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1. Do you believe in God?

NOPE.

2. Do you believe in religion?

NOPE

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?

Not applicable. (You have to first believe in a God to actually think he/she/whatever can be found.

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?

Not a spiritual bone in my body. And yes, my life has meaning, thank you very much.


7. What kind of a being do you think God is

Not a particularly useful one. Should’ve interfered when Saddam was gassing all those people. :))

There. Short and sweet, wasn’t it?

:)

1) Yes.
2) Well, I don’t know that I would say “believe in religion”. Depends on your definition of religion. To me, religion is just the structure of your beliefs about God and how you give him his due. Your loyalty is to God, not to a “religion”.
3) Again, a difficult question to answer as asked. I don’t believe you have to belong to this or that group to find God. However, I do believe that if you want to serve God, then you have to do it the way he wants you to - which translates into a religion as I described above. As a Christian, I believe God details in the New Testament how he wants his followers to live and worship him. In that sense, yes, you have to have a religion to find God, because I don’t believe “anything goes”.
4) Shanti, each of these questions is a 10-page essay in itself! Very basicly: I believe there is a God, from both external evidence (the world) and internal (the Bible). I think the Bible does through a variety of evidences show itself to be true. I believe the NT is our only guide to serving God. I belong to a group that does its best to follow the edicts of the NT as closely as possible, although I do admit that sometimes human traditions get in the way.
5) My religiosity emerges from my deep belief in God as Creator, Father and Friend. I believe he is wonderful and good, real and just. Because he is Creator, I believe I have an obligation to him to serve him. It’s so hard to describe. No matter how much I get away from religion, my belief in God goes to the molecular level, and my love for him always brings me back to an realization that I don’t want to disappoint or hurt him. I struggle at times with the form my service should take, but I no longer struggle with whether he is. My love for God motivates me to be religious.
6) Both.
7) He’s a spirit - he has no physical form, although he can cloak himself in one if he wishes. He is all knowing, all powerful, and all loving and just. His consciousness encompasses and expands beyond the physical universe, which he caused to be.

Thanks for the opportunity to think about this and express it (relatively) succinctly, Shanti. I look forward to seeing your thoughts on it. And a note to anti-God trolls: don’t use Shanti’s comment box to mock me OR her. Email me instead: biasblog-at-hotmail.com. And let me add that nothing you can say will be either a) new to me or Shanti or b) nearly as insightful as you think it is.

1. Do you believe in God?
not really no.

2. Do you believe in religion?
do i think it exists? well duh of course it does. i was raised catholic. do i “believe in it” as in, do i think it’s doing the right thing? not as an organized group no.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God? no.

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in? or my lack of belief you mean…. let’s just say a long time back i took a common sense approach to it and decided i just don’t buy it.

5. What motivates you to be religious?
n/a

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both? neither

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
i guess that depends on who you ask. if he’s anything to me, he’s a sick power that seems to enjoy yanking things from me when i actually start enjoying them. but hey, that’s the bitterness talking.

1. Yes sir, ever since July of 1999
2. Nope not really. Religion isn’t a bad thing but it wont save you and is very misleading. Faith is the way I go.
3. Nope, the very mindset is dangerous. I was infact not a religious person when I found God and neither was any of my family. He lets himself be found by anybody.
4. Because God had proved himself to me time and time again. I have seen miracles and trials and I have read the Bible and have found it to completely corrosponding with my life.
5. To do what God would want me to do
6. Well I hope spiritual. I wont raise myself to be on such a great level as spirtual but I sure do try.
7. I dont think I would be able to comprehend it. God has more dimensions then anyone of us and I think what he is has no words yet to describe him. Personally he’s my father, savior, and comforter. He could be a teacher and my king. He could be a spirit and he could become physical as he did with Jesus. There’s too many things he could be.

1. Do you believe in God?
Yes.

2. Do you believe in religion?
“Religion” can be defined in many ways. One way of defining it is “the process in which men seek to satisfy God’s requirements, often out of a leap of faith.” Yes, I believe in religion. I believe that people practice it, and I believe that sometimes (not always) it can be a good thing. The most basic religion is the religion of the conscience, in which we seem to have a inherent understanding of the difference between right and wrong, and we seek to do the right thing.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
I believe that God finds us. Often, this is done by God placing in us a desire to seek him. So, I would have to say yes, but religion is part of the effect, not the cause.

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
I am a Christian, but according to my definition in question 1, that’s not really my “religion.” My “religion,” that is, the way I seek to please God, can clumsily be described as “Americanism.” I try to be a good citizen, tell the truth, not steal, and be nice to people. I believe in rule of law, human rights, democracy, etc. This is how I was brought up. As a Christian, I believe my efforts to be “good” fall flat. There is no way I can satify God’s requirements. He’s perfect, I’m flawed. That is why I became a Christian. Why do I believe that this is the right path? Because of my personal observation of my nature and the nature of man. Because I am convinced by what’s in the Bible. And because of a leap of faith.

5. What motivates you to be religious?
A desire to be right with God.

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious, or both?
Both. I am spiritual in that I believe in God and I believe there is a spiritual dimension to my identity (I have a soul). I am religious in that I try to please God.

7. What kind of being do you think God is?
Personal, perfect, all-powerful, all-knowing, forever, and just.

1. To me, that’s an irrelevant question. Why do we
all have to be held hostage to the idea of the existence or non-existence of God ? Honestly, I don’t know if God exists. And I don’t think I’m going to waste time to find that out either. But I do respect other people’s faith in God because maybe they may have experienced something I have
not yet. I deeply believe in love, compassion, kindness, tolerance. I believe we should do what
is fundamentally good for humanity to live in
peace and happiness. I take responsibility for
the good that I do for humanity. I don’t wait
for “God to tell me what to do”. And my
motivation to be a good human being is not any
“reward I may get from God”. I think the purest
form of giving is giving freely without any regard for the consequences. Some people live in
fear of God and do good only because they think
that if they don’t they’re going to get into Hot Water with God or that they won’t get into
“Heaven” or something. I don’t care for “Heaven”. I don’t care for “God’s rewards”. My concerns are right here, right now for the person down the street who is struggling and who needs help. I will do whatever I can to help him/her. And I will spend all my life like that. In the end, if there is no God, I’m cool because I never did really expect anything. And if there is a God, and God decides to reward me for the way I lead my life…well, that’s a bonus :-) Either way, my
work in my life wouldn’t have gone to waste.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m open to the idea of God.
But I’m not going to actively pursue it. If it
so happens that I “discover” God as I do my work,
then I will accept it. But in general, I don’t
want the deal of “finding God” to take my time away from all the good stuff that I can do now.

2. Religion seems to be a man-made thing. I
believe all religions fundamentally say the
same things which is great because it shows
that somewhere deep down inside, we all think
the same about peace, love, etc…Earlier, religion was perhaps an honest attempt to understand what was going on and how to interpret it. But now, it seems like it’s become a tool for highlighting “us vs. them”. Every religion has
great history, great culture and it is these
things we should respect. I believe in religion
in the sense that it’s a very creative man-made
system of beliefs that probably started out
as an honest attempt to live in harmony with the
world. I also believe in the diversity of religions. There are many scientific and common-sensical tidbits in every religion that every other religion ought to know. One thing I don’t
understand is conversions. Why can’t people accept there are many ways to the same truth or truths. Why is converting me to your religion going to help me more than you just helping me ?

3. Absolutely not.

4. The religion I believe is one of peace,
love, kindness, tolerance, compassion, etc.
I believe in it because I think these fundamental
principles can overcome any challenge.

5. Wanting to live in a better world motivates
me to be religious and to have hope. Even with
all the news we get everyday about bad things
that happen all around us, it should be noted
that more good things happen than bad. It’s just
not news-worthy enough :-)

6. I don’t care about my spiritual or religious
levels :-) I just want to help people to overcome loss of hope and intolerance.

7. Well, if God does exist, I would like God
to be pretty much everything (both animate and inanimate) and that we’re all part of God. So
we might be able to realize that hurting anything prolly means we’re hurting ourselves somewhere because everything is part of this huge teeming ball of stuff called God.

Phew! You made me work hard, Shanti…
Later,
Bumbanu

1. Yes.
2. Not a bit.
3. NO. Religion has always been an obstacle to finding God.
4. Religion is something you do reflexively, as a routine; the local drunk is a religious user of alcohol. God, for His own reasons, offers humanity an ongoing relationship with Him. I don’t consider it a religion because it’s not always my first choice, and it’s never yet been routine.
5. I used to be someone who felt religion was important, in the sense that if I did the “right” things at the “right” time I’d be happy. Since I’ve learned that the relationship is God’s idea to start with, life has been a lot more enjoyable. God’s got a great sense of humor.
6. None of the above. Hanging out with a friend doesn’t qualify.
7. I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll look like Him.

Great responses, everybody! I am really enjoying this. Please keep the responses coming. It is very interesting and informative to see all the wide varieties of views and beliefs.

1. Not really, at least not as a personality.
2. Irrelevant. It exists regardless of whether I believe in it or not.
3. More relevant. No.
4. I was raised to be observant in a religion, and while I no longer consider it necessary, I find it culturally comfortable. Its rituals remind me of my desire to be a spiritually enlightened being.
5. May have been answered in #4.
6. Spiritual development makes a person feel whole. It grows from within. Some people find religion aids in this spiritual growth. In my past it was more relevant than in my present. See answer #4.
7. If I answer anything, I contradict my answer to question #1. If there is such a thing as a God, it has to be the totality of creation, but it would not have a personality. Each of us holds a mirror into which is reflected the idea of god from within our spiritual selves. Those who have nothing, see nothing.

Thanks for asking the question. The asking of the question is as important as the answers received.

Two major faiths celebrate their essence this week. May all who seek spiritual enlilghtenment find peace.

1. Do you believe in God?

To me, god is like an entity who knows everything about everything
Its just a convenience to assume such an entity, you could talk about any
situation to. And many times in a life you just need someone like that.

2. Do you believe in religion?

To me, religion is a way of living. I would say religions were build up on the number of
yrs of ‘what it takes to live a good life around here’ findings, one of the things you get with a particular
religion is the ‘entity’ I spoke about in answer 1, since the definition of the ‘entity’ is so abstract,
people have been very creative.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
NOPES

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
I just live my life normally, if that has some elements of religion that’s what I believe in.

5. What motivates you to be religious?
Best Practices that the religion might have to problems phased by normal humans in the lifespan

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
None

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
See answer 1.

A 1. NO.

None of the other questions matter.

I do think that god is Man’s greatest invention.

BTW, the comments you receive always make great reading. ;-)

1. Do you believe in God?
Yes

2. Do you believe in religion?
No

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
No

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
N/A

5. What motivates you to be religious?
I go for spiritual, not religious.

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
Spiritual

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
I’m not sure.

1. Do you believe in God?

In the first sense of the word “believe”, I do believe that He exists, in a very similar manifestation to that presented in the Protestant Bible, primarily demonstrated in the person of Christ.

2. Do you believe in religion?

In the first sense of the word “believe”, I do believe that religion exists, yes. ;)

In the second sense of the word “believe”, I do think that religion is a significant and essential part of human civilization. I don’t think it is a phase we will grow out of, nor do I think it can be discounted when studying human beings; although I do think that mass religion is a far more significant phenomenon than individual religion. There are plenty of people who spend perfectly normal lives indifferent to religion and/or God.

In the third sense of the word “believe”, I do find religion to be an important part of my own life. God is how He is, and He knows how He is. But I don’t know who I am, entirely, nor do I entirely know who He is. The process of finding these things out is what religion is to me.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?

I don’t think religion is required for God to find you. I also don’t think God is lost. So, I guess that would be a “no”. :)

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?

I don’t very much, actually. grin That is to say, I don’t believe in the literal Bible, or in the creed of any specific church. I believe some things because my experience has proven them correct; some things because they fit with the way I would like the world to be (and hey, what’s the point of religion if you can’t do some good in the world?), and some things because people that I trust have affirmed their truth.

My starting point is typically my own experience and intuition.

5. What motivates you to be religious?

Um, for the purpose of this question, I’ll assume “religious” and “spiritual” are interchangeable ideas.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that I was raised religious. Even though I have rejected many of the tenets I grew up with, I still can not conceive of a meaning for my life outside of the idea of God and a spiritual realm.

Another part of it is the fear of Hell, which belief I have not rejected, because I’ve had too much personal experience in and around it (who was it that said “Religion is for people who believe in Hell, spirituality is for people who have been there”?). Intellectually, I believe that Hell is the place that God created because in order for His creatures to be free, they had to have a place to choose to go where He was not. That may be perfectly fine, but I don’t want to go there again, and so I am seeking the places where I believe God is. Fortunately, in my belief, that’s a lot of places. :)

If I chose not to be very spiritual, I don’t think God would mind. I don’t think He operates on those kind of expectations for people. But I just don’t have that choice; spirituality is how I relate to the world and how I relate to myself. (Naturally I assume God made me that way. Am I annoying any atheists yet?)

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?

I am very spiritual; it’s my source. When I’m troubled over a spiritual issue, everything else in my life suffers.

I am very religious and not at all religious depending upon the definition, and that label doesn’t mean as much to me, so I haven’t bothered to define it for myself.

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?

I think every aspect of every human being has its root somewhere in God, and so I sort of subscribe to the “created in His image” theory; He is like us, only more so. Much, much, much, much more so. ;)

I believe He is the source of all life, energy, creation, good, freedom, and originality. I also believe He gets a lot of really fucking bad press grin. I do not believe in a strict and legalistic God, because believing in that kind of God almost killed me when I was younger (have I mentioned that I take this stuff very seriously? :), and these days it strikes me as ludicrous that He would have a purpose in rendering me useless like that. I do not believe that God causes pain; rather I believe He makes the best of a world where pain is inevitable (this is already too long, so I won’t bother going into the inevitability of pain… just affirm that I could if need be! ;). When in doubt as to what He’s like, I look at Christ. When still in doubt, I assume that He doesn’t expect me to know Him all in one day, and that I may be permitted to get on with my life with a few unanswered questions…

Has anybody quoted Tenacious D yet?

1. Do you believe in God? a) Yes.

2. Do you believe in religion? a) By my understanding of the word ‘religion,’ it is not something one believes in. One (almost inevitably) has religious beliefs. The declaration ‘I do not believe in God’ is a statement of religious belief, and may be taken to describe the religion of an atheist.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God? a) Again, I think you misconstrue the meaning of the word religion. What you are asking is if some particular cultic pratice is required to find God. The answer is no. But whatever belief you arive at, that is your religion.


4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in? a) Existential affirmation. That is, my life expreience testifies to the truth of it.

5. What motivates you to be religious? a) One could get cute and say the gracious action of the Holy Spirit. I will say existential need - or, as it has been said, when we reflect honestly we find that we have a God-shped hole in our lives.

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both? a) Both, but again I think that you are misusing the word religious to put in in opposition to spiritual.

7. What kind of a being do you think God is? a) Spiritual, and in some ways very akin to humanity (so that Jesus can be both 100% human and 100% divine) and in other ways quite beyond our proper understanding. Ot to put it another way, God is love, but love isn’t God.

1. Do you believe in God?
To ‘believe’ is to assert something is true without supporting evidence or in spite of evidence to the contrary. Nevertheless, there are parts of life that can be experienced in ways that cannot be quantified. My personal experience is that life and its presence permeates everything. It feels to me like one source is the context for everything. Can I prove it? - No. Do I have to? - No.

2. Do you believe in religion?
I believe that religion is the way human intellect tries to capture in words something that cannot be captured. It puts a human mask on the unknowable, so that the ones who painted the mask can pretend to be wiser and more powerful than other people. The mask painters may have the good of the people at heart, but history shows that the mask painters have as their first priority their own advantage.

The primary flaw in scriptural (oral or written) religion is that it is constructed of words. Words identify patterns of sensation and experience, and imply relationships to other, previous experience patterns. People can agree that the word ‘red’ means the same thing to anyone who can see an external object of that color. It doesn’t matter that each person’s internal sense processing may be slightly different; each person learns to associate his or her own visual sensation or the external reference object with the word ‘red’.

However, though direct experience of God-nature is as ordinary as gravity, there is no external reference object available for the physical senses to register. People experience it, or ‘know’ it if you will, but it isn’t a verbalized knowing. With no external reference, there is no basis for a common vocabulary. A religion tends to develop its own specialized vocabulary. These vocabularies are often deliberately incompatible. (Microsoft versus Sun?) An ordinary person who tries to use ordinary words to describe what he feels, for example, “I am in God, God is in me,” puts himself in danger of being locked up as a lunatic or executed as a heretic.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
No. Religion may provide a starting point, or some vocabulary for organizing concepts and impressions. More often, religion sets up barriers to convince a person that God is something apart from us, and that the path to God goes over a toll bridge run by priests.

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
I don’t believe. I live.

5. What motivates you to be religious?
Nothing. Scripture and ritual don’t interest me.

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
“Spiritual” might fit.

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
Why should I try to capture the infinite in words for you? Find out for yourself!

1. Do you believe in God?
Sometimes

2. Do you believe in religion?
Only to the extent of attempting to formulate proper behaviors, which alas sometimes out to be radically different from what I feel is proper

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
Nope.

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
Which one? No, I do not believe in a religion so much as precepts many hold in common

5. What motivates you to be religious?
Uh, define that? Webster Dictionary, 1913 does not seem to include me

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
Nope. I occasionally talk to God, but I do not consider myself either spiritual or religious

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
Well, will you accept lonely? I can think of no other reason for creating beings you know will disagree with you, ascribe falsehoods to you and die to force those on others, ignore you, commit murders in your name, claim you to be omnipotent while at the same time limited only to the powers and methods known to the herdspeople of five thousand years ago -
And create great art: visual, tactile, auditory, oral, verbal…

1. Yes
2. No
3. No
4. I dont believe in a particular religion. For me it is faith in goodness. And that is present in every human being irrespective of religion.
5. Each has his own religion, believing in yourself and being an atheist is a religion on its own.
6. Both.
7. Human.

On a different note, could you make a posting on this. Its on the topic of Agent Orange. They showed a documentary on TV recently and that was quite painful to watch.
Link

I think it’s a fair assumption that the majority of the people on this planet believe in some kind of deity. Might I enquire why you’re asking, Shanti?

Despite Susanna’s attempt at labelling all atheists as trolls (wassup wit dat?), I am deliberately refraining from debating the issue at all, as it wouldn’t make an iota of difference to anything.

Speaking for myself alone (and not other atheists), I consider myself driven mostly by logic and science, and I find the entire concept illogical. The Raving Atheist actually has a logical proof on why such a supernatural being can’t exist. (For all you religious folks, this is for entertainment purposes only. I will not debate religion in a comments box.)

Incidentally, my parents are both devout Hindus. My father is President of the managing committee of a temple. But both his children are atheists. :p
(Mind you, I was religious as a kid, but abandoned that position in my mid-teens.)

You said you’d post your thoughts. Please do so. I promise not to comment on them. ;)

I will definitely post my thoughts on this, Madman. I didn’t mean this thread as a debate at all - more like an information-gathering process. I am curious and interested in other perspectives and the views of people I might or might not agree with.

Of course, we can still debate this in the thread when I post my thoughts on this. As for Susanna, I don’t think she is calling all atheists trolls - I think there are some atheists who consider their view-point so superior to everyone else’s (just like the follower of any other God-believing religion), that they will attempt to stifle any debate on God - I think those are the kind she is referring to :)

1. Do you believe in (the existence of)God? - No
2. Do you believe in (the what of) religion? - That religion exists is a fact. I’m not sure what you’re trying to ask here.
3. Do you believe religion is required to find God? -NA
4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in? - Some have claimed that atheism is only another religion. Only so much as health is a disease.


5. What motivates you to be religious?
6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
7. What kind of a being do you think God is?

Easy, heh?

Note: Hey, KJ - I removed your prev comment just because it was a double post :) - Shanti

1. Do you believe in God?

I’m open to the possibility (that is, I’m not an atheist), but I don’t currently believe.

2. Do you believe in religion?

In what way do you meam? I believe that religion can be a positive influence, and I believe that religion can help someone find “God” or what they consider “God.” However, I do not follow any particular religion.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?

No.

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
5. What motivates you to be religious?
6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?

See #2.

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?

Who knows?

1. No.

2. “Believe in religion”? Religion exists. This is a simple, verifiable statement of fact.

3. Is religion required to find God? Well, what exactly is religion if not belief in (a) God?

Organised religion is not required; one can find god without belonging to any specific religious group.

4. I don’t believe in anything. See 1.
5. See 4.
6. See 5.
7. See 1 :)

1. Do you believe in God?
No

2. Do you believe in religion?
Yes. I believe that some religious beliefs are useful to those who hold them.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
I don’t believe in God. My interest is in looking at what religion does for me on earth.

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
See here


5. What motivates you to be religious?
See above

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
Spiritual, not very religious.

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
Doesn’t exist

1. No.
2. No.
3. No, for obvious reasons.
4. I believe in no religion; because religions all try to explain the wondrous world we live in by creating some incomprehensible being who created it, generally so that the inhabitants could worship the creator. I personally believe that a being that powerful who is so needy of the worship of mere creations needs therapy. (that is kind of tongue in cheek…)
Seriously though, why add the step of a creator; the idea is how could everything just be; something must have made it… I think that adds an unnecessary step. I think that it requires an extra level of incredulity to believe that some being created everything for some unknown purpose (or someone can claim to know it, whatever) than to just believe that things just are. I think it’s much clearer to see that things just are, than to invent something all powerful to create all that is, simply because we are overcome with wonder at the world… I don’t know how clear this is, but this is how it think on this subject. I usually do not discuss religion, because everybody has generally already made up their mind, and people who are accepting things on faith are not generally amenable to dissenting opinions…
5. Nothing motivates me to be religious. I am motivated to living my life as well as I can, because I believe that the afterlife is how you are remembered by others. So I do the right things, I go out on a limb (active duty military) and I make it my business to try to make the world a better place.
6. I am not spiritual, or religious, but from conversations I have had with those who consider themselves both, it has become clear to me that I have put a lot more thought and consideration into my stance than they have. They merely accept what others tell them; I defined my own moral code (informed by the religious codes, I will admit; there is much to admire there.)
7. I think god is a figment of the imagination of the religious.

sorry, forgot to append my ID to my post above…

Shanti, I apologize for getting a bit carried away on the troll thing in my initial post. And as you correctly pointed out, I wasn’t addressing “all atheists” in my comment either. As anyone who knows me personally (or even reads my site) knows, I don’t mind being challenged at all, or having pretty intense debates. It’s sneering superiority from anyone - atheist, agnostic, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, whatever - that gets my Irish up.

I’m very much interested in what everyone has posted here, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you have to say too.

Whoo - I knew it wasn’t going to be easy being blog-mommied by the Jewish ladies - and now you are Irish? I need new mommies! Just kidding! ;)

I don’t like it when someone feels superior too and I am really liking it, seeing the diversity of views and opinions here in this thread.

Shanti, I know this isn’t a scientific study, but y’know that your sample set is biased, right? Self-selected respondents are usually the ones with the most vocal/extreme positions. And ofcourse, there is the bias in the online poulation.
And oh, sorry ‘bout the double post :D .

Shanti,

This is interesting, but I’ll reserve my answers. Maybe sometime in the near future, I’ll blog on these aspects.

Thanks for awakening me!

Sandeep

Damn, Kingsley beat me to the “bias” comment. :)

This reminds me of an extract from one of my favourite books: How to lie with statistics

He says that suppose you were to send out 10000 questionnaires doing a survey on how many people like to fill in questionnaires. Suppose you get 1000 responses. Also suppose that 90% of the responses you get are in favour. You might be inclined to conclude that an overwhelming majority actually likes them.

But you’d be completely wrong, because there is selection bias in the sample itself. The other 9000 people who didn’t send in their answers are the ones who don’t like questionnaires in the first place. :)

Good points, Kingsley, Sandeep and Madman! This is interesting, nonetheless :) especially since my mind is already made up.

1. Yes
2. No - not for me
3. No
4. N/A
5. N/A
6. Spiritual
7. God IS Being (I am who am)

Hi. Nice questions. I’ll answer.

1. Yes.

2. Don’t understand the question. Religion is a category. I’m not sure what you mean by belief in a category.

3. No, God is necessary to find God, but religious observances and spiritual practice can speed up the process. Still God finds us, really, not the other way around, IMHO.:)

4. Very long story. Includes side trips through Vedanta and Buddhism.

5. Without quibbling between the religious and the spiritual too much, the answer to your question is Grace.

6. Spiritual … but there’s nothing wrong with traditional observances, when motivated by grace.

7. A Holy Trinity consisting of a Father, a Son and the Holy Spirit, who created the universe, loves His creation, intervenes in human affairs, and revealed Himself through Jesus Christ, the holy prophets, and scripture; and continues to reveal Himself through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. His ultimate nature is unknowable to humans [“now through a glass darkly”] and maybe even after that.

1. Do you believe in God?
yes
2. Do you believe in religion?
yes
3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
person depending, religion can be helpful for some people in terms of developing a sense of connection with the rest of the universe, something which is damn near impossible in the atomistic society in which we live.
4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
I have not found a religion
5. What motivates you to be religious?
my desire to become religious is rooted in my desire to be happy, statistically religious people are happier than athiests.
6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
I want to be spiritual
7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
I think Schopenhauer’s will gives a good characterization of “god”.

statistically religious people are happier than athiests

Bull!

I will challenge you, Sir, to find me any conclusive evidence to that effect. I further state that you cannot do any kind of study that is unbiased and can come to the conclusion you have. Also remember one of the fundamental rules of statistics: Correlation is not causation.

1. Do you believe in God?
Yes.

2. Do you believe in religion?
I believe religion is a means to give spiritual and moral guidance to some people.

3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
No.

4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
I don’t have a specific religion. I attend Christian services. However, I have found far too many good people who are not religious or not Christian to believe that a specific religion is required to find God.

5. What motivates you to be religious?
I am going to subsitute religious for spiritual. This will sound hokey but I am spiritual because I feel the wonder and beauty of life all around me. When I go for a walk, when I see my son smile, even in the roads and buildings the human race has constructed. In all the chaos and disorder around us, an order to the universe emerges.

6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
I consider myself spiritual. Religion is an organized practice of faith and not required for spiritual enlightenment.

7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
I believe God is an eternal being, impossible for us to know completely but possible for us to comprehend.

In response to some of the atheist posts, I once was agnostic. With a lot of thought, I realized I believe in a higher power. I can’t convince you of a God because belief in Him is inherently personal. You must find him on your own.

Try imagining eternity. It’s not difficult to imagine a beginning with no end but think about no beginning, no end, always and forever in existence. In our physical, mortal world we do not “know” eternity. No proof, we’ve never seen it. Yet, we can comprehend it. We use the figure eight on its side to represent infinity in math. In this way, we attempt to place finite, physical limitiations on a concept with no such boundaries. Faith is similar. We try to place physical definitions on God, a being who has no physical limitations.

Using these same arguments on the human conscience would produce the same “it doesn’t exist” argument. Man would only be the sum of its parts, a bunch of chemicals that randomly combined. We can’t physically touch conscience but we observe it and we know it is there. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have discussions on spirituality and religion.

I don’t have all the answers. I’m not really trying to find them. My faith in God is enough.

1. Do you believe in God?
No.
2. Do you believe in religion?
No.
3. Do you believe religion is required to find God?
Yes.
4. Why do you believe in the religion you believe in?
Because I am, and you are, just a fancy monkey, that is all we are. So I believe we are fancy monkeys because the truth is that is all we are.
5. What motivates you to be religious?
I am not religious. I am a fancy monkey.
6. Do you consider yourself spiritual, religious or both?
Not spiritual. Not religious. Just an animal. On the top of the food chain. A smarter version of a less evolved animal.
7. What kind of a being do you think God is?
A comic book character. Sort of like Superman or Spiderman, maybe Wonder Woman.

Statistically, atheists’ answers to Shanti’s questions are shorter and provide lesser or no explanations than theist answers. Statistically, in this forum, atheists are more statistically inclined than theists. Statistically, atheists seem to be more interested in what’s going on here (as apart from just replying to the questions) than theists. Statistically, each person on this planet has 1.985 legs. So there!