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[itisnotlogical]

Yeah. I am fairly religious but I hate fanatics, more so than my general distaste towards snobby atheists.

Actually both are fanatics now that I think about it. Not so different in their methods and rhetoric.

I will say, I've gotten more genuine sympathy and comfort and less "UMMMM AKCHUALLY" attitude from people offering to pray for me than I have from atheists or realists or whatever you want to call them. Whether or not you believe in the effectiveness of prayer--I have my doubts--it's comforting. And sometimes it's more important to be comforted or uplifted or inspired than it is to just hear cold facts day in and day out. That's why most people read stories, watch movies and play videogames instead of math textbooks and tables of statistics all day.

I used to be the smuggest, snobbiest of smug snobby atheists without even really thinking about it, and God I was an asshole about it...

[martinuzz]

I am no atheist. Atheism is a belief just like religion. You cannot prove that god exists, but you cannot prove that god does not exist either.
So I consider myself an agnost. I don't know. I put my faith in what we do know. Science.

And yeah, there's plenty of goodhearted and kind religious people that do not turn to fanaticism.

Let me rephrase: 'the world would be a much better place if dogmatic religions did not exist'. (In other words, religions that tell people how to live, and more importantly, consider itself the only true religion).

[Vector]

I'm not really fond of being prayed for. I'm actually Catholic (surprise) but it's hard to imagine most Christians actually wanting me to be alive, let alone happy.

[delphonso]

I am no atheist. Atheism is a belief just like religion. You cannot prove that god exists, but you cannot prove that god does not exist either.
So I consider myself an agnost. I don't know. I put my faith in what we do know. Science.

I recently heard something I quite liked: We're all agnostic. No one knows.

[martinuzz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s88r_q7oufE

[MaxTheFox]

I am no atheist. Atheism is a belief just like religion. You cannot prove that god exists, but you cannot prove that god does not exist either.
So I consider myself an agnost. I don't know. I put my faith in what we do know. Science.

I recently heard something I quite liked: We're all agnostic. No one knows.

Yes in the end I don't know for sure and I'd be lying if I said otherwise.

I'm not really fond of being prayed for. I'm actually Catholic (surprise) but it's hard to imagine most Christians actually wanting me to be alive, let alone happy.

Don't worry. I like you. Don't listen to the vocal 5-10% who hate you.

[Rose]

I'm not really fond of being prayed for. I'm actually Catholic (surprise) but it's hard to imagine most Christians actually wanting me to be alive, let alone happy.

Not everybody who would pray for you would be Christian, but I emphasize with the sentiment.
I and many world religions are on pretty bad terms. Largely due to all the trauma

[itisnotlogical]

The closest thing I would compare to a religious experience in my life is actually the first time I was in truly, extremely unbelievable pain and received IV painkillers commensurate to that pain. It was like the fire retreated out of my muscles and veins and left nothing behind but good vibes. I stopped screaming and just lay there unable to do anything but grin and cry from relief. It wasn't the coincidence of my continued life, or the mere facts of my existence. It was the fact that some syringe full of mystery juice administered by a bored 50-something took me from the worst agony of my life to pure bliss in about twenty seconds.

If anybody reading this who cares has seen Breaking Bad: recall the scene where Jesse tries some of the IV drugs that Jane was addicted to? The music comes on, he gets this goofy grin on his face and starts effortlessly floating to the ceiling while the cheesy beach music plays? That's literally what it's like, to a freakish degree. I'm a good boy and got access to these because I experienced excruciating pain instead of acquiring it illegally, but I still felt like sharing for some reason.

This feeling honestly kind of scares me, although I'm grateful for it in the moment. Anybody reading this please don't take this as an advocation for recreational drug use, this could very easily fuck up your life, and my life is already pretty fucked up to be at the point that I have legal access to this medicine anyway.

[martinuzz]

It is believed that this is why heroin / morphine / similar opiates are so addictive. Most heroin addicts will tell you they went beyond their first shot, to try and find that feeling of complete bliss again. They also say they have never felt it the way their first shot felt ever again.

[Vector]

Not everybody who would pray for you would be Christian, but I emphasize with the sentiment.

Cheers.

I had morphine post surgery to remove a genital cyst and it did ... seemingly nothing haha. I woke up screaming and I kept on screaming. They were like "I'm going to give you more pain meds" and I was like "LOL please stop." They gave me codeine or something afterwards and I just didn't bother with it. . .

[Frumple]

Eh, the time or two I've been on opiates of note, they worked, but it was a wildly miserable experience only better than vicious agony in comparison. I do not enjoy the feeling of having control ripped from me by some substance or another, ha. It's fundamentally not pleasant, even if it's relaxing the body or whatever.

[TD1]

I am no atheist. Atheism is a belief just like religion. You cannot prove that god exists, but you cannot prove that god does not exist either.
So I consider myself an agnost. I don't know. I put my faith in what we do know. Science.

I am an a - theist.
One who is without theism.
Theism is a belief in god/gods.
I am an atheist, someone who lacks belief in gods/god.

This doesn't mean that I can't think of gods/god as possible, only that faith isn't part of my calculation. As per my current understanding of science and the world, the possibility is vanishingly small. But with the right evidence (and it would need to convincingly explain a lot) I'd adjust my worldview.

Atheism does not seek 'to prove that god does not exist.' It doesn't actively push any agenda, really. It just kinda cuts faith out of the equation.

Agnostics believe that we can never prove/disprove the existence of god/gods. Though, granted, each agnostic seems to have a slightly different definition. It doesn't concern itself with what you put into the equation, it's only concerned with the end answer - whether there is or is not some form of divinity.

Edit: To attempt further clarification:
It's possible to be an Agnostic Christian - someone who believes in God, but doesn't think we can ever know one way or another whether he exists.

It is possible to be an Agnostic Atheist - someone who doesn't believe in god/gods, and also thinks we can never know whether they exist.

It is not possible to be an Atheistic Christian - someone who doesn't believe in God and believes in God.

((Some may prefer to replace 'Christian' with 'theist' in the above. I'm just playing to the crowd  ))


EditEdit: Apparently this discussion moved over to the Railgun thread, so... oops? 

[Eschar]

I am no atheist. Atheism is a belief just like religion. You cannot prove that god exists, but you cannot prove that god does not exist either.
So I consider myself an agnost. I don't know. I put my faith in what we do know. Science.

I am an a - theist.
One who is without theism.
Theism is a belief in god/gods.
I am an atheist, someone who lacks belief in gods/god.

This doesn't mean that I can't think of gods/god as possible, only that faith isn't part of my calculation. As per my current understanding of science and the world, the possibility is vanishingly small. But with the right evidence (and it would need to convincingly explain a lot) I'd adjust my worldview.

Atheism does not seek 'to prove that god does not exist.' It doesn't actively push any agenda, really. It just kinda cuts faith out of the equation.

Agnostics believe that we can never prove/disprove the existence of god/gods. Though, granted, each agnostic seems to have a slightly different definition. It doesn't concern itself with what you put into the equation, it's only concerned with the end answer - whether there is or is not some form of divinity.

Edit: To attempt further clarification:
It's possible to be an Agnostic Christian - someone who believes in God, but doesn't think we can ever know one way or another whether he exists.

It is possible to be an Agnostic Atheist - someone who doesn't believe in god/gods, and also thinks we can never know whether they exist.

It is not possible to be an Atheistic Christian - someone who doesn't believe in God and believes in God.

((Some may prefer to replace 'Christian' with 'theist' in the above. I'm just playing to the crowd  ))


EditEdit: Apparently this discussion moved over to the Railgun thread, so... oops? 

This is an excellent enumeration.

[hector13]

Edit: post moved to religion thread

[EuchreJack]

I'm not really fond of being prayed for. I'm actually Catholic (surprise) but it's hard to imagine most Christians actually wanting me to be alive, let alone happy.

Fuck 'em.
Live a long and happy life, just to keep fucking with them.

I'm often downright offended when people publicly claim to pray for others, as I feel they do so for their own glory rather than any actual comforting.
A more private offering is fine, as it indicates they care, and that is nice.