How atheist are you?

[JairCrawford]

Most days, for probably the past two years especially, I've been at a pretty solid 1. Though if I must be honest, I have had my days that slide a bit towards the 2.

I wonder whether it takes more faith to go forward with your belief in God in the clear recognition that of course you, like everyone else, could be mistaken, or, does it take more faith to psyche your self up to put all doubts out of your mind and insist that your assessment of the great unknown must be the right one?

That's actually a really good question, and great food for thought! I'll have to digest that for a bit!

[TheoneandonlytrueGod]

How atheist are you? In The God Delusion, Dawkins proposes a scale of belief in god (see below). I would like to find out how you rate yourself on the scale below. It might not be a surprise to most that I identify with a 7. Can I say I'm a level 7 atheist? Sounds a bit like scientology now!

Anyway, I have reasons for identifying myself as a 7. If someone were to ask me whether god exists, my response would be "No, god does not exist". I wouldn't say "Well, there's no evidence so he/she/it is unlikely to exist". My response would be far more direct than that. The reasoning is that if I was asked if there are fairies at the bottom of my garden, my response would be equally direct. "No, there are no fairies at the bottom of my garden". Sure, they could exist, but that would just be silly, wouldn't it? Nobody has ever observed them so I am totally justified in responding with a direct "No".

Richard Dawkins' Belief Scale:
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.

So how do you see yourself on a scale from 1 to 7 and what is your reasoning behind it?

8 or higher.

I generally avoid categorical statements but in this case I am quite willing to categorically state there is/are no Gods.
You can argue till the cows come home that there is no proof for that statement as you can spend an equal time arguing the same for the existence a God/Gods.  

I believe in the word God but not any sort of existence of some sort of intelligence that created the Universe.

I guess I would consider myself an extremely strong atheist, or as I put it a rabid atheist. (but without rabies).

I have no problem with a causeless "Cause". Actually I have difficulty with "cause and effect", they only have value in law.

[energizer bunny]

I'm so atheist that i even converted god to atheism. 


4 or 5 seem closest to me. If god exist, that is fine with me. If god doesn't, that is also find with me. It doesn't matter in the long run. Just that i make the very best out of my life.

[Edwardo Piet]

"How atheist are you?"

Completely atheist.

I've personally never had a problem with Dawkins's scale... and I think it's a good one.

But whether an agnostic atheist or a gnostic atheist.... I'm still fully atheist.

I'm a 6 about lots of gods and a 7 about almost all gods. Because . . . there are far more logically impossible things than logically possible things. And that applies to gods too.

[ignoramus]

"always a chance" - love it 

Uh ok

Deb, atheists are the least of your concerns...

What if one of the other nasty big hitters was the one true God (still are but not acknowledged by humanity).

EG:

Baron Samedi
Skadi
Osiris
Odin
Kali

Then, we can all sit around in a really hot spa and talk about how wrong we all were!

[pocaracas]

The time has come to introduce ancient wisdom, my friends.

[chimp3]

I rate myself as a "Nein!".

[Whateverist]

I believe in the word God but not any sort of existence of some sort of intelligence that created the Universe.

Well even the theists say "in the beginning was the word". And since no actual gods have been found it would appear that in the end, "god" the word will be the end of it as well.

I guess I would consider myself an extremely strong atheist, or as I put it a rabid atheist. (but without rabies).

Well for a rabid atheist you don't seem pretty calm and measured. What about during a full moon, ever feel the need to bite anyone religious then?

[The Valkyrie]

All of me is an atheist.

Physically at least.

One of the voices claims to be god, but the rest of us don't believe him.

[Ravenshire]

I'm atheist enough to not believe in any of the gods I've had described to me, yet agnostic enough that I won't catagorically claim there are none.

Having said that, when it comes to many gods, I have no problem calling bullshit on the ones that are obviously bullshit. That's most that I've heard of. If you're angling to convince me, bring evidence. No, that allegorical tale about your cousin's best friend who's cancer went into spontaneous remission some unspecified time after the prayer group prayed over him doesn't count.