Non-Christians on CS Old Thread Please Lock

[ωιитєяfℓу]

My mum works in a Primary School as a TA, and she told her class that she was a Jedi. They believed her, too. XD

EDIT: Like the Star Wars Jedi, I mean...

[AquilaFuga]

Username: BubbleBear99
Religion:...Is it bad to say I don't have one? XD

[powderjr]

Powderjr
Jewish!

[Kingdom]

Username: Unknown Child (UC if it's easier).
Religion: Eh, I'm nothing and used to be everything I learned about in school.

Atheist? Agnostic? Please tell me something in 3 or less words so that I can actually put it on the list. For now, your name is there but your religion/philosophy is not.

[Kingdom]

Username: BubbleBear99
Religion:...Is it bad to say I don't have one? XD

Atheist? Please, people, give me a direct answer so I can put it on the list.
And no, it's not bad

[ωιитєяfℓу]

Atheist, then.

[Diabolic]

It appears that the first post needs a little... explanation for those people with no religion.

Like say, the fact that atheism is not a religion. It is the lack of religion.

So when you come here, and say you have no religion/you don't believe in any higher powers
at all, that usually makes you atheist.
Unless you are just doubting - that makes you agnostic.

[Cinereus]

It appears that the first post needs a little... explanation for those people with no religion.

Like say, the fact that atheism is not a religion. It is the lack of religion.

So when you come here, and say you have no religion/you don't believe in any higher powers
at all, that usually makes you atheist.
Unless you are just doubting - that makes you agnostic.

Moreso that atheism has nothing to do with religion or the lack thereof? There are atheistic religions - it's a western thing to think of religion as having to have a higher power associated with it. There are several schools of Buddhism, for example, which are atheistic, but still have doctrine and practice, which is what makes a religion, not a belief or disbelief in insert deity of choice here. All atheism means is the non-belief in god or gods (a (not) theism (believing in god(s)), and unless someone specifies that they are a non-religious atheist, their religion is or lack there-of is still up for grabs. Similarly, you can be be non-religious theist or deist, just as you can be a religious atheist.

And the agnostic standpoint is not one of doubt, it's the position that one cannot know if there is or isn't a god or gods, which can be seen from its etymology, a (not) and gnostic (knowing). An atheist thinks they know there is not a god. A theist thinks they know there is a god. An agnostic thinks that the existence of god is unknowable at this point in time. And of course there are various combination of all of these - there are agnostic atheists (think there isn't a god, but can't know for sure), gnostic atheists (know there isn't a god), agnostic theists (think there is a god, but can't know for sure), gnostic theists (know there is a god), etc.

The point being that if someone says they have no religion the best thing to put is "no religion"; not to mention many people dislike identifying as atheists, because it is defining yourself by what you don't believe in rather than by what you do.

[Diabolic]

Editt// Actually nevermind. Cannot be arsed to argue on a topic like this.
At all. Let us continue with our own opinions and have a nice day.

[Cinereus]

I dabbled in Zen Buddhism for a while, and one of the main people I learned about it from was a staunch atheist but also a devout Zen Buddhist leader. So yes, they do exist, and I personally identify as a spiritual atheist. That said, I will agree that the main perception of atheism is that of the non-religious atheist, I was simply pointing out that this is not always a correct perception.

And atheist or theist is more of a modifier on agnostic, kind of showing which way you lean toward even if you think it is unknowable. An agnostic atheist leans toward the existence of god being improbable, but not completely impossible, thus making them more "atheist" than "theist" on the scale between atheism and theism (such as the 7-part one that Dawkins uses, though it slips my mind where - 1 being a gnostic theist and 7 being a gnostic atheist, with various shades of agnostic in between). I myself consider myself a 6 on this scale, a strong agnostic atheist, because I'm almost positive there is no god, but I don't think there is any way to know for sure, considering how much we still have to learn about the universe. In shorthand, though, I identify as an atheist, because that is what makes up the majority of my viewpoint - my uncertainty is just a tiny variation to account for the fact that humanity doesn't know everything, not enough for me to consider myself a complete agnostic.

Edit: Who said we were arguing? xD It's a simple discussion of terms and what they mean. I'm fine with ending it, but I don't understand why you're suddenly so flustered.