optional religion (though some traditions add them back in, like Jodo Shinshu).

Statements about the nature of reality arrived at through a mystical methodology conflict with scientific materialism even if no god is involved.

Perhaps so, but neither atheism nor agnosticism is equivalent to scientific materialism.

Re: Poll: What is your religion?

#40
post #32

It seems disingenuous to mix Agnosicism with Atheism. Both are utterly different - one makes a knowledge claim (atheism) while the other is in a position of neutrality or indifference (agnosticism)

as far as everyday life goes, would it make a difference? Being part of the religions usually means various changes to your routines
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