Please Read and Respond

[McQ]

4) I would just like to say that it is sort of funny that all the Christians who responded assumed I was an atheist who lost faith, and all the atheists think I'm a Christian trying to write a biased essay. Truth is I just want a well-written paper.

And, i also want to show that my teacher is incompetent and can not write good prompts.

A couple of points:

I did not assume you were a christian, but I did think you might be a spammer at first. Mostly because your post is very poorly written. Sorry, but it is.

And I'm opting out of your survey for two reasons.

One is because you failed to take the time to write your post in the forum with any semblance of care or pride in the work. The fact that you state, above, that you want a well-written paper but don't take the time to write a decent set of survey questions, using accepted spelling or grammar, leads me to think it's not worth responding to.

The other is that your attitude just plain stinks. You call your teacher incompetent (and declare that your intent is to illustrate that through this survey), yet your post to us is rife with errors so glaring that they are truly cringe-worthy.

Check the attitude and ego at the door and you might get better responses. No one owes you anything.

[hismikeness]

I just like how the "8" followed by a ")" makes a

[Stevil]

2) How long have you been atheist?
For 3 score and 19 minutes

Wow, fantastic milestone, Happy Birthday

[XavierMalloy]

To McQ,

First, I know I sound like an obnoxious brat calling my teacher incompetent but she really is. The dictionary definition for incompetent (yes, i just looked it up... i'm not too great with vocabulary either) is "lacking qualification or ability" and she is lacking the ability to teach. But your point is valid, and that by calling my teacher incompetent when I have horrible grammar, I sound like a jerk. I don't mean to come off that way, and I apologize. And by the way, I think the major grammar error was when I wrote affect instead of affected, and that was just a typo. Though it does not matter because I retyped the questions and hopefully the grammar is better!

Second, this paper is due next week, and although it is not an excuse for badly thought out questions, hopefully everyone can pardon the fact that these questions are far from perfect. I have taken suggestions from others in the forum and more thought into them so now they should have better quality

Third, I hope I have persuaded you to answer the questions!

Fourth, thank you for responding, I didn't realize that I sound like a jerk, and I'm glad you set me straight. Also, if you have any suggestions, PLEASE let me know, as you can probably see, I'll take any help I can get

Lastly, I want to stress that I greatly appreciate everyone answering these questions even if they aren't the best written, or seem stupid.

[XavierMalloy]

I just like how the "8" followed by a ")" makes a

Thats why it was a smile, and not an 8!!!!
Thats been bothering me for a while.

P.S. Is that common knowledge that an "8" and a ")" make a or am I just dumb?

[Tank]

I just like how the "8" followed by a ")" makes a

Thats why it was a smile, and not an 8!!!!
Thats been bothering me for a while.

P.S. Is that common knowledge that an "8" and a ")" make a or am I just dumb?

It's the text emoticon that just happens to spawn a smily here. Foxed my for a while!

[Davin]

1) Please state your age
31

2) Were your parents religious, if so which religion?
My parents are both Christian.

3) Did your parents raise you this religion?
Yes.

3b) Do you feel that the religion you had growing up affected you today? If so, in what ways?
Not sure but most likely.

4) Have you ever felt close to a higher power? If so, when?
When I was younger I thought I felt close to a higher power, turns out I found lots of other ways to trigger the same sensation (several of the methods included doing things that were said to lead me away from the higher power and some that for all accounts are neutral).

5) Is there anything specific to your childhood that affected your views towards religion?
No.

6) How do you feel about religious views other than your own?
Everyone has a right to believe and do whatever they wish so long as they're not harming anyone else or limiting the personal freedom of others.

7) How would you react if your child/loved ones had religious views differing from your own?
Most do, I don't care that they do.

8) To what extent, if any, should religion be used to help raise and discipline children?
I don't see that it's necessary at all to use any religion for rasing children.

9) Where did you grow up (city, state/province, country)
San Jose, California US

10) Did your geographic location have any affect on your turn to atheism?
No.

11) Any other comments!
Several people on this board have never been religious or even a theist, so I would suggest changing question 10) from implying that one has turned to atheism.

[Whitney]

grammar isn't that big of a deal

It is a big deal.  Not only do you need proper grammar to get an A on this paper but you also need it in the workplace.  This is not one of those subjects where you only use it in school then forget about it till you finally found out why you needed it 40 years later; it's an every day subject.

[McQ]

To McQ,

First, I know I sound like an obnoxious brat calling my teacher incompetent but she really is. The dictionary definition for incompetent (yes, i just looked it up... i'm not too great with vocabulary either) is "lacking qualification or ability" and she is lacking the ability to teach. But your point is valid, and that by calling my teacher incompetent when I have horrible grammar, I sound like a jerk. I don't mean to come off that way, and I apologize. And by the way, I think the major grammar error was when I wrote affect instead of affected, and that was just a typo. Though it does not matter because I retyped the questions and hopefully the grammar is better!

Second, this paper is due next week, and although it is not an excuse for badly thought out questions, hopefully everyone can pardon the fact that these questions are far from perfect. I have taken suggestions from others in the forum and more thought into them so now they should have better quality

Third, I hope I have persuaded you to answer the questions!

Fourth, thank you for responding, I didn't realize that I sound like a jerk, and I'm glad you set me straight. Also, if you have any suggestions, PLEASE let me know, as you can probably see, I'll take any help I can get

Lastly, I want to stress that I greatly appreciate everyone answering these questions even if they aren't the best written, or seem stupid.

I appreciate you taking my tough criticism to heart and also appreciate that you are willing to do some self-reflection and make the necessary changes. That's a good trait.

That said, I'll answer your survey. Hope you get enough responses to make a good statistical sample.

1) Please state your age
50 in August.

2) Were your parents religious, if so which religion?
My parents were both Catholics/Christian.

3) Did your parents raise you this religion?
Yes.

3b) Do you feel that the religion you had growing up affected you today? If so, in what ways?
Yes. It taught me about the solemnity of ritual and the importance of social contact. It also affected my early adult view of life and death, by making me believe in my accountability to an omnipotent being and my accountability to authority, whether real or perceived (i.e. the church and priests).

4) Have you ever felt close to a higher power? If so, when?
I thought I did, but in retrospect, it was simply the same feeling or belief I had in Santa Claus. Really, to me they're not different feelings or beliefs.

5) Is there anything specific to your childhood that affected your views towards religion?
No.

6) How do you feel about religious views other than your own?
Freedom of religious views is fine as long as they don't negatively affect or damage anyone.

7) How would you react if your child/loved ones had religious views differing from your own?
That's fine. No problem.

To what extent, if any, should religion be used to help raise and discipline children?
None, if possible.

9) Where did you grow up (city, state/province, country)
Outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

10) Did your geographic location have any affect on your turn to atheism?
No.

11) Any other comments!
Good luck with the class and the survey!

[Whitney]

1) Please state your age
29

2) Were your parents religious, if so which religion?
Mom - Christian/Presbyterian
Dad - agnostic

3) Did your parents raise you this religion?
Yes, I was taken to church and taught Christianity is true.

3b) Do you feel that the religion you had growing up affected you today? If so, in what ways?
On a daily basis, no.  But everything we do in life affects us in some way.

4) Have you ever felt close to a higher power? If so, when?
I had a few spiritual moments when I was young; all of them were connected to music.

5) Is there anything specific to your childhood that affected your views towards religion?
The church I attended split up over petty nonsense; that made me not care much for churches anymore but didn't affect my view of religion in general.

6) How do you feel about religious views other than your own?
It depends on the religion.  I judge religious views based on how closely they come to reality and their affect on society and people.

7) How would you react if your child/loved ones had religious views differing from your own?
I wouldn't care as long as they didn't take things to the extreme.

To what extent, if any, should religion be used to help raise and discipline children?
There is no need to use religion to raise children.  They are better off learning to be good for goodness sake.

9) Where did you grow up (city, state/province, country)
Oklahoma City, OK, USA

10) Did your geographic location have any affect on your turn to atheism?
I was in college by the time I completely left theism...I suppose being in a place that encourages critical thinking had an affect that may not have been present if I had not gone to college.  However I was already not that sure about religion before I left for college.

[Asmodean]

Yeah... Why not...  


1) Please state your age 26

2) Were your parents religious, if so which religion? Never really discussed it. Presumed apatheists.

3) Did your parents raise you this religion? No. Religion never came up as a topic of conversation or in any other way.

3b) Do you feel that the religion you had growing up affected you today? If so, in what ways? My environment had a finger in defining who and what I am today, yet I did not grow up with religion.

4) Have you ever felt close to a higher power? If so, when? When I stood a good stone throw away from the castle on the constitution day and the king came out onto the balcony. Felt relatively close to the king right then.

5) Is there anything specific to your childhood that affected your views towards religion? Lost a friend to it... Otherwise, no. Even the losing a friend part did not really budge the scales much.

6) How do you feel about religious views other than your own? I don't have religious views. I do, however, have views on religion, which is a completely different thing. To answer your question, I have no religious views and do not envy those who do.

7) How would you react if your child/loved ones had religious views differing from your own? I would not react at all until they tried pushing those views on me.

8 ) To what extent, if any, should religion be used to help raise and discipline children? None. It should be avoided.

9) Where did you grow up (city, state/province, country) Towns and cities... Some countryside. Northern Europe. My zip code is irrelevant.

10) Did your geographic location have any affect on your turn to atheism? Yes. Had I lived in a very religious country, I might have been brainwashed as a child. Then I might or might not have been an atheist today. Your question calls for speculation, however, and is therefor pointless.

11) Any other comments! I see very little experimental value in the answers to your questions. What exactly is it you are trying to find out by this survey?

[Willow]

1) Please state your age
34
2) Were your parents religious, if so which religion?
Yes C of E
3) Did your parents raise you this religion?
A bit
3b) Do you feel that the religion you had growing up affected you today? If so, in what ways?
I know slightly more about Christianity than I do other religions.
4) Have you ever felt close to a higher power? If so, when?
Huh?
5) Is there anything specific to your childhood that affected your views towards religion?
I learnt loads of stuff and asked questions.
6) How do you feel about religious views other than your own?
I don't have any religious views.  I understand that many people do really believe some of the bizzare stuff they profess.
7) How would you react if your child/loved ones had religious views differing from your own?
I would wonder who had been indoctrinating them.
To what extent, if any, should religion be used to help raise and discipline children?
Not at all.
9) Where did you grow up (city, state/province, country)
Manchester UK
10) Did your geographic location have any affect on your turn to atheism?
Britain is a pretty tolerant place for the non-religious. 
11) Any other comments!
It's hard to relate my views on my regionality because I don't know what it's like to have grown up anywhere else.

[Will37]

1) Please state your age:
22

2) Were your parents religious, if so which religion?
The true religion

3) Did your parents raise you this religion?
Probably

3b) Do you feel that the religion you had growing up affected you today? If so, in what ways?
It taught me to be myself, live each day as though it were my last, believe in love, and other ill formed platitudes

4) Have you ever felt close to a higher power? If so, when?
The first time we made love

5) Is there anything specific to your childhood that affected your views towards religion?
Probably

6) How do you feel about religious views other than your own?
It varies

7) How would you react if your child/loved ones had religious views differing from your own?
Wouldn't care

8 ) To what extent, if any, should religion be used to help raise and discipline children?
To the right extent.

9) Where did you grow up (city, state/province, country)
Dixie

10) Did your geographic location have any affect on your turn to atheism?
Probably

11) Any other comments!
Before I noticed the exclimation mark I thought you were asking me if I had any other comments that I wished to share with you.

[bicycle]

1) Please state your age: 19
2) Were your parents religious, if so which religion? one is catholic
3) Did your parents raise you this religion? yes
3b) Do you feel that the religion you had growing up affected you today? If so, in what ways? Wouldn't be the same without it
4) Have you ever felt close to a higher power? If so, when? Yes, when I pray
5) Is there anything specific to your childhood that affected your views towards religion? Yes
6) How do you feel about religious views other than your own? Proof
7) How would you react if your child/loved ones had religious views differing from your own? I would challenge them.
To what extent, if any, should religion be used to help raise and discipline children? Whatever you want, nothings perfect.
9) Where did you grow up (city, state/province, country) South Florida
10) Did your geographic location have any affect on your turn to atheism? I'm not atheist
11) Any other comments! YES! lol