How many of you guys are religious?

[Puffin]

I'm curious to see what the general population of Dreamviews consists of. This is merely meant to be a poll, not a full-blown discussion thread, so please don't attack anyone. ;3 Are you religious, sort of, in between, or not?

[Photolysis]

I suspect your poll results will be heavily skewed, simply because a lot of religious users here quit using this forum.

[Puffin]

I'm wondering why that is.

[Maria92]

No.

[Xei]

I'm wondering why that is. In my opinion, although a few fervent believers come in here because they feel compelled to feel compelled, so to speak, most religious people just avoid it because they know that their thin protective shells would be so easily broken. Orwell mentions that a key element of doublethink is avoiding situations outright which would expose the mind's contradictions. Even then, the poll results are surprisingly high.

[nina]

All of the intelligent religious thinkers I've seen on the forum have been run off or turned off by the overly and unnecessarily aggressive atheist gang. Or outright banned, like Leo Volont.

[Photolysis]

Blaming the "aggressive atheist gang" for chasing off all of (the few) intelligent religious thinkers is being rather unfair. I'm wondering why that is. Some don't like the tone, some don't like being outnumbered, some don't like having their beliefs challenged. And some just realised they were out of their league.

[Speesh]

Haha I had to look up a wikipedia definition for religion to make a clear decision, there's parts of my personality which could be considered religious but I don't follow any specific religious doctrine. "Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of life and the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a supernatural agency, or human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine." I guess that's a no then. One of the few solid beliefs that I hold is that one can't use mere words to adequately describe the world around us. Language and the world of matter have nothing to do with each other, there is no belief system (BS) except the ones we apply. Objectivity is an elusive creature that we by our very own nature can never truly come in direct contact with. That's just my own brain talking though. I've seen the value religion has in other people's lives, as well as the dogmatic intolerance and bigotry it can help foster. Either way I don't mind having it around as long as the moral code isn't forced on me too much.

[Puffin]

I get it now, thanks guys.

[ChaybaChayba]

Im religious I believe in God. I disagree with almost everything other religions say, I only agree that God exists. I agree with almost everything atheists believe in, I only disagree on one point, that God doesn't exist. Logic and reasoning came forth out of the search for God. Ramon Lull invented a device to "proof God". The system he created is what Leibniz and Newton based their calculus on. It is the foundation of our mathematics today. The true voice of God is the voice of logic and reasoning. Through contradiction, Ramon Lull has provided proof of God. Of course, this logical proof is not accepted by the world today, yet we have based our logical systems like mathematics, and even computer science on this very idea of Ramon Lull. Read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_L...28Ars_Magna.29 Edit: offtopic content, my apologies for starting this spam

[Maria92]

@ Chayba... If you were actually to present a valid argument for once instead of spamming silly arguments that don't make sense, I may actually have some respect for you. And if you want to talk spamming and ignoring questions, check out your own behavior. People very thoroughly addressed YOUR questions, but you failed to do the same, and instead chose to make posts about how pissed off we were getting, falsely assuming that it was because you were "challenging our logical minds." You weren't. You were making the same arguments over and over again and ignoring everything we said that contradicted your belief system. I continue to argue with you because it's both fun and as long as you continue to make silly arguments, I will be there, jabbing your gray matter until you either leave or realize how ridiculous your arguments are and change your mind. For the lulz.

[Marvo]

Im religious I believe in God. I disagree with everything other religions say, I only agree that God exists. I agree with everything atheists believe in, I only disagree on one point, that God doesn't exist. I don't understand however, why these atheists always need to be so extremely aggressive to the point they start spamming topics until they are locked down. This behavior, this way of "winning a discussion" is just too sad for words. Their should be a new rule that makes it forbidden to spam topics. Check out my topic on God and DNA. I put forth some very strong logical argumentation, which got ignored, and spammed away, until the admin comes in and locks it. This behavior is the behavior of a bunch of savages. Ironically enough, this behavior is exactly the main reason why atheists are against religion, because it creates dangerous fanatisism. Their main argument is "you make no sense, you are incapable of logic, you are a troll". So I ask you why do these people keep talking to me when they believe this? What is the point of keeping spamming my topic over and over? What is the point of this behavior? I don't mind insulting, but spamming and ignoring questions is simply crossing the line. This is no longer a normal conversation. Check out the last pages of this topic, and let me hear your opinion on this behavior. Tell me, what am I doing wrong? Check it out: http://www.dreamviews.com/f37/god-dna-107066/ Actually, we answered all of your questions/arguments, but you chose to ignore these arguments. At one point you admitted that you didn't have the faintest understanding of the subject we were discussing and barely any of your supposed "sources" were anything else than a guy saying "I wrote a book that says this". Some of your sources outright said the exact opposit of what you said. A prime example of you ignoring (up to 7 times) the explanation to one of your questions/argments, was the whole deal about randomness. Basically, we used the term "random" in the context of mutations. Instead of actually understanding your points, you decided to derail the discussion with the idea that randomness goes against the principles of science. However, we explained to you why using the term 'random' was perfectly acceptable in the context of evolution, but for some reason you saw none of these posts. It's right there, in the thread. You also argued that it could be mathmatically proven, that random mutations can't be beneficial, however, you never cited a proper source for this (we shot your source down) and then your only argument was that "you guys are good at math, just try it yourselves", however, this isn't actually an argument. It's just a claim that you can't back with any evidence at all. One of your other worst arguments were that the fossil record was too limited to prove anything, however several thousand if not milions of scientists agree, that the fossil record is more than enough to back up the theory of evolution. Anyhow, to prove evolution (and species changing into other species) to you with logic, because you're such a fan of it, I will link you to this video which will very clearly and concisely prove it: YouTube - 6. Natural Selection Made Easy (for schools) You can also check out the 7th video in the series, for some more information. Anyway, what in the video you should focus on, is the whole "hypotheticus" deal. I hope this clears up some things, Chayba.

[MadMonkey]

I am religious and I believe in God. I personaly have never found anything that truely contradicts the bible and believe that its is the best explination for why we exist. I also believe that being activly athiest and agnostic should also be considered a religion. Those are just my beliefs, plz don't try and flame me and try to tell me I don't believe what I believe.

[Maria92]

And oh my holy fuck, are you seriously going to argue on the point of randomness AGAIN???? We've explained this to you 7 times. This is why we get frustrated with you. This is why I have absolutely no respect for you. Spam, definition of: the use of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. Translation: posting something like "ZOMG follow my link!!!" 200 times, not making valid rational arguments against a person with a closed mind and the incapacity to reason.

[Zhaylin]

I'm highly religious. I don't like arguments for the sake of arguing. No one will change my mind and I highly doubt I'll change anyone else's. So, I usually say my piece then bugger out of the conversation.

[MadMonkey]

We agree that you agree that we agree that you agree, so stop spaming the OP says no arguing!

[ChaybaChayba]

Lol ok good point, but aren't you arguing against me now? Sure if you want I can ignore their posts, but if people are talking to me, I think its' only appropriate to answer, right? Anyway I didn't read the topic properly, I'll delete my posts, they're totally off-topic.

[Maria92]

Respect is something to be earned. I don't respect criminals or murderers or the MPAA or those who have sealed themselves off to valid counter-arguments (read: you), among others. It is that simple. So kindly earn my respect by validating your claims. WHY is the fossil record so incomplete that it shows in no way trans-species evolution? Why are you so smart and every scientist in the world so dumb? What will it take to satisfy you, other than a time-lapse recording showing a proto-horse thing evolving into a modern day one? You hold impossibly unrealistic expectations, but refuse to connect the dots in any way that makes logical sense. Refer to my comic above. That is you. The fossil record isn't perfect, but even if it were far more complete, you'd still find issue with it. Know why? Because you will go to any lengths and grasp at any straws to preserve your belief system. You are truly close-minded in this regard. Your willful ignorance is inexcusable and it disgusts me. I hold nothing but contempt for you.

[Xei]

Chayba, stop accusing people of spamming when they were not.

[ChaybaChayba]

Hahaha each time I make a post, suddenly, the whole atheist gang comes in here to spam the topic. Your posts are totally off-topic. Do you guys have eachothers phonenumber or something?

[slash112]

not a full-blown discussion thread, so please don't attack anyone. ;3 Anyways, I'm not religious. I'm open to any possibility, but without proof, I won't go further than just "open to it"

[Marvo]

BAIL OUT Cool.

[AURON]

Once again, per OP, this thread isn't a full out discussion. Please discuss the extent of your views elsewhere.

[Replicon]

I personaly have never found anything that truely contradicts the bible Except of course, the bible itself. Even the BIG pieces, like the nativity, are chock-full of contradictions. Compare Luke's account of the birth of Jesus to Matthew's. One of those stories involves mass baby-genocide, and a trip to Egypt. I also believe that being activly athiest and agnostic should also be considered a religion. Kinda like how "not collecting stamps" should be considered a hobby. There's no such thing as "active atheism" - there is only "atheism", and "actively part-taking in debates/discussions/arguments" is a completely separate hobby (again, not a religion). Those are just my beliefs, plz don't try and flame me and try to tell me I don't believe what I believe. I'm not trying to tell you that you don't believe what you believe. I believe you when you say you believe in what you believe, and that's why I'm taking the time to reply.

[Xei]

Hahaha each time I make a post, suddenly, the whole atheist gang comes in here to spam the topic. Your posts are totally off-topic. Do you guys have eachothers phonenumber or something? Being a mod I can still see the ten or so of your own posts you have now deleted with the reason 'off topic'. Again: it is for mods to decide who is spamming. Stop inciting people by calling them spammers or you'll get an infraction. Thank you.