The poll I promised
Okay folks. The first question is Which of these viewpoints matches your own? It doesn't ask what you do about your beliefs, what you say to other people, what you call yourself, or anything other than what you, internally, believe about the nature of the Divine. (And not what you believe about religion in general, or a specific religion, or religious people, or religious texts. Darn it, if Unitarian Universalists can fit their beliefs about God into these fifteen options, so can you.) So please don't choose answers that don't reflect what you really believe because "Well, I *call* myself a 'theist' even though I fit the definition of 'deist' and don't actually agree with the definition of 'theist'!" If you agree with the viewpoint described, check it. If you don't, don't check it.
Assume that the "God" in the first two options refers to something that is more or less a being.
For the record, the following options are mutually exclusive and you should only choose both if you are currently on a religious/spiritual quest/journey and have not fully come to terms with one belief over the other):
- Theism and deism: you cannot both believe you have a personal relationship with God and that it is not possible to have a personal relationship with God. If you wish it was possible but you don't think it is, then you're a deist.
- Militant atheism and non-theism: you cannot simultaneously deny the existence of God and not deny its possibility. If you do not believe in God, but are open to the possibility that God exists, you are a non-theist. Even if you call yourself an atheist. (Remember? It's not about what you call yourself.) If you affirmatively believe that God does not exist, then you are an atheist.
- Open and strict agnosticism: if you affirmatively believe it is not possible to know if God exists, then you are a strict agnostic and cannot be undecided (open agnostic).
Poll What do you believe, and what do you celebrate?