yep, exactly my sentiment

brilliant! i love your reasoning

i don't understand: what has the yin yang to do with believers (mainly) trolling an agnostics website? i am not here to stumble across folks trying to convert me to their imaginary friend on the basis of same-old, same-old (yawn) arguments, on the contrary: i am here for intelligent conversation.

except that i didn't come here for the purposes of converting anyone

no fear here, just bored to tears, dear.

Walklightly, I didn't mean to suggest that you had fear, it was just meant to be a generalism. So often barring anyone of anything is the result of fear.

most theists I have engaged are bullies who want everyone to agree with them, and then when they are confronted, then whine about how they aren't getting "respect" as their escape hatch, when they've been cornered. The problem is that one cannot hold their feet to the fire.

@velk Yes, they do tend to want a fight rather than a discussion, but not all of them are that way. Perhaps they are looking to answers from different thinkers. And most bullying is caused by fear of being wrong.

just had enough of their BS.. voting NO

it should be easy to figure out which believer is sitting on the fence; it's what the initial profile questions are for.
the one experience i have with a believer here is rather grating, as the person keeps fading in the background once he runs out of arguments, only to crop up somewhere else & start his condescending dispute for a god again.
apart from all that i can't really be bothered with what believers need, not on this site. i came here to get away from the constant bigotry, not to have this, my refuge, poisoned by it as well.

Problem is, many of them don't come to listen, they come to talk. And talk. And talk.

yes, @PuppeteerPhil, it is, & i'm actually cringing. this is so untypical of the usually friendly tone on this site

Without going through over 300 comments, I am curious about to which comment are you replying about "lived a sheltered life"?

@LetzGetReal Thanks!! ??

religion IS belief in a superhuman power, so how can it be separated from god (=superhuman power)?

@walklightly i know a lot of people who believe in a "higher power" or "higher authority" or whatever, who can't stand religions. Not everyone thinks "God" is some cloud man in the sky doling out eternal nastiness. I read a series of books some years back, called Conversations With God, it was actually a great read, and not at all representative of the God of religion. And in fact, in those books, "God" referred to religion as an insane set of rules designed to try to make sense of an insane God.
I've actually come to the conclusion that "God" is actually just "energy.

@Taijiguy, is this conversation about energy or about an imaginary friend? because, to be frank with you, i am quite interested in the topic of energy, but utterly flabbergasted, if not to say snickering hysterically, at the idea of non-recognition of the difference between sensation & belief. i do sense energy with my physical body, no doubt about it, & no belief required. in an entity called "god" on the other hand i have to believe, because it does not exist, can not be experienced on any level of my real being. now you ask me to respect a "god" that appears in a book & is actually just energy, telling the reader what an asshole another "god" is. what a pompous jerk! i rest my case.

@walklightly i don't think you read my comment carefully.
First, the comment was focused on the separation of religion from a belief in a "God". I know many people who do in fact believe in a God, (higher power) but have nothing but disdain for religion. There's plenty of them in 12 step groups around the world.
Regarding the books, the God speaking in those books, again, was critical of religion, not of the God the religions represent. (being him/her self) because those religions have distorted "God" into something it isn't.
The energy comment is my interpretation of what is really being referenced with the name "God". If you consider the main components of descriptions of what "God" is, it makes perfect sense. All places at all times, is the creator of everything, etc. I could go even deeper, but it gets a little weird when you throw in nanotechnology and quantum physics.

@Taijiguy, i did read your comment as carefully as only a non-manipulated self-thinking person can. you equate "god" with energy, which makes no sense to me at all. i have a certain power over energy, being a living, breathing being. the idea of "god" is that of a superhuman power, which makes me dependent on its whim. believing in a "god", i have created a religion; that is actually what religion means. separating the idea of "god" from religion is like denying the fact that if i recognize breathing in a being it belongs in the realm of the living. the book you keep referring to seems to be written by a confused (or sadistic) person, & as for your statement about "many people...believe in a god" & the example of the 12-step groups, well, it just shows me once more, how many truly deluded, lost souls this beautiful planet of ours carries. oh, & by all means, let's get weird. i'm all for it.

@walklightly that idea of "God" that you describe only exists because you've been told that's what he/she/it is. I'll believe you're actually a non-manipulated free thinker as soon as you let go of that concept. My theory of God makes no sense because you adhere to what you've been told God is. I don't. I believe in energy, I believe in the universe, and I believe in all the universe holds for us.
When God of the Bible was asked who he was, do you know what "he" said?
.
And as for the lost and deluded souls, I know and love many of them. My dad being one, who was an alcoholic for most of his life until he stepped into an aa meeting. His belief in a power greater than himself helped him get sober. You may believe that he's delusional, but those people get help from their delusions.

@Taijiguy I have zero problem with a believer who can admit that their beliefs are just unsubstantiatable personal preferences / experiences and non-binding on anyone but themselves. But in my experience, that has happened on sites open to theists, possibly two or three times in several years of participation. If you are able to agree with the above statement then you're a rarity. My guess though is that you are more like some of the more coherent "roll your own" professedly areligious types the way you say that if we just understood god correctly like you do rather than listen to all the incorrect god-information not sourced from you, that it would start making sense. There's a guy on c-d who is a retired academic with a very detailed manifesto about his very one-off god-beliefs and he'll openly tell you you're just dense if you find his beliefs make no sense. He's as derisive of fundamentalists as any atheist is, yet ... like most believers, he thinks he's found the truth and it's self-evident to anyone with an open mind. Not all liberal / atypical believers have epistemological humility or hold their faith loosely. In fact, very few actually do.

@mordant your guess would be wrong. I don't really concern myself with what others believe. I'll share my ideas, feel free to take it or leave it.: -)