Thursday, March 31, 2016

God Questionnaire

I often meet people who believe in God but not in the God defined by any of the established religions like Thor, Zeus or Yahweh. I refer to these gods as anti-establishment gods.

Sometimes the anti-establishment god people are a bit vague about what they really mean by god. And to me, if a word, like god, has a different meaning for each person then it's really of no value in communication.

Often the anti-establishment god people choose a different word for their god, like infinite intelligence or higher-power (of AA fame). But I'm not sure this clears things up.

So I find it interesting to clarify; to nail down some of the specifics.

Thus, to remove some of the vagueness of the anti-establishment god, I have created the God Questionnaire.

If you find that getting specific somehow detracts from the religious experience or is otherwise a buzzkill then please stop here. If you think it's interesting, then please proceed.

  1. Do you believe in one or many gods?
  2. What pronoun do you prefer when referring to your god? He, She, It or Other. (I'll use he, for convenience of discussion).
  3. Is your god omniscient?
  4. Is your god omnipotent?
  5. Is your god omnipresent?
  6. Is your god benevolent?
  7. Did your god create the universe?
  8. If so who created him?
  9. Once created, does your god intervene in the universe?
  10. Does he listen to (and act upon) your prayers?
  11. Do you feel that the wonder, beauty and variety in the universe is somehow evidence of your god?
  12. How is your god different from mother nature?
  13. Are there any actions or decisions that are impacted by your belief in this god? How so?
  14. How strong is your belief in the existence of your god (between 0 and 100%) where 100% means absolute certainty. And 0 means about the same as your belief in the Tooth Fairy.
  15. Does your god tie in with life after death? Heaven? Reincarnation?
  16. Do you find the whole idea of this questionnaire offensive?
  17. Agree or Disagree: Dave, your questionnaire is really missing the whole point. If Agree, then why?
  18. What other questions am I missing?

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