Atheism.

[Chaos Theory]

Hi, by the way, I'm new. Anyways. Atheism! Just curious to know how many people here are atheist, theist, agnostic or anything else. I myself am a naturalistic pantheist (which is basically fancy atheism with a bit of nature-loving thrown in for good measure).

[Dyani]

If you're a pantheist, you're meaning its fancy theism with lots of deities, surely?

I'm an agnostic with a huge handful of pagan/wiccan/crystal lore thrown in.

[Wasanifu]

I'm agnostic but open to other beliefs.

I'm Christened (Church of England) and I used to go to Church a lot with my Grandmother. Also being part of a small village school in rural England I don't think I knew anything of other religions until I reached secondary school, singing Hymns and Christian children's songs was just what was done, combined with Girl Guiding which was heavily Christian where I grew up.

Co-incidentally there is now a Mosque in the next town over but that was only built/converted a few years ago and there's been a Synagogue since 1865 but if you were non practising I think you'd struggle to know where they are. In fact I had to google now to see that there even *was* any locally. We went to Bradford (which is in the next *county* to visit a Synagogue and Mosque for Religious Education in school)

I do kind of miss religion. I don't honestly think I ever believed, but I do miss the community feel. The praying for someone if they were sick or sad and the taking time to think about things and reflect on being a better human being.

There's a UU meeting in the city I live in now which I plan to look in to should I ever stop working on a Sunday.

[Saitenyo]

I used to be an atheist, a fairly outspoken one as people on here probably recall.
These days I consider myself an agnostic.

[Blitz Rogue]

Agnostic Atheist.

[Bonnnello]

Practising Christian. Very specifically non-denominational.

And I agree with Dyani- wouldn't being a pantheist mean believing in many gods?

[Jogu]

Originally Posted by Blitz Rogue

Agnostic Atheist.

I feel like this is a contradictory statement.

[Ratha]

Love is my religion, man.
I think organized religion is ridiculous.
However, there's gotta be something there, you know? Some sort of... larger being, than ourselves, even if it's just the Universe. But what if the universe is a being in itself? I guess that makes me agnostic, in all technicality, but I'm really majorly a tree-hugging dirt worshipper. I came from the Earth, the Earth provides everything I need to live and thrive, and when I die, I will be returned to the Earth. Also, I can see it, touch it, etc., unlike anything growing up Irish Catholic taught me. :3 HIPPIES FTW


Also, gardening and death, you say? Do go on. I like you already.

[Blitz Rogue]

Originally Posted by Jogu

I feel like this is a contradictory statement.

It's actually not. I feel like a lot of people tend to think that without really understanding what the words mean. The common misconception is that the spectrum consists of theism, agnosticism, and atheism, with agnosticism being the "rational" middle ground.

The truth is that the two deal with entirely separate things. (A)theism deals with what we believe to be true, and (a)gnosticism deals with what we know to be true (or can know to be true). By saying that I'm an atheist, the only thing that tells you is that I don't actively believe in any given deity. Saying I'm just an agnostic, though, doesn't encompass the full picture either because it's not really an answer at all.

Saying I'm "an agnostic" tells you that I don't know for sure whether a god exists or not. Well, no duh. No one knows one way or the other; and therefore everyone (who's at all honest with themselves) is an agnostic. That goes for both theists and atheists.

But that still leaves the question: what do you believe to be true? If you believe there is a specific deity (or deities) out there, then you're an agnostic theist; if not, you're an agnostic atheist.

[Son-Goku]

First of all... hey there newcomer !

Secondly... remember how a question like this would 'spawn' several pages in no time 'back in the day' ? . Ok, nostalgia switching off now, my answer would be that I don't consider myself religious though i do 'celebrate' Christmas and Easter (because... well... Food ! ) so the answer would be atheist.

There was a time when i looked down on those who do have a religion but I've learned from that and now I do have a large respect for people who have their faith in someone or something(as long as they don't shove their religion in my face or be condescending about it). In my case I choose to channel all that faith into myself.

[Wasanifu]

Originally Posted by Son-Goku

Secondly... remember how a question like this would 'spawn' several pages in no time 'back in the day' ? .

I think it's kind of sad that we don't have that level of discussion anymore, but I think it's also nice that we've all grown up enough to be "Okay, cool" instead of

[Sillydog The Great]

I like to jokingly call myself Born Again Catholic.

I was raised a Catholic but then recently my best friend got me going to his church for a while and I could be considered a Born Again Christian now.

I can't really decide which one I like more so I'm stuck in the middle of the two.

They're both considered Christian so let's go with that.

[Ratha]

I like the part where you started this thread and then never returned.

[Dyani]

^this

FFS Ratha, that damn picture again... o.O

[Sillydog The Great]

What is that canine thing anyway?

[Ratha]

I don't know! Quill put it on my Facebook and I fell in love with it

[Rai-che]

(It's so creepy, I love it o.o )

Anyways, I'm not an atheist, never was... I do believe in God, but I wouldn't specify myself as a catholic, expecially when I like jewish culture and Old Testament so much. But at the same time I believe in things that have something to do with "magic" so... hard to say and specify myself lol. I believe that every culture has it's own gods and they respect themselves in some way >>

Also hellu newcomer c:

[Kasei]

Welcome to the board Chaos! As for myself, Christian is where I stand. Experienced too much not to feel God's presence in my life.

Also, I am okay with having the "ok, cool" crowd instead of the instant-death-match-arguing stuff (love that comic though, looks like YouTube's theme strip).

[kurochi]

...this place is still alive??
Now to answer the question at hand, I'm agnostic.

[Flamingo]

Open-minded athiest, or something.

[SophieCub]

I'm a proud Christian. ^^ I will always be. (:

[Aerazura]

Raised Christian but I've seen too much that had shaken my faith. I would be an atheist if I did not hope there would be some sort of afterlife. So I guess I'm agnostic.

[Pepper]

Atheist I be, always.