Which religion are you?

I don't think that anybody tried to argue otherwise since the thread was ressurected, Fake ID.

 

actually, I met plenty of people who just believe in religion. I would certainly call those Theists.

 

Believing in relgion doesn't make you a theist ijff believing in god does

@Fake ID
I question under your position that explaining definitions to you would give meaning to the question as you have no way of drawing a line. Indeed if i say god is that tree over there an Ignostic could say oh well that makes the question meaningful while another one may say well define the tree then define everything linked to it. I'm saying as soon as you accept the question your going against your Ignostic postition as assumptions are based around anything and furthermore if given a clear defintion no man can reject it fully. This works to an infinite level while the human mind would eventually cave in...indeed Ignostics may counter that by saying this is what belief is but then they would be making an assumption or indeed not proving themselves wrong but demonstrating no one actually follows Ignostisicm.

Unless i've misinterpreted your interrpretation of ignosticism...could you fully explain what you mean by it?

TL: DR Come down the path of agnosticism young lamb...However i admit Strong Agnostisicm ultimately does rely on the same underlying concepts Ignostics have but they accept those limitations as opposed to just stopping the line of thought at absolutely nothing.

Edit: Reworded as my wording made the assumption Ignosticism is a religion as opposed to a postition...Though it doesn't matter since no one has any idea what either of those words means...or what this sentence means...oh dear i'm turning into a strong Ignostic. The complete rejection of conscious thought!

 

no, i mean believing in all religions as reflections of a truth none have fully grasped so far.

 

If I understand your question, and using my example about asking "Do you believe Monday is blue?" and then saying "is" means what I generally feel about something and "blue" is happiness to get back to work. You then think I would have to ask what you define things like feeling and happiness as as well?

No, that's not a problem as no-one seem to have a problem with those terms. I did take this position because when it comes to religion it seem to most people that the definitions becomes so incredible blurry there's no point talking about it without initially saying what you think you're talking about.

There were just too many times I had to ask "What do you think this means?" and just post links to the dictionary. With this position I can just say "Please post what you define these things as and I'll reply based on that.", I think it fits nicely with being a programmer

For the record ignosticism is just your position on religion just like all the other theological positions. Saying that I would have to take the same slow approach on everything to call myself ignostic is like saying that a theist must believe everything and an atheist believe nothing.

 

I am agnostic, however I hope one of the other religious groups who believe in a kind, gentle deity are right. Heck, I'd probably take any religion's afterlife since something is better than nothing in my opinion (I find the thought of "nothingness" to to be the most frightening conception someone can try to have, even if it should matter little once you are actually dead). But as for what I believe, I'm agnostic.....and if I were forced to place a bet it would be on the atheists.

 

I think you're being held back by some old religious shackles. Not believing in an after-life usually go hand in hand with not believing we've a soul that ceases to exist when we die. I understand you don't think we'll float around in some void, but at the same time you still seem to suggest there's some part of us that magically disappears. Otherwise I don't really see how nothingness could be that bad, for instance we've all already "lived" in 15 billion years of "nothingness" before we were born, if anything that should be the familiar state.

I like to think that in every moment we're this composition, like you're not the same person you were when you were five, that you is dead, or rather that composition is changed, and when you're dead you're just a new composition. Then thinking about the vastness of time eventually the parts that made up you will make up other things, perhaps living organisms if you're lucky enough. If say by some weird coincidence all the parts in your brain makes up an identical brain you'll live again, right? If they make up a different organism you'll be that one and eventually you'll probably be floating around in a star.

How is this worse than an after-life? Are you that attached to this composition? Do you hold some memory or skill that's vital to the universe or something?

 

Yes, that is correct. Although it is not that it goes hand in hand, but that the former logically follows from the latter.

No, see above. That which doesn't exist in the first place can't be said to have disappeared.

I think I already covered that. It is the conception of nothingness while still living that is the problem. Once dead it wouldn't matter, because there would be no perception of it.

 

You should explain why you think nothing is horrible. My point was that it doesn't have to be unless you believe we're something other than atoms.

 

My point is, as a conscious being, trying to conceive what it would be like to not exist (i.e. to not be conscious) is frightening in the act, even though logically it wouldn't matter once you're dead since you couldn't perceive your own non-existence (a paradox in itself).

 

I agree that nothingness isn't exactly a fun perspective, but since - as was said - it won't matter by then I'd rather have that than end up in one of the religions' hells for an eternity of torment.

 

I actually find some religion's hells a lot better than their heavens, mostly because only really boring obnoxious people end in heaven, and all the cool sinners in hell. It kind of depends on if you can talk with others in hell i guess

 

But what if you were a cool sinner that got to crash a heaven full of boring obnoxious people...and everyone in heaven had head-explodey powers?

<3 JTHM

 

You wanna know what hell is?
Go to planet Char and try to survive there for months with only powered armor suit and C-14 rifle. Then you'l fine out what hell is.

 

I don't believe there is a "hell" per-say but i do believe you will get whats coming to you in one way or another,
I'm not in any sort of organized religion, but i do have friends that have many of my same beliefs.

 

Atheist here, and BTW that isn't a "religion".

 

Likin what protoss said.

 

You can just click the Thanks button.

 

And that's why many atheists don't like agnostics.
"Let's hope we have a nice big sky daddy."
"There's no scientific reason to think there is. Let's make things better ourselves."

That would be a big reason why religion exists. OMG, I must have to be arround forever in some sort of form! I don't want to die and be gone... so I believe in heaven or ghosts...because it comforts me. Why believe in an afterlife and not a before life? After death is just like before birth, you don't exist.

As Dawkins once said, even the pious dislike agnostics more so than athiests. At least our reasoning is based on reasoning... not wishful thinking and "which team will play out better for me?".

 

I can't believe I just read all the pages in this thread.... Too much time I suppose. Anyway hardcore/militant atheist here, often have to resist getting into forum flame wars but personally as long as religion stays out of education and let science be science I'll pretty much be quiet.