# Are there believers here? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355 "2013-08-28T01:00:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/41 "2013-08-28T13:34:55Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > We do have threads all the time where an OP asks for participation of a certain subset of the SDMB community. > > I see current threads designated for Dieters, Car Buffs, Cis-Women, Ladies, Ladies with cup C and up, Male Dopers, Girls, Ballistics type, US citizens, and Americans just on my first page of results in IMHO. > > Many of the responses from non-believers on this thread have been respectful but some, IMHO, are not. I’m not sure why a request for response by a religious subset should be treated with scorn as other threads don’t generally result in such response. > As to directly answer the OP, yes there are some believers on this board. I am one among them. As others mentioned, religion tends to bring out some very strong opinions and many such threads can derail into a real mess. \*\*“I’m not sure why a request for response by a religious subset should be treated with scorn as other threads don’t generally result in such response.” \*\* Every conservative thread started by a Conservative is heaped with scorn. What’s with the fear of hearing skeptical opinions? Don’t let your feelings get hurt by strangers on a message board; they are mostly pudgy blowhards sitting in their wives sewing rooms with a laptop, or perennial slackers and nerds who wrestle with guilt issues. And to address the rest of your post, what would be wrong with an ex-dieter chiming in with advice on how she stopped dieting by learning a healthy lifestyle that doesn’t require intermittent crash diets? Or how about an ex-motor-head joining a discussion about mechanical issues, even though he’s now a global warming herald and full time bicyclist? Why do you want to limit interaction to members with identical opinions? How about a “Stepford Wives” thread? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/42 "2013-08-28T14:02:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Believers sitting around and saying, “I believe, do you believe? I believe. It’s so nice that you believe.” What does that accomplish Ding, ding, ding! I think you nailed it right there. There have been polite responses and inquiries made out of fellowship and with sincerity, it appears to me. But the lack of any response by the OP makes the above quote truly shine I think! Well done. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/43 "2013-08-28T14:05:22Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > We do have threads all the time where an OP asks for participation of a certain subset of the SDMB community. And it never stays restricted to that subset. And virtually all of them get threadshit in, no matter how banal the topic. Welcome to the Internet. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/44 "2013-08-28T14:11:00Z")
There’s also the fact that many of the outspoken nonbelievers here (and, heck, probably some of the believers too) have had bad experiences in their lives with people who claimed to be a Christian or a believer, or have been turned off by some of the dumb, mean things that people say and do in the name of their religion. So some of us are a little reluctant to go around saying “Hey, I’m a believer!” or “As a Christian…” because if that claim is the only thing people have to judge us by, many of the people here are going to judge us negatively. > [@Iggy](#): > > We do have threads all the time where an OP asks for participation of a certain subset of the SDMB community. > > I see current threads designated for Dieters _Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance!_ ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/45 "2013-08-28T14:12:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Many of the responses from non-believers on this thread have been respectful but some, IMHO, are not. I’m not sure why a request for response by a religious subset should be treated with scorn as other threads don’t generally result in such response. Really? I was going to stay out of this thread out of respect for the OP’s wishes. But you really don’t understand the scorn? If I posted how convincing the Discovery Channel’s show on mermaids was last week, don’t you think I’d get a pretty heavy dose of scorn? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/46 "2013-08-28T14:19:26Z")
The assumption that everyone would automatically know what the OP meant by “believers” ticks me off slightly. There are an uncountable number of things people believe in, and to assume that the default definition would be a particular sect of a particular religion among all the other religions among all the other things people believe in is, _at best_, naïve. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/47 "2013-08-28T14:27:26Z")
> [@want2befree](#): > > And also, what do you think accounts for the lack of believers on this board that seems to comprise people in mid-life, and very intelligent? It’s right there on the label. Right under the name. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/48 "2013-08-28T14:38:54Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > You’re ahead of the curve in one respect: you used the word “comprise” properly. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/49 "2013-08-28T14:40:21Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > I think it’s to do w/ being a board based on the idea that there’s a single correct, source-based, quantifiable answer to most questions people consider at some point in their lives. Religious faith doesn’t hold up well under that scrutiny. > Do you see how your question implies believers to be ‘very intelligent’ and how that could be insulting to non-believers? Actually, my point was quite the contrary. I was saying that most people here are intelligent and non-believers, so as a believer I was starting to wonder if I should feel under par. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/50 "2013-08-28T14:42:15Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > It’s a fair question asked above, what Sect are you associated with? I don’t believe I belong to any sect. ? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/51 "2013-08-28T14:42:20Z")
1. What church do you go to? 2. What Bible do you use? 3. Why did you think people would know what you meant by “believer”? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/52 "2013-08-28T14:43:55Z")
Sect can mean denomination. I’m Presbyterian. You are…? ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/53 "2013-08-28T14:44:31Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I’d like to know how any semi-intelligent, middle-aged person could ever believe in a god. Yet I am constantly surrounded by a vast majority of people who do. Meh. Live and let live, I say. As long as your belief in your god isn’t infringing on my right and my life in any way, more power to you. If you believe that gay people are sinners who shouldn’t be able to marry or adopt children, then you can just go suck a lemon. (I bring up the gay thing as one of many issues that have soured me on most religious “believers”) That is one frustrating thing about my belief in God and the bible. As a “this world” dweller, I personally support gays. So yeah, don’t know what to do with that. I figure I’ll just have to deal with it when I reach the pearly gates and see what God has to say in person. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/54 "2013-08-28T14:45:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > May I ask where you live? If it’s the U.S., it’s hard to believe you could feel alone. There are Christian churches in every town, Christian pastors on television, many public gatherings begin with a Christian prayer, and politicians routinely end their speeches with a Christian blessing. > > Maybe someday this country will have an openly Christian president, or 44 of them. You are not the neglected, lonely minority. I meant at the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/55 "2013-08-28T14:47:59Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Many of the responses from non-believers on this thread have been respectful but some, IMHO, are not. I’m not sure why a request for response by a religious subset should be treated with scorn as other threads don’t generally result in such response. Because, just to pick a few threads, as a non-expert in ballistics and a male, there is relatively little insight I could offer in a thread on ballistics or a thread on the utility of a particular kind of bra. But in a thread on the ratio of christians to non-christian, religious belief is not a relevant criteria. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/56 "2013-08-28T14:52:38Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Ding, ding, ding! I think you nailed it right there. There have been polite responses and inquiries made out of fellowship and with sincerity, it appears to me. But the lack of any response by the OP makes the above quote truly shine I think! Well done. haha. OP only goes on SDMB during work hours, but couldnt wait to log back in this morning! Thanks guys, I love how for the most part you are all respectful. You have indeed answered my questions and my inclinations. I had a feeling that as a believer, I simply need to stay away from any threads that would discuss otherwise, and just stay in the “light, fun” threads. So yup that’s what I’ll do. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/57 "2013-08-28T14:55:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > 1. What church do you go to? > 2. What Bible do you use? > 3. Why did you think people would know what you meant by “believer”? 1. Sun Grove in Elk Grove 2. Holy Bible (King James version?) 3. Because people here are intelligent and I’m sure the word has been thrown around here from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/58 "2013-08-28T14:55:10Z")
> [@want2befree](#): > > haha. OP only goes on SDMB during work hours, but couldnt wait to log back in this morning! Thanks guys, I love how for the most part you are all respectful. You have indeed answered my questions and my inclinations. I had a feeling that as a believer, I simply need to stay away from any threads that would discuss otherwise, and just stay in the “light, fun” threads. So yup that’s what I’ll do. Would you mind telling us what denomination’s tenets you follow? ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/59 "2013-08-28T15:00:00Z")
> [@want2befree](#): > > haha. OP only goes on SDMB during work hours, but couldnt wait to log back in this morning! Thanks guys, I love how for the most part you are all respectful. You have indeed answered my questions and my inclinations. I had a feeling that as a believer, I simply need to stay away from any threads that would discuss otherwise, and just stay in the “light, fun” threads. So yup that’s what I’ll do. This just sounds … wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355/60 "2013-08-28T15:01:48Z")
> [@want2befree](#): > > Actually, my point was quite the contrary. I was saying that most people here are intelligent and non-believers, so as a believer I was starting to wonder if I should feel under par. The most direct answer to your pondering is, “yes”, but not in the golf sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-believers-here/667355.md?page=4)