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Pit Religious Demographics

Which do you most agree with?

  • I believe there is a God

    Votes: 72 51.4%

  • I believe there is some sort of spirit or life force

    Votes: 23 16.4%

  • I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force

    Votes: 45 32.1%
  • Total voters
    140
Basically, we are God's 3rd grade Science Fair project that he has neglected ever since.
 
RevDeac06 said:
I wasn't as active on the old boards. Which way have you seen the shift?

Also, pretty obvious where I fall on this question.
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I'd guess it's more of a shift towards atheism/not-strictly religious, but OGD also talked about religion on the old board mostly in the politics forum iirc, so that may have had something to do with it.
 
Used to be 2, but have been steadily moving to 3.
 
In fairness, there ought to be an agnostic answer but eh, it's close enough.

Went with #3 with the caveat that I don't know but, being forced to choose what I'd guess is going on, it would be that.
 
ipitytheblue said:
In fairness, there ought to be an agnostic answer but eh, it's close enough.

Went with #3 with the caveat that I don't know but, being forced to choose what I'd guess is going on, it would be that.
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Ditto...none of the choices fit me exactly, but #3 would be my forced choice
 
OGD can explain better, but he typically counts agnosticism as soft atheism, so option 3 is where it should go.
 
I too would have selected an agnostic option, were it available.
 
I chose #2. My default is to call whatever it is "God" though, from being raised Catholic.
 
ipitytheblue said:
In fairness, there ought to be an agnostic answer but eh, it's close enough.

Went with #3 with the caveat that I don't know but, being forced to choose what I'd guess is going on, it would be that.
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I didn't love the choices either but I wanted to use exact answers from that poll to see where we would line up to Europe. As cookout mentioned, I believe that if you are agnostic then you lack a belief in a higher power so number 3 would probably be most accurate.

I'd classify them as:
1. Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc.
2. Deist, New Age, Buddhist, etc.
3. Atheist, Agnostic
 
I would be interested to learn how most of the #3s came upon their atheism. It seems like the vast majority of kids, even today, are raised to believe in a god, yet the atheist population is steadily increasing in this country.

For example, I went to Catholic school for 13 years (K-12) before attending WFU, a school with lingering ties to the Baptist community. I'm of the opinion that all that exposure to theology and organized religion helped create and then reinforce my eventual discovery of and adherence to atheism. I have no idea when it actually occurred, however. One would assume the teenage years are the most likely age, considering the amount of general questioning one does during that time.
 
i voted 2, but could have just as easily gone 3. the wording is the issue. i'd like to believe in a life force, kharma, etc. etc., but I'm not sure I do. As such, 3 would have been a better option based on the comments.
 
agreed, agnostic options would be what I would choose, I don't fit into any of the above selections
 
put it this way, i dont believe there is a god/life force, but i also dont believe there isnt a god/life force. i dont know. i tend to act as if there is one, though, or i just value humanity/earth/creatures/etc. i like to live like there's more to life than me and the people i care about. that, to me, signals that i do inherently believe there's more to it.

does that make sense?
 
deacphan said:
put it this way, i dont believe there is a god/life force, but i also dont believe there isnt a god/life force. i dont know. i tend to act as if there is one, though, or i just value humanity/earth/creatures/etc. i like to live like there's more to life than me and the people i care about. that, to me, signals that i do inherently believe there's more to it.

does that make sense?
Click to expand...

Good post - that's pretty close to how I feel.
 
deacphan said:
put it this way, i dont believe there is a god/life force, but i also dont believe there isnt a god/life force. i dont know. i tend to act as if there is one, though, or i just value humanity/earth/creatures/etc. i like to live like there's more to life than me and the people i care about. that, to me, signals that i do inherently believe there's more to it.

does that make sense?
Click to expand...

wow, even though i'm sure this sounded like rambling in your head, i think it is pretty poignant and fits pretty closely to my beliefs. reputation of the positive variety to be bestowed upon you.
 
PhilliesDeacs said:
I'm of the opinion that all that exposure to theology and organized religion helped create and then reinforce my eventual discovery of and adherence to atheism.
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I think you're right. Exposure to religion can very well make it seem shallow and worthless. Living it allows it to take roots. I'm preaching Sunday talking about the importance of doing religion instead of thinking about religion (considering the question posed by the readings- "what is true religion.") I argue that true religion is being doers of the word, not simply hearers (James 1 is one of the readings). Christianity is to blame, as we've made it too easy and acceptable to be only hearers. We've lost our radical (in a good way) and counter-cultural edge. If our faith isn't transformational, then indeed is worthless. But I agree with you- exposure can show the flaws and dark sides of religion. /sermon
 
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