Religion Poll

[Estu]

All of my polls so far have been in Server Chat but they've been getting progressively less server-related so I thought I'd put this one here. The poll options are bent towards Western religions since I don't anticipate a lot of people from other religions here (although TBH I don't anticipate a lot of people from any religions here), but if you go for 'other' please do tell!

Also, please no cheeky EQ gods. I appreciate that you appreciate Cazic Thule (I do too) but I'm looking for real life religions here and I don't think any of you are that big of losers.

My stance has been for a long time that there are no gods since we have no evidence of them and since the hypothetical world without them is simpler than the one with them, or alternatively that deciding that they exist raises more questions than it answers (i.e., Occam's Razor); much like I would disbelieve in Santa Claus, fairies, ghosts, and so on. Despite these somewhat flippant analogies, though, I recognize that believing in a god is somewhat of a different ballgame and don't look down on people who are religious. I am kind of annoyed by the hostile or superior stance some atheists, like Bill Maher or Richard Dawkins, take, though Dawkins is more serious about backing up his aggression with reasoning.

[baub]

Also, please no cheeky EQ gods. I appreciate that you appreciate Cazic Thule (I do too) but I'm looking for real life religions here and I don't think any of you are that big of losers.

Its my belief the dinosaurs believed in Cazic Thule































cause they have scales





























like iksars


































hi

[audacity]

lol @ Estu being disappointed in the first reply.

[Estu]

lol @ Estu being disappointed in the first reply.

more like UNSPEAKABLY FURIOUS :mad::mad::mad::mad:

[audacity]

Well for whats it worth, I'm like my enchanter, agnostic! Although...my EQ religion plays no role in my RL one o_O

[SlankyLanky]

i stopped beleiving in immaginary friends a long time ago. theres a big magic man in the clouds watching over us? come on now are we being serious. we are nothing but monkeys who dont (most of the time) throw our poop at each other. most religions copy each other anyway (for the short version watch religilous or zietgiest), whether its western or eastern crap its all the same recycled bullshit. any grown adult who beleives in any kind of religion that preaches a god damn mythical being is a complete moron. just because i find a wuarter in my pocket when im a quarter short doesnt make it a miracle, it means i probably didnt scoop it out of my pocket the night before when i stumbled home drunk.

[quellren]

^^ Slanky speaks truth.

[Trademaster]

Who knows. And more importantly, why does it matter?

If there is some kind of supreme being or beings out there, it's simple egotism to believe that they have somehow singled you out for surveillance.

Why does it take some future threat of punishment after death to convince people to not be dicks to each other? Has the warning of a horrible wasting death due to cancer stopped people from smoking? And we have better proof of that than some water-walking, wine drinking, cannibalistic, zombie.

[purist]

Let the "enlightened" 19-year-olds' opinions on organized religion begin.

[SlankyLanky]

Let the "enlightened" 19-year-olds' opinions on organized religion begin.

hey, im in my mid 20's. jerk.

[Trademaster]

There's enlightenment to be found here? I think of it more as time wasting while at work.

[SlankyLanky]

There's enlightenment to be found here? I think of it more as time wasting while at work.

maybe being enlightened is being able to waste time on the internet while being at work and getting payed.

[Trademaster]

I get lots of sun, I'm not that light. Hell, I'm working nights so I have all day to absorb solar radiation.

[SlankyLanky]

I get lots of sun, I'm not that light. Hell, I'm working nights so I have all day to absorb solar radiation.

i didnt mean to sound like i was making fun of you for having a job that you can browse the internet. that wasnt what i was saying.

[Trademaster]

Eh, perhaps I came across as stern when I was not trying to be.

yes work is pretty good. I am in an underground bunker, in a NASA Mission control looking office. The far wall is made up of 18 150 inch screens.

When things are smooth, I have all kinds of browse time. When something crashes my evening descends into hell.

[Fourthmeal]

I worship the Lords Crunchy, Melty, Spicy, and Grilled, who reign on their four thrones in that great Taco Bell in the sky. Believers will be blessed with short lines, warm food, and as many Volcano Tacos as they can stomach. Non-believers, unless they repent, will be forced to wait in a never ending line for all eternity, slowly starving. Blasphemers will burn in a giant vat of fire sauce.

[OngorDrakan]

Jesus welcomes you all into his home. Praise be the lord!

[Excision Rottun]

I don't follow no religion.

Bow to a DJ, worship the rhythm.

[Hasbinbad]

@OP -
Bill Maher is an agnostic. Dawkins is actually an agnostic as well if you take him at his word on Maher's show. He said that the existence of God was truly a question beyond answering, and that he could not say for 100% sure that there is no higher power, and as such would be an agnostic. Obviously he feels like an atheist, because he went on to say that it was probably as likely as the existence of fairies, but the lack of concrete dogmatic rhetoric resounding with the hyperbole usually implemented by believers and atheists regarding whether or not there is a higher power firmly settles him in agnosticism by definition, no matter how he tries to distort definitions of technical terms.

More on topic, I'm glad to see so many agnostics.

[mgellan]

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

* That we can live full, meaningful lives, without religious doctrines, by relying for rationality, honesty, cooperation, fairness, and respect for each other.
* That we use democratic principles, logic, and scientific inquiry to find realistic solutions to problems.
* That we foster good ethics, virtues and critical thinking in our children to help them grow to be decent, responsible and active members of society.
* That we protect and improve the Planet for future generations by scientific breakthroughs, in medicine and technology and by not inflicting needless suffering on other species.
* That separation of religion and state is upheld in all levels of government to ensure equality and fairness for all.

Regards,
Mg

[mgellan]

@OP -
Bill Maher is an agnostic. Dawkins is actually an agnostic as well if you take him at his word on Maher's show. He said that the existence of God was truly a question beyond answering, and that he could not say for 100% sure that there is no higher power, and as such would be an agnostic. Obviously he feels like an atheist, because he went on to say that it was probably as likely as the existence of fairies, but the lack of concrete dogmatic rhetoric resounding with the hyperbole usually implemented by believers and atheists regarding whether or not there is a higher power firmly settles him in agnosticism by definition, no matter how he tries to distort definitions of technical terms.

More on topic, I'm glad to see so many agnostics.

Dawkins is a scientist, and holds to a scientific mindset typified in the following quote:

In science, fact can only mean confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent. I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.
Stephen Jay Gould

Dawkins acknowledges there are no absolutes and if tomorrow someone showed up with proof for the existence of a diety, he would revise his opinion. But don't hold your breath :) I don't believe this represents agnosticism, which is someone who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. I think it's pretty clear there isn't any such thing, but then again if you prove the contrary, I'm forced to look at the evidence or I'm guilty of the same irrational dogmatism religious people are.

Here's what Wikipedia says re: Dawkins:

According to Richard Dawkins, a distinction between agnosticism and atheism is unwieldy and depends on how close to zero we are willing to rate the existence of any given god-like entity. Since in practice it is not worth contrasting a zero probability with a probability that is nearly indistinguishable from zero, he prefers to categorize himself as a "de facto atheist". He specifies his position by means of a scale of 1 to 7. On this scale, 1 indicates "100 per cent probability of God." A person ranking at 7 on the scale would be a person who says "I know there is no God..." Dawkins places himself at 6 on the scale, which he characterizes as "I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there", but leaning toward 7. About himself, Dawkins continues that "I am agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden."

Personally, I tend to align with the Catholic Historian Hugh Ross Williamson who admires the committed religious believer and the committed atheist. He reserved his contempt for the wishy-washy boneless mediocrities who flapped around in the middle. :)

Regards,
Mg

[Hasbinbad]

a distinction between agnosticism and atheism is unwieldy and depends on how close to zero we are willing to rate the existence of any given god-like entity. Since in practice it is not worth contrasting a zero probability with a probability that is nearly indistinguishable from zero, he prefers to categorize himself as a "de facto atheist". He specifies his position by means of a scale of 1 to 7. On this scale, 1 indicates "100 per cent probability of God." A person ranking at 7 on the scale would be a person who says "I know there is no God..." Dawkins places himself at 6 on the scale, which he characterizes as "I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there", but leaning toward 7. About himself, Dawkins continues that "I am agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden."
no matter how he tries to distort definitions of technical terms.

[sox7d]

christians are what the firiona vie server is for.

[quido]

I want to get down on my knees and please Jesus.

[fuji]

Matter cannot be created or destroyed, correct? So how did it get there in the first place?

I think our minds are very limited in thought and we can't comprehend something out of nothing, yet there has to be. It sometimes blows my mind if I think about it too much, then I have to lay down and smoke a bowl.