Religion Roll-Call!

I find the total lack of knowledge that this poll shows to be disgusting at the very least.

Mormon is a denomination of Christianity

Hindu and Islam are completely different - Islam is (so-called) monotheism, Hindu is polytheism (and is could be referred to as pagan at a stretch due to it's multiple gods)

Spiritual is a bloody stupid one to enter, because all faiths can be viewed as spiritual in one way or another.

Scientology and Paganism are not even remotely linked, and Scientology is not held in that high regard among Pagans (as a Pagan I really do find the grouping of these 2 fucking insulting)

Kali is a Hindu goddess, so why try to give her follower a seperate status?

And you managed to insult just about every one listed but the Jews (and the parody ones at the bottom), yet you do not even mention Toaists or Sikhs.

Friendly piece of advice (or not so friendly), do not bother posting anything to do with religion until your facts are straight and at least halfway accurate.

Thank you. If Atheism is a religion, then bald is a hair colour. There should not have to be a word for everything I don't believe in.

I can admit I reject a belief in other gods. I will freely admit it's a belief of mine. My belief is they don't exist. Why do atheists fear atheism will be labeled a belief? One either believes God exists or one believes there is no God. It's still a belief, in my opinion

Church of Kilroy, SL World Dominator

You must be new to Kevn's world.

Your opinion is irrelevant. You also opine that intelligent design should be taught as science in public schools, that the Discovery Institute's report card(s) on biology textbooks counts as valid and insightful criticism, and that science equates to a "humanist religion". Ridiculous.

Atheism is a lack of belief in deities. If a lack of belief is a belief, then bald is a hair colour. See how that works? Can't have a blonde fish - no hair. Can't have a "believing" atheist.

The fact that you're limited to believing (despite evidence) instead of /knowing/ is not my fault, neither is it the fault of anyone else. It is purely your problem and your responsibility. That you can't imagine "not believing" does not mean that I have to be limited to your superstition.

I /know/ your deity doesn't exist, in the same way I /know/ there are no ravens in my mailbox. Ravens are large, flighted avians, and my mailbox is hosted on GMail.com. Categorical impossibility. Same for the existence of your deity in this universe.

See how that works, yet?

haha, that's a great line, Chronic!

Great, then you lack a belief whether God exists. That means you don't believe God doesn't exist, it means you have no belief either way. That's cleared up.

It's what I believe. Is it arrogant for you to believe you know what's true?

While in a dentist chair and on laughing gas a few months back, I had the revelation that we are all, every one of us, agnostics, as none of us will ever know for sure (unless maybe there is an afterlife, and who knows about that, either.)

Maybe YOU are agnostic, but I am an atheist. I do not need to know "for sure" that god does or does not exist to be an atheist.

Briana Dawson

Dude, you took that way too seriously. Laughing gas.

I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE!

*sighs as the liquid is injected into his arm, and then cackles wildly as he is led through his front door towards the ambulance by two men in white coats.*

Pardon me while I boggle at the appearance that you've grasped the concept.

Now, whether or not you can carry that apprehension forward and avoid the inaccuracy of such statements as "Atheists believe X about $deity" remains to be seen.

Try "Atheists believe X about $deity's existence".

Years and years ago, my parents, told a Jewish friend of theirs that they are atheist. He wanted to narrow down their point of view farther. "Yes, but are you Christian atheists or Jewish atheists?" he asked. This whole thread reminds me of that.

See, that does not work - *sigh* because believing something about a deity's existence is /by definition/ believing something about the deity, believing in/about the deity itself.

Their existence, or non-existence, is an attribute of the deity, and holding a belief about their existence or non-existence necessarily has a prerequisite of holding a belief about the deity - to believe something about your existence, I must first hold a category of notions about you, which requires belief about/in you.

I have beliefs about people and thier attitudes and worldviews. I have a vacancy of belief regarding deities. In its' place is knowledge.

This is beside the point that you're still presuming that you know more about atheists - and me specifically - than they know about themselves.

Atheists lack belief in deities. That's /it/. Everything else - all other qualities and attributes - are independent of that attribute.

Rule:
ANY well-formed phrase that can be stated or transformed to begin "Atheists believe X about $deity..." is /fundamentally wrongdoing/.

I get it. Your brain has no opinion about God or His existence. When some one says "God" you don't understand them, because the term equals a big blank in your mind. You don't believe in God or disbelieve God. You just .... nothing... God.

Mormon is a denomination of Christianity
Yes, I'm aware of that... and I probably should have left off the qualification. I've lived for many years in towns with moderately high populations of Mormons and heard quite a few Christians denounce them as non-Christian. I'm sure Kevn has an opinion on the matter.

Hindu and Islam are completely different
No argument. As I stated previously with only 10 options to pick from I started clustering religions geographically. Despite Hindu and Islam being enormously populated and very different from each other... the poll still reflects '0' for this category.

Spiritual is a bloody stupid one to enter, because all faiths can be viewed as spiritual in one way or another.
I live in california... and the number of people I've conversed with who merely describe themselves as "spritual" (usually making the quotey symbol with their fingers) is actually a reasonable percentage. Usually they have some home-grown mix of beliefs and rituals. Upon reflection, Agnostic should have been seperated out.

Scientology and Paganism are not even remotely linked, and Scientology is not held in that high regard among Pagans (as a Pagan I really do find the grouping of these 2 fucking insulting)
Kali is a Hindu goddess, so why try to give her follower a seperate status?
Already explained why previously but you skipped it. And would likely disagree with the point anyway.

And you managed to insult just about every one listed but the Jews (and the parody ones at the bottom), yet you do not even mention Toaists or Sikhs.
Pity none appeared here to appreciate it. I appear to have wasted a category on them.

Friendly piece of advice (or not so friendly), do not bother posting anything to do with religion until your facts are straight and at least halfway accurate.
Of course, because religion is so full of accurate facts.

Seriously, I apologize for the bizarre clustering that was done in this poll. I was happy it had faded away .. until Selador necroposted on it

At current count:
Secular/Atheist: 45
Christian: 30
independent belief or agnostic: 28
pastafarian or pie: 12
all others: 26

For what it's worth... I think many of the people that choose to endorse Pastafarianism do so for the same reasons that people choose pie on the SL forums... because the legitamate choices leave them wanting and so they pick something tasty instead.

You may think that was a parody category... but you've now insulted me and the rest of the people in the 4th most popular category. Thanks.

Don't you know that the latest archaeological consensus states that the "Aryan" people are a myth, an artefact of the anti-Semitic racist culture of the late Victorian/neomodern period?

I'm a Satanist.
I don't believe in god or the devil.
The Church of Satan is a recognized religion.
Thanks for your concern.
Now, please get some education and move on to something you have a clue about.

Education? In what? I've read both volumes of the Satanic Bible by Anton Lavey and found them rather weak (but I was 16 at the time, and 16 years have passed since then). Seemed to focus on criminal activity and disrespecting others more than anything else.

Here is a link to the Official Church of Satan Website

Oh yeah, and since we are hurling insults, maybe if you had some education you wouldnt be a satanist?

Briana Dawson