Do you consider yourself a believer or a skeptic?

[Exaltist Ethan]

Simple poll. I'm curious if this website has more believers or skeptics. No grey-lines, you are either one or the other.

I consider myself a believer in God and the afterlife.

How about you? And either way, explain why, if you'd like.

 

[osgart]

I'm a believer that an afterlife is possible. Mainly I hold this belief because I consider the existence of consciousness and intellect to be only possible through other intellect. I don't believe an eternal source is God though.

 

[The Hammer]

No grey-lines, you are either one or the other

Don't dictate what I am.

I'll be a grey line if I want. I am both. Hmph.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I believe I have felt and experienced something, but that's the best I got.
I tend to be highly skeptic of man-made religions.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Don't dictate what I am.

I'll be a grey line if I want. I am both. Hmph.

It is exhausting to try to convince people that atheism vs theism only works with certain mindsets.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Simple poll. I'm curious if this website has more believers or skeptics. No grey-lines, you are either one or the other.

I consider myself a believer in God and the afterlife.

How about you? And either way, explain why, if you'd like.

I believe that there are multiple gods and goddesses, and I believe there is an afterlife.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

It is exhausting to try to convince people that atheism vs theism only works with certain mindsets.

However this isn't exactly atheism vs theism. It is believer vs skeptic. Someone already answered as a believer despite not believing in God.

The reason why I made this thread was in the response to the sticky thread in the introduction forum asking what religion you are. There was so many people, including me, that simply answered "other" that I wanted to know if the "others" consider themselves believers or skeptics.

It just seems to me that this forum, while calling itself Religious Forums, seems to be mostly filled with non-believing skeptics despite the name of this place.

@The Hammer and @Shadow Wolf I would consider both of you believers in something. The fact that you don't want to think of it like that is kind of, well ... it's silly. "Well, I believe in this and I'm a skeptic about everything else." Then you are still a believer.

I'm purposely making this thread similar to how conservatives view gender (boy or girl) because I want to engage with the community to see what is the general mindset of this website. I know there are people who consider themselves believers and skeptics, even down to believing in God or the afterlife but not both.

I just want to see how people see themselves around here. Which concept they value more: a believer's mindset or a skeptic's. Calling yourself both isn't going to help how I understand this website.

 

[Viker]

I'm a difficult to convince believer in deities, the divine and many possibilities that come along with the ride .

 

[Orbit]

However this isn't exactly atheism vs theism. It is believer vs skeptic. Someone already answered as a believer despite not believing in God.

The reason why I made this thread was in the response to the sticky thread in the introduction forum asking what religion you are. There was so many people, including me, that simply answered "other" that I wanted to know if the "others" consider themselves believers or skeptics.

It just seems to me that this forum, while calling itself Religious Forums, seems to be mostly filled with non-believing skeptics despite the name of this place.

@The Hammer and @Shadow Wolf I would consider both of you believers in something. The fact that you don't want to think of it like that is kind of, well ... it's silly. "Well, I believe in this and I'm a skeptic about everything else." Then you are still a believer.

I'm purposely making this thread similar to how conservatives view gender (boy or girl) because I want to engage with the community to see what is the general mindset of this website. I know there are people who consider themselves believers and skeptics, even down to believing in God or the afterlife but not both.

I just want to see how people see themselves around here. Which concept they value more: a believer's mindset or a skeptic's. Calling yourself both isn't going to help how I understand this website.

It would have been clearer if you defined "believer in what". The Abrahamic god?

 

[Viker]

tend to be highly skeptic of man-made religions.

Those are the best (only) ones.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

It would have been clearer if you defined "believer in what". The Abrahamic god?

I intentionally wrote a short thread description so that people could define that themselves.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

@The Hammer and @Shadow Wolf I would consider both of you believers in something. The fact that you don't want to think of it like that is kind of, well ... it's silly. "Well, I believe in this and I'm a skeptic about everything else." Then you are still a believer.

This is the sort of thing I was alluding to in your other thread. Many would agree and say I'm a believer. Many others would say I'm not.

 

[Orbit]

I intentionally wrote a short thread description so that people could define that themselves.

Would a Buddhist call themselves a "believer"? Your frame of reference seems too Abrahamic.

 

[Rival]

I believe in God.

The One and the Many of Kemetic religion.

 

[osgart]

It would have been clearer if you defined "believer in what". The Abrahamic god?

I was able to let go of that notion of God. I get tired of being lumped in with Abrahamic God.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

Would a Buddhist call themselves a "believer"? Your frame of reference seems too Abrahamic.

Again, it is up to the individual person whether he or she considers him or herself a believer or a skeptic. However, my mindset going in thinking if someone is a believer or not boils down to: if you believe in any religious thought, you are a believer, and if you dont, you are a skeptic. I would consider Buddhists to be believers, not because they don't believe in God, but because they believe in things like karma, an afterlife and their idea of perfection/nirvana.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

hmmm.

I'm a 'believer' in that humans (myself included, and probably other-than-human persons) have experiences of various kinds.

I'm a 'skeptic' of the human ability to know in anything other than in an incomplete and provisional way what is the source(s) and/or meaning of those experiences are.

I'm not certain that believer and skeptic are exclusive opposites, either...

 

[The Hammer]

This is the sort of thing I was alluding to in your other thread. Many would agree and say I'm a believer. Many others would say I'm not.

Would a Buddhist call themselves a "believer"? Your frame of reference seems too Abrahamic.

Yup I utilize both Daoism and Buddhist philosophy, none if which is there a Deity (at least in western Buddhism).

 

[The Hammer]

Again, it is up to the individual person whether he or she considers him or herself a believer or a skeptic. However, my mindset going in thinking if someone is a believer or not boils down to: if you believe in any religious thought, you are a believer, and if you dont, you are a skeptic. I would consider Buddhists to be believers, not because they don't believe in God, but because they believe in things like karma, an afterlife and their idea of perfection/nirvana.

If it's up to the individual person, you can't dictate it as belief or not belief, because then you are defining belief for that individual.

Edit: Not all Buddhists use Derma. That's honestly more Hindu.

 

[The Hammer]

I believe in my own views but I am skeptical of others claims until proven otherwise.