[simon_and_jo]

just out of curiosity.
thanks

[Lord Dave]

Atheist is not a religion.  FYI.

Its like saying "I am a Non-math, mathematician."

[simon_and_jo]

ok, updated

[ScaryGary]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

[Rama Set]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

You find it inconceivable that someone would examine the evidence for a higher power and not be convinced?

Personally, I find theistic views to be extraordinarily unlikely but a deistic view to be possible, so I consider myself to be agnostic.

[Lord Dave]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

Why are you shocked?  We aren't stupid.  We know God can't be proven to exist so we default to assuming he does not.

[Jura-Glenlivet]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

Going to need something better than some old book, and a face on a piece of toast to convince this bunch of cynics, and Pascal was a pussy.

[Cobalt]

Pascal was a pussy.

He was kind of narrow-sighted.  His famous Wager (essentially "You have everything to gain & nothing to lose by betting on God, whereas you have nothing to gain and everything to lose by betting against God...so you might as well bet on God") really rests on too many unfounded assumptions:

That the only options are the Judeo-Christian God (along with Satan, heaven & hell etc.) or atheism

That there is "nothing to be gained" by not believing in God

That there is "nothing to lose" by believing in God

I dunno...I don't believe in God because I just don't.  Of course I could spout off a litany of logical arguments supporting this but that ultimately doesn't make much difference.  I just don't...and I'm okay with that.  Nothing has ever led me to think I may be wrong about this.

That said, I find evangelical atheists to be just as obnoxious as any other evangelicals.  I don't define myself by my lack of religion, it's just how it is.

[Lord Dave]

Any God who can see into your heart would know if you believe because you believe or because "Its the best option".

And either A) would not care either way and look at what you did in life to determine your value/goodness
B) Would damn you for not being a true, faithful believer regardless of what you did in life.

[ScaryGary]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

Going to need something better than some old book, and a face on a piece of toast to convince this bunch of cynics, and Pascal was a pussy.

Your outlook on life is dark

[Lord Dave]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

Going to need something better than some old book, and a face on a piece of toast to convince this bunch of cynics, and Pascal was a pussy.

Your outlook on life is dark

I think it's fine.
I think always being afraid of angering some divine figure because he can (and will) make you suffer for eternity is way darker than just doing your own thing, however you want, and not letting fear stop you.

[Jura-Glenlivet]

Your outlook on life is dark

My view of people and what they believe is dark, life is great.

[Shifter]

Why are 'Christian/Jewish' together? Both are VERY different (yes Jewish/Christians/Muslims all worship the God of Abraham however you might as well lump Muslims with the Jewish too then

[Ghost Spaghetti]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

Why would you expect it to be otherwise? The majority of people in the UK and some northern European countries are atheist. Australia is about 30-40% atheist and amongst millennial Americans, between 15 and 25% are atheist.

In such a small population size, it's not unreasonable to assume that the majority of members who have answered are from a demographic which is highly overrepresented on the internet. Considering most members are from The West, it would be far more unusual if they were Hindu or Buddhist.

[Jura-Glenlivet]

Why are 'Christian/Jewish' together? Both are VERY different (yes Jewish/Christians/Muslims all worship the God of Abraham however you might as well lump Muslims with the Jewish too then

They’re not that different, really, I mean same god, bit of a discrepancy as to who are the favoured and what exactly JC’s role was, and of course the hat thing, but up until the glorious day when the gloves will come off, they’re on the same side, especially where the Muslims are concerned (splitters).

I think the idea of the poll is to get an overall view of the religiosity of this place, and that is pretty much come up in favour of sanity, which considering the name of the place is a bit of a surprise, although Bo’ is away on forced exile (our resident brimstone and fire dick).

I think now the integration talks have foundered we ought to go the whole hog and ditch the flat earth bit and go for the agnostic/atheist wing of the Gobi Desert river wideners association, or some such.
As the Irony of this site is in danger of being carried away on a tidal wave of religious anti science that I can’t imagine the geeky boff’s at the helm are at all happy being part of.

Time to use those (apparently) prodigious brains for the good of mankind, you are not students anymore, step up.   

[ScaryGary]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

Why would you expect it to be otherwise? The majority of people in the UK and some northern European countries are atheist. Australia is about 30-40% atheist and amongst millennial Americans, between 15 and 25% are atheist.

In such a small population size, it's not unreasonable to assume that the majority of members who have answered are from a demographic which is highly overrepresented on the internet. Considering most members are from The West, it would be far more unusual if they were Hindu or Buddhist.

Atheism is primarily being formed by the constant rise of scientism. 

[Rama Set]

What do you mean by that?

[Shifter]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

Why would you expect it to be otherwise? The majority of people in the UK and some northern European countries are atheist. Australia is about 30-40% atheist and amongst millennial Americans, between 15 and 25% are atheist.

In such a small population size, it's not unreasonable to assume that the majority of members who have answered are from a demographic which is highly overrepresented on the internet. Considering most members are from The West, it would be far more unusual if they were Hindu or Buddhist.

Atheism is primarily being formed by the constant rise of scientism.

That's a load of crap. Even Einstein was not an atheist. I'm surprised agnosticism was not considered to be an option. I'm sure many more people (especially scientists) identify with that then an atheist.

[Jura-Glenlivet]

If religion was invented to try and explain the world, then as we discover more of the workings it’s inevitable that religion loses ground. (see tag line below)
If religion is supposed to show the truth about creation, why have there been so many with differing views?

Of those (few) things that can’t be explained by science, the “goddidit” explanation has the same problem, that of where did "it" come from. But I see much that doesn’t point to a loving creator that fits better in an uncaring and arbitrary universe, it is still beautiful and awe inspiring, just indifferent to our existence. 

[Ghost Spaghetti]

Why so many atheists?  I don't get it unless there is trolling going on

Why would you expect it to be otherwise? The majority of people in the UK and some northern European countries are atheist. Australia is about 30-40% atheist and amongst millennial Americans, between 15 and 25% are atheist.

In such a small population size, it's not unreasonable to assume that the majority of members who have answered are from a demographic which is highly overrepresented on the internet. Considering most members are from The West, it would be far more unusual if they were Hindu or Buddhist.

Atheism is primarily being formed by the constant rise of scientism.

Maybe. What's your point?