Are You An Atheist?

[peelover]

If not, how religious are you?

EDIT: By religious I mean going to services or doing something which you otherwise would not do.

[KittenAB]

I believe there are gods ... don't know what they are and won't pretend to know what happens when we die, I am very religious and named my guesses the same as the ancient Egyptians and I hope their's is the closest to what really happens.

[abmike83ita]

before I was christian but after some things happened to me i started to think about religion and I realize that notthing exist and the christianism (the religion I was before) say many thing that make contrast whit other thing that this religion say, it have some nonsense things

[Jabez]

I've always held the notion of a higher power.. but the degree of which has varied throughout my life. When I was younger, I was far more religious than I am now. Things happened and I strayed. A lot of my own conflict has to do with my thoughts on the morality of some of my thoughts and feelings... which is why I try not to give it a whole lot of thought since it depresses me. But that being said, I still adhere to a set of morals and ethics that I do try to live by, while still believing in a higher power.

[toon]

the results bother me. The question does too.....how religious am I?! On what scale do you poll that?

I personally believe in knowledge. I have read the bible. I've read the Koran. I've studied many different beliefs

before I came up with my own belief system. Do I push my beliefs on others? No because I feel it is a personal

relationship between my God and myself. Also I hate it when someone pushes theirs on me. I do not believe in

doing things to others I wouldnt want done to me. I've gone to a christian church for a long time when I was younger.

I was saved and baptised and baptised in spirit. I took bible studies....I went to temple with a very good jewish buddy

of mine and asked questions and compared notes. I've studied some occult and I believe in the afterlife and the devil

and the demons and the angels.

how religious am I? show me a scale I can judge by.

I dont believe in church. I dont believe you have to go to another person to get a message from your higher power because

if you need an answer to a question you should ask yourself and believe me it will come to you. I dont believe there are any

other human beings closer to "God" than any one of us. I wont confess anything to a fellow man because I think its just

better kept between my higher power and myself. In my opinion when Jesus said to give ten percent he meant of yourself,

your soul, your thoughts....I dont think he really wanted your money.

I also think its foolish to not consider how many times the bibles we the public see have been edited so many times to keep

order among people by popes and kings.

I hate the debate between science and religion because....and it just might be me but I always thought God works through science.

To every action is a consequence and once you start something in motion you'll always have a conclusion.

how religious am I?

I believe in a higher power. I believe in the afterlife. I believe Jesus Christ was a prophet and I believe in doing unto others as you would

have done unto yourself.

how religious does that make me?

are you religious enough to judge me?

[toon]

before I was christian but after some things happened to me i started to think about religion and I realize that notthing exist and the christianism (the religion I was before) say many thing that make contrast whit other thing that this religion say, it have some nonsense things

LOL christianism sounds like an epidemic!! I think you were searching for "christianity".

[Impulsive]

i am an atheist..but im open minded, once i see proof .. ill believe

[DailyDi]

Christian, but don't believe in organized religion (Catholics, Baptists, etc...) as they stray too much into politics and money. My relationship is with God not the southern conventions.

[daddy_tom]

i am an atheist..but I'm open minded, once i see proof .. ill believe

I think you can identify with being agnostic. I'm with you on that, i can't say there isn't some form of a god, but also i can't say there is. if a high power revealed it's self than of course i would have no choice but to acknowledge it, however i definitely wouldn't worship it.

[diaperguy]

I'm like Daily Di. I dont believe in organized religion. Just a money racket. And have a hard time believing something that was writen thousands of years ago. Remember the game in school where the teacher said one thing. Then when it got around it was something totally different. There ya go. I believe in a higher power.

[sarah_ab]

I"m atheist...

however i am confortable enough with myself to acknowledge i make mistakes, so just in case, on my death bed i want a religious leader from all the major belief systems to be there to absolve me of sin, induct me into their faith etc...etc... so IF i am wrong, i'll get into the good afterlife! lol and IF i am right, then it doesn't really matter, cause there won't be anything once i die...

[abmike83ita]

LOL christianism sounds like an epidemic!! I think you were searching for "christianity".

LOL, sorry dude, my english is not good at the moment

[toon]

LOL, sorry dude, my english is not good at the moment

no harm no foul i just thought it was funny

[Dougie]

I'm not religious. I am spiritual. I know there is something after this life, but I'm not sure what. I do know our spirits exist after we die. There is too much evidence to not believe there is not something after this life.

[diaperpt]

I am very religious...being an ordained minister. I am Christian and feel bad for those who feel Christianity has failed them - it probably has, but I'd prefer to think it was the humans in that particular church who failed them and not God. That's a tough distinction to make when you're on the receiving end of whatever crap is being dealt. Still, the bad stuff of religion comes from people who are bad...not God. None of us are perfect and some are much worse than average. A lot of evil stuff gets perpetrated by people in places of power and influence whether in the church, in schools, in government or in business. Sadly, religion gets at least its share!

For those who have been in one branch of Christianity and have felt it fail them, know that there are vastly different outlooks on faith and life from church to church. If your church has points of view that bother, annoy, or drive you crazy, know that there are other denominations out there that feel differently. (To me, this is NOT a failing of the church, but rather a way of getting different human views out there - To me, a good Christian is one who listens at a lot of point of view (not JUST his/her pastor/priest), reads the Bible, thinks, prays, and comes to their own relationship with God. Not only are there a LOT of differences within Christianity - and even within particular denominations - but I think there are many ways for those who seek God to find what they are looking for. I am NOT one of those who feel I'm the privileged one to go to 'heaven'; instead, I think God has some good stuff for all of us in a 'next life' regardless of who we are. I don't pretend to get it - all the details, that is - but I believe it's true.

Whatever faith you may follow, I think you should go in with your eyes open and ready to question anything you need to question. If it seems fake, it may well be. If the powers that be don't seem to want to be questioned, or feel they have all the answers, I'm not sure I'd be happy with that. You need to find a way to worship and feel close to God in a way that feels right and comfortable for you.

All this said, even if you don't believe in God as such, I'd hope you'd look to whatever good there might be in the universe, this world, in nature, or within human beings - and treat that good as something worthy. While I don't particularly believe in this myself, a minister I respect greatly has come to feel that the only God that exists, exists within each of us. Even if that is true, is that so bad? Of course there are a lot of miserable mean people - but I still believe that there is some good deep down there somewhere in each of us.

If you want to reject everything I've said here, I guess you've checked atheist in the poll and aren't really interested in reading what I've said. That's OK. I might still get along with you really well...if we avoid discussing religion (and, oh, maybe politics!).

[Bettypooh]

Basically protestant with a huge dose of reality tossed in You really don't want to go here with me When the truth is revealed you won't be able to handle it and if you can, you'll end up like me

Bettypooh

[sarah_ab]

ohh maybe i should mention....

i am spiritual.. you can be spiritual while being an athiest, i've got a great book, spirituality for the athiest..

and i too am an ordained minister...

and i went to catholic school, both high school and univ.

[Guest NaughtyAshes]

God doesn't exist. Or rather, no omnipotent, omniscent, omnibenevolent exists. It directly contradicts the factual state of human life.

[Dougie]

God doesn't exist. Or rather, no omnipotent, omniscent, omnibenevolent exists. It directly contradicts the factual state of human life.

Do aliens exist? I'm not talking about beings from other countries either.

[diapergirl80]

I am completely and totally non-religious. But I have no urge to convert anyone else to my way of thinking. Religion is just too personal and too full of shades of belief and non-belief. It's something where I think you just have to make peace with yourself and forget the rest.

[PrincessDragonette]

I am an atheist. I do not believe in a god, I am not spiritual, nor do I think there is anything after this life.

[Yvhuce]

Southern Baptist. I believe athiests, Scientiologists, Mormons, Catholics, and perty much every non-Christian religion are going to Hell...

I don't attend church on much of any regular basis, due to a combination of mechanical troubles with my truck, fuel prices, and the fact that the church is literally on the other side of town (we're both located inconveniently outside of town, on opposite sides), and the congregation is cool with that. We're not really hung up on the rituals, and believe that the important thing is the bond with God. So long as you still have your faith and devotion, and honestly believe and are truthfully repentant for your sins, you're good to go. The one real ritual that's a bit of a requirement for us is baptism at an age at which you're self-aware, as it signifies one's devotion and repentance. This is usually a for-life thing, but anyone can choose to be re-baptized if they want.

In general, we get along with other Protestant Christian groups (my best friend's dad is a Methodist minister).

Catholics and us don't get along very well... I've had to attend some Catholic services for friends of the family, and they're just plain screwy... We think they've become more of a cult devoted to Mary and have strayed from the core of Christianity and are going to Hell for it. And generally, they think we're going to Hell, because we're not Catholic and don't worship Mary and all that nonsense...

We generally don't bother with trying to save anyone who doesn't want to be save... After all, salvation is a personal choice... If you wanna burn in hell, go right ahead... If not, and are truly sorry for your sins, you're welcome to join us, so long as you haven't rejected God. We view the rejection of God as an unforgivable sin. If you're not sorry for your sins, then you can't honestly repent, and thus are really just wasting your time and ours... Thus the church's anti-gay and anti-premarital/extramarital sex stance.

We also believe that suicides go to hell, too. This is simply because one can't honestly repent of something that hasn't happened, and once you're dead, it's too late to repent.

We believe only in God. There are no others. Anyone or anything else is a false god and should be shunned.

May not be PC, or popular, or particularly open-minded... But a religion that changes to accommodate sin is in the process of corruption... Some things are black and white, cut and dried...

[curiositykilledthecat]

I am a Born-again Christian, spirit filled and I guess if I have to pick a denominational label it would be Pentecostal, although I think 99% of American churches are just corporatist religious conglomerates. I am trained in ministry, just haven't stepped into my calling because I have many personal issues to work through first. I believe in only one truth, one way to Yahweh or Jehova, whatever translation you wish to use however as God repsects the individual's right to make their own decisions, so do I. I will always share my faith when asked, however I do not believe in beating someone over the head with it. I do not like most denominations because they are completely hypocritical, ignorant and have turned their faith into a political machine. My faith and my understanding of the Constitution of this country are separate and almost equally important to each other. I can understand how just as God allows people to choose to sin because he doesn't wish to manipulate them like puppets, our constitution affords the same rights to those who we may not agree with. I am strong in my faith though my studies have dwindled, would like to get that going again. I need to build myself back up because of the stress I'm enduring from external stressors. If people wish to play the logical fail of proving a negative then be my guess, if God doesn't strike people dead for not believing why should I or any church. In the end if I'm wrong, I just lived life as a better person then I started it, if you're wrong, well then there are far more consequences for that.

[AutieAB]

Do aliens exist? I'm not talking about beings from other countries either.

Dunno. But given sufficient time, technological developments and resources, we can theoretically find out. That's the difference between searching for God and searching for aliens. One is actually possible, with science

I'm an atheist and I can't believe that there's a god because the only things that suggest there is are some 2000+ year-old books and tradition. That's just not enough for me. Stories and habits != evidence. Was there a Jesus? Maybe. Was he a decent bloke in a time of not so decent people? Maybe. Was he murdered? Maybe. Was he the tangible incarnation of an intangible higher power? No, sorry, I don't believe that either.

[Total Trash]

I'm an atheist and strict materialist (no afterlife, spirits, etc.), but am fascinated by all kinds of religions and enjoy learning about them. It really scares me when people start taking them too seriously, though.