Inspired by a claimin this thread that there are almost no believers on the SDMB, I’m curious as to our atheist/agnostic/believer split. I’ve no doubt we’re way over the worldwide average for non believers, but let’s try to see what it is.
I have provided 13 options, as you can see, but even then its an awfully small number. Please pick the one that closest approximates your beliefs. Don’t worry if it seems a bit clumsy; your individual peccadilloes won’t much affect the overall result and anyway you can post and explain your personal position on the matter.
I WOULD LIKE THIS THREAD TO AVOID ARGUMENT OVER THE MERITS OF RELIGION. THIS IS NOT GREAT DEBATES. Thanks. Let’s keep it to seeing what your opinion is, and explaining it if you like.
Note: I know I misspelled “Abrahamic” over and over. It’s early and I have a headache.
I would consider myself to be an atheist. “weak” or “functionally” is how I would nail it down. I’ve seen no evidence to convince me of one, but I’m open to being convinced. The bar is just set extraordinarily high.
After all these decades of being an atheist, I’ve pretty much lost interest in the subject. The issue of God vs. not God is irrelevant to my life. So I call myself a “shrugnostic.”
I like that. I didn’t have any great struggle or anything. I just “outgrew” religion slowly between the ages of 10 and 15. Since then, it just hasn’t been an issue. Not much different from realizing Santa Claus doesn’t exist.
I chose agnostic simply because while I don’t believe there is a god, I will give the benefit of doubt and say while they can’t prove there is one, I can’t exactly prove there isn’t. If you had asked about organized religions, it would have been easy for me to say a loud NO to all of them.
I have my own beliefs, but they do not include some grand wizard in the sky.
I voted in the poll, but I rarely if ever participate in discussions that are even related to religion (e.g., abortion debates). Hope I don’t skew the numbers!
This is more-or-less my stance. I grew up Roman Catholic, heck, I even went to church today (my wife is a churchgoer), but I self-describe as an apathetic agnostic. It’s not really an interesting question for me, and the being or non-being of God does not affect my ethical and moral compass.
While I don’t actually believe in a “god” in the traditionally understood sense of a diety, I still consider myself agnostic rather than atheist, because I acknowledge that I don’t know ANYTHING for certain. Nor do I particularly care.
I used to say I was agnostic because it was a kinder, gentler way of saying I don’t believe in god. Now, I unashamedly say I am an atheist.
While I don’t believe in the gods that have so far been imagined by humans, I’m not saying there is definitely nothing out there. I just see no evidence.
I will say that if there is some sort of higher power, it most likely in no way resembles anything people currently or in the past believed. The sooner we as a species outgrow this silly belief system the better off the world will be.
I’m agnostic with regard to the existence of some form of deity or deities, but I lean towards non existence. I’m atheistic with regard to any specifically worshipped deific character from Earthly religious texts. But I’ve also had experiences that lead me to believe something exists of a spiritual nature, though it’s hard to describe its exact nature.