<p>I hate "emo music".</p>
<p>jewish, gotta hold down the second largest over represented minority (just behind azns) which sucks but its all good</p>
<p>u see the thing wth the believers is that if they one day discover that there is no God- they have everything to lose. if an aethiest discovers God- he has everyting to gain.
(i read that somewhere..forgot where)</p>
<p>don't bite me for saying this, but aethiests generally have the capacity to analyse, think, and challenge the unknown. </p>
<p>i live in over-religious-god-fearing india, and i'v seen more than my share of people donating money to temples/shrines etc to offer coconuts/flowers/gold to their Gods, whilst their own families don't have anything to eat.</p>
<p>Sure they have their faith, they have their beliefs, but ..</p>
<p>I am a follower of Christ. Protestant to be exact.</p>
<p>I respect the right of all people to believe in their own religions yet I do believe there is one absolute truth (I'm not for moral relevatism). I have chosen to follow Christ and I think that this is just as much a walk of faith as what an atheist may have. Atheists believe there is no God and they put their faith in that. I have found hope and salvation through Christ and if that means following God as opposed to carving my own way, I will take it. And I don't believe that by following Christ I am just leaning on something pointless just to make myself feel secure. I certainly do think on my own and can analyze things, I do not believe in blindly following any faith and certainly I challenge and analyze my own faith and still I have decided to follow Christ. Faith should never be blind.</p>
<p>Well that's my take.</p>
<p>*u see the thing wth the believers is that if they one day discover that there is no God- they have everything to lose. if an aethiest discovers God- he has everyting to gain. (i read that somewhere..forgot where) *</p>
<p>Yeah, you got that reversed - it was Pascal, btw - the place where you read that... but reversed. It is more commonly known as Pascal's Wager.</p>
<p>*don't bite me for saying this, but aethiests generally have the capacity to analyse, think, and challenge the unknown. *</p>
<p>Wow - I'm sorry but you're going to get bitten. Mainly because your statement implies that those who believe in god lack "the capacity to analyze, etc. etc." Which obviously is not the case. Yet for all their "capacity", no atheist in the history of humanity has been able to disprove the existance of a god. So.... care to back up your claim?</p>
<p>Faith should never be blind.</p>
<p>Isn't that all faith can be?</p>
<p>icracus: science is an art that first looks for the proof and then reaches a conclusion.</p>
<p>but the "believers" so to speak, first make conclusions and then look for the proof.</p>
<p>aethiests are scientifically inclined eh?</p>
<p>Sadi, </p>
<p>The history of science is the history of people who believed in a creator/prime mover doing science, from Democritus to Einstien. </p>
<p>"but the "believers" so to speak, first make conclusions and then look for the proof."</p>
<p>No, they observe facts, have an intuition/hypothesis compare it to known facts and have faith in a conclusion that is not objectively provable but is subjectively believable, like most things in life.</p>
<p>I'm Catholic. I have no real issues with my religion. I rely on myself and an intimate group of people for spiritual support and guidance not the Pope or some Bishop.</p>
<p>Taoist...I try to be a good taoist, but, hell, I'm going into finance...:(</p>
<p>"Yet for all their 'capacity', no atheist in the history of humanity has been able to disprove the existance of a god"- Neither has anyone proven the existance of God without going into some hypothetical fourth dimension speal.</p>
<p>"Isn't that all faith can be?"</p>
<p>I don't think so. If you believe something without looking into the evidence and coming to a conclusion, then I would say this is blind. But I think that it's basically a semantics argument cause I see what you're saying. I guess I've come to the conclusion that Christ is the messiah/savior through reading scripture, analyzing the text and hearing the testimonies/preachings of others. So I wouldn't call this blind.</p>
<p>atheist, probably because I wasn't brought up with religion and it was never a big part of my life</p>
<p>As far as faith goes, I believe it is inherently blind. People are choosing to believe in an abstract concept......the whole "believeing is seeing" motto. </p>
<p>Hmmm, kinda like Santa Claus.......</p>
<p>Or love.........!</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I practice Sufism.</p>
<p>i'm catholic</p>
<p>
[quote]
i live in over-religious-god-fearing india, and i'v seen more than my share of people donating money to temples/shrines etc to offer coconuts/flowers/gold to their Gods, whilst their own families don't have anything to eat.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm Hindu, but I don't give exorbitant amounts of money/coconuts/flowers/gold to lavish temples, lol. I'd rather express my faith through kindness and morally sound actions and discover God through nature, other people, silence, etc.</p>
<p>Even if you are atheist, you are choosing to believe something, even though it's to believe that God does not exist.</p>
<p>"Yeah, you got that reversed - it was Pascal, btw - the place where you read that... but reversed. It is more commonly known as Pascal's Wager."- Icarus</p>
<p>Pascal's Wager seems to be a little weak, especially considering its source. The problem is that there isn't just one possible supreme being in which one can believe. There is no way, besides faith, to choose the Judeo-Christian God over Zeus, Hutzilopochtli, etc. Many religions are mutually exclusive, so choosing the wrong deity will have the same consequence as not choosing one at all. I think the odds of winning the lottery are better.</p>
<p>I am a "Christmas-Easter" episcopalian;</p>