Doesn't mean your parents are right. I personally believe religion is the bane of humanity, but that's just me.
86% of the population believes in God in some form or another. I would say that it is impossible to tell anything about them from that fact alone, other than that they believe in God.
Regardless of religious beliefs or lack thereof, this world will start being a better place when people stop painting with such a large brush. We should judge each other by our actions and not by who or what they are. People also change as they mature. Faith can waver for most people as they come to grips with their own life issues. Life is tough as it is. I can respect virtually any belief system, including that of atheism. It's when people start thinking that their belief system is superior is when I have a problem. Live and let live.
I think the number is about 80%. 15% define themselves as non-religious, while 5% claim they "don't know".
I think religion is fine when it is what its supposed to be: personal belief... people try to make it a point to get it out there and put their beliefs on other people, this is the main fault of religion throughout the history of our civilizations. I've met so many religious people that were great people, but as soon as they found out i was agnostic... it was never the same, so the real question should be... What is your reaction when you find out someone is atheist/agnostic?
Did I say they were right in some way shape or form? BTW, how can someone be right or wrong when it comes to having faith?
That's wikipedia's numbers, not mine. According to them, it's about 86% deists and theists, 4% atheist, and 10% agnostic.
you are expecting this thread to cater to a set of standards to fit for your needs, much like the answers you seek in the poll you have created. the answers you are looking for cannot be found in this forum.
The poll is a bit of an awkward one to respond to... A man or woman who believes in God might be good, uneducated, blindly believing what they're told, holding society back, or obedient. At the same time, such a person might be bad, educated, believing for a reason, doing wonders for society, or disobedient. There are believers out there who could fit in each of the check boxes and there are others who go against each of the check boxes. As somebody who believed in God less than one year ago, I believe I was a good, educated individual who had reasons for believing in god. I think I was, for the most part, a good member of society who lived as good of a moral life as I do now (not better, just equal)... and I was obedient in some ways and rebellious in others. Now, as an atheist, I see the flaws in my thinking and understand how childhood indoctrination and confirmation bias caused me to build a worldview that was completely grounded on accepting an unproven premise and going from there. I have since tested this premise and discovered that there is no empirical evidence to justify "accepting" it and going from there, so I have removed it. I no longer believe in a god and I can also see many of the flaws that grow out of such a belief system (at least the specific belief system that I was raised to accept). Anyways, I don't think this thread is a great idea... it's never good to put a whole group of people into a single "box". I would assume that somebody who believes in god is good (in the same way that I would assume a non-believer is good) unless they perform an action that would lead me to believe otherwise.
I may have had some stereotypes when I was young. I remember being flabbergasted when a good friend became born again, as if he joined a cult or something (he did do some weird stuff, in my defense). But, I threw all my preconceptions out the window when I met my wife and, subsequently, other Christians. Some are very intelligent and some are morons. Some are self-righteous Pharisees and some are abject sinners. And everything in between. You can probably conclude a lot more about someone from the college he went to, the job he has, or the neighborhood he lives in than you can from the religion he practices. So, I've learned to hone my prejudices a lot more tightly.
You options suck, thats what I think. Good Uneducated Blindly Believing What They're Told Holding Society Back Obedient None of these have any relation on whether someone believes in G*d, period. These are descriptions of a person, regardless of faith. I think if you would have narrowed down how that faith is explored then a couple of the answers could be used but then this poll might have to be moved to D&D, which in all fairness is where religion belongs, plain and simple.
Do You equate Non Religious as not beleiving in God? or Are you saying his number is too low [86%]? Generally speaking . . .a person's opinion of any group is dependent on thei groups' PR News, OutSpoken folx, etc can paint a good or bad of a people regardless of the actual group I would hate to see the numbers if you replaced Religion with . . Black . . Hispanic .. Scientist . . .etc Rocket River
When I think of religion, I think of bias. One way or another. It's a very loaded topic that earns almost no rational discussion on the internet. However, my view of religious people is that, like any other cross-section of society, every person is slightly different and you can't expect anything from them. The craziest religious people are the loudest. Nevertheless, a lot of people think all religious people are friendly and quaint. Then there is the flip side as well, where tons of modern Americans assume all religious people are simplistic, neo-con, gay-haters. I don't mean to steer this in an uncivil direction. Just that my view of religious people is that I can't judge them until I have my own experiences with them. Religion can positively affect someone's life, and those are religious people that I really respect. Then there's the other end.. I didn't vote for any of the poll choices. They can all be results of religious beliefs, but not one of them is remotely guaranteed.
As a producer for the 2nd largest Faith-based television network in the world, when I meet someone, I don't even usually ask about their faith. If it comes up in casual conversation then yes, we'll talk about it. I don't judge a person by their beliefs, but rather how they treat other people. I've got friends that are athiests, and friends that are charismatic evangelicals. But if the person is insulting to others, no matter what their religious beliefs, I won't hang around them - its as simple as that. I do believe, however, that Christians do get a bad rap in many ways due to the negativity of the outspoken minority. Westboro Baptist Church, in my view, is not a Christian organization. People who share their actions do not exemplify the actions of Christ. What is overlooked, is how it is faith-based organizations (both Christian and other religions) that house and feeds hundreds-of-thousands of homeless every night across the world. They dig wells for remote villages that drink out of ponds that their livestock bathe in. They sometimes physically rescue kidnapped children made forced into child slavery. They help sex-slaves across the world. There is a LOT of Good that Religious organizations do in the world that is never talked about. Heck - the Salvation Army is a Christian denomination.
There is religious and religious nut to me. Everything is fine is small doses. If someone smokes weed every Sunday morning do they have a problem? If they are walking around a school campus everyday blowing smoke in peoples faces, has it become a problem?
