SIGforum
A poll for atheists to answer
June 25, 2018, 04:44 PM
mark123A poll for atheists to answer
Please don't read anything into this. I just want to see if one of my observations holds water.Being an atheist, were you brought up with any religion? <BR><BR>I would ask that no one discuss their choice.I was brought up muslimI was brought up jewishI was brought up catholicI was brought up protestantI was brought up in what other Christian denominations may consider a cult (even if unjustified)I was brought up with no religion (atheist from the start)
June 25, 2018, 04:49 PM
WaterburyBobI think you'll find there are more agnostics than true atheists.
"If Gun Control worked, Chicago would look like Mayberry, not Thunderdome" - Cam Edwards
June 25, 2018, 04:58 PM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
I think you'll find there are more agnostics than true atheists.
I hadn't considered that but it's a good point. Let's allow this one to run and then ask if agnostics would participate in another poll.
June 25, 2018, 05:05 PM
flesheatingvirusYour options just don't cover enough. I wasn't raised with any specific religion, per say. My mother was raised Catholic, my father Protestant, though he never really participated.
I was not, however, "atheist from the start". Religion just typically wasn't addressed in my household growing up. Nobody went to church. Nobody ever really mentioned religion. Any lack of belief was not mentioned either.
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-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
June 25, 2018, 05:08 PM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Your options just don't cover enough. I wasn't raised with any specific religion, per say. My mother was raised Catholic, my father Protestant, though he never really participated.
I was not, however, "atheist from the start". Religion just typically wasn't addressed in my household growing up. Nobody went to church. Nobody ever really mentioned religion.
Were you baptized into either catholic or protestant or ever taken to either as a child? If no, the last option can be chosen. I should have left out "(atheist from the start)" part. I can't change it or it will reset the poll.
June 25, 2018, 05:11 PM
Divemaster Markquote:
Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
I think you'll find there are more agnostics than true atheists.
Agree, I voted nonetheless. I wouldn't want to dismiss the possibility
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_________________________
"About the whole no guns thing? I just don't feel as strongly about it as you do."
-- Selena Kyle (aka Cat Woman)
June 25, 2018, 05:29 PM
Fenrisquote:
Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
I think you'll find there are more agnostics than true atheists.
I used to be agnostic, but now I'm not sure.
The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People again must learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. ~ Cicero 55 BC
The Dhimocrats love America like ticks love a hound. June 25, 2018, 05:32 PM
TXJIMI responded although I consider myself agnosticish. I am probably atheist by definition as I am thoroughly convinced there is no God or supernatural spiritual forces at play. However, I find atheist to be assholes in general and don't wish to be associated in any way with their hate for our country's cultural foundation which is clearly built upon Christian values. And I like Christmas a lot
Sorry for the thread drift.
______________________________
“I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.”
― John Wayne
June 25, 2018, 06:20 PM
0-0I was raised a Catholic in a Catholic country when religion still had a significant grasp on society and politics.
I didn't pay much attention to it, just went with the flow and through the motions.
I joined the Scouts at one point, briefly.
Unbeknownst to me or me caring or seeing anything into it, I followed friends into Opus De. Again, going through the motions.
This was my early teens and the times of the Juntas and internal struggling.
Human rights? We don't need no human rights! If you get my drift...
Then I went to a free Mason's University in Europe and we sang about free choices (can't recall the proper English expression right now) and the Church was a bad thing (the institution, not the faith). A thing of oppression.
Goes to show you how your life can move in pendular directions.
In Japan I met the Tenry Kyu Church and their ethics and was fascinated. Not unlike SF crowd helping each other selflessly.
But I am not much of a believer or a follower /practitioner. If I were to state it, I believe God is everything, everywhere and everyone.
Our ethics make us and the environment where we live in.
I can live without a religion, any religion. Or I can live with all of them as they're the human expression of what we need to believe when we lack of better explanations or ways to put it for general benefit.
0-0
"OP is a troll" - Flashlightboy, 12/18/20
June 25, 2018, 06:36 PM
SevenPlusOneWhat about Satanists?
"Ninja kick the damn rabbit" June 25, 2018, 08:40 PM
joatmonvYou forgot Orthodox on your list. Be it Russian or otherwise.
Didn't vote because it wasn't on there but I'm not an atheist. Waiting for the agnostic poll.
I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not.
June 25, 2018, 09:11 PM
flesheatingvirusquote:
Originally posted by mark123:
quote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Your options just don't cover enough. I wasn't raised with any specific religion, per say. My mother was raised Catholic, my father Protestant, though he never really participated.
I was not, however, "atheist from the start". Religion just typically wasn't addressed in my household growing up. Nobody went to church. Nobody ever really mentioned religion.
Were you baptized into either catholic or protestant or ever taken to either as a child? If no, the last option can be chosen. I should have left out "(atheist from the start)" part. I can't change it or it will reset the poll.
No for me on those.
________________________________________
-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
June 25, 2018, 09:28 PM
YooperSigsNo religious background in my childhood. I believe my fathers WWII experience turned him from religion. And my police experience has definitely caused me to doubt the ideal of a merciful, benevolent savior.
That said, I guess I am a hopeful agnostic.
End of Earth: 2 Miles
Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles
June 25, 2018, 10:11 PM
ChowserI was raised by Buddhists parents in their religion. I practice no religion.
Not minority enough! June 25, 2018, 10:11 PM
C L Wilkins"Thank God I'm an atheist."
~Luis Bunuel
June 26, 2018, 06:16 AM
mark123Sorry if I left anyone out in the choices and thank you for the discussion and votes.
My expectations were for catholic and protestant to be reversed as, in my personal experience, every atheist I know was raised catholic. That's only 9 people so it's in no way representative. In my personal opinion, the protestant religions are actually catholic, so that's a distinction without a difference anyway.
Thank you for the civil discussion.
June 26, 2018, 06:17 AM
mark123quote:
Originally posted by YooperSigs:
No religious background in my childhood. I believe my fathers WWII experience turned him from religion. And my police experience has definitely caused me to doubt the ideal of a merciful, benevolent savior.
That said, I guess I am a hopeful agnostic.
Just to be clear, do you consider atheism rejection of religion or rejection of the idea of deities?
June 26, 2018, 07:09 AM
sigfreundOne of the things that derails almost all discussions of lack of religious belief is the definitions of the words. According to common American English dictionaries “theism” means the belief in a god or gods. The “a” in atheism means a lack of such belief—and that’s all. There’s nothing in the word that implies a “cold certainty,” “arrogance,” or even “assholery” any more than there is in such words as Christianity or Islam.
Everyone starts life as an atheist because a belief in a god or gods is acquired through culture, other instruction, or a spontaneous effort to understand the mysteries of life. All that requires thought, knowledge, and communication, things that are absent or not well developed in infants. And although many “hard” atheists believe there are no supernatural entities at all such as souls or spirits, that’s not a strict requirement of atheism.
As Irving Klotz observed, “Science has no vicar on the earth to reveal doctrine and no central committee to proclaim dogma.” By definition the same is true of atheism or other religious unbelief. No one else’s beliefs about atheism or how they express them has any bearing on my beliefs or how I express mine. I am no more responsible for their actions than I am for the actions of the guy who shoots up a school merely because we both own guns.
► 6.4/93.6
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
— Plato June 26, 2018, 07:13 AM
fpuhan"There are no atheists in foxholes."
You can't truly call yourself "peaceful" unless you are capable of great violence. If you're not capable of great violence, you're not peaceful, you're harmless.
NRA Benefactor/Patriot Member June 26, 2018, 07:25 AM
chellim1quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:
One of the things that derails almost all discussions of lack of religious belief is the definitions of the words. According to common American English dictionaries “theism” means the belief in a god or gods. The “a” in atheism means a lack of such belief—and that’s all. There’s nothing in the word that implies a “cold certainty,” “arrogance,” or even “assholery” any more than there is in such words as Christianity or Islam.
Everyone starts life as an atheist because a belief in a god or gods is acquired through culture, other instruction, or a spontaneous effort to understand the mysteries of life. All that requires thought, knowledge, and communication, things that are not well developed in infants. And although many “hard” atheists believe there are no supernatural entities at all such as souls or spirits, that’s not a strict requirement of atheism.
As Irving Klotz observed, “Science has no vicar on the earth to reveal doctrine and no central committee to proclaim dogma.” By definition the same is true of atheism or other religious unbelief. No one else’s beliefs about atheism or how they express them has any bearing on my beliefs or how I express mine. I am no more responsible for their actions than I am for the actions of the guy who shoots up a school merely because we both own guns.
All good points, sigfreund.
I particularly like this one:
Everyone starts life as an atheist because a belief in a god or gods is acquired through culture, other instruction, or a spontaneous effort to understand the mysteries of life. All that requires thought, knowledge, and communication, things that are not well developed in infants.
Our culture, in my opinion, has devolved.
This country was once a place where such instruction was common. It's still available, if you seek it, but the culture discourages it.
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."
-- Justice Janice Rogers Brown
"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth."
-rduckwor