Are you religious?

Agreed.

Agnosticism means you have no belief either way. Atheism means you believe he doesn't. If you aren't 'sure', then you are Agnostic. If you feel that you are 'sure', then you are an Atheist. Agnostic Atheism is a contradiction in terms.

 

That's not what agnostic means. There are two questions when it comes to this debate.


1. Do you believe in a deity?
a. Yes - theist.
b. No - atheist.

2. Do you know for sure?
a. Yes - gnostic.
b. No - agnostic.

A gnostic theist = believes in a god or gods and is 100% sure
An agnostic theist = believes in a god or gods, but not 100% sure there is a god or gods

A gnostic atheist = does not believe in any gods and is 100% sure there are no gods
An agnostic atheist = does not believe in any gods, but is not 100% sure there are no gods

 

And to most of us, that seems logical, right? We may believe things, but accept they might be wrong.


Unfortunately for humanity, many cannot comprehend this. You'll find many people, both theists and atheists, who cannot accept even the slightest possibility of them being wrong.

 

Yeah, if you want to survive you have to accept new ideas. Other Christians who just jump to saying "God did it" instead of giving a scientific reason for something bug me. We know God caused the universe, but the how is equally important. Knowing science and understanding his creation gives glory to God.

 

Im not even gonna dare say what I think of religious people on here lol

 

Exactly, they go perfectly together. It wouldn't make much sense if God created the universe, and then science proved He didn't exist. That'd be madness lol

 

Faith is the complete belief in something without any sort of empirical proof.

I don't have faith because I'm honestly not an idiot.

Also there is no such thing as "being born a Christian", or "being a Christian baby". What there can be is "a baby with Christian parents".

 

Very valid and true points, but you're also practically calling about one third of the world's population idiots..

 

About baptism/circumsision:
So I do not believe in circumsision. Having some part of your body (That actually serves a function) removed without your consent does not make sense. I also, in a way, do not support baptism. Because the child can't actively decide for itself. But, then again, where would you have to draw the line? The child can't actively decide for itself wether it wants blue or pink clothes, but if it's a boy you tend to force the blue clothes on them anyway.
Why? Because You as a parent think it is the right thing to do. The child can, then, as it grows older, decide that is does not want the blue clothes (/being baptised) and start wearing pink instead (becoming an atheist).
That's up to the child. But in circumsision, that is a life-long decision that can't be undone. So you should not force that upon a child.
Now, where I live we have thing called confirmation that might be compared to the Ba' Mitzwah of the jews. There, you can, as the name suggests, confirm the baptism that your parents decided for you. Or, you can choose to not confirm.
This seems to be a good way of allowing people to abandon the religion that was, to be fair, forced upon them. A lot of people are actually baptised by choice in order to be confirmed, but that is just as much a question of the gifts and the party as of religion.
TL;DR:
Nothing should be forced on a child without it's consent than can't be undone. Give the child an option to decide for itself later on. Comparison with clothes.

 

my religious view? I was born christian, that I still consider myself to be. I was baptised catholic, but that is normal in Spain when you are a baby, but I do not consider myself catholic, since I do not believe in the catholic church and the infalibility of the pope.

I do believe there is something up there, call it whatever you like, who is tolerant and gave us the freedom of doing whatever we believe is the right thing to do, including mistakes. however he also taught us to respect each other and be responsible, and therein lies the dilemma. the thin line between freedom and respect and responsibility, between what we believe might be right, but others believe might be wrong.

I do not believe in a vengful, hateful god, and I do not believe in justifying wars and attrocities in the name of any religion in the world.

 

It's not their fault though, Religion is a tool of subordination. It has been used by the ruling classes of history to ease the pain of exploitation, giving people a sense of false hope and keeping them in order with commandments and the fear of sin.

 

Yes, religion has been used as a political tool by very many governments and leaders throughout history to commit and justify all sorts of brutal deeds, but I'd theorize that religion first appeared when people sought explanations for things they did not yet understand. It was only later turned into a tool for controlling people (but probably not long after it first appeared in the form we recognize today), though that's just my theory and not fact.

Also, decentralized religion can sometimes actually be the opposite. Without institutions to enforce ideals and ways of living on its followers, a person can truly choose what they believe. You can therefore choose only the best parts of religion - the ones that give you strength in more difficult times. Of course, this lacks the strong backbone and "reliability" of institutionalized religion, because no one is telling you that something is definitely true and no one is forcing regulations on you. You can choose to do that yourself, but then it lacks meaning and becomes even more pointless.

It's harder to believe in decentralized religion, unless you form a group of people who hold beliefs similar to your own... but then there is a large risk of that turning into a religious cult, which would grow larger & larger, functioning very much like (and eventually turning into an) institutionalized religion. So, it swings both ways. This isn't 100% related, but just something interesting I thought I'd share.

 

Numbing people's suffering with religion is a terrible thing. It takes them away from fighting society itself and trying to build a better one, instead making them believe that if they never steal and abide by God's laws they will live in eternal paradise. There is no eternal paradise, so let's face our oppressive society by it's teeth and fight for a better one so our future generations can live in a truly peaceful and co-existing world.

 

That's partially what I think, I just don't see any point in calling every religious person an idiot like you have.

 

There isn't supposed to be a point.

 

Okay. :wacko:

 

I'd like to see your proof
You have proven to be a very intelligent man, but to me you seem very stubborn about what you have decided to be correct, and what you are determined about is the truth and you can't see/don't want to see any possibility in things that you deny.