Atheist
Because I don't believe in something just because you can't proove it's wrong
I find the difference between real statistics and this poll interesting. Why could it be?

Agnostic. If you can't rule anything out, don't do it. People can't pretend there is a god neither can't they pretend there is no god at all. No one knows.

Quote from ACCAkut :

Christian, but more from the moral/how-to-live-your-life side than the worship/true-faith one.

Same here.

Athiest. A God in the sense of creator, someone to appease, someone who smites the unbelievers / sinners ? Noway. A God in the sense of some being at a higher state of evolution, who is more advanced and to our minds, more powerful ? Could be.

He's called Q.



Picard: "Q, what is going on?"
Q: "I told you. You're dead, this is the afterlife, and I'm God."
Picard: "You are not God!"
Q: "Blasphemy! You're lucky I don't cast you out or smite you or something."

And of course, the classic Picard to Q line: "I refuse to believe that the afterlife is run by you; the universe is not so badly designed."

Atheist. Religion is just a crutch really.

Deist.

I don't know. I don't spend my life wondering. I have thought about it though, seems like a good way to brain wash people.

Atheist... !

Quote from amp88 :

Oh, and btw, there's also a common misconception that being an atheist means not only do you not believe in any gods but that you know none exist. The real definition of atheism is just that you don't believe any gods exist. Agnosticism and Gnosticism deal in knowing things. If you say you are an gnostic atheist it means that you don't believe in any gods and you know no gods exist. If you say you are 'just' an atheist it means you don't believe in any gods but you can't say for certain none exist.

that is just wrong
especially the bit about gnosticism (a religious movement) which in fact has absolutely nothing to do with agnosticism (a philosophic standpoint)

and for the record... id call meself agnostic... im not opposed to the idea of a deity but dont consider the presence of one likely... or worth bothering with

I believe in magic and wooden sticks

I believe in VTEC

i believe in large black monoliths

Quote from Shotglass :

that is just wrong

Watch the first ~30 minutes of this.

Quote from amp88 :

Watch the first ~30 minutes of this.

so why would i rather trust the definitions of 2 random people than ones i came to through proper literature and some knowledge of ethymology?

also like i said your definition of gnosticism is completely wrong since its a belief system not the opposite of agnosticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G ... in_features_of_Gnosticism

Atheist since I have a strong belief that we in this modern age have no place left for religion its just stupid but still I'm also agnostic.
Since I'm not sure there is no god I cant prove it and i cant disprove it at the same time.

Let me explain why I think this way as far as I can see after having gone to 2 religious schools and in those years none off the things they claimed sounded sensible to me.
There was only questionable content in those religious books the way it tells you. The way earth and the universe was made according to the books makes no sense at all.
Why should something that is written in a book be the only thing that is true and absolute.

I am more of what you'd call a free believer I believe there must be some higher intelligence out there but not in the way the books describe it.
Since they say god is person most of the time with a long beard, and I don't believe the so called god would have a solid form.
If there is a higher form of intelligence looking down on us it's not a man in the sky its an energy a voice.
If a higher intelligence really is out there its not dumb as people are he is not racist he does not hate gay guys and girls.
As the bible says god does that is just silly why of god loves all does he dislike thieves or gay people or black people or Muslim people?

Quote from Shotglass :

so why would i rather trust the definitions of 2 random people than ones i came to through proper literature and some knowledge of ethymology?

also like i said your definition of gnosticism is completely wrong since its a belief system not the opposite of agnosticism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G ... in_features_of_Gnosticism

They are almost certainly more experienced and more practised in debating on religion (and the currently used definitions of words surrounding this debate) than you are. Yes, the roots of the word "gnostic" are with the teaching of a particular ideology, but that does not mean that is how the word is currently used by the majority of society today. The following definition is one which I think is apt and comes from Princeton:

Quote :

possessing intellectual or esoteric knowledge of spiritual things

So, someone who claims to be a gnostic is saying they have knowledge (not belief) about spiritual things. Conversely, an agnostic is someone who believes it's impossible for them to have knowledge of spiritual things.

Now, if you're going to post a rebuttal please do more than just discredit any evidence I provide (at least, not without good reason) and claim you have greater knowledge without any external reference.

Sorry, Gus. Gnosticism is a very specific belief system, and that's still the most widely accepted definition of the term.

I Googled for "online dictionary". Below are the first definitions for the word "gnostic" on the top 5 sites (with the noted exception of Cambridge). You can check these yourself, I have not falsified or doctored these in any way.

Quote from Dictionary.com :

pertaining to knowledge.

Quote from Cambridge Dictionaries Online :

No definition for "gnostic". The following is the first definition for "agnostic":
someone who does not know, or believes that it is impossible to know, whether a god exists

Quote from The Free Dictionary :

Of, relating to, or possessing intellectual or spiritual knowledge.

Quote from Your Dictionary :

of knowledge; specif., of gnosis

Quote from Webster Dictionary :

Knowing; wise; shrewd.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Cambridge Dictionaries Online, The Free Dictionary, Your Dictionary and Webster's.

Atheist.

For a while I thought you could at most be agnostic, because there are some many possible definitions of a god, and many of them are impossible to disprove. Later I realised that I should only look at the factual claims. Definitions that include any factual, testable claims (e.g. the earth was created 6000 years ago, god observes us and actively interferes with the world) have failed with the advance of our knowledge. There's not a shred of evidence.

What remains are definitions like deism, where god is untestable -- the gods of the gaps. You can't disprove that. On the other hand, it doesn't really matter whether those gods exist. Our life isn't any different if they exist or not.

My conclusion was that for all practical purposes, there is no god. I have dropped the hesitation to call myself an atheist.

Quote from amp88 :

I Googled for "online dictionary". Below are the first definitions for the word "gnostic" on the top 5 sites (with the noted exception of Cambridge). You can check these yourself, I have not falsified or doctored these in any way.

Yeah, well...

Quote :

Gnosticism |ˈnästəˌsizəm|
noun
a prominent heretical movement of the 2nd-century Christian Church, partly of pre-Christian origin. Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge, and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit.

But this is all semantics. Your earlier post (re: atheism = lack of belief / agnosticism = lack of knowledge) was correct, so let's just leave it at that.

Quote from amp88 :

Yes, the roots of the word "gnostic" are with the teaching of a particular ideology, but that does not mean that is how the word is currently used by the majority of society today.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Sorry, Gus. Gnosticism is a very specific belief system, and that's still the most widely accepted definition of the term.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Yeah, well...

...

I don't see what the problem is here. I realise the beginnings and initial meaning of the word, but I think my references above lend credit to the opinion that gnostic has a different meaning today than it did when it was coined.

The meaning of "gnostic" (an adjective) is derived from the tenets of the belief system known as "Gnosticism" (a noun), and as such applies to more general ideas than "Gnosticism" does.

"Gnostic" != "Gnosticism"

And, as shotty said, gnosticism is not the opposite of agnosticism.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

The meaning of "gnostic" (an adjective) is derived from the tenets of the belief system known as "Gnosticism" (a noun), and as such applies to more general ideas than "Gnosticism" does.

"Gnostic" != "Gnosticism"

Yes, initially. Not now. That's what the dictionary entries prove, no?

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

And, as shotty said, gnosticism is not the opposite of agnosticism.

Is gnostic the opposite of agnostic?

Quote from amp88 :

Yes, initially. Not now. That's what the dictionary entries prove, no?

Your dictionary entries are all re: "gnostic," which has not and will never have the same meaning as "gnosticism," which is a specific belief system.

Quote :

Is gnostic the opposite of agnostic?

Yes.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Your dictionary entries are all re: "gnostic," which has not and will never have the same meaning as "gnosticism," which is a specific belief system.

OK, I get it now, thanks. Also, thanks (in retrospect) for giving me the out I was charging too quickly to ignore. Shot...when you wake up don't to go too hard on me