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Poll: do you believe in god

8 points by pyrrhotech ↗ HN
Note that the question isn't "is there a god", which is unanswerable just as "is there a zeus", "is there a santa claus" or "are there fairies at the bottom of the garden".

For reference, the national average for US of 92/7/1 as of 2011: http://www.gallup.com/poll/147887/americans-continue-believe-god.aspx

24 comments

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az0xff
Honestly my answer to this is a bit more complex than the poll, and is best described as I'm not sure.

Here's my two cents: if an intelligent being created the universe, then what makes you think it cares about our feelings like religion says? Our worries seem quite a few levels of abstraction away from the design of the underlying principles of the universe. On the other hand, why shouldn't it?

Randgalt
I believe there is no god
simonlebon
I believe there is a God. I've got the music in me.
WesleyJohnson
Agnostic, borderline atheist here. I've always wondered something. If theists scoff at the idea that the universe was created from nothing and just came into being, convinced that it must've taken a higher power to create it, then how do they explain where god came from?
agrostis
What you're trying to do here is to subordinate god to laws of logic. But, from the theist point of view, everything is god's creation. The world, essentially, is a system of laws, and laws of logic are as much part of it as laws of physics. So, they, too, are god's creation, and he is as much at liberty to break them as he is to break physical laws.

P. S. Fellow atheist here, btw.

tomasien
I was about to say "define God" but then I realized that's a lot like "define insert racial or gender classification here" - for the purpose of polls (among other things), it's about self-identification. So I voted "yes" even though I'd probably put "atheist" on a survey because I have my own definition of "God" and I believe it relates to this question closely enough to count.
hitchhiker999
Yes, this was indeed another daft poll on the subject. I rejected catholicism about 20 years ago (was a hard thing to do considering my whole family are devout catholics). I am in no way religious. I also (weirdly even to myself) had to vote 'yes' here. I assume / guess / something created the universe. I don't know or really care what it is.
rubyfan
The poll taker seems to expose a bias through the use of lower case "god" in the question and derogatory notes. Not sure if this will influence how people will answer or participate.
couchand
Good point to the use of lower case. Not sure that making a statement of fact qualifies as "derogatory". Perhaps the specific examples could be considered so.
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shearnie
Does anyone believe, but doesn't want to believe?

I'm edging atheist intellectually, but can't shake a gut emotion that there is something bigger.

ethana
Yes. Gods are probably a bunch of mathematicians and programmers. And we are living in their life simulation program. The universe might as well be a projection.
devnonymous
Which one ? Seriously tho', I imagine the results would be a bit skewed because most agnostic people are really just atheists who'd rather not be bothered with asserting their atheist belief simply because they haven't thought long and hard enough to cross over the line with conviction.

I used to be like that. I had my 'personal understanding of god' and so would call myself agnostic. However, a while back it really bothered me that I couldn't explain my beliefs to anyone who asked. It was always so imprecise and incomplete. Always on the fence, in a manner of speaking. On further reflection, I realized that my belief system was basically this:

  * A moral compass. The fact that there is a very real right and wrong. These
  are not relative. Shades of grey don't really exist for morality if you do
  away with the notion that humans are in any way more 'deserving' of lesss
  suffering (IOW: there is *always* a right and a wrong. Any 'in-betweens' is
  solely due to the expectation that humans are in some way special)

  * A recognition that the universe/nature/existence is immense, beautiful and
  awe inspiring

  * Everything in this universe/nature/existence is connected and as such there
  is a network of influence (ie: every action will have long ranging effects)

  * I am part of this universe/nature/existence, so my actions have long
  ranging effects.

  * Death is the end of life. There's no after-life. No re-incarnation,
  ressurection, heaven or hell. This life is all that one has and ever will
  have.
None of these things required God. A lot of these things were the teachings of my previous religion (and also a part of the teachings of almost all religions). I was holding on to the notion of God simply as a convenience to think about all of these things in a collective manner. To give it a name as the 'source' of all this 'knowledge'. Pretty much like the Hindu idea of 'Brahman' (not to be confused with the god Brahma).

Since then, I let go of my 'personal god' and have been calling myself atheist. I still meditate, reflect, marvel at the beauty of life and am in awe of nature. I just don't call it one name so as to confuse people into thinking that I believe in a larger-than-life-miracle-working-life-creating-morality-judging-God.

doubt_me
My personal view on this subject is that while I don't believe in a god its still possible that there might be one.

Saying there is no god is kind of ignorant unless I know 100% for a fact there isn't one

justascam
I believe all religions are scams.

That doesn't make them wrong, but they aren't worth believing.

hitchhiker999
My guess is he/she was speaking about the concept of a 'creation point of the universe' - not religion.
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