Religious Self Identification

[AB Editor]

 

This poll is closed.

Do you self identify as one of the following?

• Atheist - 147 votes
• 36%
• Spiritual (but not necessarily "Religious") - 107 votes
• 27%
• Religious - 83 votes
• 21%
• Agnostic - 66 votes
• 16%

See final stats

Stats until: 10:29 Thu 21st Nov 2024 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)

© AnswerBank Ltd 2000 - 2024. All Rights Reserved.

[mibn2cweus]

AB Editor
Question Author
mibn2cweus - Could you attempt to back up any of your assertions please? You seem to be all puff and no trousers.
09:16 Wed 10th Apr 2013

Who's made the assertions? I'm merely pointing out they are all empty, devoid of any real meaning. Perhaps you're attempting to place the slipper on the wrong foot.

[Khandro]

My advice to any "unsure" atheists with strong "spiritual" tendencies would be to self-identify as; 'Group A negative,- confused'.

[naomi24]

Mibs, we're trying to ascertain the way in which people view themselves. The terms used clearly mean something to those voting - and as far as I'm aware you consider yourself to be an atheist anyway, so if the word means nothing to you, what's that all about?

Khandro, you advising people on matters spiritual? Don’t hold your breath for responses. ;o)

[jomifl]

Khandro, are you trying to say that there is some correlation between Atheism and spirituality albeit perhaps negative?

[jomifl]

^ should have written 'atheism'...not 'Atheism' my hand must have been jogged by some supernatural force..it is possible after all..though not likely :-)

[maggiebee]

Here we go again, happy as can be, all argumentative but in jolly good company!

[naomi24]

^^ that's relevant. :o/

[woofgang]

I said spiritual rather than religious because while I believe in god and this has an effect on how I live my life, I do not believe in and am not a member of any organised religion. If I could have made my own headings, I would have said religious non church member, but of the choices I think that spiritual fits my situation best.
I do find it interesting that, if you assume that agnostic is broadly equivalent to don't know, and also assume that the spiritual people believe that there is a non corporeal aspect to life and the atheists don't, we are about evenly divided
Yeah....I know, loads of assumptions :-)

[mibn2cweus]

naomi24
Mibs, we're trying to ascertain the way in which people view themselves. The terms used clearly mean something to those voting - and as far as I'm aware you consider yourself to be an atheist anyway, so if the word means nothing to you, what's that all about?
09:42 Wed 10th Apr 2013

Naomi, if by 'atheist' you mean 'someone who is not a theist' count me in. Otherwise, as has been demonstrated in this very thread, the term 'atheist' comes with more strings attached than the flying spaghetti monster.

[naomi24]

Mibs, //as has been demonstrated in this very thread//

And as has been indicated on this very thread, the poll is intended not as an in depth insight, but simply as a general overview. Gawd! It's hard work here at times! ;o)

[vulcan42]

This thread has reminded of Quentin Crisp,
When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience
stood up and said, 'Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in
whom you don't believe?

[mibn2cweus]

//Gawd! It's hard work here at times!//

Pretty much the nature of the beast, ainnit?

[Khandro]

jomifl; //...jogged by some supernatural force..it is possible after all..//. Do I detect a slight softening of the usually impervious carapace?

[AB Editor]

"Perhaps you're attempting to place the slipper on the wrong foot."

Are we getting dressed or undressed?

"Lacking any referents in reality (beyond arbitrary belief) all of the above terms are inherently too ambiguous to be meaningful, thereby rendering such terms useless to any form of productive rational debate."

Do you really think that?

It's about self identification, it's YOUR meaning of the word, you don't need the spag bol monster involved at all to be an Atheist for this poll.

[naomi24]

mibs, //Pretty much the nature of the beast, ainnit? //

True .... true....

[Khandro]

But Ed. you still haven't told us what an "unsure" atheist is.
However, perhaps it would be better to start again from scratch, and instead of listing your own categories, simply ask, "On the subject of religion, how would you define yourself?" I think this would get closer to the truth, though many answers might appear rather fuzzy.

[jomifl]

Khandro, your obsession with fuzziness, blurred boundaries and a belief in the unknowable will not help you get to grips with reality in any useful way. Until you come up with some astonishing new algorithms and a computer the size of the solar system we will have to rub along with arbitrary boundaries, especially when dealing with light hearted topics like this. As for the supernatural force mentioned in my last posting it was a veiled (and possibly ironical)refence to to the mighty Lord S0D who can easily defeat the puny attempts of mankind to impose order on His Chaos... :-)

[Khandro]

jomifl; Regarding "fuzziness and blurred boundaries", sounds a bit like Bohr and Einstein talking.

[jomifl]

You are tooo kind :-)

[modeller]

Interesting figures taken with the fact less than 10% of our population regularly attend a place of worship. and that includes all faiths.