What are your religious beliefs?

[Terra Agora]

As Ceannairceach said "Fear is a great advertising agency."

The Ninth Satanic Statement declares, "Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years."

They help each other mutually haha.

[Greenlandesia]

I am an atheist.

[Dalnanla]

Raised as a pentecostal fundamentalist Christian, being told that my interest in Pokemon was evil because "they worship those things in Asia" and "they get children into dealing with evil spirits". I flip-flopped between Jesus-all-the-time Christianity, please-Satan-grant-me-magical-powers Satanism and God-is-a-meanie-pants-so-I'll-ignore-him Atheist. The issues of sexuality and masturbation also effected things.

Living as a New Ager. I didn't consider myself New Age for the longest; I had been searching for a term for my perspective forever and just recently (months ago) took a real look into the Wikipedia article for it, and realized that that's what my perspective's been for years.

Also, biblical arguments make me , because 1. everything in the Bible's vague, 2. Bible-users will believe what they want to and find a verse that vaguely supports them no matter what, and 3. I just don't find the Bible relevant enough. It's still a pretty neat mix of proverbs and interpretations of events.

Though I still don't see how Christians see Old Testament laws or any books after the Gospels as relevant. I thought Christians were supposed to be centered on Christ, actually having Jesus save them from, oh I don't know, BS dogma. Then again, I've lost my religion too much to be a good arguer...

[The Left-Libertarian Hippies]

Raised as a pentecostal fundamentalist Christian, being told that my interest in Pokemon was evil because "they worship those things in Asia" and "they get children into dealing with evil spirits". I flip-flopped between Jesus-all-the-time Christianity, please-Satan-grant-me-magical-powers Satanism and God-is-a-meanie-pants-so-I'll-ignore-him Atheist. The issues of sexuality and masturbation also effected things.

Living as a New Ager. I didn't consider myself New Age for the longest; I had been searching for a term for my perspective forever and just recently (months ago) took a real look into the Wikipedia article for it, and realized that that's what my perspective's been for years.

Also, biblical arguments make me , because 1. everything in the Bible's vague, 2. Bible-users will believe what they want to and find a verse that vaguely supports them no matter what, and 3. I just don't find the Bible relevant enough. It's still a pretty neat mix of proverbs and interpretations of events.


Though I still don't see how Christians see Old Testament laws or any books after the Gospels as relevant. I thought Christians were supposed to be centered on Christ, actually having Jesus save them from, oh I don't know, BS dogma. Then again, I've lost my religion too much to be a good arguer...

I think your parents ruined you...and now your an extremely lost person who knows nothing about the Bible (no offense).

[Samuraikoku]

Copernicus was a Catholic cleric, who dedicated his work On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres to Pope Paul III.

Galileo, whose works were later condemned by Pope Urban VIII, was actually asked by him earlier on to "to give arguments for and against heliocentrism in [his] book" and to include the Pope's own views. The two shared a personal friendship as well. The only reason why Urban acted as he did was NOT because of literal interpretation but pressure (especially from the Spanish cardinal) that he was becoming "weak." Not to mention Galileo's character in the preface of one of his books, Simplicius (translated into Italian "Simplicio" meaning simpleton) was viewed by many in and outside of the Papal court as an attack on Urban directly, which only increased the strain and hardened his stance. Though most think Galileo didn't do this out of malice intentionally.

He who makes comments as simple as yours, knows little of the actual events that took place at the time, as well as the history, and probably read the 7th or 8th grade story in your history book, where Galileo recanted his works, but as he stood up whispered that "they were true."

To clarify I am not condoning or supporting the Church's actions at the time. It was about 90% political and as a result it created problems (like the comment above) that would later haunt them. But the issue was more political than religious.

I know what happened, and it doesn't change a thing. It means someone above Urban VIII took the word of the Bible literally.

[Jinnahabad]

I'm a Muslim.

[New Ceausist Romania]

Transendental idealism.

[Cameroi]

my belief, quite simply, is that all sorts of neat, fun, invisible things, really do exist, and that none of them are very likely to resemble anything ANYone thinks they know about it (including me, and i mostly don't claim to, other then that something big, friendly and invisible gives great hugs). it is also, or seems also, unlikely that any unseen thing wishes us any particular harm, or that most of them have any more idea we exist then we do about them.

if there is life beyond this one, as there might very well be, it doesn't have to depend on anything about them either.

the one thing about anything, is that the conditions that exist within human society, that each of us experience individually, are created statistically, by all of us together, by how we actually live, and what is actually important to us, all of that, added statistically together, and not what we tell each other it is, or sometimes even think it is ourselves.

there might be only one god, but that does mean every other invisible thing has to be wrong or harmful.
just that every name and everything we think we know about them, has no great likelihood to have anything to do with how anything about them actually is.

[Sociobiology]

Ok. So it all starts with the big bang. The ball of enery that then exploded yada yada yada. It had to be triggered by something. My explanation: God. God exists in a realm outside of our own, he isn't bound to our concepts of time and physics. The Book of Genesis describes that God created the universe in 7 days (6 with a day of rest). My question to you: What is a day to God? This question can not be awnsered. God is not bound by our perception of time. A day for him could be a week for us, a month, a year, or, 10 Millenia. Genesis seems to describe things in the order that the theory of evoulution describes them to be. First, the stars, then day and night, then the earth, then vegetation, then creatures in the sea and land, then finally, humans. According to Genesis, in 7 days. But once again, what's a day to God? It could be entirely that 7 "God days" are in our preception, a couple billion years. However, since god is Omnipotent and Omnipresent (in our universe), he can do all his godly things to us. Science was originally meant to compliment religion, not contrast it. Sir Issac Newton was a devout christian. Modern science in my opinion has been distorted by secularism, everytime a scientist makes a discovery, he almost goes "take that religion! Your myths are crazy", when really, he never trully finished his discovery. He never connected the dots. He never sought out any similarities in "contrasting" beliefs. I say evolution is a our preception of creation.

rust forms, and as been demonstrated to form thru the natural electro-chemical interaction of oxygen and iron atoms, you do not get to propose an rust fairy who goes and waves a magic wand to make rust form without INDEPENDENT evidence of said fairy.

[Furious Grandmothers]

Ok. So it all starts with the big bang. The ball of enery that then exploded yada yada yada. It had to be triggered by something. My explanation: God. God exists in a realm outside of our own, he isn't bound to our concepts of time and physics. The Book of Genesis describes that God created the universe in 7 days (6 with a day of rest). My question to you: What is a day to God? This question can not be awnsered. God is not bound by our perception of time. A day for him could be a week for us, a month, a year, or, 10 Millenia. Genesis seems to describe things in the order that the theory of evoulution describes them to be. First, the stars, then day and night, then the earth, then vegetation, then creatures in the sea and land, then finally, humans. According to Genesis, in 7 days. But once again, what's a day to God? It could be entirely that 7 "God days" are in our preception, a couple billion years. However, since god is Omnipotent and Omnipresent (in our universe), he can do all his godly things to us. Science was originally meant to compliment religion, not contrast it. Sir Issac Newton was a devout christian. Modern science in my opinion has been distorted by secularism, everytime a scientist makes a discovery, he almost goes "take that religion! Your myths are crazy", when really, he never trully finished his discovery. He never connected the dots. He never sought out any similarities in "contrasting" beliefs. I say evolution is a our preception of creation.

rust forms, and as been demonstrated to form thru the natural electro-chemical interaction of oxygen and iron atoms, you do not get to propose an rust fairy who goes and waves a magic wand to make rust form without INDEPENDENT evidence of said fairy.

Why not? It is possible, isn't it? For the sake of debate, I shall say that the electro-chemical interaction of oxygen and iron atoms occurs because the rust fairy wills it, eventually causing rust. Even though I have no independent evidence of the rust fairy. I just thought it up. I'll even teach my children that the rust fairy exists. You can't disprove me, can you?

Also, said fairy is a flying monster looking like some form of pasta.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Only 3 Hindus.

[Unhealthy2]

Why not? It is possible, isn't it? For the sake of debate, I shall say that the electro-chemical interaction of oxygen and iron atoms occurs because the rust fairy wills it, eventually causing rust. Even though I have no independent evidence of the rust fairy. I just thought it up. I'll even teach my children that the rust fairy exists. You can't disprove me, can you?

Also, said fairy is a flying monster looking like some form of pasta.

But then what happens when chemistry is able to provide an explanation for why the electrochemical reaction occurs? An electrochemical reactions fairy?

[Unhealthy2]

my belief, quite simply, is that all sorts of neat, fun, invisible things, really do exist, and that none of them are very likely to resemble anything ANYone thinks they know about it (including me, and i mostly don't claim to, other then that something big, friendly and invisible gives great hugs). it is also, or seems also, unlikely that any unseen thing wishes us any particular harm, or that most of them have any more idea we exist then we do about them.

if there is life beyond this one, as there might very well be, it doesn't have to depend on anything about them either.

the one thing about anything, is that the conditions that exist within human society, that each of us experience individually, are created statistically, by all of us together, by how we actually live, and what is actually important to us, all of that, added statistically together, and not what we tell each other it is, or sometimes even think it is ourselves.

there might be only one god, but that does mean every other invisible thing has to be wrong or harmful.
just that every name and everything we think we know about them, has no great likelihood to have anything to do with how anything about them actually is.

Can I buy some of that stuff from you? Because whatever it is, you've been smoking some seriously good shit.

[Furious Grandmothers]

Why not? It is possible, isn't it? For the sake of debate, I shall say that the electro-chemical interaction of oxygen and iron atoms occurs because the rust fairy wills it, eventually causing rust. Even though I have no independent evidence of the rust fairy. I just thought it up. I'll even teach my children that the rust fairy exists. You can't disprove me, can you?

Also, said fairy is a flying monster looking like some form of pasta.

But then what happens when chemistry is able to provide an explanation for why the electrochemical reaction occurs? An electrochemical reactions fairy?

Ah! This is where it gets interesting. The rust fairy made it look like what we label as chemistry happen. He can do anything, you see. And He works in mysterious ways.

Also, that stuff Cameroi was smoking is real good, I'm on it now. You should try it sometime, I think the rust fairy would like for you do it. He said so in His book.

[Samuraikoku]

But then what happens when chemistry is able to provide an explanation for why the electrochemical reaction occurs? An electrochemical reactions fairy?

Ah! This is where it gets interesting. The rust fairy made it look like what we label as chemistry happen. He can do anything, you see. And He works in mysterious ways.

Also, that stuff Cameroi was smoking is real good, I'm on it now. You should try it sometime, I think the rust fairy would like for you do it. He said so in His book.

Rust? Are you smoking WD-40 or something?

[Unhealthy2]

Ah! This is where it gets interesting. The rust fairy made it look like what we label as chemistry happen. He can do anything, you see. And He works in mysterious ways.

Also, that stuff Cameroi was smoking is real good, I'm on it now. You should try it sometime, I think the rust fairy would like for you do it. He said so in His book.

But at that point, either a really clever person thinks about what you just said and finds a way to falsify it, or it just becomes truly unfalsifiable, and you and I both know what I've said about truly unfalsifiable claims.

[Farnhamia]

Ok. So it all starts with the big bang. The ball of enery that then exploded yada yada yada. It had to be triggered by something¹. My explanation: God. God exists in a realm outside of our own, he isn't bound to our concepts of time and physics. The Book of Genesis describes that God created the universe in 7 days (6 with a day of rest). My question to you: What is a day to God? This question can not be awnsered. God is not bound by our perception of time. A day for him could be a week for us, a month, a year, or, 10 Millenia². Genesis seems to describe things in the order that the theory of evoulution describes them to be. First, the stars, then day and night, then the earth³, then vegetation, then creatures in the sea and land, then finally, humans. According to Genesis, in 7 days⁴. But once again, what's a day to God? It could be entirely that 7 "God days" are in our preception, a couple billion years. However, since god is Omnipotent and Omnipresent (in our universe), he can do all his godly things to us. Science was originally meant to compliment religion, not contrast it⁵. Sir Issac Newton was a devout christian⁶. Modern science in my opinion has been distorted by secularism, everytime a scientist makes a discovery, he almost goes "take that religion! Your myths are crazy"⁷, when really, he never trully finished his discovery. He never connected the dots⁸. He never sought out any similarities in "contrasting" beliefs. I say evolution is a our preception of creation⁹.

1. It didn't have to be triggered by anything.
2. Gigantic cop-out. "Well, how did God do it?" "You wouldn't understand." "..."
3. How could there be "day and night" when there was no planet on which to experience them?
4. Six days. Yahweh rested on the 7th. Tsk.
5. See #2.
6. So what? Newton was also an alchemist. Appeal to authority.
7. Name two.
8. What dots?
9. Evolution is how life develops. The theory of evolution is the explanation of that process.

You should look into getting a decent spell-checker.

[Threlizdun]

Ok. So it all starts with the big bang. The ball of enery that then exploded yada yada yada. It had to be triggered by something¹. My explanation: God. God exists in a realm outside of our own, he isn't bound to our concepts of time and physics. The Book of Genesis describes that God created the universe in 7 days (6 with a day of rest). My question to you: What is a day to God? This question can not be awnsered. God is not bound by our perception of time. A day for him could be a week for us, a month, a year, or, 10 Millenia². Genesis seems to describe things in the order that the theory of evoulution describes them to be. First, the stars, then day and night, then the earth³, then vegetation, then creatures in the sea and land, then finally, humans. According to Genesis, in 7 days⁴. But once again, what's a day to God? It could be entirely that 7 "God days" are in our preception, a couple billion years. However, since god is Omnipotent and Omnipresent (in our universe), he can do all his godly things to us. Science was originally meant to compliment religion, not contrast it⁵. Sir Issac Newton was a devout christian⁶. Modern science in my opinion has been distorted by secularism, everytime a scientist makes a discovery, he almost goes "take that religion! Your myths are crazy"⁷, when really, he never trully finished his discovery. He never connected the dots⁸. He never sought out any similarities in "contrasting" beliefs. I say evolution is a our preception of creation⁹.

1. It didn't have to be triggered by anything.
2. Gigantic cop-out. "Well, how did God do it?" "You wouldn't understand." "..."
3. How could there be "day and night" when there was no planet on which to experience them?
4. Six days. Yahweh rested on the 7th. Tsk.
5. See #2.
6. So what? Newton was also an alchemist. Appeal to authority.
7. Name two.
8. What dots?
9. Evolution is how life develops. The theory of evolution is the explanation of that process.

You should look into getting a decent spell-checker.

Multiple models exist on how the big bang could have occured and what existed before it. I personally strongly ahere to the Steinhardt-Turok Model, which provides an explanation for why the big bang occured, what existed before it, and what will occur following the big crunch. Also I must comment that Mexico and its People's statement that God is omnipotent, truly is quite impossible, due to the paradox presented within omnipotence.

[Threlizdun]

Ok. So it all starts with the big bang. The ball of enery that then exploded yada yada yada. It had to be triggered by something¹. My explanation: God. God exists in a realm outside of our own, he isn't bound to our concepts of time and physics. The Book of Genesis describes that God created the universe in 7 days (6 with a day of rest). My question to you: What is a day to God? This question can not be awnsered. God is not bound by our perception of time. A day for him could be a week for us, a month, a year, or, 10 Millenia². Genesis seems to describe things in the order that the theory of evoulution describes them to be. First, the stars, then day and night, then the earth³, then vegetation, then creatures in the sea and land, then finally, humans. According to Genesis, in 7 days⁴. But once again, what's a day to God? It could be entirely that 7 "God days" are in our preception, a couple billion years. However, since god is Omnipotent and Omnipresent (in our universe), he can do all his godly things to us. Science was originally meant to compliment religion, not contrast it⁵. Sir Issac Newton was a devout christian⁶. Modern science in my opinion has been distorted by secularism, everytime a scientist makes a discovery, he almost goes "take that religion! Your myths are crazy"⁷, when really, he never trully finished his discovery. He never connected the dots⁸. He never sought out any similarities in "contrasting" beliefs. I say evolution is a our preception of creation⁹.

1. It didn't have to be triggered by anything.
2. Gigantic cop-out. "Well, how did God do it?" "You wouldn't understand." "..."
3. How could there be "day and night" when there was no planet on which to experience them?
4. Six days. Yahweh rested on the 7th. Tsk.
5. See #2.
6. So what? Newton was also an alchemist. Appeal to authority.
7. Name two.
8. What dots?
9. Evolution is how life develops. The theory of evolution is the explanation of that process.

You should look into getting a decent spell-checker.

Multiple models exist on how the big bang could have occured and what existed before it. I personally strongly ahere to the Steinhardt-Turok Model, which provides an explanation for why the big bang occured, what existed before it, and what will occur following the big crunch. Also I must comment that Mexico and its People's statement that God is omnipotent, truly is quite impossible, due to the paradox presented within omnipotence.

[Furious Grandmothers]

Ah! This is where it gets interesting. The rust fairy made it look like what we label as chemistry happen. He can do anything, you see. And He works in mysterious ways.

Also, that stuff Cameroi was smoking is real good, I'm on it now. You should try it sometime, I think the rust fairy would like for you do it. He said so in His book.

But at that point, either a really clever person thinks about what you just said and finds a way to falsify it, or it just becomes truly unfalsifiable, and you and I both know what I've said about truly unfalsifiable claims.

That will be the point when obvious rust fairy troll has succeeded because he has failed. Epic Xanatos Gambit FTW!

[Nulono]

Atheism isn't a religious belief.

[Mike the Progressive]

Copernicus was a Catholic cleric, who dedicated his work On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres to Pope Paul III.

Galileo, whose works were later condemned by Pope Urban VIII, was actually asked by him earlier on to "to give arguments for and against heliocentrism in [his] book" and to include the Pope's own views. The two shared a personal friendship as well. The only reason why Urban acted as he did was NOT because of literal interpretation but pressure (especially from the Spanish cardinal) that he was becoming "weak." Not to mention Galileo's character in the preface of one of his books, Simplicius (translated into Italian "Simplicio" meaning simpleton) was viewed by many in and outside of the Papal court as an attack on Urban directly, which only increased the strain and hardened his stance. Though most think Galileo didn't do this out of malice intentionally.

He who makes comments as simple as yours, knows little of the actual events that took place at the time, as well as the history, and probably read the 7th or 8th grade story in your history book, where Galileo recanted his works, but as he stood up whispered that "they were true."

To clarify I am not condoning or supporting the Church's actions at the time. It was about 90% political and as a result it created problems (like the comment above) that would later haunt them. But the issue was more political than religious.

I know what happened, and it doesn't change a thing. It means someone above Urban VIII took the word of the Bible literally.

It means somebody below Urban took the word literally, or at least said that he did; and Urban bowed to political pressure from him.

[The Cookish States]

Meh. I believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Noow, cue the Atheists with their knowledge produced mostly by scientists who seem to believe that everyone should live with the same depression as them that there is no afterlife and you will be nonexistant in 100 years. That is depressing, have hope, have faith, in religion, as opposed to believeing nothing is important, there is no judgement after life, and that you have no obligation other than to yourself to abide by a moral code (Which is dumb, because your moral code can change instantly as it only applies to you and what is good for you, so in theory, a lesser person could shoot a baby to save his own life (If given that ultimatum). Religion produces a definate standard (In most cases) which means, even if there is no God, it's still ore effiecient for guiding people than "Your personal beliefs"

Hitler abided his personal beliefs
Manson did too
Oh, and let's not forget every rapist and pedophile on the planet...

This isn't saying you all are above things, but it's possible for you to do it if YOUR moral compass says it's right.

[Set the Unbound]

Meh. I believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Noow, cue the Atheists with their knowledge produced mostly by scientists who seem to believe that everyone should live with the same depression as them that there is no afterlife and you will be nonexistant in 100 years. That is depressing, have hope, have faith, in religion, as opposed to believeing nothing is important, there is no judgement after life, and that you have no obligation other than to yourself to abide by a moral code (Which is dumb, because your moral code can change instantly as it only applies to you and what is good for you, so in theory, a lesser person could shoot a baby to save his own life (If given that ultimatum). Religion produces a definate standard (In most cases) which means, even if there is no God, it's still ore effiecient for guiding people than "Your personal beliefs"

Hitler abided his personal beliefs
Manson did too
Oh, and let's not forget every rapist and pedophile on the planet...

This isn't saying you all are above things, but it's possible for you to do it if YOUR moral compass says it's right.

Osama Bin Laden was guided by his religious beliefs. Torquemada, too.

This isn't saying you all are above things, but it's possible for you to do it if YOUR religious compass says it's right.

[Moral Libertarians]

Meh. I believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Noow, cue the Atheists with their knowledge produced mostly by scientists who seem to believe that everyone should live with the same depression as them that there is no afterlife and you will be nonexistant in 100 years. That is depressing, have hope, have faith, in religion, as opposed to believeing nothing is important, there is no judgement after life, and that you have no obligation other than to yourself to abide by a moral code (Which is dumb, because your moral code can change instantly as it only applies to you and what is good for you, so in theory, a lesser person could shoot a baby to save his own life (If given that ultimatum). Religion produces a definate standard (In most cases) which means, even if there is no God, it's still ore effiecient for guiding people than "Your personal beliefs"

Hitler abided his personal beliefs
Manson did too
Oh, and let's not forget every rapist and pedophile on the planet...

This isn't saying you all are above things, but it's possible for you to do it if YOUR moral compass says it's right.

I don't need religion to fill the "vast, empty hole" in my life that exists because of my lack of belief. I'm sorry, but what you've said is quite frankly ridiculous. There are many other things on this planet which can make people happy. And there are many things I find important. Godless heathen I may be, but neither I nor nearly every single other member of society would kill a child, or torture someone, not because of the teachings of some old book, but because of a shared set of cultural values (I'm not even going to go into the hypocrisies of, say, the Catholic Church, because that's not the point I'm making). You've surely heard of the crusades, right? Before you say that was a long time ago etc., I'm sure their beliefs were every bit as sincere as yours - the priests and bishops simply had a different interpretation of them.

I'm not trolling here - I'm just making it clear that I don't feel like some lost soul wandering about, awaiting my oblivion with despair, just because I don't follow some religious teachings. To claim this would be a misunderstanding of the relationship between religion and contemporary society.