# Am I the only person on the Internet who believes in God? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 24, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944 "2010-09-24T23:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/161 "2010-09-27T23:03:32Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I note in passing, with distinct lack of surprise, that you clipped the link about Mary Allen, the Student Body President who was not allowed to speak at graduation because she was a Christian. How many atheist students holding a similar position have ever been banned from speaking merely because they were atheists? Wait, this is a joke right? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/162 "2010-09-27T23:04:48Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > > [@sisu](#): > > > > Cite, I call this out as bull. > > I don’t understand your post. What part of what I said are asking for a cite for? That there are more athiests on the Internet. I don’t buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/163 "2010-09-27T23:33:33Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > > [@Voyager](#): > > > > I was unaware you got to choose to consent to court orders. Do stalkers get to choose if they are going to obey anti-harassment orders now? > > In this case, according to ITR’s cited article, it was a consent decree, where the school officials consented to not doing it anymore. When they violated that, it’s contempt of court. > > It’s hard to imagine anyone being sympathetic to the school officials in this case - they consented to it, to a judge, then broke their agreement. He claimed they were coerced into consenting. I suppose if they hadn’t consented the penalties could be applied immediately, so they were being let off easy. And it turned out their agreement was a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/164 "2010-09-27T23:45:44Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Prayer is part of the daily duty of Christians. So, these Christians lived at the school? I need to masturbate at least once a day. You know, to keep my prostate healthy. Can I do it at school in the cafeteria? I guess I could do it at home.:mad: But it is so much fun to share with others especially the children [/Herbert]. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/165 "2010-09-28T00:05:21Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > > [@ITR\_champion](#): > > > > Prayer is part of the daily duty of Christians. > > So, these Christians lived at the school? > I need to masturbate at least once a day. You know, to keep my prostate healthy. Can I do it at school in the cafeteria? > I guess I could do it at home.:mad: But it is so much fun to share with others especially the children [/Herbert]. I strongly object to this analogy. Masturbation has some proven benefit. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/166 "2010-09-28T01:40:49Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > > [@ITR\_champion](#): > > > > Prayer is part of the daily duty of Christians. > > So, these Christians lived at the school? > I need to masturbate at least once a day. You know, to keep my prostate healthy. Can I do it at school in the cafeteria? > I guess I could do it at home.:mad: But it is so much fun to share with others especially the children [/Herbert]. Do you say “Oh God, I’m coming”? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/167 "2010-09-28T01:55:31Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > If an atheist planned on making a speech about how religion is stupid, he’d be banned also, and quite rightly. I wouldn’t say that’s “quite rightly”. If a Young Earth Creationist says something stupid, it’s their own damn fault if a Biology class contradicts their delusions. The same reasoning applies to the rest of religion’s ludicrous claims unsupported by evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/168 "2010-09-28T02:17:33Z")
An atheist can never win a debate of Existence. If the believer is right, he’ll get to rub it in the atheist’s face someday. If the atheist is correct, they’ll get no such satisfaction. So I generally avoid such discussions. In order for the believer to be correct, God only has to reveal himself once. To be correct, the atheist must have God remain absent forever. The atheist can’t win. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/169 "2010-09-28T02:29:15Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > > [@ITR\_champion](#): > > > > Prayer is part of the daily duty of Christians. > > So, these Christians lived at the school? > I need to masturbate at least once a day. You know, to keep my prostate healthy. Can I do it at school in the cafeteria? > I guess I could do it at home.:mad: But it is so much fun to share with others especially the children [/Herbert]. No, semen in food is a health risk. Do it in the woman’s locker room shower, and aim for the drain. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/170 "2010-09-28T02:55:58Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > An atheist can never win a debate of Existence. If the believer is right, he’ll get to rub it in the atheist’s face someday. If the atheist is correct, they’ll get no such satisfaction. So I generally avoid such discussions. In order for the believer to be correct, God only has to reveal himself once. To be correct, the atheist must have God remain absent forever. The atheist can’t win. **Mince** ’s argument against atheism (which has to be at least distantly related to Pascal’s Wager): Whether you’re right or wrong, you’ll never get the chance to say, “See, I told you so.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/171 "2010-09-28T03:22:47Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > In order for the believer to be correct, God only has to reveal himself once. To be correct, the atheist must have God remain absent forever. The atheist can’t win. Nope. You make it sound like god revealing himself once is an easy or common thing, and that god remaining absent forever is a more difficult one. This would only be true if god actually existed. If you can demonstrate that god actually exists, then your statement may hold true. But if god doesn’t exist, then god revealing himself, even once, is totally out of the question. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/172 "2010-09-28T03:31:11Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > An atheist can never win a debate of Existence. If the believer is right, he’ll get to rub it in the atheist’s face someday. If the atheist is correct, they’ll get no such satisfaction. So I generally avoid such discussions. In order for the believer to be correct, God only has to reveal himself once. To be correct, the atheist must have God remain absent forever. The atheist can’t win. No, the atheist wins by default. The logical default is nonexistence; with no evidence that gods are even possible, much less real, the rational assumption is that there are no such things. Especially when the believers have such a terrible track record of being right about any of their claims, and can’t even agree among themselves which religious fantasy is the “truth”. Just as it is the rational conclusion to consider Santa Claus, Sauron and Oberon imaginary (all of whom are more plausible than God, I might add). The theists refuse to acknowledge this because they are by nature either irrational or dishonest, but that doesn’t make it any less true. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/173 "2010-09-28T03:34:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@Mince](#): > > > > An atheist can never win a debate of Existence. If the believer is right, he’ll get to rub it in the atheist’s face someday. If the atheist is correct, they’ll get no such satisfaction. So I generally avoid such discussions. In order for the believer to be correct, God only has to reveal himself once. To be correct, the atheist must have God remain absent forever. The atheist can’t win. > > **Mince** ’s argument against atheism (which has to be at least distantly related to Pascal’s Wager): Whether you’re right or wrong, you’ll never get the chance to say, “See, I told you so.” 🙂 Right, because that’s why I’m an atheist. So I can taunt theists. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/174 "2010-09-28T07:59:13Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > > [@Voyager](#): > > > > If an atheist planned on making a speech about how religion is stupid, he’d be banned also, and quite rightly. > > I wouldn’t say that’s “quite rightly”. If a Young Earth Creationist says something stupid, it’s their own damn fault if a Biology class contradicts their delusions. The same reasoning applies to the rest of religion’s ludicrous claims unsupported by evidence. As a more or less state sponsored speaker. It isn’t the place for it. In class, representing only oneself is a quite different matter. Now, if I were an atheist wanting to make a point in a speech, I wouldn’t say anything about God, but I would give a speech on the wonders of evolution. Purely secular, backed up by science, and it would drive the creationist fundies wild. In certain places. In our school district no one would bat an eye. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/175 "2010-09-28T08:02:18Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > An atheist can never win a debate of Existence. If the believer is right, he’ll get to rub it in the atheist’s face someday. If the atheist is correct, they’ll get no such satisfaction. So I generally avoid such discussions. In order for the believer to be correct, God only has to reveal himself once. To be correct, the atheist must have God remain absent forever. The atheist can’t win. Each day God does not reveal himself reduces the probability that God exists. By this argument, the probability that God will reveal himself is exactly equal to the probability that the IPU will reveal herself. Or the FSM. Or Zeus, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/176 "2010-09-28T12:36:05Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > > [@Shodan](#): > > > > It is just that on the SDMB, some of the atheists say out loud what they are thinking, and we find out why they are hated and distrusted. > > > > Regards, > > Shodan > > Right, because **Der Trihs** is totally representative of lots of groups of people and they should all be judged by what he posts. Another of the problems with atheists is that they tend to try to argue against positions that haven’t been taken. See above - I say “some”, you misrepresent this as an allegation that he is totally representative. > [@](#): > > Although - even granted that the generalization is faulty - why would you say distrust? Because of the misrepresentation, as you just demonstrated. > [@](#): > > What has he said that indicates that he’s untrustworthy? He seems honest and upfront and consistent to me. I’m sure he does. Birds of a feather and all that. Perhaps you don’t notice the times he makes outrageous claims about how all Christians are evil and hate women and the rest of his horseshit schtick. You swallow it, despite the fact that not even once has he backed up this drivel with anything like a credible cite. It’s always some article he claims to remember reading that, funnily enough, doesn’t exist online. > [@](#): > > The idea that anything said in this thread would confirm to you that atheists should be “distrusted” shows you to be a bad judge of character. I tend to distrust people who make false and malicious accusations against me. I’m funny that way. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/177 "2010-09-28T13:35:39Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > **Mince** ’s argument against atheism (which has to be at least distantly related to Pascal’s Wager): Whether you’re right or wrong, you’ll never get the chance to say, “See, I told you so.” 🙂 > > Right, because that’s why I’m an atheist. So I can taunt theists. I’m one so I get to come first alphabetically. “Aardvarkian” is so rarely on the forms, these days. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/178 "2010-09-28T14:14:07Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > > [@Lobohan](#): > > > > As for cites, is San Diego close enough? > > The article you linked to is about a man who goes out of his way to insult, antagonize, and censor religious believers. In response he gets a few believers who say rude things to him. Cry me a river. The tone that both you and the article’s author evince is a perfect example of the common hypocricy on this issue, stating that any nasty thing that atheists say or do should be fine. If the guy drove around with a bumper sticker declaring that Jews or blacks were stupid, would atheist lefties still throw him these sorts of pity parties? It’s weird that you hammered Jrodfield so beautifully and called him on his bullshit. Yet you’re as blindly ideological when it comes to Christianity. There are plenty of asshole Christian bumperstickers. “Don’t believe in hell? You’re still going.” “In case of Rapture this car will be unmanned.” “Got Jesus, it’s hell without him.” Each of those calls the viewer stupid for not subscribing to the childish and irrational Christian belief system. How many people get harassed for one of those? But none of that matters, because it’s a fact that atheists are untrusted in America. From: [Who's Counting: Distrusting Atheists - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1) > [@](#): > > Asked whether they would disapprove of a child’s wish to marry an atheist, 47.6 percent of those interviewed said yes. Asked the same question about Muslims and African-Americans, the yes responses fell to 33.5 percent and 27.2 percent, respectively. The yes responses for Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Jews and conservative Christians were 18.5 percent, 18.5 percent, 11.8 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively. > > When asked which groups did not share their vision of American society, 39.5 percent of those interviewed mentioned atheists. Asked the same question about Muslims and homosexuals, the figures dropped to a slightly less depressing 26.3 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively. For Hispanics, Jews, Asian-Americans and African-Americans, they fell further to 7.6 percent, 7.4 percent, 7.0 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/179 "2010-09-28T14:21:59Z")
[Atheists and agnostics know more about religion](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-religion-survey-20100928,0,3225238.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29) than fundamentalist christians: > [@](#): > > Report says nonbelievers know more, on average, about religion than most faithful. Jews and Mormons also score high on the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey. > > If you want to know about God, you might want to talk to an atheist. > > Heresy? Perhaps. But a survey that measured Americans’ knowledge of religion found that atheists and agnostics knew more, on average, than followers of most major faiths. In fact, the gaps in knowledge among some of the faithful may give new meaning to the term “blind faith.” > > … > > Atheists and agnostics — those who believe there is no God or who aren’t sure — were more likely to answer the survey’s questions correctly. Jews and Mormons ranked just below them in the survey’s measurement of religious knowledge — so close as to be statistically tied. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944/180 "2010-09-28T15:14:00Z")
Frankly, I look forward to the day when ITR faces some _real_ oppression - it’ll mean organized religion is feeling the pressure at last. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-on-the-internet-who-believes-in-god/554944.md?page=10)