# To what degree do you believe in God ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377 "2010-09-28T18:33:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dcypher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Dcypher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dcypher)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/61 "2010-09-30T19:35:02Z")
My experience with God is entirely anecdotal and I can’t expect anyone else to care what I may or may have not experienced. I say as 2+2=4. I understand that my strong belief is still possibly wrong/ At the same time, for anyone reasonable, there has to be some understanding that there exists a small possibility that God exists. None of us can be 100% sure of anything. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/62 "2010-09-30T21:52:08Z")
Question not answerable as posed. I use the word “God”. It refers to an abstraction and I consider that abstraction to be a useful one, perhaps necessary for an adequate description of reality as I experience it. I don’t find it necessary to use the word “God”. The abstraction doesn’t require the term. I think the abstraction gave rise to the term which is why I use it. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/63 "2010-09-30T23:23:03Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > To what what degree do you believe in God ? The none degree. ALTHOUGH… I am not without belief in matters which, for lack of a better term, would be considered spiritual, or metaphysical, or supernatural. But a single, separate consciousness responsible for the creation of life on earth? Not even a little. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/64 "2010-09-30T23:26:12Z")
I don’t see any difference between choices one and two. Zero degree for me, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/65 "2010-09-30T23:26:21Z")
See you all in Hades! ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/66 "2010-10-01T00:49:14Z")
Do I believe in a God? Yes. However, I am not a member of an organized religion. (I’m an Episcopalian.) Will Rogers jokes aside, I’m not sure exactly what I believe. And I like it that way. With certainty comes dogma and then repression and then all the things that give religion a bad name. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/67 "2010-10-03T18:15:20Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t see any difference between choices one and two. > > Zero degree for me, by the way. A person who picks one would never ever contemplate he may be wrong. A person who picks 2 may question his faith from time to time. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/68 "2010-10-03T18:20:47Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > > > To what what degree do you believe in God ? > > The none degree. The nun degree? ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/69 "2010-10-05T01:51:45Z")
I picked number one before I thought about if I had ever doubted and I have at times. Most of you guys know I have believed from childhood so the 2+2 =4 works too. I think number two would be a better answer for me. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/70 "2010-10-05T01:55:58Z")
I believe in God. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/71 "2010-10-05T10:43:28Z")
I voted “My head says no, but I simply can’t deny God” I don’t believe in God anymore (I used to) but I can’t exclude the possibility of a creator either. The thought that the universe appeared out of a state which is not even nothing (even nothing did not exist) seems ridiculous.But then the thought of a creator that always existed even before existence existed is just as silly. I have read that the laws of physics explain how the universe popped into existence from nothing but that leaves the two questions of how did the laws of physics come about, and even more puzzling, why did they come about? And how did any of this happen in the absence of time, which apparently did not exist until the big bang. I think about this often. I will never know the answers. And it really bothers me that all we humans do, as individuals or collectively, is meaningless once the universe dies out. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/72 "2010-10-05T12:10:35Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > The thought that the universe appeared out of a state which is not even nothing (even nothing did not exist) seems ridiculous.But then the thought of a creator that always existed even before existence existed is just as silly. > > I have read that the laws of physics explain how the universe popped into existence from nothing but that leaves the two questions of how did the laws of physics come about, and even more puzzling, why did they come about? And how did any of this happen in the absence of time, which apparently did not exist until the big bang. I think that, whether you are an atheist or a theist, it is necessary to believe that some things just exist without having been brought about in some way by anything else. Perhaps it is logically impossible for “nothing” to exist? But then, where does logic itself come from? Some people argue that there can be an infinite regress of “causes”, with no prime cause, but I think that infinite regress implies a sequence of events, i.e. events taking place within time, and time is one of the things about which we are wondering how come it exists. Therefore, that argument tacitly assumes that time itself necessarily exists. Atheists believe that the universe (including time itself) is one of the things that just exists, in addition to abstract intangibles such as logic, and maybe mathematical objects such as numbers and so on. Also, as a popular solution to the “goldilocks” problem (i.e. how come the physical constants are just right for life to evolve in the universe), many of them believe in multiple or even infinite universes. Personally, I would add consciousness to that list, because I don’t believe that it is brought about merely by physiological processes. I find this all a bit complicated, and prefer a simpler solution - that there is just one thing that necessarily exists, a mind of some sort, and that mind somehow causes all other things to exist, perhaps by just imagining them. So for that reason, I’m a theist in the loosest sense, and I voted “probably exists”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/73 "2010-10-05T13:20:40Z")
I chose two (as I don’t like those intensifiers, especially one that could easily be false. 2 + 2 = 11 in tertiary, for example.) But there are times when I get to option 7. It’s an odd thing–I may start to doubt, but then I remember that I exist. And my sense of self somehow proves that God exists. _Cogito ergo deus es_ maybe? Now if you’d if Heaven existed, it’d be a little shakier. It seems too good to be true. But, I hold on to it as a “blessed hope.” I hope it’s true, even though my intellectual mind has trouble believing it. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/74 "2010-10-05T19:17:47Z")
I don’t believe in ANY gods that I’ve read about. I wish I still had the comfort my Christian upbringing provided, but I can’t believe in that god at all. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/75 "2010-10-11T16:38:52Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I think that, whether you are an atheist or a theist, it is necessary to believe that some things just exist without having been brought about in some way by anything else. Perhaps it is logically impossible for “nothing” to exist? But then, where does logic itself come from? > Some people argue that there can be an infinite regress of “causes”, with no prime cause, but I think that infinite regress implies a sequence of events, i.e. events taking place within time, and time is one of the things about which we are wondering how come it exists. Therefore, that argument tacitly assumes that time itself necessarily exists. > > Atheists believe that the universe (including time itself) is one of the things that just exists, in addition to abstract intangibles such as logic, and maybe mathematical objects such as numbers and so on. Also, as a popular solution to the “goldilocks” problem (i.e. how come the physical constants are just right for life to evolve in the universe), many of them believe in multiple or even infinite universes. Personally, I would add consciousness to that list, because I don’t believe that it is brought about merely by physiological processes. > > I find this all a bit complicated, and prefer a simpler solution - that there is just one thing that necessarily exists, a mind of some sort, and that mind somehow causes all other things to exist, perhaps by just imagining them. So for that reason, I’m a theist in the loosest sense, and I voted “probably exists”. Scientists don’t say that “nothing” existed before the universe, but that space-time as we know it came into existence when the universe began. We don’t know what existed before that (and possibly cannot know as it would be so far removed from our current frame of existence). The “goldilocks” problem does not exist. Life formed the way it did to fit the physical constraints that existed in the universe. The physics did not coincidently just happen to match the requirements of a predetermined form of life. If the physics had been different, then life would have formed differently, or not formed at all. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/76 "2010-10-11T19:14:29Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > I once read where some philosopher once said that selecting a category added too much credence to the other categories. > > I am not simply not interested. And this is the umpteenth “God” poll which has no NOTA option, which is usually de rigeur in most other threads here (I always put one in my polls). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/77 "2010-10-11T20:21:54Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > > [@janeslogin](#): > > > > I once read where some philosopher once said that selecting a category added too much credence to the other categories. > > > > I am not simply not interested. > > And this is the umpteenth “God” poll which has no NOTA option, which is usually de rigeur in most other threads here (I always put one in my polls). Can you see the contradiction in your statement ? What is NOTA ? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/78 "2010-10-11T21:10:04Z")
Hanh? NOTA refers to “None of the Above” or “Other” or somesuch-I thought it was a common courtesy to those (such as me) who want to take a third option, or have a more nuanced view on the subject at hand, even if the OPer might not even imagine that there could be any when he pens the poll. But it’s your thread, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/79 "2010-10-11T21:14:13Z")
Whether I believe in God or not changes at least twice a day and often more. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377/80 "2010-10-11T22:08:57Z")
> [@raindog](#): > > > [@Clothahump](#): > > > > If asked “Is there a god?”, the only factual answer that one can give is, “I don’t know and neither does anyone else.” > > > > If told “There is a god”, there is only one response that can be given: “Prove it”. > > Is that so… > > So tell me…Assuming it can’t be proven that God exists, what would _that_ prove? Two answers to that. Is it that we can’t prove that a god exists because we definitely proved one doesn’t? If so, the answer is self-explanatory. If we simply can’t prove the existence of a god, then the logical conclusion is that a god does not exist and that stories of the existence of a god are false. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-what-degree-do-you-believe-in-god/555377.md?page=3)