# Do you believe in a God , or God(s)? Please participate! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 4, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029 "2011-12-04T14:54:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/41 "2011-12-05T05:49:32Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I think I will always be amazed that while most agree that Scientology is kooky, these same people will defend, say, Christianity when the only real differences between the two are that one is older and has a more elaborate mythology. Scientology is not a religion, it’s a moneymaking scam. While Christianity has been _used_ by many people as a way to swindle people, it was not created specifically to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/42 "2011-12-05T06:17:23Z")
I believe in God and Jesus and my guardian angel. I know I’m simple. Child-like in my belief. “There are no athesists in foxholes.” When you’ve grown up with your mind silently screaming “Incoming!” you take all the help you can get. And God has taken care of me all my life, always giving me what I need (never anything extra ☹ but what I need.) If I had grown up in another part of the world I would believe in Mohammed or Buddha instead of Jesus. But I grew up in the South. We KNOW that we’ve been washed in the Blood, and also that someday we’ll get Mary Lou’s recipe for stack cake. It comes natural and I like it. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/43 "2011-12-05T06:38:23Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Functional atheist. If there is a God, he’s a jerk or he died a long time ago. I remember a slogan in Mad Magazine, circa 1964: “God isn’t dead. He just doesn’t want to get involved.” ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/44 "2011-12-05T13:23:18Z")
Agnostic. Probably there isn’t a God, but the universe is full of surprises, so I won’t rule it out. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/45 "2011-12-05T14:33:37Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > Agnostic. Probably there isn’t a God, but the universe is full of surprises, so I won’t rule it out. This used to be my stance, but then I realised that the God question is a matter of belief. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable for me to strongly not believe in God, but still allow the possibility that there may be one (or more) - I just don’t believe that to be the case. Analogously, I don’t believe that there exists a planet in this universe entirely composed of pink custard, but if one were discovered I would change my belief. Accordingly, I categorise myself as a “strong atheist”, after the late, great Douglas Adams, who defined himself as such “in order to avoid people thinking that he really meant agonostic”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/46 "2011-12-05T14:35:00Z")
Spiritual atheist. I suppose if I had to pidgeonhole myself, I might be Buddhist or Taoist, but in a pretty non-formal way. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/47 "2011-12-05T14:45:22Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > It would seem that there are 18 other Christians here besides me, but nobody else wants to admit to being one. I mean, you guys aren’t \*that \*scary… Holla! ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/48 "2011-12-05T16:45:13Z")
While it would be almost impossible to agree on the sub-categories, I’d like to have seen “Christian” a little more deconstructed - there would be a range of beliefs from the Unitarian Universalist to the Fighting Fundy contained therein. Grim (who leans more former than latter, except on Tuesdays) ---
**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:** [December 5, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/49 "2011-12-05T20:59:25Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > How can you desire to kill non-existing beings? What, you’ve never hated a fictional character? Or just thought that in the abstract they’d be better dead? It must make fiction boring if you can’t care about fictional characters. > [@Becky2844](#): > > “There are no athesists in foxholes.” When you’ve grown up with your mind silently screaming “Incoming!” you take all the help you can get. This has been covered before and it isn’t true. I’m not going to ask God for help when I’m in danger any more than I’m going to pray to Darth Vader, because they are imaginary. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/50 "2011-12-05T21:13:23Z")
A vote from a (liberal mainline protestant) Christian. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/51 "2011-12-06T20:07:56Z")
Hardline “Dawkinsian” Atheist, to the point of being an “Anti-Theist” if pushed too hard ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/52 "2011-12-06T20:35:12Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > This has been covered before and it isn’t true. I’m not going to ask God for help when I’m in danger any more than I’m going to pray to Darth Vader, because they are imaginary. Please note this, from the OP: 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. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/53 "2011-12-07T00:31:16Z")
Atheist here. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/54 "2011-12-07T01:21:38Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Scientology is not a religion, it’s a moneymaking scam. While Christianity has been _used_ by many people as a way to swindle people, it was not created specifically to do so. You may be right that Scientology is a money-making scam, I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a religion; it is to its adherents who, as deluded as they may be, are certainly no more so than Christians, Muslims, and to possibly a lesser extent, Jews. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/55 "2011-12-07T01:50:34Z")
I believe there is a higher state of consciousness, achievable by all lifeforms on the planet, and that that is what we think of as “god” when we encounter it. I’ve seen it while in a brief comatose state (during a seizure) but it was convincing enough to have me still believing 20 years later. I do not believe in a deity of any sort, especially not the Abrahamic god, who is IMHO, sadistic and cruel. I mean really… there is one path to salvation, the alternative being a lake of fire for alternity. In order to gain salvation, you have to arbitrarily guess which one of a huge number of religions/gods is the correct one, with no input from said god… if you guess wrong? UTTER DOOM! Sorry, but I can’t believe in that. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/56 "2011-12-07T22:48:58Z")
I’ve said this before: by definite knowledge I am agnostic (don’t know a thing about god or gods). By belief I am an atheist (I find the whole idea maximally unlikely). So I voted for atheist. My parents were so uninterested in religion that when a school assignment involved something from the bible, it turned out we didn’t own one. I do now, but it was a wedding gift from my very devout FIL (and a fine piece of work he was). ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/57 "2011-12-07T22:53:47Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > My parents were so uninterested in religion that when a school assignment involved something from the bible, it turned out we didn’t own one. Don’t worry, my mom more than made up for your parents. I think she had like nine different translations. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/58 "2011-12-08T03:38:30Z")
Active atheist, meaning I put some thought into it, read books, go to talks and so forth. I enjoy the intellectual exercise of examining what I believe. Borderline anti-theist, but I’ve been reading quite a lot about Islam recently, just for fun. While I respond to polls and such here for fun, you don’t find me in GD or anything. I’ve had all those arguments already and I just don’t have them any more. You wouldn’'t know what I believe if you met me, unless you tried to witness to me. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/59 "2011-12-08T03:59:38Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > Agnostic. Probably there isn’t a God, but the universe is full of surprises, so I won’t rule it out. For the most part the same. Kinda, sorta. I mean, I’m a really nice pen. But I don’t go out & buy ink, do I…? ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029/60 "2011-12-08T07:06:17Z")
To be precise, I’m an agnostic atheist as in ‘we hardly know much yet to decide whether some form of intelligence is or isn’t behind all or some of this reality as we know it’, however, often even before if I can barely manage to utter “ag-” (of _agnostic_) I’m pegged as something of a muddleheaded believer who wants to hang out with cool atheists. It seems, to me, some such connotation, for some reason, comes with the word “agnostic”.; why is that? Hence I simply say I’m an atheist. But particularly in light of such thing as ‘we/all things within our universe maybe hologram projection from some type of 2D informations on the outer surface of the universe’ being studied seriously by scientists, I voted ‘agnostic’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-in-a-god-or-god-s-please-participate/605029.md?page=4)