[hide=]Polling: Forum Username: Lenin64 Age: 16 State (US only, do not give a city): Nation (do not give a city): US Educational level: High School, current 12th grade -if secondary or below, what level? -If at a university/college, what level and what is your major/minor course of study? 1. Have you ever attended a worship of any religion? yes -by choice? Willingly, yes. My own idea? No. -What kind of worship? Ash Wednesday, Easter, possibly Christmas once. -Did you regularly attend this worship, by choice or parental guidance? No. 2. Do you consider yourself religious? No. -Please explain in two or three sentences. Never have in my life. I burst forth from my mother's uterus a nonreligious lad. Not raised specifically that way, but not raised with any ideas. 3. Is there a god, gods, or a supreme deity? No. -Did said god, gods, or supreme being create the Universe, according to your belief? 4. Is there an afterlife? No, and I love how you word these questions as definitives. 5. How do you believe that existence came about? (in a nutshell) I don't know, really. It could have been the Big Bang- there's certainly evidence to support it. But it might have been something else, though I can't imagine what. But that doesn't mean I'm going to make up an answer. 6. Have you ever attended a worship of any religion that you do not consider yourself a part of? Yes. -What? All of them. See #1 -Your thoughts on the experience Ash Wednesday was, to me, just weird. I understood the significance of the ash to the forehand, but the priest got me fairly hard. Unless that's normal. Easter was just the priest telling moral stories that happened to him, which definitely made the experience more real, and slightly enjoyable. And I got the wine, which was, for my young self, quite a thrill before I tasted it. 7. What are your thoughts on non Judeo-Christian Western religions? Remember that religion is a broad term so please be specific. Not sure what this means, exactly. No thoughts. 8. What are your thoughts on Judeo-Christian religions? Remember that religion is a broad term and that both of these groups have many subdivisions that have radically different beliefs and practices. There are some completely bat [cabbage] ones, and some more sane ones. Other than that, no real specifics. 9. What are your thoughts on Asian religions? Remember that religion is a broad term so please be specific. Like Buddhism? That's something I can kind of get behind. No wars ever waged in the name of the Buddha. And there's no real omnipotent deity for it, either, gets it some points. 10. What are your thoughts on African religions? Remember that religion is a broad term, so please be specific. No thoughts. 11. What are your thoughts on South American religions? Remember that religion is a broad term, so please be specific. No thoughts 12. What are your thoughts on Aboriginal religions (any native group that was displaced, such as Native Americans, Maori, Aborigines, etc)? Remember that religion is a broad term, so please be specific. see previous 2. 13. What are your thoughts on pagan religions (Wiccan, alternative, Satanic, and other non-traditional forms of worship)? Remember that religion is a broad term, so please be specific. Also note that many alternative and pagan practices are not affiliated with Satanic worship. I do nothing but laugh at Satanists. Pagan religous are, if I recall, what early forms of Christianity were modelled on, to easily convert people. Personally, if I were to be recruited to any religion, it would be the Cult of Cthulhu. Which is actually practised. Whether or not you consider that Satanism, though, is up to you. 14. What are your thoughts on atheism, the belief that there is no supreme being(s)? Please remember that there are degrees to this belief, and that not all share the same thoughts. I myself am an Athiest, so I guess you could say I have positive thoughts on it. 15. What are your thoughts on agnosticism, the belief that a supreme being(s) exists, but the individual chooses not to worship it/them? My thoughts? I think you're confusing Agnosticism with Deism, and it really doesn't hold much more appeal to me, though it gets points for actual rationality. Agnosticism, on the other hand, I believe is the [kitty] way out of it. You either know there is, or there isn't. Just make your decision. Woops! I misread the question. I thought you were talking about Deism. 16. Have you ever publicly chastised someone who believes in a religion/school of thought different than yours? Somewhat. -elaborate I've laughed in the face of door-to-door Mormons and called them crazy, and I've gotten into a heated debate with my religious grandmother at a restaurant once. We got some looks. -what group were they? what group were you? Mormons, and I'm actually not sure. Don't think she ever told me. 17. If you belong to a religion or non-religion, please identify. Athiesm. -Did you consciously choose to follow this belief? Yes. My case was that I wasn't raised one way or the other, and I found it on my own. This does not mean that the absence of religious upbringing decided my choice for me; my sister was raised the same way and is some form of devout Christian. I thinm she tries to follow them all, though, since she's done Lent and other Catholic things but seems to lean more towards a Protestant faith. We were truly able to find our own answers, and she still tries to indoctrinate me. -Did you belong to another belief, by choice or force, before following this belief? Nope. -Did you personally research (as in personally in the first person) options before coming to this belief? Not at first; I was too young then to think of it. I just knew what I knew of science and how religion contradicts it. Now that I'm older and can (as well as being on the internet- never heard the end of the argument) I've seen both sides many a time. 18. Is intelligence (not IQ, but actual intelligence) correlated to one's belief in a religion or non-religion? Keep in mind that intelligence can not be measured by any science, this is simply your judgment call. I don't know. I do know, though, that many of the more... whorish girls I know/have known have leaned more often towards some form of religion. Devoutly sometimes, even as they're [bleep]tin' it up. You can decideif, for the purpose of this survey, promiscuity and intelligence are connected. From what I've seen, it is. 19. Does religion, in your observation, do good in the world? Please cite specific groups or denominations. It can. Missionary groups in poor African countries can rebuild villages, etc. but then again, so can the Peace Corps. 20. Does non-religion, in your observation, do good in the world? Please cite specific groups or denominations. Setting aside the ethical issues of religion, especially with such things as stem cell research, abortion, etc. can make scientific research to benefit humanity much easier, as well as make easier the lives of people that can't afford a baby. But that's just the absence of religion; whether non-religion itself has done anything, I wouldn't know. 21. Does religion, in your observation, do bad in the world? Please cite specific groups or denominations. 3 numbers, mate: 9/11. And more: Jihad by Muslim groups. Westboro Baptist Church and their anti-gay -troop protests. Everything concerning homosexuality's oppression, really. The Holocaust was, to a degree, religiously driven. Pretty much everything happening with Israel. 22. Does non-religion, in your observation, do bad in the world? Please cite specific groups or denominations. Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything, since there's really nothing that can be done in the name of non-religion. Except hate crimes against religious areas. 23. Please list your experience with sexual education, including but not limited to: lectures by parents, schools, religion, or non-education. Please do not list your sexual experiences. The usual: videos on how puberty changes things in school, education on STDs and how they can be avoided, stuff like that in school. Short lecture waaay back by my parents, and a few since. They also bought me a book once, but the only thing I learned was that testicle size can denote puberty and they have devices that measure that. Nothing teaching abstinence, though. 24. Have you engaged in sexual intercourse of any kind? Please do not list your sexual experiences. A yes or no will suffice. I like to say I live an aescetic lifestyle of self-deprivation and discipline. It makes the "no" answer sound more noble. 25. What, in your opinion, defines "love?" I'm going to quote Calvin & Hobbes, here, because I really think it gets it across: A series of biochemical reactions designed to ensure our genes are passed on to future generations and continue the human race. It's far more effective in that regard than random promiscuity. 26. Have you ever been in, or are now in, a relationship? In the past, yes. -Is sex involved? No. 27. Are you single/committed relationship/married? Single. Wouldn't say "And lovin' it", but it's not bad. 28. What, in your opinion, is sex's place in a relationship (or lack of relationship)? Go for it if you want, if not, don't. Anytime's fine. 29. Have you ever partaken in an illicit substance (excluding alcohol or marijuana)? No. -if so, what? -Have you ever lost control of your actions while under the influence of an illicit substance? 30. Have you ever partaken in marijuana? Ascetic lifestyle, remember? ;) -Do you habitually use this substance? -Have you ever been "stoned?" -Have you ever lost control of your actions while under the influence of marijuana? 31. Have you ever partaken in the consumption of alcohol? Not more than a sip or two every few months or so. So no, really. -Do you drink socially or alone? Or both? -Have you ever been drunk? -Have you ever lost control of your actions while under the influence of alcohol? 32. Have you ever regretted a sexual encounter? Guess. 33. Have you ever regretted using an illicit substance? (excluding hangovers) see #34 34. Have you ever regretted using alcohol? (excluding hangovers) see #33 35. Have you ever given serious thought (longer than 30 minutes in a year) to the existence of a supreme being(s)? Yes, quite often, really. Though most of it is more reasons why it's a ludicrous concept.[/hide] Glad to be of assistance.