"Faith" is the act by which we give our ultimate commitment to some reality. I observe in the natural world a process by which complex and rich values grow. I have faith in that process, i.e., I give my ultimate commitment to that process. I call that process "God," even though I do not believe it is a supernatural, omnipotent, omniscient "person." I want to believe nothing about that process except what I can know with reasonable certainty based on empirical observation and rational analysis. I do not believe that any religious tradition has a privileged or infallible source of knowledge about this reality.
Am I a theist or an atheist?
2006-10-05 04:26:07 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You reminded me of a quote from Buddha
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
Buddha
2006-10-05 08:10:10 · answer #1 · answered by skeptic 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Faith is belief that is not based on proof or confidence or trust in a person or thing.
If you use empirical observation and rational analysis, then it is not faith but proof. If the analysis includes a god or some other non-scientific influence, then it is not proof but faith
So my theory is that you are a theist, but I don't have enough evidence with which to determine the fact
2006-10-05 11:28:41 · answer #2 · answered by JerseyRick 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Atheism has such a strong stigma that it is very difficult to ultimately accept atheism. I was an atheist for about three years before I decided to admit it to my self. You, my friend, are an atheist. Like in your case, many people have different definitions for a "God" that they can believe in to keep them from placing the label of Atheist on themselves. Even though he wasn't referencing God, Abraham Lincoln said in the Lincoln/Douglas debates "How many legs does a horse have if you call a tail a leg".............."Four, just because you call a tail a leg, that doesn't make it a leg". Atheism isn't about rebellion, it's about rationality and nothing to be afraid or ashamed of.
2006-10-05 11:39:00 · answer #3 · answered by Pogo 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
1) You are a theist.
2) Faith is trust or belief without justification, not what you said.
3) You call this view of yours "reality" when it is little more than a hypothesis.
4) You are right about religion.
2006-10-05 12:37:44 · answer #4 · answered by ChooseRealityPLEASE 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like 'Deist' ('deism'), to me... like Thomas Jefferson. The deity as you describe it is the diety that is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence... "We are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights...". You ought to strive to get over this 'faith' fixation, though. Faith (wishful, magical thinking) is a substitute for evidence... and serves as the basis for 'belief'... the internalized certainty that one's own ideations map to reality.
'Belief' is a substitute for knowledge... i.e., false knowledge, sustained by wishful, magical thinking.
faith + belief = willful ignorance and self-delusion
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"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion." ~ Robert M. Pirsig
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"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance... it is the illusion of knowledge." ~ Daniel Boorstin
2006-10-05 11:32:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you do not believe in a "Supreme Being," you are an atheist.
Einstein believed in a natural "God" and was an atheist. He considered nature to be God.
2006-10-05 11:30:23 · answer #6 · answered by Left the building 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well I would say you are an atheist, but not agnostic..You do believe in something.
Why call the earth god, it sounds like you,re grasping for straws.
I don,t call anything god and I can live with that.
2006-10-05 11:49:50 · answer #7 · answered by mark h mickey 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you do not believe in a supernatural being then you are definitely leaning towards atheist.
2006-10-05 11:30:05 · answer #8 · answered by trouthunter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You believe in a god, therefore you cannot be an atheist.
2006-10-05 11:40:19 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
God is spirit and should be worshipped as one. Jesus is God incarnate. Christianity teaches this.God is not loving, He is love. He is not good He is goodness.
I know that is deep, but your question is deep.
2006-10-05 11:34:48 · answer #10 · answered by bacha2_33461 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋