survey

I'm an agnostic now. I marked "b" up above -- but I just want to go on record that not only do I not believe in God -- I also do not believe in "there are no gods."

I just don't know -- and see no compelling case to guess in either direction.

I attended church regularly up until age 20 (approx) and at one time considered a vocation in the priesthood. Lucky for the church and me, I came to my right mind before acting on it.

Frank makes an excellent point here;

Knowing the answer to this question "for sure" is on par with knowing for sure there is/isn't an "Infinite Universe". Scientifically, we lack sufficient data. In my earlier post I didn't mean to imply that I was sure there was no God. I too answered B, because I don't really know.

It sounds like you need a wider base of people to survey. If you're getting mostly people who went to church, you're less equipped to make assumptions about people who didn't.

like i said, this forum doesn't represent the whole population. also, alot of people did go to church when they where younger, probably more than those who didn't. but you are right, i need more people to take this survey

That was Osso speaking and I'm glad she brought that up -- saved me the time. I attended parochial school for eight years and had religion beat into me on a daily basis. I was even an altar boy. But as I got older, around third grade or so, I started questioning their beliefs. What really burned me was when I asked one of the nuns a question about Purgatory.

She had been discussing how if people aren't baptized they go to Purgatory or burn in Hell, I forget which one.

I asked her, "What about kids in the Congo or Aborigines, people who have never been exposed to religion?"

She told me that they would burn. At that point in my life I had an epiphany. I thought to myself, "This is a load of crap."

From that point on I began to see things, like the farmers that would make their obligatory appearance at church on Sundays, stir uneasily in the entryway, and then... zooom, right to the bar.

A little kid sees that stuff and has to chuckle at the adults.

But I still must have remnants of beliefs imbedded deep into my brain because I don't entirely believe there isn't a God, but I sure as hell have my doubts.

So, chalk me up as an agnostic.

In closing, I'm sure most of you have heard this, but....

What do you get when you cross an agnostic, a dyslexic, and an insomniac?

A guy who tosses and turns all night and wonders if there is a dog.

I am as dedicated an agnostic as there is in A2K.

I could answer the survey -- and did.

How could you answer, Frank? I don't see a viable option.

I believe God will exist tomorrow,
but not today.

How can this be true, beyond all shadow of doubt?
Because I will it.

Pollq, whatever your poll is, most of us get a kick out of answering questions and questioning the questions. There are some pretty astute people on the forum. I suggest you give the poll a deadline, however far away you wish, and then discuss with us freely, even on a separately started topic in order to keep poll and discussion differentiated, your interests and how best to set up future polls if you decide you want to.

Maybe you should take people from your school, or from different parts of your town, and not just from your church. You'll probably get vastly different points of veiw the farther away from the church you travel.

the deadline for this pole for me ended with my last post. anything after my previous post wasn't added to my statistics. i would have gotten more information but the paper is due in a few days. my English 101 ends friday, and after that i don't have any reports to do on research. i may make more polls if you people want, i can also share with you information i collected on different forums. i would like it if the poll kept running for awhile. although it won't be added to my report, i would like to see how it turns out in a few weeks

It looks like B is about to overflow.
I went to church whenever I could get away with it when I was a kid. I was very curious about the whole thing. I didn't hear/see/learn anything that would make me believe in a god. I wished I could believe but I couldn't, and I still can't.

I sometimes think life would be easier if I did believe. Life is complicated when you can't rely on someone/something else to save you. Having a god to believe in would be so nice.

Easy.

I marked #2 -- I believed in God when I was young and do not believe in God now.

I also wrote and explained:

"I'm an agnostic now. I marked "b" up above -- but I just want to go on record that not only do I not believe in God -- I also do not believe in "there are no gods."

I just don't know -- and see no compelling case to guess in either direction.

I attended church regularly up until age 20 (approx) and at one time considered a vocation in the priesthood. Lucky for the church and me, I came to my right mind before acting on it. "

Do you believe that God has anything to do with the state of your golf game, Frank?

Might it be that he is looking down, and being a bit annoyed with your skepticism about his existence, might just nudge that three foot putt just a tad to the left.

Food for thought.

Just before all this snow fell...I gotta report that my putting has been giving my playing opponents fits.

Everything was dropping.

But your message was duly noted, Gus. :wink:

I marked B.

Agnostic, Insomniac, Dyslexic....I'm wide awake and I'm wandering if there is a Dog.