Agnostic and Atheist?

Hello my name is Mike and I am trying to do a survey for a class about religion. If you are a non-Christian (atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, scientologist, etc) I would be very appreciative if you could fill out this survey and e-mail it to me at [email protected].

1.Do you believe in god?

2. IF YES…What do you believe the character of your god is?
2. IF NO…Why do you feel that there is no god?

3.Do you believe in an afterlife?
4. IF YES…Do you believe in heaven/hell and if so how does one go to either?
4. IF NO…What happens to you when you die?

5.What is the meaning of life if any at all?

6.Who is/was Jesus of Nazareth?

7.Have you ever heard the message of the gospel?
8. IF YES…What do you think about it? Is there any truth in it?
8. IF NO…Do you try to avoid it, or have you simply never been presented with it?

9.What to you know about the God of the Christians? And/or what do you think about him?

10.Have you ever attended church?
11. IF YES…What denomination or religion was it? And what did you think about it? Did you enjoy it? Etc…
11. IF NO…Is there a specific reason why not? If so then what is that reason?

1. I don't know.

2. N/A

3. Dunno

4. N/A

5. To enjoy life and make it as satisfying as possible.

6. Some guy who was probably a little crazy, maybe homosexual.

7. No

8. I just don't care.

9. He seems kinda mean, killing children to get back at their parents and shit.

10. Yes

11. It was Catholic, I think, I don't remember. It was a long long time ago. I thought it was really shitty and boring. I went with one of my friends when we were young, and I had to go into sunday school with them, our teacher was a smelly sweaty woman. That's all I remember, I never went back.

1. yes

2. i dont know!

3. yes

4. i belive there is some sort of paradise in the end for the good. and a "hell" for the bad.

5. To reproduce. continue life. while living life enjoy it.

6. Jesus Christ- great powers. got into a fight with Mithra. he came out victorious.

7. nope

8. i'm scared of the truth 🙁 lol never herd of it.

9. Powerful. doesn't really care if you believe, he is tired of trying. everybody has their limits. abusing his powers. great sense of humor. (my thoughts)

10. yes

11. I think i have been to a Cath. church with my parents. didn't like it. they made us kneel alot. made us stand up. back to kneeling. really annoying. i have also been to a Christian church. same s*it.

Originally posted by KharmaDog
I'm a dyslexic agnostic, I often question whether there is a dog.

😂 That's good.

Does God exist?
Atheist: "Definitely not."
Agnostic: "I don't know."
Pragmatic Agnostic: "I don't know...but since there are practical benefits to assuming there is an Infinite Consciousness, I'm goin' with that, especially since, if I'm wrong, when I die I'll never know it."
🙂

That last position there actually known as the position of the stupid agnostic, it having no internal value.

I am almost sure that there is something "higher", but I really don`t know enough to follow any religion. I believe in limited telepathy and precognition because I have something close to evidence that such things exist.

I find the concept of all-loving, all-powerful God very naive- how can we measure the omnipotent with human concepts such as "love?". If there are any "supreme beings", it is more likely that they would be incredibly alien to us, like we are towards ants.

I am almost sure that there is something "higher", but I really don`t know enough to follow any religion. I believe in limited telepathy and precognition because I have something close to evidence that such things exist.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
That last position there actually known as the position of the stupid agnostic, it having no internal value.

Judgment w/o clarification...doesn't sound so bright itself and certainly comes across as quite anxious that there own position might be the one needing a second look. IMO.

Nope, merely contempt resulting from this being something that has already been clarified and argued about many times around here.

Quick summary: faith in a religion is only of value if genuinely held, not held simply as a 'get-out' clause. Believing in something 'just in case' is like a child holding crossed fingers behind his back trying to cover all options. It's just as childish, and it is just as useless.

It's a position that has received a severe critical mauling, all the way down to Terry Pratchett, who had someone who estolled that belief waking up in the afterlife surrounded by Gods with sharp implements who say to him "This is what we do with smart arses around here."

Douglas Adams rather more plainly puts it:

"This (idea), to me, suggests such a level of silliness and muddle that I usually edge out of the conversation rather than get sucked into it. If it turns out that I have been wrong all along, and there is a God, and if it further turns out that this kind of legalistic, behind your back, Clintonian hair splitting impressed him, then I think I would choose not to worship him anyway."

It is a position without any respect any more.

---

People should jusge by the facts, not perceived potential benefits. This is, after all, about truth. A comfortable lie is still a lie and there should be no respect for those who would deliberately choose ignorance because it is more comforting. Hence, an agnostic who chooses to believe in God for those reasons is actually at the bottom of the respect pile, below those of simple blind faith. At least the blind faith is genuine and sincere, not weasly and cowardly.

Originally posted by Ushgarak

People should jusge by the facts, not perceived potential benefits. This is, after all, about truth. A comfortable lie is still a lie and there should be no respect for those who would deliberately choose ignorance because it is more comforting. Hence, an agnostic who chooses to believe in God for those reasons is actually at the bottom of the respect pile, below those of simple blind faith. At least the blind faith is genuine and sincere, not weasly and cowardly.

So do I. But Socrates and Sarte would argue that blind faith is the same as leading an unexamined life, or living on "bad faith". So really, is that that much better than being pragmatic about it?

I really don't understand how anyone of intellectual stance can ever take that view (of the agnostic believing for the benefits). To choose to believe in something simply on a calculated logical equation that you would be better off that way is so totally anathema to the very point of having a faith in the first place as to defy all sense.

It's not REALLY belief at all, either.

Yes, I believe it is better.

Better to leave your life unexamined than to examine it and then consciously take a decision that rejects any value you got from that examination.

I was talking about you putting blind faith above simple pragmaticism. While religious pragmaticism really defeats the purpose, blind faith is somehow better? I don't really see this at all.

Well, I just gave my justification.

Blind faith is really something to be pitied.

Someone who has taken the time to think about stuff and then comes up with a dumb answer has no excuse.

Okay. So having no sense of examing your own life philosophy is somehow worse than coming up with a pragmatic one? Right. I gotcha.

Let me elaborate- I think it's equally foolish to make both wrong decisions and no decisions at all. However, at least the pragmatic has taken a step forward and analyzed some things. The person leading by blind faith never questions, and never knows. And while ignorance may be bliss, the unexamined life isn't worth living- if I may be cliche about it.

Well, there you go. My opinion is that a choice like that one is worse than not attempting to make a choice at all.

Originally posted by moonwalker741
Whats the difference between them, Agnostic and Atheism?

Blind faith is believing w/o reason other than, "Because such-n-such says so." It accepts w/o examination. IMO, this is what die-hard theists and atheists do.

My position is based on examination of the facts available, realizing my limits, and then saying, "Hmm...now what do I do?" So I start over at square one.

1. Putting aside for the moment what is meant by "God," the question is: Does God exist? Despite what theists and atheists might profess with absolute certainty, No One Really Knows.

2. Since I can't make a decision based on fact, what other criteria might I use? Being practical, it makes sense to adopt a philosophy which best gets one through life (the fine points of one's philosophy being dependent on what one is looking for).

3. Adopting a position of "God exists" (as opposed to, "He does not exist"😉 gives the following practical advantages...
I. A wider explanatory framework, which does Not have to contradict the universe as revealed by science but can supplement it (again, depending on what you mean by "God"😉.
II. An additional source of comfort and healing in times of loss and suffering.

4. In the final analysis: IF I am wrong and atheists are right--God does not exist; death = nothingness--neither of us will ever know it when we die. I can't be proven wrong. However, if I am right and atheists are wrong, I have the chance to say "Punk'd!". In either event, while alive, I have the practical advantages noted above.

Is this the answer for everyone? Of course not. Everyone's agenda is different.