(July 10, 2014 at 9:38 pm)Jenny A Wrote: . . .
I do not believe in gods. I not know to a certainty that gods do not exist but I'm 6.9999 on the Dawkins scale (why did he pick seven rather than 10?).. . .

This is my guess. You have one in the middle, between strong theist, and strong atheist. Then either side of that you have levels of theism/atheism. When we qualify things we use threes, like: good, better, best; or fast, faster, fastest; or low, lower lowest; etc. So on Dawkin's scale, that's three one way, and three the other way from the middle - seven in all.

I was talking with a guy and he told me that he used to believe in his favorite god but then his god told him to stop believing in him because he wasn't real. And then the guy vanished in a puff of smoke.

If gods or a god exists, so what? They haven't done anything godly lately. Countless people have died and their favorite deity did nothing to alleviate their suffering. The Aztec and Incas' gods didn't save the people who worshiped them. The Jewish and Islamic deities didn't save their worshipers. Where were the American Indian and black African deities when those people needed their help? The story is the same for everyone in every age. Their favorite deities were just imaginary beings con men cooked up to fool them with.

Guess what? No god of any kind will ever do anything because they are all imaginary. They don't exist except in people's superstitious minds.

(July 10, 2014 at 1:38 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: Other than Mark Pellegrino and Sam Elliot, there are no Gods.

(maybe Chuck Norris if he would quit shaving his body)

I have to revise and extend my remarks.

My DVR snagged Beneath The Planet Of The Apes today, and OMFG! I had forgotten how hot HOT HOT!!! James Franciscus is.

Antinous couldn't have looked any better to Hadrian.


WOOF!!

---

So, 3 Gods there, and please, Mr. Norris sir, PLEASE STOP SHAVING YOUR BODY !!!!!!!!!!! Your Godhood awaits!!

To be honest, I love mythology.

But in the end it is just "pretty stories from an uneducated past"

I voted for this a few days ago, but I was on my phone and didn't want to answer anything as I knew it would rely on some copy/pasting, which is a phone pain!

Let's see what I answered...
B-3 I do not believe in gods.*
K-2 I do not know if gods exist.*
A-1 It matters to me to know whether or not gods exist.*
I-2 I do not believe the concept of "god" is sufficiently well understood.*
P-1 It is of interest to me to understand the phenomenon of god belief and the role it plays in human affairs.*
S-2 I do not believe in anything that is supernatural.*
L-2 I suspect there is no continuance of 'self' beyond the grave.*

It seems I'm joe average on this forum...

Me too, Poca. Joe average here. Though, last time I looked, my A-2 stance was making me a slight bit more mundane than you. Goes to show how hard it is to avoid ambiguity in making up such questions. Since, like you, I answered P-1 (it matters to me to understand the phenomenon of god belief) it might seem strange to have answered, as I did, A-2 (it doesn't matter to me if gods exist). To clarify, existence of gods as separate entities with human and superhuman attributes, I simply ignore and don't care about. The phenomenon of god belief on the other hand is obviously a very real thing and understanding it does interest me.

(July 14, 2014 at 11:34 am)whateverist Wrote: Me too, Poca. Joe average here. Though, last time I looked, my A-2 stance was making me a slight bit more mundane than you. Goes to show how hard it is to avoid ambiguity in making up such questions. Since, like you, I answered P-1 (it matters to me to understand the phenomenon of god belief) it might seem strange to have answered, as I did, A-2 (it matters to me if gods exist). To clarify, existence of gods as separate entities with human and superhuman attributes, I simply ignore and don't care about. The phenomenon of god belief on the other hand is obviously a very real thing and understanding it does interest me.

I see... well, to me, it does matter if those entities are actually real, or not.
Most likely, they're just stories, but... what if?

Worth checking out, if you've never done it:
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Who_Mour...episode%29

Well I did enjoy the Star Trek shows. (Though, seriously, how can anyone think the original with Kirk-look-at-me-I'm-a-Shakespearean-actor is anywhere near as good as the Next Generation?)

• I-2 I do not believe the concept of "god" is sufficiently well understood.*
  
• P-1 It is of interest to me to understand the phenomenon of god belief and the role it plays in human affairs.*
  
• S-3 Everything that exists at all is natural for its kind.*
  

I myself always self describe my atheist as ignostic. I really cannot say there is a single meaningful concept of god that strikes anything but confusion in my mind. Go through history and you will find gods to be very physical and the notions of spirits or metaphysical entities entirely nonexistent. These beings were no omnimax and just humanoid or entirely human beings. Then you get the spirits of shamanism and expansion into the realm of religion metaphysics along with the concept of revelation. Pantheism, polytheism, henotheism, panentheism, deism, monotheism, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, mortal, immortal, eternal, born, male, female or asexual.
Every possible attribute has been given to god(s) and have been given in great abundance. Wherever a gap in knowledge exist the word god is used to plug it up. The only coherent definition of god is ignorance.

But I do indeed have a massive interest in theology and religion. I like the ideas of religions and what they are suppose to provide although fail at doing so in this day of age. I am a good old fashion pagan in this regard as I love all religions and love blaspheming them and incorporating their concepts into my life. As the pagans of old did when they encountered a new civilization, they just added the newer gods into their own pantheon and forced it to fit.

(July 14, 2014 at 12:24 pm)whateverist Wrote: Well I did enjoy the Star Trek shows. (Though, seriously, how can anyone think the original with Kirk-look-at-me-I'm-a-Shakespearean-actor is anywhere near as good as the Next Generation?)

I don't know... I'm a TNG fan myself.
But you should have said Shatner, instead of Kirk.