Which of these are gods?

[Sisyphus]

"Allah" is just the Arabic word for "God." Muslims don't consider themselves to be worshipping a different god from Jews and Christians, they just think those groups have falsely rejected the prophet-hood of Mohammed and the Divine origin of his prophecy, as written in the Quran. Thus Jews and Christians are "People of the Book," a different category of unbeliever than straight-up heathens.

[DrDNA]

we consider the problem from various aspects

..3.6 billion

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion

2. Islam: 1.5 billion

 

Is everybody devout?

( reject the religion , abjuration of religion,ignored atheists and so on ).

 

there is no denying that......

 

Also, to add to what I stated above, I believe that the "Judaism" category on the pie chart does not include non-practicing ethnic Jews (ethnic Jews that do not practice the Jewish religion).

Likewise for the other categories.....they are supposedly self-proclaimed active participants in their respective faiths or religions.

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Also, FWIW, I reject the entire premise of the question.

 

Yet, you answered it.

[iNow]

Yet, you answered it.

 

Yep, by responding "None." Although, the poll is all jacked up and my vote went into the bucket for "Other" since "None" was added to the poll options after my vote had been cast.

 

Anyway, it's like I offered you a list of characters... Harry Potter, Captain Ahab, Admiral Adama, and Doctor House... then asked you to tell me which of them are real. Same type of premise, and yet the response of "none" fits despite the fact that the question rests on a false assumption. Amazing!

[DrDNA]

Interesting.

As may be apparent, I also have reservations about the premise of the question.

Which is why I still haven't answered it.

 

I'm pretty sure that it's a cleverly disguised trap.

[Mr Skeptic]

Anyway, it's like I offered you a list of characters... Harry Potter, Captain Ahab, Admiral Adama, and Doctor House... then asked you to tell me which of them are real. Same type of premise, and yet the response of "none" fits despite the fact that the question rests on a false assumption. Amazing!

 

I explicitly stated that the question was which of them are gods regardless of whether they exist. My question was like asking which of Harry Potter, Captain Ahab, Admiral Adama are people. They are all people, but none of them is real.

[ydoaPs]

I explicitly stated that the question was which of them are gods regardless of whether they exist. My question was like asking which of Harry Potter, Captain Ahab, Admiral Adama are people. They are all people, but none of them is real.

 

The real question is whether or not Adama is human.

[DrDNA]

I explicitly stated that the question was which of them are gods regardless of whether they exist. My question was like asking which of Harry Potter, Captain Ahab, Admiral Adama are people. They are all people, but none of them is real.

 

If they're not real, ie don't exist, then they are not gods or God....just cartoon characters.

So, I hate to admit it, but now you have me leaning towards iNow's statements.

 

Or I was right about the trap.

[ydoaPs]

If they're not real, ie don't exist, then they are not gods or God....just cartoon characters.

So, I hate to admit it, but now you have me leaning towards iNow's statements.

 

Are they cartoon gods?

 

Perhaps the poll question should be different. "Assuming for a moment for the sake of argument that the following beings exist, which of the following do you consider god(s)?"

 

Better?

[iNow]

They are all people, but none of them is real.

 

Wow. That's sort of the point, now isn't it?

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Perhaps the poll question should be different. "Assuming for a moment for the sake of argument that the following beings exist, which of the following do you consider god(s)?"

 

Better?

 

Not really. The only way this works is if you ask which had been considered as a god by at least one human culture or group of humans. After that, you're more or less arguing which teenage mutant ninja turtle would pick up the most chicks, or how many puppies you must kill to stop global warming.

Edited February 4, 2009 by iNow
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[PrinceOfDragons]

Did the cave man believe in a god?

[npts2020]

Did the cave man believe in a god?

 

I don't know, but would be willing to bet he was a very superstitious soul.

[ennui]

Did the cave man believe in a god?

 

From what I've read, they did.

 

There are caves in Western Europe (Spain/France areas) with depictions of stag-gods, drawn in red ochre. There are also the Venus of Willendorf figurines depicting what some call a fertility goddess.

 

Some anthropologists contend that they're not gods. But at the very least they agree that they suggest shamanic practices, which would most likely have contained spirits and/or gods.

 

Also from the Stone Age is the Indus Valley civilisation, which definitely had its own gods.

[Severian]

In my opinion, a god (small 'g') is something we cannot prove in principle (rather than just in practice) but chose to believe anyway.

 

For example, a unified theory of all physics would be a god.

[DrP]

Not wanting to open a can of worms - just my understanding of the definition:

 

any thing worshiped as a god or God is a god. Chocholate or some footballers are gods to some people. There is only one God.

 

 

As I said - this is how I've always understood the definitions.

[ennui]

I'd say that the use of the God, as opposed to god, is personal preference.

 

I know some polytheists who refer to all their deities as the big-gee version. Example: "Apollo is the God of music." Whether or not this is 'proper' use of English is debatable, but various communities use it as a mark of respect.

[DrDNA]

Did the cave man believe in a god?

 

Which cave man?