# SDMBer religion **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454 "2005-12-20T14:39:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [December 20, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/41 "2005-12-20T17:34:34Z")
Pantheistic Hedonist or Existential Zen Buddhist, on alternate days. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/42 "2005-12-20T17:34:35Z")
Whether there is or is not an invisible man in the sky who controls my thoughts, feelings and actions, is not important to me. The importance attributed to this incredibly overspecific piece of theistic guesswork amazes me. ---
**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/43 "2005-12-20T17:38:24Z")
> [@BlueLine](#): > > My personal definition of agnostic has never been that agnostics are people that are not sure if there is a creator or not. My agnosticism revolves around my not knowing what kind/type/persona of creator/first cause there is - although it is taken on faith that there is a first cause. People who don’t know ‘whether or not’ there is a creator/higher power/first cause are just ‘undecided’ in my book. > > Is my personal definition of agnosticism not in line with everyone else’s? Here’s a complimentary definition: > > ag·nosti·cal·ly adv. > > ``` > Word History: An agnostic does not deny the existence of God and heaven but holds that one cannot know for certain whether or not they exist. > > ``` My dictionary’s got a slightly different definitition, one that allows me to call myself an agnostic: a person who thinks it is impossible to know whether there is a God or a future life, or anything beyond material phenemena. (Webster’s New World Dictionary) This is a definition that a few Christians who actually understand their religion acknowledge. Instead of getting up in arms and thumping their Bibles shouting, “I know because it says right here in the Bible,” they’ve acknowledged that it is impossible to **know**. Instead what they do is have faith and believe. ---
**Author:** ![BlueLine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@BlueLine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueLine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/44 "2005-12-20T17:43:38Z")
> [@lalaith](#): > > My dictionary’s got a slightly different definitition, one that allows me to call myself an agnostic: > > a person who thinks it is impossible to know whether there is a God or a future life, or anything beyond material phenemena. (Webster’s New World Dictionary) > > This is a definition that a few Christians who actually understand their religion acknowledge. Instead of getting up in arms and thumping their Bibles shouting, “I know because it says right here in the Bible,” they’ve acknowledged that it is impossible to **know**. Instead what they do is have faith and believe. Is the term ‘agnostic’ squishy? I always thought the term ‘agnostic’ meant someone who believed in there being ‘more’ to life than what science or human reason could ever show, and in fact that ‘more’ being attributed to a higher presence/God/creator, but that it was simply something that we could never prove or show to complete satisfaction. Your definition of the above is a weaker version of that, essentially just the latter half of mine. Discuss? ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/45 "2005-12-20T17:54:29Z")
Hindu, but only moderately devout. Which is to say that I believe in all the basic principals but don’t fast and chant that much. Hunger is an overrated form of devotion and seeing as I’ve lived in N.A. most of my life, Hindu slokas from my mouth sound silly. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/46 "2005-12-20T17:55:46Z")
I call myself agnostic. By that I mean that people cannot know what properties a divine being might posess, if any exist. I tend to to think that none exists, but that’s only because the evidence I’ve seen points that way. However, I doubt that I’ve even seen .1% of the available evidence, so I’m probably not a very good judge. I can’t imagine a human being who _is_, though. ---
**Author:** ![BlueLine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@BlueLine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueLine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/47 "2005-12-20T17:59:15Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > I call myself agnostic. By that I mean that people cannot know what properties a divine being might posess, if any exist. I tend to to think that none exists, but that’s only because the evidence I’ve seen points that way. > > However, I doubt that I’ve even seen .1% of the available evidence, so I’m probably not a very good judge. I can’t imagine a human being who _is_, though. Right - I’ve heard that definition before. I guess I just always thought that that definition - above - defined a scientific agnostic point of view, sort of like completely waiting for proof before making ANY decision. My real question is what you call people like me. I DO believe (quite firmly) that there is a higher power/creator/whathaveyou, but I just also know that this is not something that I could (or need to) prove to anyone. This is something that is taken on faith, but it is also understood that no one could ever show/prove to another that my faith was grounded in anything more than just a hunch. Is this the difference between ‘scientific-based’ and ‘faith-based’ agnosticism? ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/48 "2005-12-20T18:00:13Z")
Raised Lutheran, currently pagan, with occasional forays into Buddhism. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/49 "2005-12-20T18:08:08Z")
I am a Zen agnostic - It all comes down to, "what the meaning of ‘is’ is? ---
**Author:** ![kelvinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9fc348/32.png) [@kelvinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelvinator)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/50 "2005-12-20T18:11:19Z")
> [@lalaith](#): > > My dictionary’s got a slightly different definitition, one that allows me to call myself an agnostic: > > a person who thinks it is impossible to know whether there is a God or a future life, or anything beyond material phenemena. (Webster’s New World Dictionary) > > This is a definition that a few Christians who actually understand their religion acknowledge. Instead of getting up in arms and thumping their Bibles shouting, “I know because it says right here in the Bible,” they’ve acknowledged that it is impossible to **know**. Instead what they do is have faith and believe. Hear, hear!!! I don’t believe everything the Bible says, specifically Genesis (I mean, come on! Make a universe in 6 days, flood a planet, build a tower to heaven. Spielberg isn’t that good!) Most of it is allegorical and symbolic. Some portions are entertaining and some are boring. Some portions are historical (the Exodus, events at the time of JCs birth, etc.). I have faith in something creating it all, akin to Mulder’s poster on the X-Files - “I want to believe.” The truth is out there. Whether your god is Reason or Ra, everyone believes in something. I believe I’ll have another drink. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/51 "2005-12-20T18:11:36Z")
Reform Jewish/agnostic. I participate in religious rituals because they give me comfort and community, and I think they help me be a better person, but I haven’t been able to overcome my atheist upbringing and convince myself that it’s actually all _true_. ---
**Author:** ![BlueLine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@BlueLine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueLine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/52 "2005-12-20T18:11:43Z")
In a miracle of self-reliance, I solved my own question. Hold your applause until the end, please. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic\_theism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic_theism) That’s me! Now I just need to find our church somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/53 "2005-12-20T18:12:41Z")
Conservative Jewish, but borrow some ideas from Eastern religions. Converted to Judaism in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/54 "2005-12-20T18:18:22Z")
> [@kelvinator](#): > > Hear, hear!!! I don’t believe everything the Bible says, specifically Genesis (I mean, come on! Make a universe in 6 days, flood a planet, build a tower to heaven. Spielberg isn’t that good!) Most of it is allegorical and symbolic. Some portions are entertaining and some are boring. Some portions are historical (the Exodus, events at the time of JCs birth, etc.). > > I have faith in something creating it all, akin to Mulder’s poster on the X-Files - “I want to believe.” The truth is out there. Whether your god is Reason or Ra, everyone believes in something. > > I believe I’ll have another drink. 😃 Why would you believe some of the magic, but not all of it? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/55 "2005-12-20T18:20:07Z")
LSD. No, not the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I dropped acid and spoke with God 🙂 A bit more seriously: I’m theistic by choice (the choice to utilize the word “God” to describe my experiences and understandings — I could, and sometimes do, dispense with it — but I genuinely do think that the term, and a few zillion others used in other languages/cultures, had its/their origin in similar experiences & understandings, making it the right word for the concept). Put me down as roll yer own, or western unorthodox or some such thing. ---
**Author:** ![BlueLine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@BlueLine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueLine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/56 "2005-12-20T18:22:59Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > LSD. No, not the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I dropped acid and spoke with God 🙂 > A bit more seriously: I’m theistic by choice (the choice to utilize the word “God” to describe my experiences and understandings — I could, and sometimes do, dispense with it — but I genuinely do think that the term, and a few zillion others used in other languages/cultures, had its/their origin in similar experiences & understandings, making it the right word for the concept). > > Put me down as roll yer own, or western unorthodox or some such thing. Perhaps you belong to my church? > **[Agnostic theism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic_theism)** > > Agnostic theism, agnostotheism or agnostitheism is the philosophical view that encompasses both theism and agnosticism. An agnostic theist believes in the existence of a God or Gods, but regards the basis of this proposition as unknown or inherently unknowable. The agnostic theist may also or alternatively be agnostic regarding the properties of the God or gods that they believe in. > There are numerous beliefs that can be included in agnostic theism, such as fideism, the doctrine that knowledge d... Care to make a contribution? ---
**Author:** ![gooftroopag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gooftroopag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooftroopag)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/57 "2005-12-20T18:24:05Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I think the real reason is that scientists are over represented here, and the better the scientist the less the chance of god belief. Consider how many well known atheists or almost atheist agnostics (Gould, Sagan, Dawkins, Asimov) are scientists. While I think this statement is a cheap shot, before someone starts asking for a cite I thought I’d provide one ([here](http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/news/file002.html)). That doesn’t mean that to be a good scientist you have to be atheist, it just happens that a lot of the top scientists are (I’ve known some very good religious scientists). ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/58 "2005-12-20T18:29:54Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > Hindu, but only moderately devout. > > Which is to say that I believe in all the basic principals but don’t fast and chant that much. Hunger is an overrated form of devotion and seeing as I’ve lived in N.A. most of my life, Hindu slokas from my mouth sound silly. [Yoink](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6919231)! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/59 "2005-12-20T18:50:52Z")
> [@BlueLine](#): > > Perhaps you belong to my church? > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic\_theism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic_theism) > > Care to make a contribution? No can do. I’m not agnostic. Quite the opposite. Were it not for the lack of any meaningful overlap with the traditional _content_ embraced by the historical gnostics, I’d say I was a **gnostic**. Within the limitations of my ability as a person to know anything with absolute certainty, I am one who knows, not one who believes despite not knowing (a description I always thought rather apt for the traditional believers, but I don’t think they’d appreciate being called “agnostics”) ---
**Author:** ![BlueLine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@BlueLine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueLine)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454/60 "2005-12-20T18:55:46Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > No can do. I’m not agnostic. Quite the opposite. Were it not for the lack of any meaningful overlap with the traditional _content_ embraced by the historical gnostics, I’d say I was a **gnostic**. > > Within the limitations of my ability as a person to know anything with absolute certainty, I am one who knows, not one who believes despite not knowing (a description I always thought rather apt for the traditional believers, but I don’t think they’d appreciate being called “agnostics”) Okay, check. You know, and do not believe. Contributions also gratefully accepted by outsiders… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmber-religion/336454.md?page=4)