Just for fun...

Which of these statements sums you up the best?

01. I do not want to believe in God, therefore I am an atheist.
02. Though I'd rather be a Christian, I am an atheist.
03. Faced with the evidence that there is no God, I am an atheist.
04. The question of human origins made me doubt that God exists.
05. I am an atheist because I do not like organized religion.
06. All my friends are atheists, and I just want to fit in.
07. All my friends are Christians and I don't want to be a follower.
08. God is so mean and unfair, I became an atheist.
09. I simply choose to believe there is no God.
10. I found out the Bible was wrong so I became an atheist.
11. I am an atheist due to a trauma in my life.
12. Belief in God is illogical, so I am an atheist.

Please choose one of the provided statements that most closely describes you. Thanks for playing along...

-Mike

None of the above applies to me.

11: True. I will never forget the day my pet goldfish Binky died. He was my friend. I buried him in the sea (well, dad flushed him) and then I ran outside and yelled

"CURSE YOU GOD! WHY HIM? WHY DO THE INNOCENT SUFFER?!"

The lightning flashed as I yelled "YOU'RE A BIG DOODYHEAD!!" to the sky, and I threw myself face down in the mud, weeping.

The next day I sold my NIV study Bible for pre-teens and bought a copy of Theodesius Dobrehenzky's Evolution text with the money.

The answer is that I've never believed in God. 12 I suppose works best, but it's only a justification.

Somehow I just knew this would be abt religion, before I even looked at the forum) :p

Well, contrary to mosty others, a lot of these apply to me.

Originally posted by Ekimklaw
02. Though I'd rather be a Christian, I am an atheist.
Weak willed as it might be, I would like to believe in an afterlife, but ... I don't, honestly.
03. Faced with the evidence that there is no God, I am an atheist.
There are certain loopholes to do with God, therefore I do not believe in his/hers/it's existence, therefore I am an athiest.

10. I found out the Bible was wrong so I became an atheist.
Thought I've not personally read the Bible :p I know there are flaws in it.

And some of the others are also reasons I don't believe, but I think they're included in the previous statements (i.e. I don't understand how a benevolent God would let bad stuff happen, but he does - the "God is mean" bit, and so on)

13. I believe in buddhist teachings and think that a belief in god as you define it is not only irrelvalent but ethically and morally crippling.


From my point of view the premise from which your numbered alternatives arise is irrelavent and non-sensical.

Originally posted by Ekimklaw
Just for fun...

Which of these statements sums you up the best?

01. I do not want to believe in God, therefore I am an atheist.
02. Though I'd rather be a Christian, I am an atheist.
03. Faced with the evidence that there is no God, I am an atheist.
04. The question of human origins made me doubt that God exists.
05. I am an atheist because I do not like organized religion.
06. All my friends are atheists, and I just want to fit in.
07. All my friends are Christians and I don't want to be a follower.
08. God is so mean and unfair, I became an atheist.
09. I simply choose to believe there is no God.
10. I found out the Bible was wrong so I became an atheist.
11. I am an atheist due to a trauma in my life.
12. Belief in God is illogical, so I am an atheist.

Please choose one of the provided statements that most closely describes you. Thanks for playing along...

-Mike

Uh...., what if you do believe in God?:eek:

There's no option for that...

#2 and 3 apply to me. I would say #11, but thats not the case. I need some kind of proof.

Non-applicable to me :)

Why not, BSR? :confused:

Right, most of them apply here

Nos 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12 and 15

15= I have never believed in god

16. There is no evidence to suggest god exists. Or, any situation where god may fit into an equation, god is an unnecessary part of the equation.

And 16

Originally posted by static76


Uh...., what if you do believe in God?:eek:

There's no option for that...


Sorry static, this is for atheists only :(. Just trying to get a feel for where they are coming from. again... Sorry...

-Mike

==============================================
Morlock wrote:
13. I believe in buddhist teachings...
==============================================


So you believe in reincarnation?


==============================================
...[I] think that a belief in god as you define it is not only irrelvalent but ethically and morally crippling.
==============================================


Just curious, how have I defined "a belief in God"?



==============================================
Morlock wrote:
From my point of view the premise from which your numbered alternatives arise is irrelavent and non-sensical.
==============================================



...and what is that premise?


Boy, you sure make a lot of assumptions.

-Mike

So you believe in reincarnation?

Im not sure if I beleive in reincarnation or in what sense. Im not sure its pertinent to the problem of living a human and humane life.



Just curious, how have I defined "a belief in God"?

Look at the text under your avatar. Even by themselves these questions display a belief in the christian god as opposed to nothing. Typical christian arrogance. Also ive read some of your other posts, they are transparent attempts on your part to provide you a platform for prostelyzation (sp?), they are just disingenuous bullshit.



...and what is that premise?

See above.

Originally posted by Firefly
Why not, BSR? :confused:

Awww...thanks for your concern :)

Well, I don't think they are applicable to me, because I'm not sure. #7 sounds almost there...but I don't want to say I don't want to be a Christian, because it's very appealing to me. I'm not a great decision maker...and I don't feel my opinions very strongly...you know what I mean? I'm more like a "go-with-the-flow" person; I'd probably be a hippie if I weren't born at the wrong time. :D I'd much prefer to make everyone somewhat happy and cooperative, so I've subconsciously turned myself into an easy-go-er.

#2 doesn't appeal to me, because I do sort of want to believe in God. But I'm not really a "relationship" person...can you believe I've had over 15 best friends in my life, and only 2 of them I keep in touch with, solely because we go to the same school? I'm terrible! I use and abuse. It's not like I leave with a bad impression, where they'd remember me 10 years from now as a bad person. They will only remember me as the person who they thought was a great friend, someone funny and weird, but just lost the contact and drifted apart.

I suppose that's why I'm reluctant to believe in God, because of my "unfaithfulness". But my shame in being an atheist at my wonderful church community keeps me in the grey area.

http://216.40.241.68/contrib/geno/rotz.gif

01, 03, 09, 10, 12,

13. I seek real solutions to survival, religions do not offer anything that cannot be distinguished from fantasies.

<table><tr><td bgcolor="#ccccff">03. Faced with the evidence that there is no God, I am an atheist.</td></tr></table>

how about:

03. Faced with no evidence that there is a God, I am an atheist.

Voodoo,

And like most of the options there is an essence of imprecision and incomprehension that reflect the ideas and perceptions of someone or a group who do not quite understand what it means to disbelieve in gods.

Bluesoul:

I agree with what you say about it being very appealing, I wish I could make myself believe. :p

I'm usually pretty laid back about sutff and don't "feel my opinions strongly" either, but then if you end up debating it with a religious person, it can get pretty heated. ;) Still, it's good that you don't claim to be a Christian and not actually believe ... you're not a total sheep. :p

So, if your friends got back in contact, would it be on good terms? Would you be likely to stay in touch? Why don't you wanna stay in touch, if it was a good friendship?

I'm with James R on this one, none of your options apply to me either.

I guess if I wanted to contribute, it would have to be something along the lines of science negates any reason to believe in religion, only I'm not sure how to express it.

Hope this makes sense.
Cheers,
Teri

4 is the closest for me, but I do believe in god a little. just not as a coporeal being. God for me is more like the force in the old movie sense. it guides how the world works, but indirectly. that's what god does. If "god" could control things directly, all aetheists would be doomed!:eek: but god can't think, god can't do. god just is, and it is the unified theory. the rule that makes things the way they are.

==============================================
m0rl0ck wrote:
Im not sure if I beleive in reincarnation or in what sense. Im not sure its pertinent to the problem of living a human and humane life.
==============================================



Hey you're the one who said you believed in Buddhist teachings. Maybe you should know what you're talking about before making statements.




==============================================
m0rl0ck wrote:
Look at the text under your avatar.
==============================================




The only things I've had under my avatar is "Jesus is Lord" (I believe he is), and "Christian Spear-Catcher" (I am regularly attacked and impugned not for what I believe, but for what I am).




==============================================
m0rl0ck wrote:
Even by themselves these questions display a belief in the christian god as opposed to nothing. Typical christian arrogance.
==============================================



Opinion.



==============================================
m0rl0ck wrote:
Also ive read some of your other posts, they are transparent attempts on your part to provide you a platform for prostelyzation (sp?), they are just disingenuous bullshit.
==============================================



That makes you feel better doesn't it?

By the way, why be offensive? What is so hard about saying "I disagree with you"? Why do you all imediately leap to ad hominem attacks and slanderous language? Cris is good about not doing that, and so is Xev. There are a couple others who keep things "above board". But the majority are quick to mischaracterize and impugn the Christian.

I don't get it.

-Mike

Originally posted by Teri 2
I guess if I wanted to contribute, it would have to be something along the lines of science negates any reason to believe in religion, only I'm not sure how to express it.


I would say the closest one would be #3 which states:

Faced with the evidence that there is no God, I am an atheist.

Thanks Teri... :)

-Mike

Originally posted by James R
None of the above applies to me.


Okay, then please tell me yours. Try to sum up in one sentence. Thanks.

-Mike

Originally posted by Xev
11: True. I will never forget the day my pet goldfish Binky died. He was my friend. I buried him in the sea (well, dad flushed him) and then I ran outside and yelled

"CURSE YOU GOD! WHY HIM? WHY DO THE INNOCENT SUFFER?!"

The lightning flashed as I yelled "YOU'RE A BIG DOODYHEAD!!" to the sky, and I threw myself face down in the mud, weeping.

The next day I sold my NIV study Bible for pre-teens and bought a copy of Theodesius Dobrehenzky's Evolution text with the money.

The answer is that I've never believed in God. 12 I suppose works best, but it's only a justification.


Don't worry Xev... Binky is in a better place. Maybe Binky is in Goldfish heaven with the goldfish that I accidently buried alive when I was a little kid. Hey it was floating in the fish tank... it looked dead... but by golly by the time I dropped him into his little shallow grave I had dug for him, his gills were going up and down, up and down... I stood looking at that pitious scene for a moment. Then, I covered him up in dirt and stomped it down. :(

Always felt real bad about that.


-Mike

I know you think #3 applies to me, but I'd like to point out that it would also apply to "faced with the evidence that there is no tooth fairy I am an athiest". Trying to find evidence that there is a god is just as ludicrous as looking for evidence of a tooth fairy.
Take care,
Teri

==============================================
m0rl0ck wrote:
Im not sure if I beleive in reincarnation or in what sense. Im not sure its pertinent to the problem of living a human and humane life.
==============================================



>>>>>Hey you're the one who said you believed in Buddhist teachings. Maybe you should know what you're talking about before making statements.

If you want the traditional answers of instutionalized buddhism on reincarnation there are alot of places on the net where you can find it.
When I said I followed buddhist teachings I meant that I follow the teachings of buddhist practice, the four noble truths, the eightfold path etc. The buddha when asked about an afterlife or a soul maintained a "golden silence". His reason for this was probably that, for one its hard to explain in words because buddhist practice gives you a chance to directly experientially verify your real nature and that of the universe and that direct experience is neccessarily beyond words because it encompasses a totality that trancends mere rational thought, also questions about an afterlife dont directly address or contribute to a solution to the real and central human problems of "who am i, why is there suffering?, what is my place in the universe?". As far as knowing what Im talking about, I know only what ive experienced. Buddhism asks you to believe almost nothing on faith. The buddhas last words were supposedly "Seek your own light with diligence". If there were a true religion, all it would tell its followers would be "go out and find the truth", buddhism is the only organized religion that even comes close to actually doing that. If you were asking if I believed if something of us survived death, and if that something were subject to the laws of cause and effect (karma) I would say yes, based on my perception and experience. If you asked me if the personal ego survived death and youd still like banana splits and your favorite color would still be blue, I'd have to say (based on what I know) no. In fact the notion seems childish, ridiculous and vain. Thats the long version of what I believe about an afterlife and if you want it in more detail you wont get it. Sit down on a meditation cushion and do the work for yourself :)




==============================================
m0rl0ck wrote:
Look at the text under your avatar.
==============================================




>>>>>The only things I've had under my avatar is "Jesus is Lord" (I believe he is), and "Christian Spear-Catcher" (I am regularly attacked and impugned not for what I believe, but for what I am).

More likely youre attacked for your hypocritical attempts to draw people into a dicussion that will allow you a soapbox to expound your beliefs and attack theirs.
You post under the guise of asking frank simple questions and the use the answers you elecit (sp?) to pursue your real agenda.




==============================================
m0rl0ck wrote:
Even by themselves these questions display a belief in the christian god as opposed to nothing. Typical christian arrogance.
==============================================



>>>>Opinion.

Possibly. It could also be that your faith has blinded you to your own bias or that the bias is intentional on your part to guide the respondents into giving you an opening for prostelyzation.



==============================================
m0rl0ck wrote:
Also ive read some of your other posts, they are transparent attempts on your part to provide you a platform for prostelyzation (sp?), they are just disingenuous bullshit.
==============================================



>>>>>That makes you feel better doesn't it?

Well... yes :) it does, exposing someones real agenda gives me a little kick.



>>>By the way, why be offensive? What is so hard about saying "I disagree with you"? Why do you all imediately leap to ad hominem attacks and slanderous language? Cris is good about not doing that, and so is Xev. There are a couple others who keep things "above board". But the majority are quick to mischaracterize and impugn the Christian.

If naming disingenuous bullshit for what it is, is an ad hominem attack im guilty, but i wasnt talking about you, just your posting style. I dont really care what you believe as long as it makes you happy and causes you treat your fellow humans with respect and compassion, but you use your beliefs as a club to attack what others believe and you do it with calculation and hypocracy. If by slanderous language you mean my remark about christian arrogance, it is an arrogant faith, it has "jealous" god, its stated mission is to bring everyone under the yoke of that god, by whatever means possible, the christians believe they are right and every one else is wrong. The very tone of a christian expounding his views to unbelievers is one of condensencion.

Absolutly 12

Mike:
Don't worry Xev... Binky is in a better place. Maybe Binky is in Goldfish heaven with the goldfish that I accidently buried alive when I was a little kid. Hey it was floating in the fish tank... it looked dead... but by golly by the time I dropped him into his little shallow grave I had dug for him, his gills were going up and down, up and down... I stood looking at that pitious scene for a moment. Then, I covered him up in dirt and stomped it down.

Always felt real bad about that.

There's a goldfish heaven? :p

Originally posted by Xev
Mike:


There's a goldfish heaven? :p

There's a heaven?:p

Originally posted by Ekimklaw
Just for fun...

Which of these statements sums you up the best?

01. I do not want to believe in God, therefore I am an atheist.
02. Though I'd rather be a Christian, I am an atheist.
03. Faced with the evidence that there is no God, I am an atheist.
04. The question of human origins made me doubt that God exists.
05. I am an atheist because I do not like organized religion.
06. All my friends are atheists, and I just want to fit in.
07. All my friends are Christians and I don't want to be a follower.
08. God is so mean and unfair, I became an atheist.
09. I simply choose to believe there is no God.
10. I found out the Bible was wrong so I became an atheist.
11. I am an atheist due to a trauma in my life.
12. Belief in God is illogical, so I am an atheist.

Please choose one of the provided statements that most closely describes you. Thanks for playing along...

-Mike

None of them apply to me, because I'm not an atheist rather a theist. I believe in a type of creator. Not a God as the way religions view it, for example Buddha believed in reincarnation. He "believed" in it so much he thought it was real, in a spiritual way. Just as humans tend to believe too much, even in love, it is just a fantasy which we attempt to hold on too. A God with love and an afterlife sounds very pleasing, but it is not real. It is created in our minds, religions view God they way they feel "he" is.