do you believe there is a GOD?

[ilikeUW]

<p>i used to go to church, but i dont know, i remain unconvinced that there is a God. trust me, i want to believe that there is one, but unless a “miracle” or “revelation” occurs, ill stay unconvinced.</p>

[forreal100]

<p>yes, i do…but i dont believe in creationism. Science and religion can mix.</p>

[1_Sky_Pilot]

<p>I believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM).</p>

[qzar]

<p>There may be a god, who knows, but it certainly isn’t the god of the Abrahamic faiths (at least not in the way they portray him). I think science and religion are not mutually exclusive, but science and several religions simply do not work together, especially when the religion is so adamantly against change. It becomes superstitious fundamentalism. That is what Christianity has become. Most of the Christian assumptions are being systematically shown to be false. I don’t think there is a god in a reflection of our personalities given that our consciousnesses are a function of our biological brains, brains that have changed and evolved throughout history. To think that we are going to die and still have our ability to reason, have memories, and even have a concept of our selves is just like thinking the earth is the center of the universe. </p>

<p>When we begin to lose our collective obsession with our selves we realize how unimportant humans are in the span of existence. The conception we have of our material world is so flawed that we have have gone as far as to create this concept of gods who are out to watch out for us and are reflections of ourselves. Who was the god of the dinosaurs? or the god that looked for our things before humans… or after humans? In that sense I think the Western religions are ages behind the Buddhist traditions. </p>

<p>I think to be atheist is to ignore the sheer force and mystery of our cosmos. To believe that one has the “right” answer as far as these mysteries are concerned is just as ignorant though.</p>

[christian612]

<p>Theists have the burden of proof. Until then I will live my life as an atheist.</p>

[Punkchique]

<p>@ 1 sky pilot, Ramen -__-</p>

[theReach]

<p>

Agnosticism is, indeed, the lack of knowledge. However, atheism is the “knowledge” that there is no god, whereas theism is the “knowledge” that there is a god. You can be an atheistic agnostic; i.e., agnostic but leaning toward atheism. You can also be a theistic agnostic (for example, Buddhists are often atheistic agnostic or theistic agnostic). If someone does not know for sure whether there is a god or higher power, then that person is agnostic or one of its offshoots. If a person “knows” there is no god (i.e., flatly does not believe in god), that person is an atheist. If a person does “know” there is a god (i.e., flatly does believe in god), then that person is a theist. All Muslims are theists, not all theists are Muslims.

</p>

<p>Look, I’m not sure where you are going with this, but agnostics and atheists are unrelated. You can be both. Atheism is the lack of belief, period. It has nothing to do with “knowing”. It’s a misconception that has probably been ingrained in your brain, but you are going to have to figure it out. You can’t argue the truth.</p>

[applicannot]

<p>

I think to be atheist is to ignore the sheer force and mystery of our cosmos. To believe that one has the “right” answer as far as these mysteries are concerned is just as ignorant though.

</p>

<p>I agree. This is why I do not consider myself an atheist. Well, let me clear that up… I often call myself an atheist for the ease of use of the term, but I’m actually an atheistic agnostic. I don’t know one way or the other for sure (as do theists and atheists believe, by definition), but I have a serious doubt in god. Let’s put it this way. I’m extremely skeptic of any religious gods (why hasn’t God spoken to anyone in 2000 years? why didn’t he speak much before then? there’s too much for even the most simple skeptic to consider), but to say that there isn’t some higher force - not necessarily something sentient - would be, in my opinion, a bit foolish. We can’t rule it out. There is so much we don’t know about the Universe that there could be some force guiding the universe.</p>

[applicannot]

<p>

Look, I’m not sure where you are going, but agnostics and atheists are unrelated. You can be both. It’s a misconception that has probably been ingrained in your brain, but you are going to have to figure it out. You can’t argue the truth.

</p>

<p>I frankly have no idea what you’re talking about. If that’s the case, then why does every definition of atheism I’ve found concur with my own?</p>

<p>“Atheism is commonly defined as the position that there are no deities.[1] It can also mean the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[2] A broader definition is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.[3]”
[Atheism</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism]Atheism”>Atheism - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>“Atheism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and other philosophy reference works, is the denial of the existence of God.”
[Atheism</a> - Conservapedia](<a href=“http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism]Atheism”>http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism)</p>

<p>“Atheism: Belief in no God, or no belief in God. (There is a difference)”
[Atheism:[/url</a>]</p>

<p>“Atheism is a lack of belief in gods,”
[url=<a href=“http://www.atheists.org/atheism/About_Atheism]American”>http://www.atheists.org/atheism/About_Atheism]American</a> Atheists | About Atheism](<a href=“http://www.religioustolerance.org/atheist.htm]Atheism:[/url”>http://www.religioustolerance.org/atheist.htm)</p>

<p>Atheism means not believing in god. Period. Agnosticism means having doubt, but not enough evidence to have a “belief” (any cognitive content held as true) one way or another. Atheists and theists have beliefs. Agnostics do not. Look at it this way. Imagine a big circle. This is the circle of knowledge. Pick any point. Label it atheism. You can label the same exact point theism. Atheists and theists have the same strength of belief, just opposite of one another. Choose the point opposite of atheism or theism. That’s agnosticism. Agnostics can’t say one way or another, and as such, do not have a solid belief on the issue of whether there is a god. There are points in-between. Atheistic agnostics, like me, may believe that while there is evidence to support there is no god, the evidence is not conclusive enough to venture a belief.</p>

[theReach]

<p>Every source you quoted except Conservapedia (lol) states that atheism is the lack of belief, not a lack of knowledge or a denial of the existence of a god. How does that help your point again?

Since atheism is concerned with deities, and agnosticism is concerned with knowledge, there is no reason that the terms need be mutually exclusive. Nor does it seem that agnosticism is a “middle point” between two extremes being atheism and theism. In fact, the idea that agnosticism is a mid-way point of view is a common misconception of agnosticism. A person may be be both an atheist and an agnostic. It is even possible to be a theist and an agnostic depending upon what knowledge of god you claim.

</p>

<p>[Atheist/Agnostic</a> Atheist/Agnostic 101](<a href=“http://www.haberco.com/ath/?page_id=36]Atheist/Agnostic”>http://www.haberco.com/ath/?page_id=36)</p>

<p>

Once it is understood that atheism is merely the absence of belief in any gods, it becomes evident that agnosticism is not, as many assume, a “third way” between atheism and theism. The presence of a belief in a god and the absence of a belief in a god exhaust all of the possibilities. Agnosticism is not about belief in god but about knowledge — it was coined originally to describe the position of a person who could not claim to know for sure if any gods exist or not.Thus, it is clear that agnosticism is compatible with both theism and atheism. A person can believe in a god (theism) without claiming to know for sure if that god exists; the result is agnostic theism. On the other hand, a person can disbelieve in gods (atheism) without claiming to know for sure that no gods can or do exist; the result is agnostic atheism.

</p>

<p>[Atheism</a> vs. Agnosticism: What’s the Difference? Are they Alternatives to Each Other?](<a href=“http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutagnosticism/a/atheism.htm]Atheism”>Key Differences Between Atheism and Agnosticism)</p>

<p>Do everyone a favor and stay out of the philosophy classes when you are at Stanford. Or at least bring a dictionary…:)</p>

[NonAntiAnarchist]

<p>No, there almost certainly isn’t a “God”. I guess I’d term myself as a technical agnostic.</p>

[amarkov]

<p>When people talk about how they worked a lot today, physicists don’t pop up and say “Work is REALLY force times displacement, so you probably didn’t do very much work at all”. Plz less to declare that academic definitions of words are the only valid ones.</p>

[Manhattan75]

<p>Smart point, Amarkov.</p>

<p>And I have been silent in this thread thus far, but I’ll just say on the issue that “I don’t know, but with the [lack of] evidence available, I would be more inclined to believe that there isn’t a God.”</p>

<p>Whatever that makes me, I guess I am that… Horrible wording, sorry.</p>

[Grape1]

<p>As I scroll through this thread, the posts get increasingly longer…</p>

<p>A few clarifications:</p>

<ol>
<li>You can be an agnostic theist or an agnostic atheist. Agnosticism is not a belief in and of itself; it simply implies either uncertainty or lack of concern with the believe in question. theReach seems to have explained that well.</li>
</ol>

<p>“Theists and atheists have believes, agnostics do not.”</p>

<p>False. Either you believe in X or you do not believe in X. No other possibilities exist. An agnostic is simply less certain of his or her stance.</p>

<ol>
<li>Referring to all non-theists as atheists is a rather blanket way of going about understanding non-theism in my opinion. I do not believe in God and therefore would technically be considered an atheist, but I do not self-identify as an atheist because it does not accurately represent my beliefs as a whole.</li>
</ol>

<p>I don’t really want to argue for or against a certain position, but it seems people do not really understand what the terms mean.</p>

[Recharge]

<p>You cannot, however, be a gnostic atheist, or an atheistic gnostic, or an agnostically-atheistic deist, or a pagan.</p>

[bigpapi3434]

<p>I asked my senior brother who is applying to several ivies. His response: “I’ll know Thursday” :)</p>

[itry]

<p>Why is this getting so complicated. If there is a God, he doesn’t care about us because we destroy what he has created. I don’t see cats and dogs walking into church but they live off pretty fine (until humans screw up their lives). There isn’t much to worry unless you are the savior and help out the world instead of destroying it.</p>

[Manhattan75]

<p>Epicurus on God & Evil:</p>

<p>“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?”

• Epicurus</p>

[pierrechn]

<p>short answer Yes</p>

[Manayy]

<p>@pierrechn
perfect answer!</p>