Do You Belive in God? Take my poll!

I’ve got a poll on my blog’s sidebar which asks “On the Dawkins scale, what is your belief about supernatural deities?” I got this scale from the Richard Dawkins book: The God Delusion.

First: what am I asking? By “God” I mean some entity that is

1. Supernatural and
2. Answers prayer and
3. Can and does (or did) intervene in the world’s affairs.

I do NOT mean:

1. Some ill defined “spirit of the universe” nor
2. Some deity that put the laws of nature in place and then doesn’t interfere with nature nor
3. Something limited to some grand myth or metaphor which “exists” in the sense that meditating or pondering it gives meaning to our lives, or comfort or strength.

In other words, I mean some deity comparable to the classical God of the Jews, Christians and Muslims.

I really am interested in how this blog’s readers see things.

I have seen the result of a Daily Kos survey of a similar kind:

Regardless of that cultural-personal identity conundrum, there is also the suggestion that folks who really believe in God share something, that folks who do not really believe in God do not. And they share that belief in the reality and importance of a higher power, even if one is Baptist and the other is Muslim. or Catholic, or Jewish, or Hindu, or Neo-Pagan.

And what that belief in God is, differs for different folks.

Fortunately, the folks over at BeliefNet, where they list about 128 religions (help – gotta group them to get to 15), also have some polls:

There is the Belief-o-Matic which in return for your answering 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, will tell you what religion (if any) you practice…or ought to consider practicing.

And they have the What’s your spiritual type? poll to get beyond traditional categories.

And so I am asking the religion question in terms of what kind of god(s) do you believe in, if any?

I believe that God(s):

By God(s), we mean to include any conception of a higher power or spirit or essence that moves the universe or is within us all; so long as what is meant is super/supra/extra-natural (does not have to be old man with a bead).

1. Exists, and still routinely, intervenes in earthly and human events

2. Exists, and sometimes but rarely, still intervenes in earthly/human events.

3. Exists, and used to intervene in earthly/human events, but never does anymore.

4. Exists, got the universe going, but never intervened in earthly/human events.

5. Exists in some sense, but never intervened in even cosmic, nor earthly/human events.

6. Is a spiritual ideal, not an actual being.

7. Does not exist; but that there is something spiritual or super-natural; something beyond just physics, chemistry and biology; universe is not reducible to just math and science even in principle.

8. Does not exist and never did; and there is nothing supernatural, no spirit; the universe is completely natural and has no higher aspect. True atheist.

9. It is my firm belief that I really really do not know; that we cannot know (well thought out devout agnostic).

10. Something really not covered by any of the above.

Please note, that nowhere am I asking if the Bible is meant literally or metaphorically or who wrote it. This is independent of those sorts of questions. It is my hope that traditional Christian believers and other Western Abrahamic believers can answer these questions honestly without offense… and that so can Bahia, Hindus, Jainists, Buddhists; Scientologists, neo-Pagans; Agnostics, Atheists, etc.

I think, but may be wrong (and I am sure you will correct me) that:

* 1 or 2 are standard “Abrahamic” beliefs.
* 3 includes variations of withdrawal or god is dead. I’d be interested in knowing when and why god not longer intercesses.
* I think that 4 & 5 are what is sometimes called Naturalism; also related to Deism.
* in my mind 6 & 7 are related, though 6 is a bit more formal; I am not saying this well… tell me.
* 8 is classic strong Atheist and true for most Secular Humanist too.
* 9 is for the true Agnostic, not just the wish-washy, but for those who truly take the stance that what is key is that the answer is unknowable.
* 10 please do tell us…

Those who have followed these demographic diaries know that I do not like what I consider cop-out categories, but for the sake of communal peace, I have included #9 and #10.

Here are the results of this 2007 poll:

Poll

What kind of God(s) do you believe in, if any? I believe that God(s)…
1. Exists, and still routinely, intervenes in earthly and human events.
7% 463 votes

2. Exists, and sometimes but rarely, still intervenes in earthly/human events.
5% 327 votes

3. Exists, and used to intervene in earthly/human events, but never does anymore.
0% 35 votes

4. Exists, got the universe going, but never intervened in earthly/human events.
2% 140 votes

5. Exists in some sense, but never intervened in even cosmic, nor earthly/human events.
1% 117 votes

6. Is a spiritual ideal, not an actual being.
6% 405 votes

7. Does not exist; but that there is something spiritual or super-natural; something beyond just physics, chemistry and biology; universe is not reducible to just math and science even in principle.
11% 716 votes

8. Does not exist and never did; and there is nothing supernatural, no spirit; the universe is completely natural and has no higher aspect.
40% 2494 votes

9. It is my firm belief that I really really do not know; that we cannot know (well thought out devout agnostic).
15% 972 votes

10. Something really not covered by any of the above.
8% 503 votes

| 6172 votes

I struggled between 6 and 8 as I think that “god” might have value in some secular sense. But I ended up choosing 8.

So, to sum up this poll: 12% of Kos members hold anything like traditional beliefs, 20 % are either deitst or pantheists, and 55% are atheists or agnostics. Or put another way, 88% reject the idea of a personal god; that is very much in line with elite scientists.

As far as my beliefs according to the Belief-o-matic:

Top five:

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (94%)
3. Liberal Quakers (80%)
4. Nontheist (77%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (75%)

Bottom five:

23. Seventh Day Adventist (25%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (22%)
25. Roman Catholic (22%)
26. Hinduism (20%)
27. Jehovah’s Witness (13%)

As far as my “spiritual type“:

25 – 29
Hardcore Skeptic — but interested or you wouldn’t be here!

30 – 39
Spiritual Dabbler — Open to spiritual matters but far from impressed

40 – 49
Active Spiritual Seeker Spiritual but turned off by organized religion

50 – 59
Spiritual Straddler One foot in traditional religion, one foot in free-form spirituality

60 – 69
Old-fashioned Seeker — Happy with my religion but searching for the right expression of it

70 – 79
Questioning Believer You have doubts about the particulars but not the Big Stuff

80 – 89
Confident Believer You have little doubt you’ve found the right path

90 – 100
Candidate for Clergy

I scored higher than I thought that I should, because I think that groups of people can gather together in order to encourage each other to treat their fellow humans well. I’ve gone to a UU church from time to time and I could see myself at an Ethical Society.