How Much of a Theist or Atheist are You?

[james bond]

The first time I heard of a scale being around was through Richard Dawkins, one of the founders of the New Atheism group. Since I do not have a differing widely known scale, I use his. He's eliminating other beliefs and the like for those whose beliefs lie elsewhere, so I include "Other" in my poll.

1. Strong Theist: I do not question the existence of God, I KNOW he exists.
2. De-facto Theist: I cannot know for certain but I strongly believe in God and I live my life on the assumption that he is there.
3. Weak Theist: I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.
4. Pure Agnostic: God’s existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable.
5. Weak Atheist: I do not know whether God exists but I’m inclined to be skeptical.
6. De-facto Atheist: I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life under the assumption that he is not there.
7. Strong Atheist: I am 100% sure that there is no God.

If this has been posted before, then please forgive. I did a search and did not find.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

What nut-job came up with "Pure Agnostic"?

 

[Jumi]

Voted other. I don't know any gods as of yet.

 

[Liu]

Depends on what you mean by god. Since you capitalized it, you mean the Christian one? Then, De-Facto or Strong Atheist. (I'm certain the biblical assumptions about him are wrong, but there might be one or several spirits that inspired them).
Or, personal deities on the level of spirits? Pure Agnostic. Had no reliable encounters with any, but heard of lots of people who had, or claimed so.
But if you define the divine with existence, as I do as a pantheist, then I'm a Strong Theist.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

The first time I heard of a scale being around was through Richard Dawkins, one of the founders of the New Atheism group. Since I do not have a differing widely known scale, I use his. He's eliminating other beliefs and the like for those whose beliefs lie elsewhere, so I include "Other" in my poll.

1. Strong Theist: I do not question the existence of God, I KNOW he exists.
2. De-facto Theist: I cannot know for certain but I strongly believe in God and I live my life on the assumption that he is there.
3. Weak Theist: I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.
4. Pure Agnostic: God’s existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable.
5. Weak Atheist: I do not know whether God exists but I’m inclined to be skeptical.
6. De-facto Atheist: I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life under the assumption that he is not there.
7. Strong Atheist: I am 100% sure that there is no God.

If this has been posted before, then please forgive. I did a search and did not find.

I voted Strong Atheist. Belief or knowledge of god is depended on many factors we experience psychological, physiological, and by relationship with one experience and belief with another. There is a lot of natural superstition and other ways our minds try to fill in the gaps of not understanding why we are here whether on a theological level or just experiencing depression.

That and I believe souls exist because I experienced and seen them. They are the spirit/energy that does not "die" (energy doesn't disappear) of the human body. Whether one personifies this feeling from an outside source or reflection of it from the inside depends on the person. Though I don't understand god because there is no body. So....

 

[Rational Agnostic]

The first time I heard of a scale being around was through Richard Dawkins, one of the founders of the New Atheism group. Since I do not have a differing widely known scale, I use his. He's eliminating other beliefs and the like for those whose beliefs lie elsewhere, so I include "Other" in my poll.

1. Strong Theist: I do not question the existence of God, I KNOW he exists.
2. De-facto Theist: I cannot know for certain but I strongly believe in God and I live my life on the assumption that he is there.
3. Weak Theist: I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.
4. Pure Agnostic: God’s existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable.
5. Weak Atheist: I do not know whether God exists but I’m inclined to be skeptical.
6. De-facto Atheist: I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life under the assumption that he is not there.
7. Strong Atheist: I am 100% sure that there is no God.

If this has been posted before, then please forgive. I did a search and did not find.

With regard to which God? I view the universe itself as a "god" in some sense although to quote Carl Sagan, it doesn't make much sense to pray to the law of gravity. As far as the anthropomorphic deities go; then I'm a de-facto atheist.

 

[VioletVortex]

I chose "other". My views vary from time to time, sometimes, I feel a very strong connection to the spiritual, whereas others, I do not. If anything, I'm a "De-facto theist".

 

[Sapiens]

I consider myself a "6.9" atheist, a scientist has to leave some space to be wrong, even if it is very small,

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The first time I heard of a scale being around was through Richard Dawkins, one of the founders of the New Atheism group. Since I do not have a differing widely known scale, I use his. He's eliminating other beliefs and the like for those whose beliefs lie elsewhere, so I include "Other" in my poll.

1. Strong Theist: I do not question the existence of God, I KNOW he exists.
2. De-facto Theist: I cannot know for certain but I strongly believe in God and I live my life on the assumption that he is there.
3. Weak Theist: I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.
4. Pure Agnostic: God’s existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable.
5. Weak Atheist: I do not know whether God exists but I’m inclined to be skeptical.
6. De-facto Atheist: I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life under the assumption that he is not there.
7. Strong Atheist: I am 100% sure that there is no God.

If this has been posted before, then please forgive. I did a search and did not find.

I'm not a fan of the Dawkins scale. For one thing, "agnostic" isn't the midpoint between atheism and theism; it's its own position on a separate question. For another, people's positions vary depending on the god.

That being said, my position is:

- for the gods I've never heard of (i.e. most of them), no position. I'm not sure how I could accept or reject a concept I've never even considered.

- for some gods (e.g. internally inconsistent ones), strong atheist. I am sure they don't exist.

- for other gods, something like de-facto atheist. My position on gods is like the one attributed to Laplace ("I have no need for that hypothesis"). It seems to me that a godless model of the universe agrees pretty well with reality. I also note that the god-concepts I've heard arguments for have been universally based on horrible, awful reasoning. However, I recognize that even correct conclusions can be argued for using bad arguments, so I can't use the (very common) irrationality of theists with regard to their gods as evidence that those gods don't exist.

 

[Cobol]

I consider myself to be a hardcore atheist/antitheist.

I have a bible and Koran with personal annotations regarding contradictions, disturbing parts, etc.
I'm a member of an organized atheist/Humanist/etc. organization.
I've Successfully “de-converted” someone to atheism.
I Have already made plans to donate my body to science after i die.
I Have turned on Christian TV because i needed something entertaining to laugh at.
I'm on a mailing list for a Christian organization just so i can see what they’re up to.
I keep my eyes open while i watched others around me pray.
I've argued with someone who stopped me on the street to proselytize.
I Subscribe to a freethought magazine.

 

[columbus]

The first time I heard of a scale being around was through Richard Dawkins, one of the founders of the New Atheism group.

I don't find Dawkins a particular authority, despite being a vocal and articulate advocate.
I don't fit on that scale really. And I don't consider his "agnostic" to be meaningful.

To me, agnosticism has nothing to do with God. It's a recognition that humans don't know anything important on the subject, similar to igtheism or apatheism.

I am kind of a deist. I believe in god, but not religion. I don't see reason to believe that god has human attributes like caring or plans or desires(such as worship) .
That's why I am big on morality. If anybody is going to care about humans, or plan for the future, we must do it for each other.
Tom

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Depends on which concept of god or gods we are talking about. The Abrahamic God I'm de-facto atheist, but I have further labels I identify under, which are under my name.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Strong atheist.

There even no existing base worthy of consideration towards any chance of probability that is reflective of theism in any supernatural manner.

I might go defacto if any type of supernatural occurance is presented and confirmed in the manner that the wind and rain is confirmed.

 

[Deathbydefault]

Strong Atheist.

When I approach the question of god with logic and an open mind, I generally take the weak atheist position.
But, if I'm going to be honest with myself, I can't begin to believe in something as irrational as a god.
In my head I'm 100% sure that there is no god(s). Whether it's true or not, I never cared in the first place.

 

[George-ananda]

Being a non-dual (creation and God are not-two) pantheist eastern type I wasn't sure how to vote as the choices seemed to come from a dualist perspective.

I voted 'Strong Theist' as I am a strong pantheist.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Somewhere inbetween De-facto and Weak Theist. Voted for Weak Theist.

 

[lovesong]

I voted under the assumption that we could use whatever concept of deity applies to us. If you were just referring to God (capital G), I'll be taking my answer to the other side of the scale.

 

[columbus]

One thing we can all learn from this thread is how Dawkins simplistic scale doesn't really take into account the wide variety of beliefs and world views.
Tom

 

[Sapiens]

I'm not a fan of the Dawkins scale. For one thing, "agnostic" isn't the midpoint between atheism and theism; it's its own position on a separate question. For another, people's positions vary depending on the god.

That being said, my position is:

- for the gods I've never heard of (i.e. most of them), no position. I'm not sure how I could accept or reject a concept I've never even considered.

- for some gods (e.g. internally inconsistent ones), strong atheist. I am sure they don't exist.

- for other gods, something like de-facto atheist. My position on gods is like the one attributed to Laplace ("I have no need for that hypothesis"). It seems to me that a godless model of the universe agrees pretty well with reality. I also note that the god-concepts I've heard arguments for have been universally based on horrible, awful reasoning. However, I recognize that even correct conclusions can be argued for using bad arguments, so I can't use the (very common) irrationality of theists with regard to their gods as ev
idence that those gods don't exist.

Agnostic is a weak point in Dawkins' scale, I suspect this stems from the Steven Colbert style view that, "agnostics are just atheists without balls."

I have come to see this as incorrect, the important variable is atheism to theism and concerns itself with, "do you believe?" Gnosticism and agnosticism are about your level of certainty. They are akin to the level of confidence.

 

[ArtieE]

I voted other. I'm an apatheist. I also find the scale used in the OP illogical. Use this instead.