Do you believe in God
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Do you believe in God
I got to thinking that maybe chess players might not be typical in this regard. Does anyone have a theory on whether chess players are predominantly deists/theists/atheists/other? Is it possible to do a secret poll?
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Re: Do you believe in God
I am a pantheist, check out Spinoza.Nick Thomas wrote:I got to thinking that maybe chess players might not be typical in this regard. Does anyone have a theory on whether chess players are predominantly deists/theists/atheists/other? Is it possible to do a secret poll?
I don't believe in belief - I believe in evidence, I resist the temptation to go baa.
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Re: Do you believe in God
Yes I am aware of Spinoza. Dawkins described pantheism as a sexy form of atheism I believe.
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Re: Do you believe in God
So you only believe in details, top down thinking in terms of us blundering bipeds, is meaningless for you?Niall Doran wrote:No.
Last edited by PeterTurland on Sun May 29, 2011 10:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Do you believe in God
I believe the question set in the topic wasn't one that invited a general criticism of whatever beliefs people happened to hold.PeterTurland wrote:So you only believe in details, top down thinking in terms of us blundering bipeds is meaningless for you?Niall Doran wrote:No.
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Re: Do you believe in God
Perhaps we need to separate concept from context - if it is at all possible?
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Re: Do you believe in God
I am an evangelical Christian. Our local club includes one Anglican churchwarden, one lapsed Baptist, one devout Muslim; the rest, to my knowledge, have no religious views. That probably makes us an average cross section of the population. One famous theologian who played chess was the Bohemian Reformer, John Hus. He regretted later that he had wasted so much time on it and "was unfortunate enough to provoke myself and others to anger!"
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Re: Do you believe in God
I like to call myself an agnostic atheist. That is to say, while I recognise the possibility that some god or gods may exist, I shall believe that they do not unless given convincing evidence to the contrary.
(I am sure that an omniscient, omnipotent deity, as the Abrahamic God is claimed to be, would be able to give convincing evidence to the contrary if he wished.)
(I am sure that an omniscient, omnipotent deity, as the Abrahamic God is claimed to be, would be able to give convincing evidence to the contrary if he wished.)
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Re: Do you believe in God
But demons exist.
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Re: Do you believe in God
I shall assume those that are agnostic or athiests do not celebrate Christmas, it does seem contradictory to do so otherwise.
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Re: Do you believe in God
I don't believe in the God hypothesis because there is no evidence to support it. Simple as that
True glory lies in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read.
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Re: Do you believe in God
Why? It's a festival that has many contributing factors to its origin; the elements relating to Christianity are just part of it.Chris J Greatorix wrote:I shall assume those that are agnostic or athiests do not celebrate Christmas, it does seem contradictory to do so otherwise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
(Now Easter, on the other hand, I'll give you, and I do not celebrate that except insofar as to play in chess tournaments during it.)
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Re: Do you believe in God
Err... what Jack said. Winter Festivals, especially around the shortest day of the year, are common to many cultures and religions, and were undoubtedly widespread in pre-Christian times. It's a pretty sure bet that early Christianity "adopted" existing times of celebration.Chris J Greatorix wrote:I shall assume those that are agnostic or athiests do not celebrate Christmas, it does seem contradictory to do so otherwise.
Anyway, we just enjoy the holiday, family time etc. No religious add-ons for us, though the daughter gets the normal nativity/Christmas story stuff at school.
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Re: Do you believe in God
Atheists tend to have an open mind about the possibility of being wrong. It is after all simply a "non belief" usually caused (in so far as a passive non belief can be said to be "caused") by lack of evidence. I'm not sure I therefore see the need for the agnostic bit. I consider an agnostic someone who has some evidence but only enough to consider the odds around 50/50.IM Jack Rudd wrote:I like to call myself an agnostic atheist. That is to say, while I recognise the possibility that some god or gods may exist, I shall believe that they do not unless given convincing evidence to the contrary.
(I am sure that an omniscient, omnipotent deity, as the Abrahamic God is claimed to be, would be able to give convincing evidence to the contrary if he wished.)