Probably done before but real simple belief poll

[dmallind]

I'm interested in how many DUers are believers and of what type. Obviously there are more nonbelievers here than in the general population but it would be nice to see where the ratio is.

I am keeping the poll options very vague and non-judgmental. It is not my intent to start attacking any group at all - just looking for numbers. I'm not a moderator nor do I want to play one but I for one would be perfectly happy with no text responses and just poll numbers. There are plenty of threads on which to argue about religion - my goal here is just to see where the breakdown is.

Thanks!

[yardwork]

1. You know that there is no way to ensure that this poll will be an accurate representation?

Any poll like this - that involves self-selection of those polled - is highly unlikely to represent the actual beliefs of DUers with any accuracy. All these polls are just for fun. You'll get a sampling of those folks who happened to feel like responding to your poll at the time you posted it. That's all.

[dmallind]

4. Oh of course

I'm just looking for a vague indication. The more responses the closer that's likely to be of course, but no I realize this will not be a valid sample to make any deductive conclusions.

[Speck Tater]

2. Well, I don't REALLY consider the programmer of this simulation "God"

He or she is just a very talented game designer.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

3. I go to a catholic school and no one knows what deist is. . .

I've given up on explaining it and just saying that I'm not sure. . .

[Sapere aude]

5. I am studying Buddhism but I don't call it a faith or belief system.

The Buddha was a human. There is no god to believe in. It is basically a way of living your life and a way of treating all living things.

[dmallind]

7. Yep understood

Just put it in there since I know a few people on here are Buddhists. I would probably say what you are describing is a belief system however, just not one that involves a deity.

[Sapere aude]

9. Why I say it is not a belief system is because there are no matters of faith

that you need to believe in to be a Buddhist. There is no creed like in Catholicism.

[dmallind]

10. Oh I agree there.

More using it in the sense of something which guides thoughts and actions. Belief and faith are subtly different concepts, and creed is definitely a distinct concept from either.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. I have a few belief systems and meta-belief systems, none of them invovle a specific diety

I subscribe to various aspects of Buddhism, Taoism, etc. I get why you included Buddhism as a separate choice, but it is important to point out that "non-theistic belief" and Buddhism are not mutually exclusive.

[DemGa]

6. Delete

[MatrixEscape]

8. My thanks to the OP for using the word "nontheistic"!

It is really appreciated that you chose your terminology studiously. There are subtle distinctions and your alacrity is beneficial to clear understanding and discussion about such matters.

There is a point where, once one has uprooted and discarded the weeds of belief and faith that a new flavor of tolerance emerges. For, in that sense, one sees abstract thought and symbolic representation as largely a belief system to varying degrees, be it in the personal, political, philosophical, religious, or scientific sense.

At that point, one is struck with, at the very least, a belief in the existence of the mind. One observes that existence and mind and whatever transcendental concepts one holds to be true are merely mental objects as thought. Those mental objects never are what they convey, nor are they even direct links to a potential actuality in a subjective sense.

So, the persisting belief in mind is left due to habit and training. There is evidence to suggest it exists, but it is often of the same type, (though more complex and convoluted) as the kind used by those subsets and factions of mind that we call religious and spiritual.

The stark and obvious problem is that evidence is not proof. Finding the mind itself is an issue akin to finding concretely , in a direct and knowable way, the object of any subjective modality, be it a deity or a transcendental plane.

I could add that what we experience as existence and life could very well just be a pattern, (as complex and rich and diverse as those we see in nature's structures) and what we call mind is merely a reflection of that pattern that allows for an ephemeral, but observable knot that we call self or I. One simply finds one's self in layers of self-representation and relationship that imply, synergistically, something real and tangible out of cultural necessity alone.