mega thread Everypony's Religion And Why?

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Good thing it's not a meme. It's pretty much only confined to this forum.

 

then I shall purge the infection before it spreads

[Selendis 3]

I worship the goddess Athena, and am happy with my beliefs.

[Lunatic 1,185]

im an atheist but im really openminded in how other people think that there is a god. i'd love to discuss the matter and i'm verry interested if people can ensure me that there is a god.

 

note tough: if you want to discuss it with me(im verry down to earth on this topic. not saying pics or it didnt happen. but i apreasiate prove)

[crrice 0]

Hi all,

 

Yes or no question: Do you believe in God. Give reasons if you can.

 

If you're an agnostic then you fall in the no category and you should answer that way.

 

Now that we're done with that, I should give you my reasons for asking. First, I'm curious about how the brony population fares in the religion department compared to the general population. Second, I want to see how intelligent and/or unintelligent the responses become, and compare them to other debates I've seen. I'd like to think we're smarter than the average forum, but that remains to be seen.

 

For reference, in America, about 9% of people answer no to the above question. Will our numbers be more? Less? Let's find out.

 

GO

 

If this post looks out of place it's because it was merged in from another thread. Used to be an OP, and that's why it looks like one.

Edited April 4, 2012 by crrice

[River Song 9]

Im a atheist and you broke a rule of the internet, never mention religion D:

[crrice 0]

Im a atheist and you broke a rule of the internet, never mention religion D:

 

But it's for science!

 

That makes it okay... Right?

[River Song 9]

But it's for science!

 

That makes it okay... Right?

 

whatever floats youre boat sweetie

[Key Gear 6,662]

If anyone ever wants to see the results from a larger survey of the brony community about this subject then they can use the following link to see results.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewanalytics?formkey=dFBZQjJYdjNiVUI3akxaSGR6YTN4MEE6MQ

 

This survey was posted on EQD a while back, and it is not related to the "Brony Study" being done by the psychologist guy.

 

It may take a few moments to load, but it has lots of interesting results in there. One of those results covers the proclaimed religious affiliations/beliefs of the people that took the poll.

 

Here are the results from that specific question:

 

 

• Atheist - 38%
• Agnostic - 24%
• Buddhist - 2%
• Christian (Catholic) - 14%
• Christian (Protestant) - 17%
• Hinduism - 0%
• Islam - 0%
• Judaism - 1%
• Not listed here - 14%

 

 

Keep in mind, the poll could be said to be a bit biased.

 

Pretty much all of the responses are from visitors of Equestria Daily. While EQD is a major part of the fandom, you can not be 100% confident that it is a good indicator for the entire brony population.

 

Also, while the brony population can be seen to be split about 50/50 between males and females, it is mostly the males that tend to take these kind of surveys. (Go here and click the audience tab then look at gender to see what I mean.)

 

I have a theory about why surveys tend to be male dominated. My theory is that men take these surveys in greater numbers because they have more of an interest in seeing the results - to confirm whether or not they are "normal" for a brony. I am not sure of the reason for this, but it could be due to the higher social stigma that males perceive. Perhaps this creates this desire to "seek confirmation".

[Coco Pommel 669]

Where would "Wishes not to associate in the argument of beliefs." fit into the poll? I think atheism counts as a belief, since atheists tend to treat it that way.

[M14Brony 92]

I am an atheist.

[Inky Milk 78]

I'm Catholic, so yes, obviously believe in God.

 

Why do people always feel that this topic is so interesting to discuss? On a forum about ponies on all things.

[ⓡⓐⓘⓝⓓⓡⓞⓟⓢ 25]

i don't actualy care what religion i am from and i don't know anyways

[ScottishUnicorn 284]

There's already a poll on this.

 

http://mlpforums.com/topic/4030-everyponys-religion-poll/

[crrice 0]

I'm Catholic, so yes, obviously believe in God.

 

Why do people always feel that this topic is so interesting to discuss? On a forum about ponies on all things.

 

I suppose it's because the answer to this question has such a large impact on one's life. For example, nobody cares what I had for breakfast this morning, because that has no impact, yet they care about the existence of God because that has life-changing impact. It might also be because there is interesting discussion all around and it is rather enjoyable to engage in friendly debate with others, especially when this involves good and well polished arguments.

 

There's already a poll on this.

 

http://mlpforums.com...-religion-poll/

 

I care less about what people think (though I do want to know) and more about why they think it. You could say I care more for the philosophy than the anthropology.

Edited April 4, 2012 by crrice

[Raiyny Day 71]

Atheist all the way

[Inky Milk 78]

I suppose it's because the answer to this question has such a large impact on one's life. For example, nobody cares what I had for breakfast this morning, because that has no impact, yet they care about the existence of God because that has life-changing impact. It might also be because there is interesting discussion all around and it is rather enjoyable to engage in friendly debate with others, especially when this involves good and well polished arguments.

 

 

So, because I, a complete stranger whom you have never met, believe in God, it is going to have an impact on your life? No. No it isn't. It has a huge impact on my life. And I don't see why I, or anyone else, needs to engage in any argument, good and well polished or not, in order to convince someone else why they do or don't believe in something. No matter how polite and intelligent someone may be in one of these 'online debates', plain and simple they are just not going to change someone else's mind about how they view religion. These topics only ever end up with a wall of defensiveness, trolling and utter stupidity as their outcome, no matter how noble the starting intentions.

[Rainbow_Crash 92]

I believe in the only real proven religion!!

Mine, i am the god of this religion, therefore i am proof that i exist and therefore my religion is real, you can even interview me to see how much i exist xD

[crrice 0]

So, because I, a complete stranger whom you have never met, believe in God, it is going to have an impact on your life? No. No it isn't. It has a huge impact on my life. And I don't see why I, or anyone else, needs to engage in any argument, good and well polished or not, in order to convince someone else why they do or don't believe in something. No matter how polite and intelligent someone may be in one of these 'online debates', plain and simple they are just not going to change someone else's mind about how they view religion. These topics only ever end up with a wall of defensiveness, trolling and utter stupidity as their outcome, no matter how noble the starting intentions.

 

Sorry, I might have worded that badly, because you misunderstood my point. To be clear, you're correct that your belief in God doesn't make much difference to me. However, what I mean is not that your answer impacts my life, but that the answer does, or to be even clearer, what impacts me is whether or not God exists, but not your belief about it. But insofar as I'd like to answer the bigger question, reasons you give might have an impact on what I see that answer to be, and are thus important in a smaller sense.

 

Furthermore, I'd like to think that these topics need not end up like you described. I know I'm willing to change my mind, and I've recently done so on a number of other issues.

 

I believe in the only real proven religion!!

Mine, i am the god of this religion, therefore i am proof that i exist and therefore my religion is real, you can even interview me to see how much i exist xD

 

Philosophical: You don't have any of the standard characteristics assigned to god, i.e. Omnipotence, omniscience, etc. so you're talking about an entirely different God than I am.

 

Ironic: You can't even prove that you exist. Not to me, at least. Maybe you can prove to yourself that you exist, but you could, from my perspective, be just a figment of my imagination.

Edited April 4, 2012 by crrice

[Starshine 16,330]

I believe there's a single deity above us, watching and caring the world to a certain degree.

 

Omnipotent? There's a good possibility for that.

Omniscient? I find that one was rather hard to believe.

 

Besides, a truly omniscient being can be really paradox-y and weird

 

"Can an omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, timeless, boundless, limitless, and uncontained Entity create that which it doesn't already know?"

 

Not a very religious type I am

[Rainbow_Crash 92]

WHAT IF I BELIEVE IN THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER?

 

I demand that you add Pastafarians to your list!

 

Here's their main website: http://www.venganza.org/

 

THAT IS SO FUCKING AWESOME!!!! THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE ITS AWESOMNESS!!!

[crrice 0]

I believe there's a single deity above us, watching and caring the world to a certain degree.

 

Omnipotent? There's a good possibility for that.

Omniscient? I find that one was rather hard to believe.

 

Besides, a truly omniscient being can be really paradox-y and weird

 

Not a very religious type I am

 

To be fair, most religious people tend to limit god's omnipotence to things that are logically possible. That is, God cannot make 2+2=5 or anything else that would defy a logical principle. If we use that limitation, then the paradoxy-ness goes away because if it would be a paradox, by our very definition, God couldn't do it.

[Dragonshy 2,305]

I'm atheist, but this subject comes up way too often and it kinda gets annoying.

Best not to bring it up, starts an "internet war" sometimes. Not common among us bronies though.

Also, you made a thread about religion?

Edited April 4, 2012 by Dragonshy

[crrice 0]

I'm atheist, but this subject comes up way too often and it kinda gets annoying.

Best not to bring it up, starts an "internet war" sometimes. No common among us bronies though.

Also, you made a thread about religion?

 

(that one picture)

 

 

What gave it away...

 

And while the frequency of topics like this might be reason to not make more, the fact that people are sometimes (insert favorite expletive here)'s is not a good reason to refrain from talking about what seems to many to be a profound and deeply important subject.

[Dragonshy 2,305]

What gave it away...

 

And while the frequency of topics like this might be reason to not make more, the fact that people are sometimes (insert favorite expletive here)'s is not a good reason to refrain from talking about what seems to many to be a profound and deeply important subject.

 

Well, welcome to the internet, where most people are idiots who don't respect feelings or have a strong mind. (Not you)

Also, the reason we say not to re-make threads like this is because your not supposed to make a thread that have already been made. Your new so its ok.

[crrice 0]

Well, welcome to the internet, where most people are idiots who don't respect feelings or have a strong mind. (Not you)

Also, the reason we say not to re-make threads like this is because your not supposed to make a thread that have already been made. Your new so its ok.

 

Yeah I'm aware of that, and to be fair I didn't think this one was quite the same as the others. But this discussion has been had already.

 

Neat bit of irony though: the other religion thread that's on the front page right now was revived after two months via a link from this thread.