All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

Following on from http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/35328600-post55.html

So how would you identify yourself as far as theological beliefs go?

More to the point why do you feel that way? I'm sure we all have our reasons.

I'll start - per my vote in the poll I am an atheist, and to be more exact a Humanist for the very simple reason that while we don't have all the answers I see no reason to believe that there is any kind of deity. I live my life on the belief that it is the one life I have.

I find all sorts of discrepancies about religion and note that religions come and they go - note the myths of Greece and Rome, at one time those temples were alive with worshippers and now they are deserted. Such is I believe the fate of all the current faiths in time as the human race (hopefully!) grows in stature and grows beyond the need for believing we're immortal or using an imaginary figure as someone to lean on, pay penance to and in turn give credit for our achievements to.

I find that so often with the difficult questions in life like 'What happens when I die?' or 'How can I stop myself from dying?' or 'What happened to my family when they died?' we tend to look for answers and take whatever we happen to like the look of rather than reality - see homeopathy and psychics as two cases in point. I can't do that, I can't simply fill in the gaps that science has with whatever is most convenient, so I'm atheistic.

Stephen Fry puts it better than I possibly could.

Brian Cox, another Humanist along with Stephen Fry, makes a very elegant monologue in Wonders of the Universe.

Next please - no need to pick on other people's views, state your case and why and let other people do comparisons in their own minds.

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Atheist.

There is no tangible evidence whatsoever for any alternative.

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Atheist and proud of it :)

i will believe there is a god like person when he does something to prove he exists

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Theist. I'll explain why some other time though. Right now I'm preparing tomorrow morning's sermon. ;)

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I've put Agnostic ,i don't belive in a all powerfull deity but i do believe in the way of life that comes from the belief in one .Like it or not religion is what has given us a moral code ,most of our major laws ,stealing ,murder ,ect and when religions are stripped back to there roots they all pretty much have the same messages whether they are Hindus,muslims, Catholics

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atheist -i see no viable alternative
those who believe demand no proof they say they have faith ,im never going to be a member of anything that has that attitude towards proof .

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Wimp! ;)

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I'm looking forward to reading it - I promise not to rib you as relentlessly as I did on Facebook a few weeks ago ;)

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Agnostic with Christian (or is that just moral) err morals, I believe there is something there, but my mind is to scientific to think it could be a god or whatever.

I hope that we will have a civilised discussion in this thread. That no one feels the need to be abusive or the need to ridicule anyone because of their beliefs because it can be an interesting discussion without recourse to such behaviour.

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If we're all God's children, what was so special about Jesus?

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Best to avoid throwing questions like that into the thread, I could come up with a ton of them but no point. People will believe what they will believe and nothing you or I can say will change their mind and more to the point it's not our place to.

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I believe Ignition has stated the rules as I see them at least for the thread quite clearly, let's keep on topic please folks :)

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Theist, with doubts and questions - I don't know what I don't know, but I know I don't know (and this is not me trying to be clever, just trying to be honest).

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What does 'Jedi' count as :erm:

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I guess that would be Agnostic, as they believe in The Force... ;)

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Midichlorians, actually....

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Well it is a religion so it would be agnostic :).

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I feel you will be forced to find that out for yourself :)

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Atheist but with a deep respect to those who have used their faiths and religions for the good of others and for some of the most beautiful architecture and cultural heritage.

I quite deeply despise those who have used their faiths and religions to create hell on earth and to subvert and use minds to injure and kill.

And yes I do appreciate that atheists are capable of either behaviour.;)

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:clap::clap::clap: Yes sometimes I believe that religion is one of the greatest evils known to man. Christians used it against all other religions back in the crusade's and now Islamic fundamentalists do it now.

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That's what it's all about really from my angle too these days - showing respect to the people and their achievements even though you don't necessarily respect or share their beliefs. How very Humanistic of you ;)

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l am Agnostic and thats because of several very serious moments in my life healthwise l had a belief that l would come through it and l am not obsessed with religion but someone was helping me through this.

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Atheist I cannot believe in a benevolent diety given what I have seen in the past personally let alone what we all see on our tele's everyday. While I will support the right of anyone to hold and practice whatever belief they wish I encourage those I know to make the choice when they are old enough to be able to understand all aspects of it.

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the children of believers don't seem to have a choice though its thrust upon them from birth .

well that's the way this atheist see's it , i would like to see laws that stop people indoctrinating children into religion until their young minds are mature enough to decide for themselves .

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I felt the same when I had to be strong for my wife as she battled in vain against cancer.

I was going to vote atheist but after being reminded of this experience I'm going to abstain as I am not sure of anything.

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I'm an Atheist because there is no God. It was all made up. if there were a God he would do some of that magic that was all the rage in the old days.

I don't go for the he doesn't have to prove himself. I think if he's real and not made up then he won't have a problem showing himself. infact it would get him more votes.

I believe that there is no life after death. when you die you die. that's it.
no heaven, no hell, no nothing.
you just exist, and then you die.
no intervention of anything supernatural.

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Flawed poll - everyone believes in religion, there is evidences for it everywhere ;)

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Yeh, you'll have a hard job joining anything where God isn't mentioned somewhere.
like the scouts that my nephew has recently joined.

"I promise to do my best
To be kind and helpful
And to love God" :)

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Not unsurprisingly you've totally missed the point.

The question is "Do you believe in religion"? Of course you do. There are groups of people out there who claim to be religious so you are quite prepared to believe that religion exists.

That's just me being picky anyway as the poll is far too restrictive for most people to even consider answering it.

I'm not a follower of a religion however what I believe in is far more specific than the stated 'something' and I'm certainly no atheist so I can't answer any of them.

I'm a little puzzled at why someone with clear and obvious intelligence has created a poll with such restrictive options :confused:

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I was just saying that yeh, if you include joining the scouts and the local darts team because they put a God clause in their membership requirements. then yeh religion is everywhere, but you can probably discount those that lied to get in.

What do you want added?

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Who said anything about the deity being benevolent ;) nothing says he/she can't be in a bad mood and strike out with fire and brimstone on all and sundry just because he/she can (see the old testament for examples)

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I don't believe in any god, but I think in the past people use knowlegde and technology to scare people in to thinking that they are gods.

Where these people came form though is a different story.

Nowadays religion is used by some groups whom corrupt it to their own way of thought to start fights rather than stop them.

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I am an Atheist but would never try to impose my views on anyone else.

One of my oldest, and dearest friends retired at 52 from his position as a University Professor. He was then ordained in to the United Reform Church and was a practicing Minister for over 40 years up to his death last year. Over the years the discussions we had about God and Religion never changed my views or caused his to waiver. He was one of the gentlest, strongest, good men I have ever known but I do not believe he would have been any different if he did not have God in his life.

One thing he did say was that he believed in a Benevolent God and that such a God would not judge a person by who he worshiped but by how he lived his life, and to believe other wise was to damn legions of human beings that were born and died before 'God' was worshiped.

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So true - and equally true of any person.

Judge a person by their behaviours, not by a label.

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Muslim... you're all going to hell.................

---------- Post added at 14:52 ---------- Previous post was at 14:51 ----------

Joke

---------- Post added at 14:53 ---------- Previous post was at 14:52 ----------

And yes I am religious, and agree with joglynne and Hugh above in terms of judging people.

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you just misread it its agnostic not antagonistic ;)

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It's not what I *want* added (lest anyone suggest someone who has faith in God is 'demanding' something be changed to suit them...), but if I was going to contribute to the poll, then I would have preferred the options to be along the lines of:

• Follow a particular faith and insist everyone else does too
• Belong to a religion/religious organisation
• Have faith in a deity's existence and attempt to live your life that way
• Don't believe in anything specific but are sure some higher power exists
• Don't care either way
• Pretty sure there is no deity.
• Firmly believe/am convinced there is no deity
• Dislike anything connected with religion/faith/spirituality and want all traces of it removed from society because I disagree with/misunderstand it.

Going on all the opinions and views I've seen, heard and read over the years, I think that covers all eventualities.

My position is the third from top. I don't belong to any religious organisation, nobody tells me I have to do/think/believe anything, I go along to a church but no-one forces me to, nobody there tells me how to live my life, I have questions and they have answers. In all my time with my faith I have never met anyone within it who has views differing from that.

Almost every atheist will apparently have had an experience with a 'religious nutcase' who has threatened them with Hell etc, I have never encountered anyone like that and if I did I'd simply ignore them.

As a side note I really don't know what this thread will achieve which has not been repeated over and over again on this forum.

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I have been an Atheist since about the age of 5 when I was sent to a High Church of England Church school and I hated every second of my time there, it had to be bad for a 5 year old to have such a strong feeling of disbelief instilled into him at such a young age.

Russ above must be one of the lucky ones who has also never been accosted by religious nutcases as well as oddly enough they do exist, I remember going to work one morning and bumping into a neighbour who was a year or so older than me but had been to the same school, who started asking me about god and when I told him that I was an atheist he started going on about religion and that if I went with him now to his church that I would very quickly be talking in tongues, my bus arrived and I jumped on leaving him at the stop, afterwards I avoided him like the plague and my mother said that when speaking to his mother that he was trying to get anyone he knew to join his church in this way.

If you believe in a god in any form then please do not try to accost me or anyone else and try to instil your beliefs in them as that is by far the best way to alienate people to you and your religion as belief is a private and personal thing.

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It was as much my own curiousity than anything else, and I wanted to keep it as simple as possible hence covering the major 3 bases.

Unsure about claiming spirituality for religion and faith. The human spirit, is surely something we can all agree with, it's quite possible to be spiritual without believing in a deity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_spirituality

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I was working on a friends car the other day and 2 religious nutters that Russ speaks of came up the drive and introduced themselves. I politely told them that I'm not interested. but the one questioned me and asked as if it was unusual "don't you follow a faith?"

I said "Islam"

they were so rude just walking away.

I think if we got rid of the "religious nutters" then the rest of us normal religious and non religious people would feel a lot better.

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I just tell them i was a hired killer for the Queen and would they like to see a sample of my work ?. Why they think they can disturb me on a Saturday morning at my front door i don't know.

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They were probably "rude" and just walked away because you were rude and gave them idiotic childish answers

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I'm not religious at all. there are too many horrendous things in this world that no 'all loving God' would allow to happen. and please don't bring 'free will' into this - no one chooses to have a disease or illness that kills them slowly and painfully.

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White people can follow Islam you know Marty.

I could have told them to go away you nutters! that would have been rude.

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that sounds like your saying a bad god did it to them -in which case you might want to re-evaluate your position .

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I find this story hard to believe.





You have a friend? ;)

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yes they can ,but you don't and you could have just told them to go away .Just because someone tries to talk to you about their religion does not make them a nutter

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Apart from you. just that one with the car :)

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Then you'd tell me I was rude for telling them to clear off.

Maybe not. but I can tell myself that they are.
you don't know if the other one was reading verses from the bible to the spare wheel, because I never told you that.

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lol - no. definitely not. there is no God at all imo.

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Way i look at it life can sometimes be less then pleasant for many of us for many different reasons and i support anything people can do to relieve life if that means a faith all power to them if it means something else same thing. I judge people on who they are and how they act around me and mine skin colour, culture or religious belief make no odds with me i have seen good and bad in all of the above no such thing as a general type of any of the three.

Simple view i know but i cannot help feel sometimes if everyone did the same our world would be a much more peaceful and happier place then it is now can but hope and all that eh :).

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I don't believe in God, I don't believe in magic, miracles etc etc as there's never been a shred of proof.

I don't think it's fair to push children into religion (as stated here already).

I really don't care what people believe in, as long as it's not pushed onto others.

I can say I don't like religion much, based on my own experiences, and from those that base their own decisions on religion, meaning logic, common sense and all that doesn't apply, just based on a dream, feeling etc or as such. If an atheist did this, they'd be locked up.

I can also say I'm really interested in religion, Gods, bible, anything and everything about it, yet, it feels too much like you can't discuss it with those that are religious. I also don't like all the defending, borderline aggressiveness, then the dismissive attitudes from believers when asked basic questions.

I also feel that those that are religious, feel superior, somehow better than those that don't believe. Which doesn't help matters.

I do agree with Maggy though, it does have some good points. I can't spend that amount of time on it to say whether it's worth it all though.

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I really dig Gregorian chants.I find them very soothing even though I don't believe the sentiments.

Christian sponsorship of some the greatest artists helped to push art forward.Music would have been poorer if not for the technical strides taken in religious music.Some of the most splendid architecture are religious buildings and the lessons learned in building them helped to push architecture forward. Religion has had some positive effects.

The danger in religion is that the corrupt at heart use the faith of others to push their own agendas and leads to cultists and even to terrorism.In the end it's not religion that is bad..it's those who misuse it's message who are bad.

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Sup to you.

You call it pushing, I call it bringing my kids up the best way I know how.

Agreed, as long as that applies to atheism too.

Politicians do it all the time...

Could that be due to the 'borderline aggressiveness' with which those 'basic questions' asked? There are irresponsible attitudes on ALL sides.

Some are I guess but have you seen how smug Richard Dawkins always seems?

But you have spent enough time to have made up your mind on it though ;)

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I have to say, I agree with that.
Take Dot Cotton for instance :)

---------- Post added at 20:14 ---------- Previous post was at 20:12 ----------

I think peanut was talking in general, Russ.

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Me too.

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Excellent example.....

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Could have been Mormons. I have had two experiences with Mormons and both have been while I have been out on deliveries. Its not enough for them to just settle for the people who's doors they are knocking on but they also stop people on the street. I'm not talking about a busy high-street either, It was just a small residential side road. Both of these pairs where also quite happy to stop groups of kids from playing to try and hook a large group of (Easy targets?) Or so it appeared anyway. When they stopped me by standing in my way, I was particularly miffed (Mainly because I had just picked up a rather heavy bag of about 16kg). They then proceeded to just talk at me about Mormonism and then asked me what belief I had, I told them I was Athiest as it is easiest to explain when you don't want to engage them (Works with other religious groups) but these proceeded to challenge me on my beliefs or rather the lack of. They heavily implied that I was lacking something which must have driven me to disown God (Their words). Now I could understand this If I had engaged them or challenged them but it was plainly obvious that I was working, it was a hot day and I really wasn't pleased to be talking to them but they just wouldn't drop it.
Now on both occasions they where American (southern sounding) so I don't know if that had something to do with it. Maybe thats socially acceptable over there? Will let you know if I have a run in with a British Mormon.

I haven't voted on the poll, As above I often say Athiest but I don't think that describes what I believe. I Don't believe in the Christian god, I instead believe in the universe as a life form of sorts. Similar to the way some people perceive the Earth to be alive (Gaia) but on a much greater scale. This would make us part of god, but it would make god about as responsible for the world as we are for our own bowel movements. I don't think Agnostic quite covers that really either so I don't know how to vote.

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I'm atheist,

I was brought up as a Catholic and attended church until the age of 13.

IMO, There is so much wrong with the various churchs and other religions, I won't say any more as that is not the purpose of the thread.

In regards to "religious nutters" as described in few posts.

Our local JW's call on my house, and I'm always happy to engage in conversation. They're polite, very nice people.

I happily accept my copt of the watchtower and awake, and I read them. My wife laughs at me, but I like to get the opposite view.

And every month, it reaffirms why I am an atheist.

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Atheism is a lack of belief in a deity, which usually means a conscious being that exists outside of our world. Kinda.

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I haven't read the whole thread so I don't know where you sit on things, but I am assuming that you are a religious person by the way you have described the above.

Atheism is a "lack" of belief in a deity,

That language implies that Athiests are found wanting/needing, that they are deficient.

I would not say Atheism is a "lack of belief" in a deity, but a "non-belief"

Don't mean to split hairs (well I do otherwise I wouldn't have posted).

I hope you can see the difference between the two.

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I didn't put that much thought into the terms I used. lack/non-belief either way.

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I find the definition between agnostic and atheist in the vote a bit puzzling..

Surely someone who believes in a scientific reason apart from the usual evolution of the planet is both agnostic and atheistic?

Also can't people believe in religion yet also still be agnostic? Is there any reason as to why agnostic can't sit perfectly well besides both Atheism or religion (but obviously not both(just take the religious people who also believe in Darwinism :rolleyes:)

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An agnostic is someone who doesn't believe in god but is otherwise open to the concept, they don't not believe in god, if that makes sense. The theists believe there is a god whereas an atheists doesn't believe in god.

So an agnostic is somewhere in between the two. I don't see a contradiction there. The only problem is at what point of 'non-belief in god' do you cross over from being agnostic to an atheist? Some people class themselves as being agnostic because they can't disprove god, this is pretty much atheism. Other people may be quite open to the idea but are hesitant as they are not quite sure about it, that would be agnosticism.

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I think Kymmy's hit the nail on the head here. Nobody can say they are an atheist on the basis of science, because science gives no basis for any conclusion about the existence or otherwise of a deity.

Anyone can of course be an atheist, but let's be absolutely clear about this: atheism is a belief, not a scientific principle.

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There is very little science can conclusively rule out. Pretty much nothing. All we can say is that according the world as we currently understand it we have no evidence for 'x'. Since god exists outside of the Universe as we current know it then we can't rule it out. It's unlikely we ever will because such a concept will always exist outside of our understanding of the Universe, even if we understood everything in it there may be another undiscovered dimension out there.

Most atheists would concede that you can't disprove god. That doesn't shunt them into the agnostic category, since we hold the same principle for anything. We can't disprove Scientology and xenu, Mormons and Joseph Smith, Greek gods or anything else. Doesn't mean we're open to those ideas.

No it isn't. Atheism is having no belief in a deity. You don't have faith that one exists.

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Umm, no, atheism is belief in non-existence, not non-existence of belief.

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There is however, the scientific principle of parsimony. Given two explanations for a phenomenon, choose the one that has the least degrees of freedom or is most constrained.

I think it's fair to say that an omnipotent being is not very constraining as far as explanations go. :)

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Ok. I was thinking more of faith than belief then. We don't have faith god doesn't exist, we have an absence of faith that he/she/it does.

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tbf, we are counting the angels on the head of a pin here..;)

I always thought that Atheism was disbelief in the existence of God(s), rather than a lack of faith in them (whatever that means....).

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Begs the question are there religions without a deity?

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Scientology?

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You're on sticky ground when you start throwing words like "belief" and "faith" around in a religious thread with atheism as one of the main topics.

As "faith" and "belief" are very strong words to those that participate in religion that have deep and spiritual meaning.

Whereas to athiests, they are just words.

I don't have a belief that there is no all powerful supernatural deity , I just dismiss the concept out of hand.

The argument that atheism is some kind of belief system is weak and incorrect.

I see nothing in the world or universe that says to me that this was all created by a supernatural being, that isn't a belief, it's an observation.

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No, they worship Tom Cruise :D

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As I said, the poll is very flawed and too restrictive.

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Good point, my mistake.

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Buddhism.

imho, some contributors to this thread are antitheist, rather than atheist.

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Bhuddhism is more a philosophy ,

Bhuddism does not require the follower to have blind faith or worship a deity.

Bhuddism is search for inner sprituality and self discovery, rather than being dictated to by an all powerful god.

http://www.buddhanet.net/nutshell03.htm

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I'm atheist - I always have been and have never seen any reason whatsoever to alter my position. Certain religions do get my goat, JW especially after that business where a 15-year-old girl was allowed to die by her parents because a routine operation she needed would have necessitated a transfusion. Sheer barbarism. Why didn't anyone ask her what she wanted? Had I been the doctor in charge of her case, I'd have treated her anyway and risked being struck off; I can't see how s/he could live with the knowledge that that poor girl died needlessly, for nothing, when they had everything they needed to save her...except for a society that wouldn't permit such crimes to occur. There was no excuse, none at all.

Right, that's enough of the rant; back O/T.

All these prophets claiming to know the will of the Almighty who created the entire Universe - no, I'm sorry but that's just unbridled arrogance. Who did they think they were?! As Bill Hicks said re the people reinterpreting the Bible to say what they reckon God meant, "I've never been that confident."

"Oh, my Me! I've left pot growing everywhere! If the humans see that, they'll think they're supposed to use it!"

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That's my understanding of the meaning of the term atheist. I say there are no gods. However I believe in everything else including intangibles such as love and hatred.

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but it's an observation you believe

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It also perhaps should have been multiple choice?

I can't honestly put myself into a single category.. I have doubts as to a god but believe that any religion is as real as those who believe in it.. Also I'm open to religion as such being explained away (or proven) by either explanations that we can't understand or haven't yet discovered or the possibility that science will dismiss all religion with irrefutable proof in the future.

I've had enough labels put on me in my 42 (nearly 43) years of existence that these days I don't worry too much about labels (that is if I exist at all as I could simple be a figment of some aliens imagination in another dimension????)

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is pedantry a religion ?;)

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That's where I got confused after Chris' post. I think the difference is what is underpinning that belief, faith or a lack thereof.

---------- Post added at 17:15 ---------- Previous post was at 17:09 ----------

That, to me, would be classed as agnosticism. I am not sure what you mean by 'I believe that any religion is as real as those who believe in it', the religion is real but the belief in a deity doesn't become and more or less real dependent on the number of people who believe it.

Also, it's very very unlikely science will ever dismiss religion with irrefutable proof. As I said, science can only act on the material world and even then it can't really prove everything because there is always the possibility that something new will come along and blow everything out of the water.

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It's a lot like where some people say there are monsters.
those that don't believe are making an observation that they believe otherwise.

it's the same with fairies.

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If it is then I think we have some of it's biggest acolytes here amongst us.

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I gave my suggestions for more appropriate multiple choices at http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/35329619-post38.html

I think a far more agreeable way to look at things is that science explains the 'how', a belief system/faith/whatever explains the 'why'.

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

If someone believes something is real who am I to doubt their belief, but I have my own viewpoint and although a lot of science is theoretical the scientists believe in the theory yet it doesn't make me a scientist nor do I know that the theory is correct ;)

As for science proving religion is right or wrong well we might as well believe the earth is the centre of the universe because that's the way god made it.. :p:

In simple terms what we believe and what we know can change as time goes by and that change is sometimes beyond our control.. My viewpoint is that change is inevitable so it's best to have an open mind. That's not agnostic especially as I accept other peoples beliefs as well as my own even if they conflict

---------- Post added at 19:48 ---------- Previous post was at 19:35 ----------

So my final word is that if it was a multiple choice vote then I simple would have ticked all three choices

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

FFS, any chance of an intelligent discussion here. Just what is the point you are trying to make?

I don't need to believe it, I know it.

Again, during these type of discussions about religion people need to separate the religious meaning of faith, belief etc from the normal one.

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

aside from being a little bit civil to other members if it's not too much trouble i would ask how the hell can you possibly know something that has not been proven one way or the other in about 4,000 yrs ,some people believe that a deity exists and some people believe that one does not absolutely no-one including you knows that one does or does not

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

I accept peoples' beliefs, I just don't share their belief. You can keep an open mind whilst maintaining a belief in something. I am an atheist but if there was evidence of a god then I would change that (admittedly I am pretty convinced that will never happen). If your more open to the existence of a god but you have doubts then that is a textbox definition of a agnostic.

You can't be all three however, you can't be a theist and a atheist, they are mutually exclusive.

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

If it makes you feel better...........but I fail to see how it does

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

Yet athiests who see what some would consider a miracle to happen will sometimes think of the religious viewpoint as to that event..

You are correct in that you can't be theist and atheist at the same time but whoever said that humans kept the same frame of mind from one minute to the next? Hence as already suggested I would again vote for all three as you can't take a snapshot of your life and then base your answer on that exact moment in time especially if you take this thread it questions your viewpoint over a point in time and not a single point in time..

(sorry if answers seem a bit blurred but on quite strong pain killers atm :( )

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

Yes people change their beliefs. However it's rare for someone to vary between 'there is no god' and 'there is a god' and back again in a short amount of time, If someone is often between those two states or somewhere in the middle then they are agnostic. In that they are not sure if there is a god or not.

I did believe in god as a child, I then didn't. I am currently an atheist and as far as I can foresee will remain so.

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

None of us can claim to be anything if we consider the potential to change.

If God appeared before me tomorrow, in person, I would rather rapidly become a theist as I have the evidence I crave.

Right now I believe that evidence does not exist, therefore am atheist.

If you have to include everyone's possible opinions for the rest of their lives in a poll it'll be a pretty pointless poll as almost everyone will choose all the options :)

---------- Post added at 21:17 ---------- Previous post was at 21:14 ----------

Respect the person, not the belief. Sometimes one means doing the other.

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

It doesn't have to be proven one way "or the other" it just needs to be proven one way.

The burden is not on anyone to disprove the existence of a particular superbeing..........

There is no evidence for the existence of a superbeing, none (as you point out) in over 4,000 years. Yet there is much evidence to prove the true age of the Earth, dinosaurs, evolution etc.

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

none of which disproves the existence of a deity and your first sentence contradicts itself

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

Please read what I posted as it would have saved me wasting my time replying.

I'll say it again - it's not up to me or anyone to disprove the existence of supernatural being.

However no tangible evidence that one exists is out there, whereas evidence to the contrary keeps on coming.

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

I do keep reading it and it still makes no sense ,you keep saying it's not up to anyone to disprove the existence of a supernatural being ..it just needs to be proven one way :confused:
It is just your belief based on evidence that you accept that one does not exist it is not by any means proof and some religious people will see evolution ,dynosaurs and the very existence of life in all it's variety as undeniable proof that a deity does exist and that is simply their belief ,your belief is called Atheism for others it is called religion but they are both beliefs

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

Ahem!From the OP.

Re: All Encompassing Are You Religious and Why Thread
 

Very true.

it's a lot like if a lot of people started saying that there were fairies. it doesn't mean that those that don't believe there are, have to disprove the fact.