Whatcha think?

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

being religion free is pretty liberating I think. atheist for lyfe, oh, and im sure this thread has been made, but was it a POLL?!!?!?! whatcha believe in?

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

I was going to make the last poll question either 108 4 lyfe or run devil run 4 lyfe, but I don't know if many younger people who post on here know they're krishna?

[sgoodcore]

Reppin' the star of david, yo.

[ps]

Ha... scientologists... those silly gooses. (geese)

[xfedaykinx]

voted agnostic, but im a borderline atheist

[riddle350]

I'm with Mike on this one.

Anyone want to explain the whole Krishna thing?

[benchwarmer]

Atheism is where it's at

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

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

[lokithelion]

If I can ask a question of Atheists.

Atheism states absolutely that their is not God.

Absolute statements are ones that you know to be 100% true no matter what.

To know for a fact there is no God would require absolute knowledge of space and time.

Since no being on Earth has Absolute knowledge of space and time, how can you honestly say "There is NO God?"

Intellectually wouldn't it make sense to say you are agnostic, since while you don't believe in God you cannot disprove God's existence?

[faith]

spelling "life" lYfe NOT for life

[riddle350]

I guess that's a good point. To be honest I'm really not worried about going by a specific label. I don't believe and for me that's enough. I know other people are more worried about it. I know it offends some people but in the end I've got to do what I've got to do.

[faith]

there's no reason people that have a certain faith should be offended by your own faith or lack of.

That said, I believe that monotheistic religions will always be close-minded to other religions and that the essence of monotheism is the cause of most of the world's problem today (and in the past, too)

[lokithelion]

I dont really fit into any of the above categories. I was raised a christian, and think Jesus was a really interesting philosopher. If the church followed what he said and left out the rest of the bullshit, I'd be more along their lines. As a person I follow the teaching of Christ, mostly because I can get behind his message. (love your neighbor, help the poor, be a cool dude, bring wine to parties etc). I pray, though I dont have a name for what I pray to other than creator. And all of my rituals are taken from my family's history with native american tribes. So I'm a bit weird.

[hootenanny]

straight up scientology. i believe a bunch of alien souls inhabit our bodies and are taking over our consciousness.

and yes the sarcasm was pretty thick on that one.

[faith]

I dont really fit into any of the above categories. I was raised a christian, and think Jesus was a really interesting philosopher. If the church followed what he said and left out the rest of the bullshit, I'd be more along their lines. As a person I follow the teaching of Christ, mostly because I can get behind his message. (love your neighbor, help the poor, be a cool dude, bring wine to parties etc). I pray, though I dont have a name for what I pray to other than creator. And all of my rituals are taken from my family's history with native american tribes. So I'm a bit weird.

I follow most of these because it's common sense. Also, most of these are way older than Jesus in case you didn't know... the code of Ma'at, for example, has a lot of laws that sound VERY familiar and it's a lot older than the new testament. Also, I believe some Sumerian/Akkadian/Babylonian (can't remember) code of law also has a lot of the same "rules" as christianity.

I personally never believed in Jesus, even though I was brought up catholic. I do believe there was probably, as proven by historians, a dude named Jesus that lived at that time, but do I believe anything the new testament says he did? Not at all

[benchwarmer]

If I can ask a question of Atheists.

Atheism states absolutely that their is not God.

Absolute statements are ones that you know to be 100% true no matter what.

To know for a fact there is no God would require absolute knowledge of space and time.

Since no being on Earth has Absolute knowledge of space and time, how can you honestly say "There is NO God?"

Intellectually wouldn't it make sense to say you are agnostic, since while you don't believe in God you cannot disprove God's existence?

This can go the other way too, with any person that believe in a "god." No one can prove there is a god of any sort. I think it comes down to personal beliefs. I have no doubt in my mind that there is not a god/afterlife anything of that type. No one can prove or disprove anything, and while that falls under the definition of angosticicsm, being agnostic pretty much means being skeptical of it all, I'm not skeptical, like I already said, there is no doubt in my mind.

[kyle]

If I can ask a question of Atheists.

Atheism states absolutely that their is not God.

Absolute statements are ones that you know to be 100% true no matter what.

To know for a fact there is no God would require absolute knowledge of space and time.

Since no being on Earth has Absolute knowledge of space and time, how can you honestly say "There is NO God?"

Intellectually wouldn't it make sense to say you are agnostic, since while you don't believe in God you cannot disprove God's existence?

The burden of proof is not on atheists, its on Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. to prove God does exist.

Here's a quote from Isaac Asimov I've always liked, it sums up my belief in the atheist vs. agnostic matter perfectly.

"I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say one was an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow, it was better to say one was a humanist or an agnostic. I finally decided that I'm a creature of emotion as well as of reason. Emotionally, I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time.”

-Isaac Asimov

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

I posted a blog about my stance a year and 2 days ago, i'll just cut/paste it

My religious views

some message board posted a thread asking do you believe in god? A lot of replies were yeah, i believe in god, but not organized religion, etc, etc, etc. I feel I just need to make a blog, number two in my series that was supposed to be weekly but has turned into bi-monthly entries of things that make me think. So here ya go.

ME: i really just dont care about god, gods, or religions period. i do what I do and whatever happens happens. when i die my body will rot and decompose in my casket and that will be the end of me.

HIM: what if you're wrong? Doesn't that worry you at all?

ME: no, not really because there is no way of knowing that until that point, and then if I am wrong, who is right? i'd rather not worry/care about any of that and just focus on living my life the best I can and if/when judgement day comes, if some lord/god/savior tries to judge my life then I guess it'll be all on perspective on how I led it. Leading your life good just so you go to heaven, or believing a religion or faith just so you go to heaven is so selfish. I'd rather just not give a shit and I dont give a shit and plan to never give a shit and keep doing what i do best.

HIM: I guess whatever works for you. I like the fact that you are very passionate about not giving a shit though.

ME: You shouldn't need a reward (getting into heaven, whatever other religions get for being good) to be a good person. you should be a good person because its the right and moral thing to do.

HIM: Well, I guess that's why some people do it, but thats not why I live my life the good way

ME: keep on keepin' on dude, but you're in the vast vast minority of the religious population. Fear and some form of Rewards are the two main factors people believe in any form of religion.

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

oh and FUCK YEAH! We have ONE Hare-Krishna here!

[lokithelion]

I dont really fit into any of the above categories. I was raised a christian, and think Jesus was a really interesting philosopher. If the church followed what he said and left out the rest of the bullshit, I'd be more along their lines. As a person I follow the teaching of Christ, mostly because I can get behind his message. (love your neighbor, help the poor, be a cool dude, bring wine to parties etc). I pray, though I dont have a name for what I pray to other than creator. And all of my rituals are taken from my family's history with native american tribes. So I'm a bit weird.

I follow most of these because it's common sense. Also, most of these are way older than Jesus in case you didn't know... the code of Ma'at, for example, has a lot of laws that sound VERY familiar and it's a lot older than the new testament. Also, I believe some Sumerian/Akkadian/Babylonian (can't remember) code of law also has a lot of the same "rules" as christianity.

I personally never believed in Jesus, even though I was brought up catholic. I do believe there was probably, as proven by historians, a dude named Jesus that lived at that time, but do I believe anything the new testament says he did? Not at all

I'm well aware that the ideas are older. I just happen to like the way they come out of the Christ story. For example, none of the older myths are as kind to prostitutes as Jesus. None of them fought against the religious power base like Jesus did. None of them made wine at 3am to keep the party goin' like Jesus did. I just prefer that element. Historical records can prove the dude existed. I have no problem letting the myths surrounding him paint my image of him. And when you talk about Jesus in a modern context the conversation is speaking about the man he's widely considered to be, so I try and be pretty general when I discuss the dude.

If I can ask a question of Atheists.

Atheism states absolutely that their is not God.

Absolute statements are ones that you know to be 100% true no matter what.

To know for a fact there is no God would require absolute knowledge of space and time.

Since no being on Earth has Absolute knowledge of space and time, how can you honestly say "There is NO God?"

Intellectually wouldn't it make sense to say you are agnostic, since while you don't believe in God you cannot disprove God's existence?

This can go the other way too, with any person that believe in a "god." No one can prove there is a god of any sort. I think it comes down to personal beliefs. I have no doubt in my mind that there is not a god/afterlife anything of that type. No one can prove or disprove anything, and while that falls under the definition of angosticicsm, being agnostic pretty much means being skeptical of it all, I'm not skeptical, like I already said, there is no doubt in my mind.

Being agnostic doesn't mean skeptic. It means you believe it is impossible to have absolute knowledge of the existence or lack of existence of God. You have no doubt that God doesn't exist, but do you at least admit that the possibility exists since you have no absolute knowledge of the universe? Its more philosophical than skepticism.

[sgoodcore]

there's no reason people that have a certain faith should be offended by your own faith or lack of.

That said, I believe that monotheistic religions will always be close-minded to other religions and that the essence of monotheism is the cause of most of the world's problem today (and in the past, too)

People are close-minded not religions. People distort all kinds of beliefs for their own purposes. That does not mean those beliefs are to blame.

Anything that separates people in to sects are cliques is going to cause issues. The biggest problem is people not following the core beliefs of their religion, which always comes down to, in whatever religion, to treat others as you would like to be treated.

[lokithelion]

I posted a blog about my stance a year and 2 days ago, i'll just cut/paste it

My religious views

some message board posted a thread asking do you believe in god? A lot of replies were yeah, i believe in god, but not organized religion, etc, etc, etc. I feel I just need to make a blog, number two in my series that was supposed to be weekly but has turned into bi-monthly entries of things that make me think. So here ya go.

ME: i really just dont care about god, gods, or religions period. i do what I do and whatever happens happens. when i die my body will rot and decompose in my casket and that will be the end of me.

HIM: what if you're wrong? Doesn't that worry you at all?

ME: no, not really because there is no way of knowing that until that point, and then if I am wrong, who is right? i'd rather not worry/care about any of that and just focus on living my life the best I can and if/when judgement day comes, if some lord/god/savior tries to judge my life then I guess it'll be all on perspective on how I led it. Leading your life good just so you go to heaven, or believing a religion or faith just so you go to heaven is so selfish. I'd rather just not give a shit and I dont give a shit and plan to never give a shit and keep doing what i do best.

HIM: I guess whatever works for you. I like the fact that you are very passionate about not giving a shit though.

ME: You shouldn't need a reward (getting into heaven, whatever other religions get for being good) to be a good person. you should be a good person because its the right and moral thing to do.

HIM: Well, I guess that's why some people do it, but thats not why I live my life the good way

ME: keep on keepin' on dude, but you're in the vast vast minority of the religious population. Fear and some form of Rewards are the two main factors people believe in any form of religion.

I can totally agree with you on most of that. And I'm sure our different personal experiences have molded our world views. I believe in spirits because I've had experiences that make me believe that ghosts and spirits exist. I was able to describe everything my grandfather was wearing when he died because of a dream I had in which we spoke the evening he passed. That was a little weird.

I've also seen what I can only describe as possession. Not just mental illness, but honest to gosh possession. Someone speaking in tongues they didn't know, in voices they couldn't create. Most here would think I'm crazy. Its fine. They didn't see the shit I saw. Do I believe in a higher power out of fear? Nope. I just believe in a higher power because I believe in the spiritual world.

Also props on the Asimov quote. Only problem with it is that what he describes himself as is an agnostic. Spiritually for him, there was no God. But intellectually he understood it was impossible to prove one way or another.

Also for the record I make this same argument with Christians who say their path is the only path.

[riddle350]

I have to say that this is probably the most respectful discussion about this subject that I've ever been apart of. I think it's rad that a bunch of random people on the internet are capable of that level of respect. Big props to the VC board members. THAT'S IT! We should start the Vinyl Collective religion.

[kirbypuckett]

I haven't read the thread yet, but first off let me say that I am insulted that you did not include my religion, Torti, you are an insensitive clod!

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

I am a Pastafarian 4 lyfe!

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

[cadetapplesauce]

i'm sort of agnostic. if anything, i'm struggling over catholicism, because that's how i was raised. did jesus exist? people say yeah... lots of other people say otherwise. it's strange that you bring this up, because in my political cultures class, we just read dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor. interesting theories, by the way. for anyone who hasn't read it, dostoevsky suggests that when jesus refused to give into the devil's three temptations, he ultimately gave up his role as mankind's ultimate ruler/higher power. he chose NOT to prove he was the son of god, resting our beliefs on pretty much blind faith. he gave us the freedom to deny him, and that's why shit's so crazy. because man is not enslaved by morals and feel no ramification of sin. given that, the inquisitor character was an atheist, but it's food for thought...

i don't know. i still think i'm in that period of where i dont know what the fuck is going on. religion suggests good things, like loki said (be a good person, help those in need), but the politics of it all are so fucked up...even back in biblical times. it's not the religion so much that pisses me off... it's what people decide to do with religion. i have my own set of beliefs that i'm really questioning right now. i dunno, i'm going in circles.

if you have time, watch the first 36 minutes of this movie. it will change what you think about religion.

http://zeitgeistmovie.com/